Article

2008-06-30 India-Pakistan

'Loud blasts' heard in Pakistan - Islamabad and Rawalpindi

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Posted by 3dc 2008-06-30 03:37|| || Front Page|| [11127 views ] Top
File under: Taliban

#1 Officials in Khyber told the BBC the house of Haji Namdar, leader of one of the three militant groups active in the area, was blown up at about 0330 local time (2230 GMT).

"Some witnesses say the house was hit by missiles, but it is also possible that explosives stored in the house blew up," a local official said.

oopsie!

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2008-06-30 05:44|| 2008-06-30 05:44|| Front Page Top

#2 BBC Thursday, 26 August, 2004
By Haroon Rashid
Vice-and-virtue battle in Khyber valley

After returning from Saudi Arabia to the Tirah valley in Pakistan's Khyber Agency, tribal chief Haji Namdar set about enforcing laws echoing the Ministry for the Suppression of Vice and the Promotion of Virtue in Taleban-run Afghanistan.

Like the Taleban's Mullah Mohammad Omar, 35-year-old Haji Namdar's word was considered final.

But after operating fairly discreetly since last November, his organisation has now split into two factions, with some tribal chiefs accusing him of "religious terrorism".

Initially, the valley's mainly Afridi tribes people welcomed the organisation's commitment to curbing lawlessness.

It offered an alternative to the Khyber Agency's official administration - a political agent endorsed by the government - which many regarded as incompetent.

But the tide of popular support slowly disappeared.

As one tribesman put it: "The organisation is effectively mirroring what the Taleban did in Afghanistan. It won public support by addressing the security deficit and then it shifted focus to introducing a more rigid form of Islam."

*** ahhh.. Ye Olde 'bait & switch'***

Former federal minister and a local tribal chief, Malik Waris Khan, told the BBC: "Initially, it did some laudable deeds like settling old tribal disputes. But then it started losing direction.

"People grew weary of it because of the use of violence to make people pray."

Volunteers hit men for not covering their heads or not growing beards in what is deemed the proper style and length.

Music was banned, as was television. Every worshipper had to sign the mosque's register to verify they had offered prayers.

Absenteeism from communal prayers incurred a fine of 500 rupees ($8.50).

Haji Namdar's opponents say he ran three private jails with names such as Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib to punish those who defied his orders.

LOL!

Last December it set up an illegal FM radio station to broadcast strict interpretations of shariah law.

Jan Mohammad, a member of the Bar Kambarkhel tribe, said: "Everyone is obliged to adhere to them. Any show of reservation or questioning is immediately branded as defiance, a crime which ran the risk of severe punishment."

The radio station was halted on government orders, but the seeds of discord had been sown.

A group led by tribal chief, Haji Malik Zareef, rebelled against Haji Namdar.

The factions have been involved in fierce clashes and a number of lives have been lost.

Haji Malik Zareef says: "Haji Namdar had resorted to religious terrorism. He started doing things that were completely unacceptable to the tribes. People were beaten up with batons like animals."

***..not to mention the odd detached head or ~~two~~ 45 dozen.

'Hue and cry'

In a nearby camp, hundreds of followers of Haji Namdar are sitting in a small mosque built with donations from Qatar.

A few vehicles fly white, Taleban-style flags.

Haji Namdar was not to be found, but his deputy, Haji Shamsher Khan Afridi, is here.

"Our aim was to ensure peace and security and to enforce the Islamic code," he says.

"But since we took action against smugglers and other criminals it was natural we would face opposition. The very people we fined and punished are making a hue and cry."

'Deaf ear' [ ..not to mention headless corpses]

Many are questioning why the central government has remained silent on the Tirah valley issue when it is more active on hard-line Islamists in other tribal areas.

Tribesman Ghalib Afridi says: "On the one hand the Musharraf government is telling the world it is against religious extremism, but at home he is turning a deaf ear to it."

Governance in the Khyber Agency has often been a grey area, with a number of private, armed organisations operating in the name of improving security.

In 1995, the Benazir Bhutto government crushed one such organisation.

But after a few years, other organisations began to surface to fill the vacuum in public security.

Perhaps surprisingly, the security chief in the tribal lands, retired Brigadier Mehmood Shah, says the government has no objection to organisations that "help it improve law and order in the tribal areas".

