[Onthebarricades] Protests and unrest in Iraq, Afghanistan, Waziristan

[Andy]

IRAQ:
*  US-allied Sunnis protest sectarian local ruler
*  Basra protesters demand resignation of top cops over insecurity
*  Iraqi soldier shoots US "allies" to prevent abuse
*  Sunni militia stages walkout from US guardposts over civilian deaths
*  Shiites protest Baghdad crackdown

AFGHANISTAN
*  Women protest aid worker's kidnapping
*  Thousands rally against ban on pyramid scheme, job losses
*  Secularists protest death sentence for downloading article
*  Afghan women protest Danish cartoons, Dutch film
*  Afghan-Americans protest for women's rights

WAZIRISTAN/NWFP
*  Tribal groups organise anti-insurgent patrols
*  Tribal militants overwhelm military fort

Publicly Archived at Global Resistance: 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/globalresistance

http://news.corporate.findlaw.com/ap_stories/i/1107/02-09-2008/20080209123504_25.html


US-Allied Sunni Tribesmen Protest Bias
By LAUREN FRAYER Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD (AP) - Hundreds of U.S.-backed Sunni tribesman shut their offices 
and rallied northeast of Baghdad Saturday, demanding the resignation of a 
provincial police chief they accuse of sectarian bias.
The demonstration in the city of Baqouba was organized by local Sunni 
fighters who left the insurgency to work with the Americans in ousting 
al-Qaida and other militants from their hometowns.

The men, whose patrols are credited with tamping down violence in their 
neighborhoods, in recent months have grown frustrated with the province's 
Shiite-dominated government. Some have been denied jobs in the Iraqi 
security forces, and they accuse Gen. Ghanim al-Qureyshi, the Shiite 
director general of police in Diyala province, of trying to maintain a 
Shiite majority in the department.
"Al-Qureyshi targets Sunnis and kidnaps women," a banner hoisted above the 
crowd read.
A spokesman for al-Qureyshi said the police chief did not want to comment on 
the protests.
The Sunni fighters' threats to end their cooperation underscores the 
challenges U.S. forces face in managing the relationship with the new 
allies, who have been credited with helping to uproot al-Qaida in Iraq from 
strongholds first in Anbar province, west of the capital, and then in 
difficult districts in Baghdad and satellite cities to the north and south.
Elsewhere in the country, Iraqi police arrested 31 Shiite activists in raids 
south of Baghdad on the third day of U.S.-Iraqi operations in an area that 
includes several Shiite holy cities.
The raids have raised tension with some Shiite tribesmen and fighters who 
have pledged to halt attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces. Radical Shiite cleric 
Muqtada al-Sadr ordered a six-month cease-fire for his Mahdi Army militia, 
but some members have broken away and violated the pledge, which expires 
later this month.
Fifteen of Saturday's arrests were in Karbala, a Shiite holy city 50 miles 
south of Baghdad. Sixteen others were arrested in a Sadrist area in 
Nasiriyah, about 200 miles southeast of the capital, police said.
Rahman Mshawi, spokesman for Karbala police, said four of the Karbala 
suspects are members of the Iraq-based People's Mujahedeen Organization of 
Iran, or Mujahedeen Khalq.
The group was founded in the late 1960s and fled to Iraq in the early 1980s 
after it fell out with the clerical regime of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. 
During Saddam Hussein's rule, the movement used Iraq as a base for 
operations against Iran's government.
Thousands of its members remain in Iraq, and both the U.S. and Iraq consider 
the Khalq a terrorist organization.
Khalq issued a statement denying any of its members were arrested in 
Karbala.
The U.S. military announced Saturday that five American soldiers were killed 
in two roadside bombings the day before. Four died in Baghdad and one in the 
northern Tamim province. At least 3,958 members of the U.S. military have 
died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an 
Associated Press count.
North of Baghdad, Iraqi police said a local al-Qaida in Iraq leader was 
killed in his home. Abu Omar al-Dori resisted police for about an hour 
before he was killed early Saturday in Samarra, a mostly Sunni town about 60 
miles north of Baghdad, a police officer said. He spoke on condition of 
anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media.
Near Baqouba, Iraqi forces found a mass grave with 12 bodies, including 
three of women, according to police and morgue officials.
---
Associated Press writer Sinan Salaheddin in Baghdad contributed to this 
report.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F4B9AA07-FA1E-4F65-BB25-8813B65325D2.htm

Mass protest over Basra insecurity

Protesters were demanding the resignations of top police officers [AFP]

Thousands of people took to the streets in southern Basra, protesting 
against deteriorating security in a city where Iraqi forces assumed 
responsibility for safety last December.

