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RUEHPW/AMCONSUL PESHAWAR 5155

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 07 PESHAWAR 000143 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  7/8/2019 
TAGS: PTER MOPS PGOV PK
SUBJECT: FATA AND NWFP:  WEEKLY INCIDENTS OF TALIBANIZATION, JUNE 19 
- JUNE 25 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Lynne Tracy, Principal Officer, U.S. Consulate 
Peshawar, Department of State. 
REASON: 1.4 (d) 
Introduction 
- - - - - - - 
 
¶1.      (C) The intensity of Pakistani military operations 
accelerated in South Waziristan during the fourth week in June, 
with the government conducting intensive airstrikes into Mehsud 
territory and sending ground troops to secure key locations 
along the critical Wana-Jandola road in preparation for a 
presumed major offensive.  However, the June 23 assassination of 
Mehsud militant commander Qari Zainuddin, sponsored by rival 
Baitullah Mehsud's Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), was a 
setback to the Pakistani government's planned campaign in South 
Waziristan Agency (reftel).  In another apparent preparatory 
move for the campaign, civil administration in Lakki Marwat 
continued to meet intensively with local jirgas to form 
defensive committees that would resist encroachment by militants. 
 
¶2.      (C) In Malakand Division, the military conducted "cordon 
and search" operations in pockets of Swat and Lower Dir as 
active resistance by militants diminished.  In Shangla and 
northeastern Buner, however, reports indicated that fleeing 
militants were beginning to congregate, and some residents began 
to flee the portions of Buner in expectation of an intensified 
government offensive.  The Upper Dir lashkar continued 
low-intensity fighting with Doog Darra, with reduced offensive 
activity relative to the previous week.  Intense fighting 
continued in Bajaur, while Pakistani security forces continued 
operations in Mohmand and Orakzai.  In Kurram, the death toll in 
over a week of fighting between Sunni and Shi'a clans passed 50, 
as jirgas on both sides called for government intervention. 
 
 
NWFP ) Malakand Division 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶3. (SBU) The following incidents have occurred in the Malakand 
Division of the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP), where the 
Pakistani government has been conducting combat operations since 
the last week of April.  Malakand Division includes the 
districts of Malakand, Lower Dir, Upper Dir, Chitral, Swat, 
Shangla, and Buner. 
 
June 19, Swat:  Security forces reportedly secured Akhun Kalle 
and established a checkpost in the Chungai area.  Security 
forces also launched an operation to clear areas around Zara 
Khala, Khawazakhela and Matta. 
 
June 19, Buner:  Militants wounded one soldier.  Four militants 
were reported to be killed during fighting with troops in the 
Sar Qila area, an area where the army was conducting search 
operations. 
 
June 19, Upper Dir:  Armed villagers supported by security 
forces claim to have killed eleven insurgents and wounded 
another in Patrak town. 
 
June 19, Chitral:  Chitral police arrested 10 militants fleeing 
into the district.  An Afghan national was among those arrested. 
 
June 20, Swat:  Militants killed three soldiers in an ambush. 
Security forces claimed the killing of six militants in a search 
operation around Peochar.  Security forces arrested three 
suspected terrorists and destroyed a complex of four tunnels in 
the same operation. 
 
June 20, Lower Dir:  Militants wounded two soldiers.  Security 
forces claim to have killed five Taliban. 
 
June 20, Malakand:  Militants killed a soldier while security 
forces conducted a clearance operation on a key road. 
 
June 21, Swat:  Security forces claimed to have killed one 
militant and arrested six others at Langer, Khawazakhela. 
Government forces seized a weapons cache and foreign currency in 
suspected militant hideouts in Biha valley. 
 
 
PESHAWAR 00000143  002 OF 007 
 
 
June 21, Upper Dir:  Members of the lashkar fighting militants 
in Doog Darra killed seven suspected militants who had been 
arrested the previous day in Chitral and were in police custody 
in the Patrak area.  In response, the militants in the area 
kidnapped two local people who supported the lashkars. 
 
June 22, Swat:  The military conducted search and cordon 
operations, claiming to have neutralized a number of improvised 
explosive devices (IEDs) and to have destroyed several tunnels. 
They also claim to have killed 22 terrorists and arrested five 
others.  Security forces claim to have secured Biha Valley, the 
last militant stronghold in northern Swat, and cleared Shamozai, 
in the west. 
 
June 22, Malakand:  According to an unconfirmed, single-sourced 
press report, militants ambushed the vehicle of an intelligence 
agency officer as he was driving home, killing the man. 
 
