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| Khyber Agency operation broadened |
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Monday, June 30, 2008
Illegal FM radio station, six hideouts destroyed, private jail unearthed
By Javed Aziz Khan
PESHAWAR: The security forces on Sunday widened the operation to more areas of Bara sub-division in Khyber Agency, destroying an illegal FM radio station, six more hideouts of the militant groups and unearthing a private dungeon.
No resistance was offered by any militant group and no casualty reported. The paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) continued to blow up the hideouts of certain groups with explosives and artillery fire.
“The writ of the state has been restored to a great extent and civil administration has taken control of those areas now. We had to secure Peshawar from any incursion and it is being done successfully,” Adviser to the Prime Minister on Interior Rahman Malik told newsmen outside the Balahisar Fort, the headquarters of the Frontier Corps, where he visited the main control room of ‘Operation Popular’.
During Sunday’s operation, no casualty was reported as security forces destroyed six more hideouts of the Lashkar-i-Islam of Mangal Bagh, Amr Bilmaroof wa Nahi Anilmunkar of Haji Namdar and Ansarul Islam of Qazi Mahboob. Several hideouts of these groups were also razed on Saturday.
“We have destroyed the Mahboob Markaz, residence of Lashkar-i-Islam leader Misri Khan, the hideout of Gud Malang in Akakhel and a private jail in Kohi on Sunday,” additional chief secretary (ACS) for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), Habibullah Khan, said while briefing newsmen at the Fata Civil Secretariat.
The residence of a militant leader Tayyab and a sub-headquarters of the Lashkar-i-Islam in Malik Dinkhel were destroyed later in the evening. All these base-camps were vacated by the inhabitants who had already moved to safer places after their leadership decided not to resist the action.
Munsif Khan, second in command of an outfit, said the government should have addressed the issue through talks instead of taking action. He, however, made it clear that they were not going to clash with their own Army.
The ACS, Fata, while commenting over Baitullah Mahsud’s pulling out from the agreement with the government, said that it could not be linked to the Khyber Agency operation. “These elements (in Bara) had established a parallel administration in Khyber Agency which cannot be tolerated at any cost. The force has been directed to take action against anyone who offers resistance,” the ACS maintained.
The official said a register had been recovered from a hideout that had details of several people who were kidnapped from across the country and released after payment of huge ransoms.
Though there was no announcement about lifting of the curfew, people continued to come out of their houses in many places. The roads leading to the strongholds of the militants were, however, blocked by the security personnel with barricades and barbed wire.
Meanwhile, Rehman Malik presided over a meeting on the Bara operation —’Operation Popular’— at the Governor’s House on Sunday where apart from the NWFP governor, Owais Ahmed Ghani, the federal interior secretary, the NWFP chief secretary, the additional chief secretary for Fata, the IG, Frontier Police, the IG, FC, the commandant Frontier Constabulary and MNAs from Peshawar were also present.
“The provincial government will decide to carry out operation in any part of the province. As far as operations in other agencies are concerned, we will not disclose the details at this stage,” the advisor to the prime minister opined.
The official told newsmen that security forces had destroyed an illegal radio station and unearthed a private jail. He vowed action against those challenging the writ of the government.
Rehman Malik further added that the government had directed the security forces to take special care to ensure the safety of women, children and elders and that was why no mishap had taken place in the Bara operation so far. He dispelled the impression that Bara or Peshawar was being handed over to the Army, saying that the operation was being led by the civilian government under the NWFP governor.
Tension was witnessed in areas of the provincial capital close to the tribal Khyber Agency on Sunday. “We have been hearing loud booms of artillery fire targeting different hideouts of the militants since Saturday. The locals fear reprisals,” Fawad Ali, a resident of F-9-sector of Phase-VI in Hayatabad, told this scribe.
His house is at a stone’s throw from the main Frontier Road in the Khyber Agency. Heavy contingents of police commandos and Frontier Constabulary have been deployed in the sector and other parts of the township close to the boundary wall with Khyber Agency. Security personnel have erected barriers in the area to block anyone coming from the tribal areas.
“We have secured all the localities near the boundaries with the deployment of additional contingents of the Frontier Constabulary and police. Every step will be taken to protect the public from any attack,” a police official, requesting anonymity, said.
An official of the Peshawar Police said that 45 suspects were rounded up Sunday on the directives of the federal government who, otherwise, could have created a law and order problem. Heavy ammunition, he added, was also recovered during raids on their hideouts.
Residents of several villages of Peshawar like Matani, Mashokhel, Mashogagar, Sheikh Mohammadi, Sheikhan, Sarband, Neway Kelay, Acheenay, Regi, Nasir Bagh, Michni, Mathra, Daudzai and Khazana also feared retaliation from members of different groups.
It is pertinent to mention that during briefings of the ACS Fata, IG, FC and Rehman Malik, government officials parried certain questions from mediapersons. “It is premature to comment on that,” were the answer by the advisor for interior and Fata ACS when journalists asked about the possibility of an operation in other tribal areas and Peshawar.
“What is the use of these briefings when you people are parrying our queries?” was the response of an irritated journalist. Also, there is no official tasked with updating newspersons on the operation.
Online adds: Meanwhile, US spy planes were seen hovering over different areas of South Waziristan. US drones made flights in areas of Makin, Ghulam Khan and Jada Khail at very low altitude, causing anguish and sense of insecurity and fear among the local people, a private TV channel reported on Sunday.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