A long line of marchers - estimated to be as many as 5,000 people - 
demonstrated near the Basra police command headquarters on Saturday, 
demanding that Major General Abdul-Jalil Khalaf, the police chief and 
Lietenant General Mohan al-Fireji, the commander of joint military-police 
operation, resign.

Many carried banners, decrying the killing of women, workers, academics and 
scientists.

Different Shia groups have been wrestling for control of Basra, Iraq's 
second-largest city and the urban centre of an oil-rich region.

Residents are becoming increasingly alarmed about security, saying that 
killings, kidnappings and other crimes have increased significantly since 
British forces turned over responsibility for the city at the end of last 
year.

In February, two journalists working for CBS were kidnapped in Basra. One 
was released but the other, a Briton, is still being held.

Shia protesters

Dozens of women were slain in Basra last year because of how they dressed - 
their mutilated bodies found with notes warning against "violating Islamic 
teachings".

Saturday's protesters, who were mostly men, came from several Shia political 
movements, including the biggest Shia party, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi 
Council and its militia wing, known as the Badr Brigade.

Khalaf said at a news conference later that "today's demonstration was a 
natural right of the citizens and the political parties to express their 
opinions".

He defended the performance of the police, saying they had freed 10 people 
who were kidnapped in the past 10 days and "detained 64 people accused of 
carrying out sabotage and terrorist operations all over Basra".

Bullet-riddled bodies

The protests came as Iraq witnessed more violence.

Separate roadside bombings killed six people in Wajihiya, about 25km east of 
Baquba.

In the first attack, a bomb destroyed a car - killing a mother and her two 
children and wounding two others, including the woman's husband.

The second attack hit a bus, killing three men and wounding two others, said 
a security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Also on Saturday, a mass grave containing about 100 bodies was discovered 
near Khalis in Diyala province, about 80km north of Baghdad.

Colonel Sabah al-Ambaqi of the Iraqi police said the grave was discovered in 
an orchard near al-Bu Tumaa, a Sunni village outside Khalis.

Khalis is a Shia town surrounded by Sunni communities and has been the scene 
of repeated sectarian attacks..

---------------------------------------------------------------

** Dahr Jamail's MidEast Dispatches **
** Visit the Dahr Jamail website http://dahrjamailiraq.com **

Killer of U.S. Soldiers Becomes a Hero Inter Press Service
By Ali al-Fadhily and Dahr Jamail*

BAGHDAD, Jan 7 (IPS) - The recent killing of two U.S. soldiers by their 
Iraqi colleague has raised disturbing questions about U.S. military 
relations with the Iraqis they work with.

On Dec. 26, an Iraqi soldier opened fire on U.S. soldiers accompanying him 
during a joint military patrol in the northern Iraqi city Mosul. He killed 
the U.S. captain and another sergeant, and wounded three others, including 
an Iraqi interpreter.

Conflicting versions of the killing have arisen. Col. Hazim al-Juboory, 
uncle of the attacker Kaissar Saady al-Juboory, told IPS that his nephew at 
first watched the U.S. soldiers beat up an Iraqi woman. When he asked them 
to stop, they refused, so he opened fire.

"Kaissar is a professional soldier who revolted against the Americans when 
they dragged a woman by her hair in a brutal way," Col. Juboory said. "He is 
a tribal man, and an Arab with honour who would not accept such behaviour. 
He killed his captain and sergeant knowing that he would be executed."

Others gave IPS a similar account. "I was there when the American captain 
and his soldiers raided a neighbourhood and started shouting at women to 
tell them where some men they wanted were," a resident of Mosul, speaking on 
condition of anonymity, told IPS on phone. "The women told them they did not 
know, and their men did not do anything wrong, and started crying in fear."

The witness said the U.S. captain began to shout at his soldiers and the 
women, and his men then started to grab the women and pull them by their 
hair.

"The soldier we knew later to be Kaissar shouted at the Americans, 'No, No,' 
but the captain shouted back at the Iraqi soldier," the witness told IPS. 
"Then the Iraqi soldier shouted, 'Let go of the women you sons of bitches,' 
and started shooting at them." The soldier, he said, then ran off.

The Association of Muslim Scholars, a Sunni organisation, issued a statement 
saying the Iraqi soldier had shot the U.S. soldiers after he saw them beat 
up a pregnant woman.

"His blood rose and he asked the occupying soldiers to stop beating the 
woman," they said in the statement. "Their answer through the translator 
was: 'We will do what we want. So he opened fire on them."

The story was first reported on al-Rafidain satellite channel. That started 
Iraqis from all over the country talking about "the hero" who sacrificed his 
life for Iraqi honour.
The U.S. and Iraqi military told a different version of the story.

An Iraqi general told reporters that Kaissar carried out the attack because 
he had links to "Sunni Arab insurgent groups."