June 23, Swat:  Militants ambushed a unit of the Baloch Regiment 
and killed five soldiers, including a Major, a Captain, and 
three Jawans (soldiers) in Charbagh.  According to an Army 
spokesman, the party was returning after a search operation when 
the attack occurred.  Maulana Shah Durran, deputy leader of the 
Taliban in Sat, was rumored to be seriously injured or killed, 
after a military operation in Kabal.  Elsewhere, security forces 
launched search and sweep operations at various locations in the 
district. 
 
June 23, Shangla:  Security forces captured three suspected 
militants in a search operation west of Alpurai, the district 
headquarters. 
 
June 23, Lower Dir:  Security forces reported killing six 
militants in Shadas village of the Maidan area when gunship 
helicopters targeted the house of Miftahud Din, alias Shabar, a 
local militant commander.  Search operations continued in 
Adenzai and Maidan tehsils. 
 
June 23, Buner:  Security forces continued using heavy artillery 
and shelling from helicopters in the northeastern part of the 
district as ground forces continued sweeps in that area. 
 
June 24, Swat:  Militants killed six soldiers, including two 
officers, in a clash in Charbagh.  Security forces claimed to 
have killed seven terrorists and arrested several others.  The 
military stated that almost all major towns in the Swatwere 
under the control of security forces.  A local jirga met in 
kalam to pledge its support for the security forces. 
 
June 24, Shangla:  Locals report that hundreds of militants from 
Swat and Buner are in the district. 
 
June 24, Upper Dir:  The Qaumi Lashkar, comprised of armed 
villagers, report that they have successfully cleared a majority 
of the area held by extremists, killing 34 militants.  The Quami 
Laskhar advanced in areas where pro-Taliban militants took the 
local population hostage at gunpoint, said lashkar leader Malik 
Motabbar Khan. 
 
June 24, Buner:  Pakistani military forces bombarded militant 
hideouts in Etai Khwar and positioned ground forces at key 
blocking points in northeastern Buner. 
 
June 25, Swat:  Two soldiers were injured when an anti-personnel 
mine exploded, while another was wounded by militant gunfire. 
Security forces arrested three terrorists and seized weapons 
while conducting search and sweep operations in the Akun Kale, 
Gamon Bridge, Rangeela, Khazana, Wakilabad, Baiddarra and Garai 
areas.  Security forces destroyed the Jawad Hotel in Nishat 
Square of Mingora, owned by a suspected militant. 
 
June 25, Lower Dir:  Security forces conducted a search 
operation in the area around Zhoaib post and Lal Qila. 
 
June 25, Buner:  Militants killed a policeman after abducting 
him while on his way home in Elum, near Bhai Kalay. 
 
PESHAWAR 00000143  003 OF 007 
 
 
 
June 25, Malakand:  More than 100 elders of Alladhan and Dherai 
areas held a jirga at the office of the DCO promising to 
cooperate to flush out militants. 
 
NWFP ) Hazara Division 
- - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶5.      (SBU) The following incidents have occurred in the Hazara 
Division of the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) according to 
press and consulate contacts.  Hazara Division includes the 
districts of Abbottabad, Battagram, Haripur, Kohistan and 
Mansehra. 
 
June 19, Mansehra:  Political authorities in Kala Dhaka 
demolished the homes of two locals suspected of harboring 
militants from Shangla. 
 
June 21, Haripur:  Security forces reportedly arrested members 
of the family of Swat TTP chief Fazlullah. 
 
June 22, Battagram:  Two people, including a policeman, were 
killed and seven others injured when a suicide bomber rammed his 
explosive-laden car into a police check post on Karakoram 
Highway. 
 
NWFP ) Mardan Division 
- - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶6.      (SBU) The following incidents have occurred in the Mardan 
Division of the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) according to 
press and consulate contacts.  Mardan Division includes the 
districts of Mardan and Swabi. 
 
June 20, Mardan:  Police were able to stop an attempt to blow up 
the Jalalabad police post in Rustam and defused a 10 kg 
improvised explosive device (IED). 
 
June 24, Mardan:  Inadequate relief efforts for internally 
displaced persons (IDPs) are allowing militant groups to operate 
in camps and communities housing hundreds of thousands of people 
displaced by an offensive against the Taliban, according to an 
international aid group.  Jihadi groups "distribute assistance" 
on Fridays and Saturdays at the camps, prompting the 
Washington-based group to suspend its visits on those days. 
 
