Pakistan: Jihadists bomb, destroy boys' school

Equal-opportunity enforced ignorance. "Pakistan: Militants blow up boy's school in northwest," from AdnKronos International, January 18:

Landi Kotal, 18 Jan. (AKI) - Militants on Monday blew up a government primary school for boys in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber tribal region, Pakistani media reported. The militants planted two powerful bombs which exploded simultaneously, destroying the school. No casualties were reported.

Security forces and political administration officials cordoned off the area after the attack, which local officials blamed on the militant group Lashkar-e-Islam (Army of Islam).

Lashkar-e-Islam is the main extremist group operating in Khyber, which has some ideological ties to the Pakistani Taliban.

So far, militants have destroyed more than 15 schools in Khyber agency.

Also on Monday, four militants were killed in an armed clash with Pakistani security forces in the District Char Bagh of North West Frontier Province's troubled Swat district.

The Pakistani army says at least 2,150 militants were killed in Swat - a Taliban stronghold - and neighbouring Buner and Lower Dir districts in an offensive there between April and July last year.

The army claimed to have wiped out most of the insurgent strongholds during the three-month operation.

With thanks to JihadWatch

Pakistani Forces Kill 22 Insurgents Along Afghan Border

ISLAMABAD — Hundreds of tribal police in the northwestern Khyber region have quit their jobs because of militant threats, even as Pakistani forces reported killing 22 insurgents in an ongoing military operation there, officials said Saturday.

Pakistan is under intense U.S. pressure to crack down on Al Qaeda and Taliban militants along the Afghan border.

Khyber is of particular concern because militants there frequently attack trucks carrying supplies destined for U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Pakistan began its latest offensive in the Khyber tribal region on Sept. 1 and says it has killed over 150 militants. The fighting has caused thousands of residents to flee.

Paramilitary troops Saturday destroyed three militant hide-outs and killed 22 insurgents, the Frontier Corps said in a brief statement. It is impossible to verify accounts of fighting there because the army is blocking roads into the region.

One of the key targets of the operation is the Taliban-affiliated group, Lashkar-e-Islam.

Some 350 tribal police in Khyber quit their posts after the chief of Lashkar-e-Islam made a radio broadcast telling all government officials to resign in protest over the military operation, said local government official, Fazal Mahmood.

Tariq Hayat, the top government official in the area, said the men would be fired.

"I would presume that their loyalty lies with (the militants) rather than with the state," he told the ExpressNews TV network. "We are terminating those people. The orders are being issued just now."

The army is fighting militants in various parts of the northwest. On Friday, it announced the capture of five top Taliban commanders from the Swat Valley, including spokesman Muslim Khan.

Source: FoxNews

Militants killed in attacks on hideouts

By Ibrahim Shinwari in Jamrud

PAKISTANI troops backed by helicopter gunships killed about 43 militants today in attacks on hideouts in the northwestern Khyber Pass region.

The Khyber Pass is a main route for supplies trucked from the Pakistani port of Karachi to Western forces battling al Qaeda and Taliban militants in Afghanistan.

The airstrikes took place as troops mopped up militant positions in the northwestern Swat valley, where the military says over 2000 fighters have been killed since an offensive was launched in April.

Troops began a new operation in the Khyber this week against militants who included those who had fled the Swat offensive.

"Our forces targeted a headquarters of Lashkar-e-Islam and about 15 militants were killed in the attack," said a Frontier Corps spokesman in Peshawar, referring to a group under the command of Mangal Bagh, an ethnic Pashtun Islamist militant.

A further 28 were killed elsewhere in clashes with insurgents and airstrikes on suspected militant hideouts.

The Khyber is one of seven Pakistani regions with a high degree of autonomy based on tribal laws. On Aug. 27 a suicide bomber killed 22 border guards at the main crossing to Afghanistan.

Helicopter gunships and fighter planes also pounded militant positions in the tribal region of Orakzai that borders Khyber, and intelligence officials said there had been casualties.

In Swat, security forces killed a militant commander and arrested five others, according to a military statement. Seven more militants surrendered to security forces.

Troops also destroyed two hideouts in the neighbouring Dir region, the military said.

Source: The Australian

Killed for Missing Prayers

By B. Kisan

Pakistan's Daily Times reports that the members of Lashkar-e-Islam (literally 'Army of Islam') shot dead a man, standing near a Mosque at the time of prayer, who refused to come inside for praying when ordered to do so by the mujahideen. Read more ...

Source: Islam Watch

Pakistan-Based Militant Group Lashkar-e-Islam Vows 'To Spread Islam Across the World'

In Pakistan's tribal district of Khyber Agency, there is ongoing fighting for the control of the region - with occasional phases of truce - between the militant Islamic tribal group Lashkar-e-Islam and rival fighters from the Kukikhel tribe. Read more ...

Source: MEMRI