"Soldier Kaissar Saady worked for insurgent groups who pushed him to learn 
army movements and warn his comrades about them," a captain of the second 
Iraqi army division told IPS. "There are so many like him in the army and 
now within the so-called Awakening forces (militias funded by the U.S. 
military)."

One army officer speaking on condition of anonymity described Kaissar's act 
as heroic. "Those Americans learned their lesson once more."

Sheikh Juma' al-Dawar, chief of the major al-Baggara tribe in Iraq, told IPS 
in Baghdad that "Kaissar is from the al-Juboor tribes in Gayara -- tribes 
with morals that Americans do not understand."

The tribal chief added, "Juboor tribes and all other tribes are proud of 
Kaissar and what he did by killing the American soldiers. Now he is a hero, 
with a name that will never be forgotten."

Many Iraqis speak in similar vein. "It is another example of Iraqi people's 
unity despite political conspiracies by the Americans and their tails 
(collaborators)," Mohammad Nassir, an independent politician in Baghdad told 
IPS. "Kaissar is loved by all Iraqis who pray for his safety and who are 
ready to donate anything for his welfare."

Col. Juboory said Kaissar who had at first accepted collaboration with the 
U.S. forces "found the truth too bitter to put up with." The colonel said: 
"I worked with the Americans because being an army officer is my job and 
also because I was convinced they would help Iraqis. But 11 months was 
enough for me to realise that starving to death is more honourable than 
serving the occupiers. They were mean in every way."

Independent sources have since told IPS that Kaissar was captured by a 
special joint Iraqi-U.S. force, and he is now being held and tortured at the 
al-Ghizlany military camp in Mosul.

Despite a recent decline in the number of occupation forces being killed, 
2007 was the deadliest year of the occupation for U.S. troops, with 901 
killed, according to the U.S. Department of Defence.

(*Ali, our correspondent in Baghdad, works in close collaboration with Dahr 
Jamail, our U.S.-based specialist writer on Iraq who has reported 
extensively from Iraq and the Middle East)

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/2/18/headlines#5
Sunni Militia Ends Cooperation with U.S. over Civilian Deaths

In Iraq, a U.S.-allied militia staged a massive walkout from its guard
posts this weekend in protest of U.S. attacks that have killed twelve
civilians this month. Members of the group, known as Sons of Iraq, are
paid ten dollars a day and issued military vests to fight alongside
U.S. forces. But nearly two thousand members abandoned their positions
Saturday following a U.S. attack on a town south of Baghdad the day
before. Militia members say U.S. forces deliberately opened fire after
landing in a helicopter. The group says they will no longer work with
the U.S. military.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2008/03/28/shiites_in_baghdad_protest_crackdown/