NWFP ) Peshawar Division 
- - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶7.      (SBU) The following incidents have occurred in the 
Peshawar Division of the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) 
according to press and consulate contacts.  Peshawar Division 
includes the districts of Peshawar, Nowshera, and Charsadda. 
 
June 20, Peshawar:  A police officer was killed when the two 
people he arrested were able to free themselves and shoot him. 
 
June 22, Peshawar:  Militants blew up a girls' primary school at 
Mashogagar.  Separately, a truce was reportedly being brokered 
between the Darra Adam Khel Taliban and the Qaumi Laskhar of 
Adezai (on the outskirts of Peshawar city). 
 
June 24, Peshawar:  Militants killed three policemen, including 
an officer, in rocket and mortar attacks at Arbab Tapo check 
post near Matani Police Station. 
 
June 25, Peshawar:  Police killed one kidnapper and arrested two 
others in an exchange of fire near Inqilab Road Badabher. 
Separately, the Qaumi Lashkar of Adezai confiscated property of 
alleged Taliban supporters as punishment for carrying weapons in 
the Mattani police area.  A laskhar member alleged that local 
Taliban, with the support of the Darra Adam Khel-based Taliban, 
were trying to increase their movements in the outskirts of 
Peshawar. 
 
June 25, Nowshera:  A law enforcement agency claimed to have 
 
PESHAWAR 00000143  004 OF 007 
 
 
arrested two militant commanders disguised as IDPs in a raid on 
a local school in the Kheshgi area.  The militants changed their 
appearance by trimming their beards and hair and were living 
with their families settled in the school camp.  Separately, 
motorway police spotted an explosive device and called the bomb 
disposal squad from Peshawar.  The bomb disposal squad defused 
the explosive device. 
 
NWFP ) Kohat Division 
- - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶8.      (SBU) The following incidents have occurred in the Kohat 
Division of the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) according to 
press and consulate contacts.  Kohat Division includes the 
districts of Kohat, Karak, and Hangu. 
 
June 19, Kohat:  Police arrested 14 suspected militants and 
seized arms during operations in the villages of Kharmatoo, 
Jarma, Bahawalnagar, Dheri Banda, Tor Dhand, Zara Mela, 
Bilitang, Togh, Sayyab and Chorlakki. 
 
June 20, Kohat:  Militants destroyed two power pylons with 
explosives in the Tugh area, disrupting electricity to the area. 
 
June 23, Hangu:  Militants killed an officer of the Kohat Elite 
Force and abducted two people at gunpoint. 
 
NWFP ) Bannu Division 
- - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶9. (SBU) The following incidents have occurred in the Bannu 
Division of the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) according to 
press and consulate contacts.  Bannu Division includes the 
districts of Bannu and Lakki Marwat. 
 
June 24, Lakki Marwat:  Residents of a village formed a peace 
committee to improve law and order, while the District Police 
Officer (DPO) arrested 83 suspected criminals. 
 
June 25, Lakki Marwat:  The DPO asked elders of the Takhti Khel 
area to hand over criminals to law-enforcement agencies and 
implement a ban on the display of arms.  The DCO said the elders 
should ensure that miscreants did not enter the area from 
adjacent tribal regions. 
 
NWFP ) Dera Ismail Khan Division 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶10. (SBU) The following incidents have occurred in the Dera 
Ismail Khan Division of the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) 
according to press and consulate contacts.  Dera Ismail Khan 
Division includes the districts of D.I. Khan and Tank. 
 
June 20, Dera Ismail Khan:  Security forces opened fire on an 
official vehicle, killing a driver for the Forest Department and 
injuring a Forest Department official. 
 
June 22, Dera Ismail Khan:  Unknown attackers killed a local 
cobbler at his shoe shop. 
 
June 23, Dera Ismail Khan:  A bodyguard killed Qari Zainuddin, a 
vocal opponent of TTP chief Baitullah Mehsud and leader of the 
Abdullah Mehsud Group (AMG) at his residence (ref. B). 
Baitullah Mehsud's deputy and spokesman Wali Rehman claimed TTP 
responsibility for killing Zainuddin. 
 
June 24, Tank:  One member each from the TTP and AMG groups were 
killed in a clash in Tank bazaar.  The dead militants were 
identified as Yusuf and Zahir Khan. 
 
