Bruce Loudon, South Asia correspondent | September 12, 2008
A MAJOR escalation in fighting in Pakistan's tribal areas is feared after Taliban fighters lobbed grenades into a Sunni mosque, killing at least 25 worshippers and leaving more than 50 wounded.
The black-turbanned militants surrounded the mosque in the Dir district of the troubled North West Frontier Province as special evening prayers were being recited to mark the holy month of Ramadan. They then shot fleeing worshippers with automatic rifles.
The attack is the first time the Taliban, who are Sunni, have attacked their own on such a scale. It follows local tribal elders condemning the Taliban and vowing to counter attempts to take control of the area.
Dir is close to the Bajaur Agency, where heavy fighting has been under way for more than a month between Pakistani forces and both al-Qa'ida and the Taliban. The fighting is the most intense since 2001, and the Pakistanis claim to have killed more than 600 militants.
With an estimated 400,000 refugees fleeing the fighting in Bajaur, tensions have risen sharply in neighbouring areas, with tribal elders such as those in Dir taking a strong stand against the militants and raising local tribal armies to fight them.
"This was not a sectarian attack. It was a blatant act of terrorism," a local official in Dir, Mahmood Khan, said yesterday.
Meanwhile, further fierce fighting was reported in Bajaur, an al-Qa'ida stronghold frequently noted as the most likely refuge for Osama bin Laden and the top al-Qa'ida leadership.
Military officials said last night that at least 24 militants, including Arabs, had been killed and many more wounded in heavy clashes despite a ceasefire promised by the Government for Ramadan.
A militant spokesman in Bajaur, identified only as Abdullah, claimed an attempt by government forces to take control of the Bajaur town of Loisam had been foiled, and that a group of suicide bombers had been sent to Islamabad and was awaiting an order to attack.
A MAJOR escalation in fighting in Pakistan's tribal areas is feared after Taliban fighters lobbed grenades into a Sunni mosque, killing at least 25 worshippers and leaving more than 50 wounded.
The black-turbanned militants surrounded the mosque in the Dir district of the troubled North West Frontier Province as special evening prayers were being recited to mark the holy month of Ramadan. They then shot fleeing worshippers with automatic rifles.
The attack is the first time the Taliban, who are Sunni, have attacked their own on such a scale. It follows local tribal elders condemning the Taliban and vowing to counter attempts to take control of the area.
Dir is close to the Bajaur Agency, where heavy fighting has been under way for more than a month between Pakistani forces and both al-Qa'ida and the Taliban. The fighting is the most intense since 2001, and the Pakistanis claim to have killed more than 600 militants.
With an estimated 400,000 refugees fleeing the fighting in Bajaur, tensions have risen sharply in neighbouring areas, with tribal elders such as those in Dir taking a strong stand against the militants and raising local tribal armies to fight them.
"This was not a sectarian attack. It was a blatant act of terrorism," a local official in Dir, Mahmood Khan, said yesterday.
Meanwhile, further fierce fighting was reported in Bajaur, an al-Qa'ida stronghold frequently noted as the most likely refuge for Osama bin Laden and the top al-Qa'ida leadership.
Military officials said last night that at least 24 militants, including Arabs, had been killed and many more wounded in heavy clashes despite a ceasefire promised by the Government for Ramadan.
A militant spokesman in Bajaur, identified only as Abdullah, claimed an attempt by government forces to take control of the Bajaur town of Loisam had been foiled, and that a group of suicide bombers had been sent to Islamabad and was awaiting an order to attack.
Source: The Australian
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