Maravot News of the World 11:31 AM - San Francisco Tuesday, December 21, 2010 (last post)

News Headlines & Trends — Page 2

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Tayyab Afridi was expelled by commander Khan, a confidant of Mangal Bagh, from Bazaar valley in Landikotal Tehsil on November 27. "After his fruitful talks with Tayyab Afridi, Ibne Amin left for Nangrosa area in Tirah valley to see Mangal Bagh but the latter avoided meeting him as he was not interested in reconciliation," the Lashkar-e-Islam commander said. He said Ibne Amin stayed behind and waited to see Mangal Bagh in Nangrosa, Sandana and Spindrand areas of Tirah populated by the Sepah tribe until he was killed in the drone attack along with his six guards on Thursday. Sources in Tirah valley said al-Qaeda and TTP leaders had expedited efforts to resolve differences between various militant groups operating in the border region of Pakistan to coordinate their operations. "Ibne Amin's role as a mediator was part of these efforts," the sources said.

The sources said after the Taliban defeat in Swat as a result of the military operation last year, Ibn Amin had moved to Afghanistan to fight foreign forces and then moved to Tirah valley in Khyber Agency where he had established bases and training camps for Swati Taliban. The sources said he was in close contact with Maulana Fazlullah in the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Meanwhile, two Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) commanders, Yar Azam and Mehmud, succumbed to injuries they had sustained in two consecutive US drone attacks on the headquarters of their organization in Sandana area of Tirah Valley in Khyber Agency on Friday, local sources said on Sunday. With the death of the two commanders, the toll reached 34. Among them were 32 militants associated with the LI, and two civilians including a prisoner, who was in the custody of the militants.

It is for the first time that the US drones targeted the LI, a local militant organization that has confined its activities to Bara Tehsil of Khyber Agency unlike the TTP. The LI has been fighting Pakistani security forces since the launch of military operation against it in September 2009. On Thursday, seven militants, including Commander Ibne Amin belonging to the TTP Swat chapter, were killed in the US drone attack on a vehicle in Spindrand village near Sandana in Tirah valley. The drone struck the LI headquarters in Sandana, also known as Khushal Markaz, at around 10 am on Friday when the militants were gathering for a meeting. The militants were busy in a rescue operation to remove the bodies from the rubble when the unmanned CIA-operated Predators mounted the second attack. Besides the death of 32 people and injuries to a dozen others, a nearby jail built in caves was damaged in the two attacks. More than a dozen prisoners survived the attack.

The injured were shifted to nearby clinics run by LI instead of Bara or Peshawar due to fear of arrest. The LI lost eight commanders from Sepah tribe in the attacks. They included Yar Azam, Mehmud, Mir Jan alias Fuzi Shafi who was a retired sepoy of the Frontier Constabulary, Rasheed, Mazaar Khan, Hassan and Mashri Khan. The first drone attack in Khyber Agency was reportedly carried out on a vehicle in Mangal Bagh Kandaw area of Tirah, leaving 13 militants of TTP Swat chapter dead on May 15, 2010. The sources said a US drone continued flying over the area on Sunday. [end]

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Launched: 10.25.04 / 11.02.04 —
Updated: 12.20.10