June 24, Dera Ismail Khan:  Misbahuddin Mehsud, the younger 
brother of Qari Zainuddin and new chief of the AMG, said that 
his men would continue fighting against Baitullah Mehsud until 
he was killed.  The 23-year-old stated his "strong support" for 
the ongoing military operation in Waziristan.  Separately, 
unidentified gunmen killed Muhammad Farooq, the general 
 
PESHAWAR 00000143  005 OF 007 
 
 
secretary of the Minhajuul Quran Foundation, a peaceful group 
belonging to the Brailvi school of thought, and injured his 
brother.  The gunmen reportedly stormed into Farooq's home and 
shot him. 
 
June 25, Dera Ismail Khan:  Gunmen killed an inspector of the 
Intelligence Bureau and injured another when they opened fire on 
a Peshawar-bound bus on Dera University Road.  Eyewitnesses said 
the gunmen were searching for someone who was not among the 
travelers when they fired at the vehicle. 
 
Northern FATA 
- - - - - - - 
 
¶12. (SBU) The following is a roundup of incidents of 
talibanization and government and community response in the 
Bajaur, Mohmand, and Khyber Agencies of the Federally 
Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). 
 
June 19, Bajaur:  Militants blew up two boys' schools and a 
college with locally-made bombs.  Frontier Corps troops claimed 
to kill over a dozen militants after being ambushed while 
returning to their post after a routine patrol near Mattak, in 
Charmang valley; two soldiers and two civilians also died and 
three soldiers were injured.  A member of the Levies was injured 
when a mine exploded in Mamond tehsil.  Security forces defused 
another bomb in Haji Lawang. 
 
June 19, Mohmand:  Four civilians were injured when mortar 
shells hit their houses in Khwazi Baizai tehsil.  Security 
forces claimed to arrest 47 wanted persons.  Troops secured 
Mohmand Gate, Nawpass, Ghungat, Kuz and Chamarkand, destroying 
three militant hideouts and seizing three mortar shells in Upper 
Mohmand.  Security forces also claim to have destroyed two 
centers used as training camps and recovered 20 shells of 75 MM 
recoilless rifles and three rifles. 
 
June 19, Khyber:  Militants and security forces fought for over 
an hour after a security forces' check post came under attack in 
Dalkhat.  No casualties were reported.  Separately, Khasadar 
forces arrested an Afghan national and two locals attempting to 
sell heavy weapons in Landi Kotal bazaar. 
 
June 20, Bajaur:  Militants ambushed a convoy of security forces 
in Hilal Khel, killing an army major and a soldier, while 
wounding six.  Security forces claim to have killed seven 
militants and wounded five others in an operation in Charmang 
and arrested Gul Zarin, a lieutenant of Bajaur TTP chief Maulvi 
Faqir Mohammad, during a search at a check post in the Omarai 
area of Momand tehsil. 
 
June 20, Khyber:  Mortar shells fired during combat between 
militants and security forces wounded two women and three 
children in Khogakhel area.. 
 
June 21, Bajaur:  The military used jets and artillery attacked 
suspected Taliban hideouts in the Taliban stronghold of Banda in 
Salarzai, 33 kilometers from Khar.  They reported killing 27 
militants, including a key Taliban commander. 
 
June 22, Bajaur:  Militants blew up a girls primary school in 
Chakori area of Khar tehsil.  The political administration later 
detained 20 tribesmen and issued a two-day deadline to the 
Salarzai tribesmen to force militants to leave their areas or 
face an operation.  Five security personnel were injured when a 
remote controlled bomb hit a convoy in Charmang tehsil. 
 
June 22, Mohmand:  Militants ambushed a patrol and killed two 
security personnel in Mullagori. 
 
June 22, Khyber:  Militants killed a Khasadar and injured 
another in Jamrud. 
 
June 24, Bajaur:  The Taliban fired six missiles at Khar bazaar, 
killing one person and injuring four others.  Security forces 
retaliated against suspected Taliban hideouts, attacking them 
 
PESHAWAR 00000143  006 OF 007 
 
 
with heavy weapons. 
 
June 25, Mohmand:  An explosive device planted in the wall of a 
house exploded, killing six, including two children. 
 
Southern FATA 
- - - - - - - 
 
¶13. (SBU) The following is a roundup of incidents of 
talibanization and government and community response in the 
Orakzai, Kurram, and North and South Waziristan Agencies of the 
Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Frontier Regions 
south of the Khyber Agency: 
 
June 19, South Waziristan:  Pakistani military forces bombarded 
positions by  militants supporting Baitullah Mehsudand moved 
ground troops to secure key positions needed for a coming 
campaign against Mehsud areas of South Waziristan. The military 
bombed two compounds, three madrassas and a suspected training 
camp, killed or wounded several insurgents.  Separately, 
hundreds of Wazir tribesmen took to the streets of Wana after 
Friday prayers to protest alleged U.S. drone strikes. 
 
