Coalition commandos kill religious scholar in Pakistani tribal belt. US quarters in Waziristan come under rocket attack

Coalition commandos killed the controller of a seminary in Birmal-Larra, South Waziristan Agency some 385 km from Pakistan’s north-western frontier province capital, Peshawar, in the wee hours on Wednesday.

The US troops, at 2:30 am (local time), using a helicopter landed in the Birmal-Larra area, some 40 kilometres north-west of the agency headquarters of South Waziristan, Wana, close to the Pak-Afghan border and killed a religious scholar, Darya Khan Malikshai Wazir, 33, who was the controller (muhtamim) of Madrasa-e-Fayazul Uloom. The body of the muhtamim was carrying twelve bullet wounds.

The chopper is said to have crossed into the Pakistani territory from Afghanistan side where 24 American commandos, led by Pashtun commander of Northern Alliance, Sher Ahmad Zadran, are stationed in the fortress of Machadad Khan Kharotai, just a few kilometres from the Pakistan western border near South Waziristan Agency.

Machadad Khan Kharotai along with his four other family members was arrested in the mid January last in a nocturnal operation carried out by five helicopters carrying dozens of US commandos and whose 17 other family members were killed by US bombing while travelling towards a shrine in three trucks some two months ago.

Washington believed that he had strong links to Taliban and reportedly hosted the militia and al-Qaeda leaders at his residence. He was also in possession of a satellite phone, which he used to convey messages to the Taliban and al-Qaeda members.

Thousands of people attended the funeral of the religious scholar at his ancestral village, which later turned into a protest gathering. Religious scholars also addressed the gathering and vowed to resist the joint Pak-US any other such operation.

The news of Maulana Darya Khan’s death spread like a jungle fire across the South Waziristan Agency and protest demonstrations were held across the region.

Reports from Wana say that many religious scholars addressed the protest demos and warned the US and Pakistan army that if in future the sanctity of their religion, culture and homes was not preserved, the tribesmen would be forced to wage jihad (holy war) and vowed to launch the same movement as their elders did against the British colonial rule.

Reports also say that pamphlets containing provocative statements were distributed in the town, which carried ‘fatwas’ (edicts) urging the tribesmen to take part in the protests and wage a war against the American forces.

As jihad (holy war) against them has become obligatory in the face of growing tumult and uprising in the tribal territories, American commandos tasked with the elimination of fleeing al-Qaeda network and Taliban militia in this rough terrain, have moved to the Afghan border, to evolve new strategy.

When Pravda contacted a chieftain in the South Waziristan Agency he said that the people are showing great resentment against the US operation in the area. He disclosed that for the last five days US helicopters, with bullet-proof jeeps hanging with them, are manoeuvring the area and land in some uninhabited site from where the commandos using the jeeps set out for operations. The helicopters give complete cover to the commandos while they are on land.

A high-ranking official in a secret agency, on condition of anonymity, said that after Shawal area operation in the tribal belt the US and Pakistani army troops would, within three days start operation in the Kanikurram area. The troops are still searching for Rasheed Wazir, a prime suspect in the abduction of US troops from the Arma mountains. There were also news about a rocket attack in the North Waziristan Agency at a building housing US agents hunting for al-Qaeda and Taliban fugitives in Miranshah.

"The rocket, the second in about a week, destroyed the boundary wall of the vocational training institute in Miranshah but no one was injured," said the official, who sought anonymity. "The rocket also left a one-meter deep crater beside the wall." The incident on late Tuesday night follows a similar attack on the same building on May 1, which also caused minor damage but no casualties.

A source in Miranshah, said that heavy contingent of Pakistan army have taken control of the border check-posts and possible infiltrating routes. The army had also sealed the Hassankhel and Bangidur check-posts, which were used by the car-smugglers.

The source said that a large number of Pakistan army troops was present at Datakhel area whereas, the Madakhel, Khaderkhel, Alwara, Margha, Zhawaisaedgi and Dwaisaedgi were also under control. On the other side of the border earlier the US troops had left the area of Zhawar killi area in Afghanistan but now they have erected posts near Spinkhwara, close to Saedgi.

Safiullah Gul Pakistan