Shi'ites in Baghdad protest crackdown
Authorities set curfew to quell the violence
A man burned an image of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki during a protest in 
the Kazimiyah neighborhood of Baghdad. (Hadi Mizban/Associated Press)
Email|Print|Single Page| Text size - + By Tina Susman
Los Angeles Times / March 28, 2008
BAGHDAD - In a sign of growing rage against the Iraqi and US governments, 
tens of thousands of Shi'ites marched in their strongholds across Baghdad 
yesterday to protest a crackdown on Shi'ite militiamen that has led to more 
than 125 deaths.
more stories like this
In speech, Bush points to progress in Iraq. A7
The government announced a curfew across the capital until Sunday in an 
attempt to quell violence, which has spread to several cities since the 
offensive began Tuesday in the southern city of Basra.
Loyalists of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr rejected US and Iraqi assertions 
that the Basra operation was aimed at rogue militiamen, and insisted it was 
targeting Sadr's Mahdi Army militia. A statement released late yesterday by 
Sadr's political office said the clergyman remained committed to a 
cease-fire that Sadr imposed on his militia last August.
"Moqtada al-Sadr is calling on everyone to follow political solutions and 
peaceful protest, and not to spill Iraqi blood, to reach a solution to the 
current crisis," the statement said.
But a fourth day of ferocious rocket and mortar attacks in and around the 
US-guarded Green Zone, home to the US Embassy and most Iraqi government 
offices, underscored the sense among Shi'ite fighters that the United States 
and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki were working to cripple Sadr's movement 
ahead of local elections planned this fall.
The US military said the attacks were launched from Shi'ite areas of eastern 
Baghdad and that American forces killed two "terrorists" yesterday suspected 
of involvement in the barrages. An American civilian working with the US 
Embassy was among those killed yesterday when a rocket was fired into the 
Green Zone in central Baghdad.
The showdown has placed Iraqi and US officials in an awkward position. Both 
have described the Iraqi Security Force crackdown as a sign of Maliki's 
determination to stabilize areas plagued by fighting between rival Shi'ite 
militias. But they also are insisting that Sadr's fighters are not the 
problem, despite his militia's role in such unrest. Mollifying Sadr is 
crucial if he is to continue his cease-fire, which is credited with helping 
to reduce violence nationwide.
"This is not the Sadr trend led by Sayyid Moqtada Sadr that has been the 
ongoing source of violence and instability," said a US Embassy spokesman, 
Philip Reeker. His use of the honorific "Sayyid" was a sign of the United 
States' attempts to remain on relatively good terms with Sadr.
Reeker blamed a "subset" of the Mahdi Army for the violence. "They really 
are essentially criminal militias, and they are the ones that have been the 
difficulty in Basra," said Reeker.
Such statements have been met with skepticism from Sadr supporters.
"They made this crisis because the Sadr movement, they feel, will be an 
obstacle in the upcoming elections. They feel they won't succeed in the 
elections," said Abu Ali, a Mahdi Army member in Sadr City. The Baghdad slum 
is a stronghold of Sadr, and thousands took part in yesterday's march.
Ali said violence would soar if Maliki did not halt the operation and meet 
Sadr's demands for negotiations. "We will be more determined. Enough 
humiliation," he said.
Maliki reiterated his demand that "criminal gangs" causing unrest in Basra 
should disarm within a three-day deadline that expires tomorrow.
"We are capable of facing any forces everywhere. We are determined to 
eradicate these criminal gangs. There will not be any negotiations with 
them," he said. Maliki also made a point of not naming Sadr's Mahdi Army as 
the troublemaker.
Scores of people have died since the fighting erupted early Tuesday, 
including at least 80 in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, police said.
They said another 45 people had died in Kut, the capital of Wasit Province, 
in clashes between militiamen and Iraqi security forces.
In Baghdad, the dead have included at least two Americans fatally injured by 
rockets fired into the Green Zone Sunday and yesterday. The State Department 
ordered employees yesterday not to go outside without wearing helmets and 
flak vests, harkening back to the summer when daily bombardments were the 
norm.
At least five barrages hit the Green Zone or nearby neighborhoods yesterday, 
the US military said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/30/world/asia/30afghan.html?_r=1&ref=world&oref=slogin

Afghan Women Protest Aid Worker's Kidnapping

By TAIMOOR SHAH and CARLOTTA GALL
Published: January 30, 2008
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - About 500 Afghan women gathered Tuesday in this 
southern city to protest the kidnapping of an American aid worker and her 
Afghan driver and to call for her release.
The kidnapped woman, Cyd Mizell, 49, works for the Asian Rural Life 
Development Foundation and was seized Saturday on her way to work in 
Kandahar, along with her driver, Abdul Hadi. Afghan officials said that they 
had no leads on who abducted them and that there had not been any contact 
with the kidnappers or demands by them.
In a strong show of support for Ms. Mizell, who has lived in Kandahar for 
six years, working on educational projects and women's development, Afghan 
women's associations called in speeches for officials, elders, ordinary 
citizens and young people to work for her release.
"This is against Islam, this is against Afghan culture, particularly against 
Kandahari custom, a woman's abduction," said the director of women's affairs 
in Kandahar, Runa Tareen.
"Cydney Mizell was here to help Afghan women. She was living here and was 
proud and confident that Afghans have a nice culture that does not harm 
women."
Soraya Barna, a member of the provincial council of Kandahar, said: "We are 
so sad and we want her to be released as soon as possible. We want officials 
and others to multiply their struggle to find her soon and hope she will be 
back safely."
Taimoor Shah reported from Kandahar, and Carlotta Gall from Kabul.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jWKX5zxSu-K42UPol5zo5udMUqpQ

Thousands protest in Afghan capital for banned pyramid scheme
Feb 10, 2008
KABUL (AFP) - Around 3,000 mostly young Afghan men marched through Kabul 
Sunday to demand the government lift a temporary ban on an international 
money-making scheme.
The protesters marched to the gates of the palace of President Hamid Karzai, 
where they read out a resolution demanding the government lift a temporary 
order on the Afghan version of the Internet-based QuestNet pyramid scheme.
The scheme, in which people encourage others to buy a product over the 
Internet to become a member, started in Afghanistan two years ago with 600 
members and now has about 21,000, head of the Afghan Quest Union, Najmudin 
Fayaz, told reporters.
"We are here to ask for our rights," Fayaz said. "We have been active here 
for two years and have been given a licence for our business."
Kabul issued the scheme a licence two years ago but withdrew it last week, 
saying it needed to draw up an operating law, leaders of the demonstration 
said.
"If you cannot provide us jobs, don't take our jobs," read one of the 
banners held up by the demonstrators, many of whom wore Western dress.
"Fight corruption, drugs, and warlords -- not IT and information 
technology," said another, referring to the scheme's use of the Internet.
One of the participants, Karim Wasal, said it had rescued him from poverty 
and helped "make my dreams come true."
Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world after three decades 
of war.
There is high unemployment -- although the government releases no figures --  
and the development of industry is held back by insecurity, including linked 
to an extremist insurgency, and the lack of basic infrastructure like 
electricity.
The QuestNet website (www.quest.net) says the scheme, also known as 
GoldQuest, was set up in 1998 and has a presence in 160 countries.
Critics say it is a scam in which few people make any money.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/afghan-protest-he-just-shared-an-article-with-friends-whats-the-problem-776784.html