June 19, FR Bannu:  Suspected militants fired five rockets at 
homes in Palosa village, killing a Khasadar.  A jirga of elders 
of the Jani Khel tribe decided to accept all conditions set by 
the government if it halted the ongoing operation in the area. 
 
June 20, South Waziristan:  Militants killed six soldiers. 
Security forces, backed by two jetfighters and two gunship 
helicopters, attacked militant positions between Tanai and 
Sarwakai, claiming to have killed 32 militants.  Troops set 
shops and other commercial property on fire in the town of Mauli 
Khan Serai, on the Wana-Jandola road.  Locals said that three 
restaurants, a petrol pump and several shops were destroyed. 
Separately, militants fired three rockets at a Frontier Corps 
(FC) camp in Wana; FC fired artillery in response, targeting 
installations affiliated with Wazir commander Maulavi Nazir. 
 
June 20, FR Bannu:  A grand jirga of the Baka Khel tribe 
declared it would not provide shelter to Taliban fighters in the 
area. 
 
June 21, South Waziristan:  Security forces, backed by jets and 
gunship helicopters, killed 12 people and wounded eight.  The 
government arrested several elders and confiscating their 
property under the Frontier Crimes Regulation. 
 
June 21, Kurram:  Eight people, including two women and an 
infant girl, were killed, and 10 others injured, in clashes 
between tribesmen from Balishkhel and Sadda. 
 
June 22, South Waziristan:  Militants led by Baitullah Mehsud 
fought security forces attempting to secure the important 
Wana-Jandola Road.  21 people, four of them tribesmen, were 
killed in bombing by warplanes and gunship helicopters. 
Pakistan Air Force (PAF) fighter planes and gunship helicopters 
of the Army continued attacking suspected militant positions in 
villages including Makeen, Barwand, Torwam, Srarogha and Tiarza. 
 
June 22, FR Bannu:  A rocket fired from the Jani Khel area of FR 
Bannu into Bannu district killed three persons, including two 
women.  Pakistani military bombarded the Jani Khel area in 
response. 
 
June 22, Kurram:  Four security force personnel were kidnapped 
while five militants were killed in Lower Kurram.  Separately, 
three tribesmen were killed and five injured in more tribal 
fighting.  A jirga was unable to reach a ceasefire agreement to 
stop the sectarian fighting and was suspended. 
 
June 22, FR Kohat:  Militants in Shin Dhand publicly executed a 
tribesman whom they alleged had killed his daughter-in-law. 
Separately, security forces arrested sixteen suspected militants 
in Shin Dhand and neighboring Kohat settled district.  Militants 
also fired rockets at a check post at Kotal Pass in Darra Adam 
 
PESHAWAR 00000143  007 OF 007 
 
 
Khel; security forces returned fire. 
 
June 23, South Waziristan:  All national newspapers headlined a 
reported U.S. drone strike that killed 80 people, including TTP 
senior commander Khwaz Wali Mehsud.  The two attacks reportedly 
took place in Lattaka village of Ladkha tehsil.  Baitullah 
Mehsud lieutenant Qari Hussain and prominent Afghan Taliban 
commander Maulvi Sangeen also may have been killed in the 
missile attack.  (Note:  TTP spokesman Mufti Waliur Rehman 
denied reports about both deaths.) 
 
June 23, Orakzai:  Militants, in the presence of tribesmen, 
amputated the hands of a man charged with theft, in compliance 
with a punishment ordered by a "taliban court." 
 
June 24, Kurram:  At least 17 people were killed and 32 others 
injured in clashes between Sunni and Shi'a tribes, primarily in 
Lower Kurram.  Tribal elders of the Turi Bangash tribe pledged 
to fully support the government if they launched a military 
operation in the area. 
 
June 25, South Waziristan:  Militants blew up a girls' high 
school in Shin Warsak town. 
 
June 25, Orakzai:  Security forces targeted militant hideouts in 
Lower Orakzai from gunship helicopters and claimed to kill eight 
militants. 
 
June 25, Kurram:  Eight more people died in clashes between 
rival factions.  Some Turi (Shi'a) residents asked that the 
government raise a Turi lashkar to deal with the growing 
influence of militants in the area. 
 
June 25, FR Bannu:  Tribal elders of Ahmadzai Wazir tribes held 
a jirga with the political administration and said that they 
would weed out terrorists from the area. 
TRACY