Chowrangi

In a recent act of killing its own people on the name of ‘war against terror’, Pakistan’s Air Force struck and killed people (most of them civilians) in a village bazaar in North Waziristan.

According to news report, the bazaar of Epi village in North Waziristan was crowded with people buying food to break their daylong Ramadan fast when it was rocked by a dozen explosions that destroyed shops and nearby homes, residents said. Abdul Sattar, a grocery shop owner, said he counted more than 60 dead and more than 150 wounded, including many civilians. Many of the victims were mutilated.

“Some did not have heads, hands or legs. Some people were searching for their children and women,” Sattar told The Associated Press by telephone from Epi.

Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad said the airstrikes might have killed some civilians who were living in the areas where militant hideouts were targeted, but he had no exact numbers.

Another resident, Noor Hassan, said both militants and civilians were killed and that he was fleeing the area. He said the nearby village of Hader Khel also was bombed.

Sattar, the shop owner, accused the army of “oppressing” the local Pashtun tribespeople. He said journalists should visit the area so they could see that the “miscreants” — a byword in Pakistan for militants — targeted by security forces were in fact women and children.

On Sunday, about 300 militants ambushed an army convoy traveling to the scene of a roadside bombing, killing 22 troops and wounding 11, an intelligence official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to journalists.

One resident of Isu Khel village said three soldiers came to his home asking for protection but he refused, fearing he might be targeted by militants. Others said they saw the bodies of soldiers in deserted areas and on the side of the road between the region’s two main towns, Mir Ali and Miran Shah.

Many victims’ throats were slit, they said.

A woman, who fled to Miran Shah, said she saw eight soldiers who had been shot dead. The bodies were covered in dust and one was mutilated, she said.

The villagers spoke to the AP on condition their names not be used because they feared reprisals.

On Monday, the army used artillery and fighter jets against militant targets in Isu Khel and nearby Melagan village, where announcements were being made from mosques urging authorities not to target civilian areas, residents said.

The intelligence official also said Monday that a dozen civilians had died when a shell struck their home in Mir Ali. It was unclear who fired the shell.

A letter published in the Post, summarizes the situation in Waziristan and Tribal Areas:

The bloody encounter in North Waziristan Agency claiming more than 80 people (soldier and militants) was extensively covered in all the national newspapers. The newspapers stated that 20 soldiers and 40 militants were killed. Incidentally, I was there when the incident happened as I had gone to see one of my class fellows. The actual number of the soldiers killed was 40 rather than 20, while more than 60 were kidnapped. I was expecting the same number of casualties to be reported by the newspapers. Ironically, the media also seems to be playing in to the hands of the government despite having their correspondents in the area.

The government always tries to play with the feelings of the bereaved families as well as the nation by not releasing the actual facts and figures. Let the people die while Musharraf celebrates his victory. That is what interprets the slogan, ‘Khushaal Pakistan, Badhaal Waziristan’.

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• Protector of Emigrants or Exploiter of Pakistan's Working Class - December 19th, 2008
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