Afghan protest: 'He just shared an article with friends. What's the 
problem?'

AP
Members of the Solidarity Party of Afghanistan march during a demonstration 
in Kabul yesterday to protest against the death sentence on Sayed Pervez 
Kambaksh
By Jerome Starkey in Kabul
Friday, 1 February 2008
One the streets of the Afghan capital last night, public opinion on the fate 
of Sayed Pervez Kambaksh was divided. Residents of Kabul are invariably more 
secular than people in rural areas but, even so, they have mixed views on 
whether Mr Kambaksh deserves to die.
Madina, a 17-year-old journalism student at Kabul University, said that his 
execution would represent a terrifying return to Taliban-style injustice, 
and urged the courts to pardon her fellow student.
She said: "They should forgive him. He is young. He is a student. He just 
printed something off the internet - he should not lose his life. We should 
not go back to the Taliban times. We should think of something new, we 
should engage with him, we should talk to him and listen to his opinion."
Metra Khonari, a 20-year-old flight attendant, said the case offered a 
chance to overhaul the legal system. "In a free country, everyone should 
have the right to criticise religion," she said. "We shouldn't go backwards. 
Conservative people should not be allowed to victimise the young. It was not 
a fair trial, the court was not free and he didn't have a proper defence." 
Under the oppressive Taliban regime Ms Khonari would have been banned from 
working. She added: "We should reform our justice system because most of the 
judges have been educated in madrassas. They have not had a proper, modern 
education."
Mr Kambaksh's plight has been widely reported in the Afghan media, and 
everyone you meet seems to have an opinion.
Najibullah, a 25-year-old Kabul shopkeeper, said: "He just shared an article 
with his friends. He didn't write it, so what's the problem?"
Sale Mohammed, a 19-year-old student, said it was up to human rights groups 
to intervene. "I really disapprove of the court's decision," he added. "He 
just wanted to show his friends what he had found in a report. I want the 
human rights commission to help us to release him."
Mir Ahmadi Joyinda, an Afghan MP, said: "It is unacceptable and 
unbelievable. We have laws about the media but he did not have a fair trial. 
We want him released."
But there were also those, young and old, who approved of the sharia court's 
ruling. Abdul Wasi Tokhi, an 18-year-old student at the American University 
in Kabul, called for a swift execution. He said: "The guy should be hanged. 
He was making fun of Islam's rules and regulations. He was making fun of the 
Prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him. You cannot criticise any principles 
which have been approved by sharia. It is the words of the Prophet."
Qari Imam Bakhsh, a Muslim cleric, agreed, saying: "I think he is not a 
Muslim. A Muslim would not make this kind of mistake. He should be punished 
so that others can learn from him."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-04-02-afghan-protest_N.htm

Afghan women protest anti-Islam art

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Dozens of Afghan women have burned the Dutch and 
Danish flags in protest of an anti-Islam cartoon and film.
About 70 women chanted slogans against Denmark and the Netherlands during 
Wednesday's protest outside the Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture. 
Most wore the all-covering blue burqa.
The women called on Danish and Dutch troops to leave Afghanistan. They also 
urged the Afghan government to shut down their embassies and cut diplomatic 
relations.
The film, made by a Dutch politician, intersperses images of recent 
terrorist attacks with verses from the Quran and fiery speeches by Islamic 
extremists.
The protesters were also angered by the recent republication of a cartoon 
showing the Prophet Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban.

http://www.mercurynews.com/alamedacounty/ci_8501498?nclick_check=1

Protest to support rights of Afghan women
By Lisa Fernandez
Mercury News
Article Launched: 03/08/2008 01:33:49 AM PST