However, Brigadier Shah says the government will not permit them to run private prisons, make arbitrary arrests or set up radio stations.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Vice-and-Virtue

Shaving the beard is forbidden in Islam and I feel duty-bound to make every Muslim of my tribe sport a beard, said Haji Namdar.

"Yes Haji.. No More Shaving, I feel it's every correct citizen's duty, ....Vote for Obama!"

Christiane Amanpour

Posted by RD">RD 2008-06-30 08:41|| 2008-06-30 08:41|| Front Page Top

#3 I wuz hopin' for a Vice -on- Virtue UFC steel cage match.

Posted by Seafarious 2008-06-30 11:01|| 2008-06-30 11:01|| Front Page Top

#4 The Palestinian explosives manuals finally arrived?

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2008-06-30 11:30|| 2008-06-30 11:30|| Front Page Top

#5 Just for deh heck of it. Wiki, so who knows...

By the statute of Winchester, 13 Edw. I cc. 1 and 4, (1285) it was provided that anyone, either a constable or a private citizen, who witnessed a crime shall make hue and cry, and that the hue and cry must be kept up against the fleeing criminal from town to town and from county to county, until the felon is apprehended and delivered to the sheriff. All able-bodied men, upon hearing the shouts, were obliged to assist in the pursuit of the criminal, which makes it comparable to the posse comitatus. It was moreover provided that a hundred that failed to give pursuit on the hue and cry would become liable in case of any theft or robbery. Those who raised a hue and cry falsely were themselves guilty of a crime.

Dis related to the riot act in some way.

Posted by .5MT 2008-06-30 12:50|| www.cybernations.net]">[www.cybernations.net] 2008-06-30 12:50|| Front Page Top

#6 PIC at the link of Haji Namdar's House:
That be some high quality Rubble.

Haji Namdar's Pic:
Mr. Christiane Amanpour would kill for that facial hair! And Mrs. Jamie Rubin Amanpour wouldn't say a woid... >:)

Posted by RD">RD 2008-06-30 15:08|| 2008-06-30 15:08|| Front Page Top

#7 Chritianes hirutery makes me hue and cry.

Posted by .5MT 2008-06-30 15:10|| www.cybernations.net]">[www.cybernations.net] 2008-06-30 15:10|| Front Page Top

#8 Chritianes hirutery makes me hue and cry.

ROLF!

.5MT, If it weren't for the absolute Horror show these primitives are guilty of, we could just sit back and enjoy observing their preposterous antics...
like watching them swap Holy Grimaces while they strut from one circle jerk to another. lol!

Posted by RD">RD 2008-06-30 15:38|| 2008-06-30 15:38|| Front Page Top

#9 Mysterious blasts' in Rawalpindi caused by sonic boom

Reports said the sounds could have been caused by aircraft breaking the sound barrier over the two cities.

Last time this happened was when India flew one of its recon Mig-25Rs over Islamabad. All Pakistan could do is lodge a complaint with the Indian ambassador.

I think they retired all of those birds however... wonder if the IAF bought a few Mig-31s as replacement?

Posted by john frum 2008-06-30 16:14|| 2008-06-30 16:14|| Front Page Top

#10 Ah.. it was the PAF (Chinese junk)

An F-7P fighter aircraft of Pakistan Air Force crossed the sound barrier Monday, causing a big boom, which was heard in the twin cities and other areas, according to a PAF statement issued here.

The aircraft was on a scheduled Functional Control Flight Mission when it crossed the sound barrier in Pindigheb area. At the time the aircraft was in a process of transition from 40,000 feet altitude to 15,000 feet.

Posted by john frum 2008-06-30 16:15|| 2008-06-30 16:15|| Front Page Top

#11 Should tell Monkey Boy there that it was Allah farting out his discontent with the current situation.
I'd bet he'd buy it.

Posted by tu3031 2008-06-30 16:18|| 2008-06-30 16:18|| Front Page Top

#12 If it weren't for the absolute Horror show these primitives are guilty of, we could just sit back and enjoy observing their preposterous antics...

I tends to lose faith.
o/Rantburg
o/Fred
o/Ethel

No necessarily in that order.

Posted by .5MT 2008-06-30 17:49|| www.cybernations.net]">[www.cybernations.net] 2008-06-30 17:49|| Front Page Top

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