A group of Afghan-Americans is inviting people to take a stand today for 
women's rights in Afghanistan with a show of support on a Fremont street 
corner.
Rona Popal, executive director of the Fremont-based Afghan Coalition, said 
she told police she thought 100 people might show up at 1 p.m. on Fremont 
Boulevard at Thornton Avenue - in an area that's been nicknamed Little 
Kabul. But she's hoping even more will come.
The purpose is to raise awareness about the condition of women living in 
Afghanistan. While women are now allowed to work and leave the house, they 
are still treated unequally as traditional thinking, along with Taliban 
factions, continues to gain a stronghold in the country.
"It's just getting worse and worse," Popal said.
The backdrop of Fremont's protest is International Women's Day. And the 
demonstrators will be asking people to sign a petition of solidarity for 
Afghan women, as well as contact congressional representatives asking them 
to push for change. Similar protests are occurring in New York and 
Annandale, Va.
Popal said local Afghan-American women were inspired by two women in Ireland 
who created a women's peace movement in the 1970s to protest violence in 
Ireland.

http://jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2373893
South Waziri Tribesmen Organize Counterinsurgency Lashkar
By Andrew Mc Gregor
[From: Terrorism Monitor (The Jamestown Foundation, USA)
Volume 6, Issue 1 (January 11, 2008)]

Four days after the murder of nine members of a government-sponsored
peace committee in the Pakistani region of South Waziristan, tribal
leaders have vowed to organize a special force of tribesmen to expel
foreign militants from the region. The deceased were involved in an
attempt to broker a ceasefire between government forces and local
militants (PakTribune, January 7). The killings are part of a
continuing rash of nighttime assassinations of tribal elders who
refuse to cooperate with the Taliban/al-Qaeda insurgency against
Pakistan's central government that began in 2004. The growing
violence marks the collapse of the conciliatory "Waziristan Accord"
negotiated by regional governor Ali Muhammad Jan Orakzai in
September 2006. Orakzai resigned on January 6.

Maulvi Nazir-a 33-year-old tribal leader also known as Mullah Nazir-
is leading the effort to take retribution for the slayings. Most of
those killed in the attacks were loyal to him. A former Taliban
commander believed to have connections to Pakistan's Inter-Services
Intelligence agency (ISI), Nazir has publicly accused Baitullah
Mehsud for the killings. Baitullah, appointed as the leader of the
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan coalition late last year, has also been
blamed by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf for the assassination
of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto on December 27, 2007, a charge
Baitullah has denied. Baitullah's ascendance as leader of Pakistan's
Taliban began with the death of militant leader Nek Muhammad in a
U.S. Hellfire missile attack in June 2004. As a result of
Baitullah's alleged involvement in the murders, members of his
Mehsud tribe have also been targeted by Nazir's followers, who are
members of the rival Ahmadzai Wazir tribe. The Ahmadzai are
particularly strong in the western part of South Waziristan, where
they control the passes and trade routes into Afghanistan. Vehicles
mounted with loudspeakers have been driving around the Wana region,
ordering Mehsud tribesmen to leave the area (Daily Times [Lahore],
January 9). Shops and markets in the area remain closed in
anticipation of renewed violence.

The killings were the result of two separate rocket attacks on the
evening of January 6. The first, in the regional capital of Wana,
killed three; the second, at the office of Maulvi Khanan-a close
aide of Maulvi Nazir-in nearby Shakai, killed six and wounded five
(Dawn [Karachi], January 8). Immediate retribution took the form of
one Mehsud tribesman killed and four abducted the next day (Daily
Times, January 9).

Forming the Lashkar

Thousands of angry tribesmen assembled in a jirga (a tribal meeting
to consider important issues) on January 9. Malik Ghaffar, a tribal
chief, declared that one man from each house should gather the
following day to plan a course of action (Dawn, January 9; Daily
Times, January 10).

A lashkar is a body of tribesmen formed as a war party to deal with
a particular incident. This may be in response to a family feud, a
tribal clash or in reaction to a specific government policy. The
size of the lashkar is in proportion to the perceived degree of
threat [1]. In this case the lashkar will be formed from 600 armed
tribesmen. According to tribal elder Meetha Khan, "The lashkar will
give two options to those sheltering the foreigners, either to stop
sheltering them and return to their tribe, or face the eviction of
their families from the area" (AP, January 10).

Situation in South Waziristan

South Waziristan is one of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas
(FATA) of western Pakistan, a region where the central authority of
Islamabad is very weak. The region was also highly resistant to
British colonial rule, has little infrastructure and is difficult to
reach or travel through.

Despite the presence of at least 80,000 soldiers from the regular
army and the paramilitary Frontier Corps in the region, government
control remains light, and is administered through a series of
colonial style political agents. Sharia law is enforced through self-
appointed leaders like Maulvi Nazir. Technically the area is
officially subject to the Frontier Crimes Regulation, a colonial
holdover that still incorporates the concept of collective
responsibility, which has long been abandoned in most parts of the
world. The Ahmadzai, for example, were fined $95,000 in 2004 for
failing to stop rocket attacks on federal security forces (BBC,
March 4, 2004). Demolition of homes, closure of businesses and
seizure of vehicles remain common punishments regardless of the
guilt of the individuals so affected. Homes in the region are built
like small fortresses, increasing the difficulty of rooting out
militant suspects. Violation of the integrity of these homes is
regarded as a major offence, while the death of an individual in
security operations inevitably leads to a vendetta (badal).

The IMU in South Waziristan

The Ahmadzai believe that the assassins of the elders are Uzbek
militants from the community of Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU)
fighters who crossed into South Waziristan from Afghanistan in 2001.
Led by Tahir Yuldash, the Uzbeks had been allowed by the Taliban to
take refuge and set up training camps in Afghanistan after a number
of setbacks in their Central Asian jihad. Initially trained and led
by Uzbek veterans of the Soviet armed forces, the Uzbeks are skilled
fighters who have taken on security duties for the al-Qaeda
leadership in the tribal regions of Pakistan. Since their arrival
the Uzbeks have established successful farms and businesses as well
as integrating into the local community through intermarriage. By
doing so, the Uzbeks have availed themselves of the powerful local
custom of melmastia ("hospitality"), which involves the protection
of the host party against all attempts to harm or seize the guest.
At the same time the Uzbeks have become involved in local vendettas
as guns-for-hire and are blamed for much of the violent crime in the
region. This has resulted in a number of violent battles between
tribesmen and Uzbek fighters in recent years. Already well-known in
Afghanistan as a Taliban commander, Maulvi Nazir made his reputation
locally by leading tribesmen in successful attacks against the
Uzbeks last year, driving most of them from the Wana Valley in April
2007. The Uzbeks have developed especially close ties to members of
the Mehsud tribe but are no longer united under a single leader.

Tribal Differences and Rivalries

There are indications that the murders of the Ahmadzai leaders may
be part of an intra-clan struggle for leadership of the Ahmadzai.
According to one report, Maulvi Nazir's brother and rival, Noorul
Islam, has claimed responsibility for the attacks as retaliation for
Maulvi Nazir's alliance with the government and his initiation of a
war against the Uzbeks. According to Noorul, "Maulvi Nazir is the
government's agent and he will pay a heavy price for killing
mujahideen" (Udayavani, January 10). Not all members of the Mehsud
tribe support Baitullah's growing feud with the Ahmadzai: a jirga of
80 Mehsud elders met with Baitullah's followers on January 8 to try
to defuse a potentially devastating tribal war.

Nazir is a member of the small Kakakhel sub-clan of the Ahmadzai and
achieved dominance over larger and traditionally stronger groups
within the tribe such as the Zalikhel clan and the Yargulkhel sub-
clan through the political and military support of the Afghan
Taliban and the ISI. There are other local Taliban leaders, however,
like Hajji Umar-a Yargulkhel and brother of the late Nek Muhammad-
who oppose Maulvi Nazir.

Conclusion

Even though Baitullah Mehsud has denied involvement in the
assassinations of the Ahmadzai elders, his men continue to attack
Pakistani security forces in South Waziristan. A rocket attack on a
security post at Chugmalai on January 7 killed one and injured
three. Three security men were abducted the next day near Mouli Khan
Sarai (Daily Times, January 9; Udayavani, January 10). Security
forces responded with mortar attacks on Mehsud targets. Militants
have also cut off food and water supplies to the security forces'
fort at Laddah (Dawn, January 8). Interim Interior Minister Hamid
Nawaz announced that Pakistan's intelligence agencies and the
Pakistani army have begun a joint operation to take Baitullah Mehsud
alive in order to "trace his accomplices," but denied rumors that
foreign agencies would take part in the hunt (Daily Times, January
8). There have been reports in U.S. newspapers in the last few weeks
that the Bush administration was considering inserting U.S. Special
Forces and CIA operatives into the tribal regions of Pakistan (New
York Times, January 5; Washington Post, January 6).

It would be a mistake to regard Maulvi Nazir as either pro-
Washington or pro-Islamabad. Nazir acts in his own interest, those
of his clan and those of his tribe and will ally himself with anyone
he perceives may further those interests. His extended family owns
property on both side of the Afghan-Pakistani border and he travels
freely between the two without interference from the Afghan Taliban.
The apparently impending explosion of violence in the Waziristan
frontier region will only create further instability that can be
exploited by the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

Notes

1. Sher Muhammad Mohmand, The Pathan Customs, Peshawar, 2003, p.42

http://jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2373914
Pakistan's Frontier Corps Struggles to Hold Forts against Taliban
Attacks
By Rahimullah Yusufzai
[From: Terrorism Focus (The Jamestown Foundation, USA)
Volume 5, Issue 3 (January 22, 2008)]

On the night of January 15, the Sararogha Fort manned by Pakistan's
paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) fell to Islamic militants in a
remote part of the South Waziristan tribal region bordering
Afghanistan (The News [Islamabad], January 17). It was the first
time in the 60-year history of the country that a military fort was
lost to a non-state group and had most of its defenders killed or
captured.

This was the second embarrassing defeat in recent months for
Pakistan's armed forces in South Waziristan, where military
operations were launched in early 2004 to hunt down militants
suspected of links with al-Qaeda and the Taliban. On August 30 last
year, some 300 besieged Pakistan Army soldiers surrendered without
firing a shot to the same group of tribal militants led by Pakistani
Taliban military commander Baitullah Mehsud (The News, August 31,
2007). They were held hostage for more than two months and were
exchanged on November 4 for 25 of Mehsud's men as a result of
mediation by the 21-member jirga (council) of tribal elders and
clerics belonging to the Mehsud Pashtun tribe.

Though Mehsud secured freedom for some of his most loyal fighters-
including four who had been convicted and jailed on terrorism
charges-he was angry that seven others were not freed despite a
promise reportedly made by military authorities to the jirga. To
press the government to release his men and accept his other
demands, Mehsud ordered the abduction of security forces personnel
while his spokesman, Maulvi Omar, claimed that around 100 troops
were now in Taliban custody. In retaliation, the government arrested
Mehsud tribesmen, mostly detained under the "collective
responsibility clause" of the Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR) that
empowers government administrators in tribal areas to apprehend
anyone without specifying any charge and deny bail to the accused.
The implementation of such questionable laws, together with the
ongoing shelling and bombing of the entire area populated by the
Mehsud tribe by long-range artillery guns and Cobra gunship
helicopters, has fuelled anger against the security forces and
enabled the Taliban militants to recruit more fighters.

Under the February 2005 Sararogha peace agreement concluded between
commander Mehsud and the government, and following last November's
prisoners' swap, the Pakistan Army withdrew regular soldiers from
five forts located in South Waziristan territory populated by the
Mehsud tribe. Only 41 FC troops-including civilian employees such as
cooks and barbers-were left to defend the Sararogha Fort, sited on a
ridge overlooking the Razmak-Jandola road in hostile Taliban-
controlled territory (Dawn [Karachi], January 18). The British-era
fort-which, like the other forts, was meant to serve as a forward
military base-was stormed by around 400 Taliban fighters armed with
light and heavy weapons including mortars, rocket-launchers and
machineguns at 9 PM on January 15. Taliban spokesman Maulvi Omar
maintained that the fort was captured an hour later by breaching one
of its walls. Pakistan Army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas
insisted that the hopelessly outnumbered troops put up a brave
resistance for six hours. He put the number of dead soldiers at
seven and listed another 20 as missing. According to the general, 12
soldiers managed to escape and reach another military fort at
Jandola, which is located about 15 miles away. General Abbas also
claimed that 40 militants were killed in the fighting. The Taliban
spokesman, on the other hand, conceded the death of only two of
their fighters and claimed that 16 FC men were killed and another 14
captured.

The military and the militants continued to make conflicting claims
when another FC fort at Siplatoi was overrun by Mehsud's men. The
Taliban militants insisted that 60 paramilitary soldiers based at
the fort surrendered peacefully and were forgiven, though the
military rejected this claim (Dawn, January 18). Other reports
insist the garrison escaped to the nearby fort at Chagmalai (al-
Jazeera, January 17). The Taliban also continued to fire rockets and
mortars at the fort in Ladah, which was better defended with more
than 200 paramilitary soldiers. Supplying the Ladah Fort has become
difficult due to control of the supply lines by Taliban fighters and
their supporters. The military is now trying to advance into the
Taliban-held territory in a pincer-movement from Razmak, Shakai and
Jandola in an apparent bid to relieve the embattled forts and flush
out the militants. That may not be easy to achieve considering the
failure of similar military efforts in the past. However, the
military is under pressure to regain control of the forts and
improve defenses against future Taliban attacks. Heavy fighting
involving aircraft and artillery is ongoing in the Ladah and Jandola
regions following an attempted Taliban ambush of a military convoy
near Chagmalai (Daily Times [Lahore], January 19).

The fall of Sararogha Fort showed once more that the Frontier Corps-
which is drawn from Pashtun tribes and has officers from the
Pakistan Army-has become a demoralized force after suffering
repeated losses at the hands of the Taliban fighters. Desertions
from its ranks have increased and fresh recruitment drives are
failing to meet targets. Progress in the U.S.-funded plans to better
train and equip the paramilitary soldiers has been slow. More
importantly, the Pashtun tribesmen serving in the force are not
sufficiently convinced that the war against fellow tribal members is
in the interest of Pakistan and Islam.