According to reports reaching here, a military convoy was going from Mirali to Bannu when one of the vehicles was hit by an explosive device placed near the Khawaja Khwar checkpost. The device was detonated by remote control.

The injured were taken to a military hospital in Bannu.

Security personnel carried out a search in the area, but no arrest was reported.

Election activities in the tribal agency have come to a standstill after imposition of curfew.

According to the sources, shells hit Haiderkhel, Eidak, Hesokhel and Kheri villages near Mirali town. They said that civilian targets also came under attack.

The sources said that four people were killed in the shelling and eight others injured. Hundreds of tribal people were stranded in Bannu and other parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa due to curfew in North Waziristan. Several election candidates have also suspended their campaigns.

Stranded residents could not go to the local hospital because of prolonged curfew.

A car showroom was also targeted in Miramshah bazaar. A shell hit a gas station, sparking a huge fire.

Official sources said that all injured soldiers and bodies of the personnel were taken to a military hospital in Bannu. The administration imposed an indefinite curfew in the area.

There were conflicting reports about the nature of the blast, with one report saying an improvised explosive device targeted the vehicle of the FWO, a subsidiary of the army executing development projects in the area. The other suggested a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into the military truck.

This was the second bomb attack on security forces in North Waziristan over the past few weeks.

— File Photo

MIRAMSHAH: Irritated by blockade of main artery of Miramshah in North Waziristan, the local Taliban Shura issued a ‘decree’ on Monday barring boys and girls from going to schools near the Cantonment area until security forces removed the barricades.

The Hafiz Gul Bahadur-led Shura warned parents not to send their children to five education institutions near the Cantonment area in Miramshah.

“Boys and girls will not go to these educational institutions until the road is opened for general public. If any boy or girl violates the decision of the Shura then he/she will be responsible for the consequences,” said a statement issued by the Shura.

Security forces permanently blocked the road because of security concerns after a suicide attack on Esha checkpost on March 24 which killed 24 soldiers and injured 40. Security has been tightened in the area since then. Regular imposition of curfew in the areas along the main road has badly affected social and economic activities in the volatile tribal agency.

The statement said the road blockade was causing huge inconvenience to the people and had forced hundreds of girls to pass through main streets and markets. “The movement of young girls and women through streets is against the teachings of Islam and local traditions. Therefore the Shura and the tribal people cannot tolerate it.”

The warning has put the future of hundreds of boys and girls at stake.

The garrison area boasts three semi-government English medium schools for boys, one high school for girls and one degree college for girls which has an enrolment of more than 400.

The educational institutions are already in tatters in Waziristan and other parts of the tribal region because of militancy and violence.

The statement said that Mujahideen (Taliban) had signed a peace deal with the government “for the glory of religion and to protect dignity of the local people”. It said the Shura had never put a ban on education in the area but they (Taliban) could not tolerate anything which negated tribal values and traditions.

“We have serious reservations over the US-sponsored vaccination campaign because we consider it un-Islamic and hazardous for health,” the spokesman for the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, Ihsanullah Ihsan, told journalists on phone from an unspecific place.

He also hit out at the United Nations and said: “We don’t need UN’s sympathy; on the one hand they kill our people in drone attacks and, on the other, they administer polio drops to our children.”

The spokesman’s reaction came against backdrop of a purported statement that the TTP had extended ‘conditional support’ to the vaccination drive.

It said the TTP was ready to support the drive if it was not used by the US as a cover for espionage and that its apprehensions about the vaccination being ‘un-Islamic’ were removed.

“If they convince us that polio drops are Islamic and assure that spy agencies will not use it to kill mujahideen then we will have no objection to any vaccination drive which is in the public interest,” the statement had quoted Ihsanullah as saying.

The spokesman denied any involvement in the previous attacks on polio teams. “We are not involved in any attack on polio workers and the threats hurled on them.”

He said the TTP was opposed to the changes in syllabus. “Exclusion of jihadi verses and lessons from the syllabus is meant to appease western masters by the government.”

The spokesman claimed responsibility for the attacks on MQM leader Fakhrul Islam in Hyderabad and ANP leader Arbab Ayoub in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “Our attacks on leaders of three ‘secular parties’ — PPP, Muttahida Qaumi Movement and Awami National Party — will continue.”

He dismissed as ‘government propaganda’ security forces’ success in Tirah Valley and Khyber Agency and claims of losses suffered by militants.

“We are still waiting for serious and meaningful talks with the government and the army,” TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told this correspondent on phone from an unspecified place.

He said the TTP had offered peace talks in the larger interest of Islam and Pakistan, but warned that the initiative should not be construed as a sign of its weakness.

The timing of the conference was also criticised by the TTP leadership. “Organising the conference on Valentine Day reflects imperialist thinking of the ANP,” Ehsan said.

He said the TTP Shura had met on the directives of its chief Hakimullah Mehsud and discussed the declaration adopted at the conference. “The Shura found nothing new in it. It was an old story,” he said.

The TTP recently said it was ready for talks with the government and proposed that PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Jamaat Islami Amir Syed Munawar Hassan should act as guarantors on behalf of the army.

The ANP convened the conference in Islamabad to find a solution to the problem of militancy which has plagued the country, particularly Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata. It was attended by all mainstream political parties except the JI and Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf.

The declaration said: “Peace needs to be restored in the country so that losses of valuable lives can be stopped and the country is put on the right track. Attaining peace through dialogue should be the first priority. The resolution of the issue of terrorism should come within the ambit of the Constitution and law.”

The TTP spokesman said the absence of the JI had put a question mark on the conference.

He criticised some ‘media persons for opposing Taliban’s peace initiatives’ and said they wanted to keep the “fire burning”.

Sources said the helicopter gunships attacked targets in Hassamkhel, Haiderkhel, Inzar, Aipee and Khushal Toorikhel villages in Mirali tehsil.

Several houses were destroyed in the shelling. The injured were taken to a local hospital.

The houses which came under attack belonged to Dil Faraz and Shafiullah.

According to the sources, the shelling was in retaliation to a remote-controlled bomb attack on security personnel.

The panic-stricken tribesmen began vacating their houses and shifting to safe places after the attacks.

The deadly attack took place hours after Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan’s chief Hakimullah Mehsud had ordered his supporters to abide by a peace agreement reached by the government and the Taliban group in the agency headed by Hafiz Gul Bhadur.

According to officials, the convoy was going to a garrison in Bannu from Razmak when one of its vehicles was hit by the bomb in Dumdail area, some 35km south of Miramshah, the administrative headquarters of North Waziristan Agency.

The convoy was passing an area on the Razmak-Miramshah Road at about 1.30pm. The area has been under curfew for some time. The officials said the death toll could rise as the condition of a number of the injured was critical. The blast destroyed the vehicle and most of the soldiers died on the spot.

An official in the political administration said 14 soldiers had lost their lives and 21 suffered injuries. Critically wounded soldiers were airlifted to the Combined Military Hospital in Bannu.

Security forces cordoned off the area and started a search for assailants.

Residents said helicopter gunships had shelled suspected locations in Dumdail.

Earlier, TTP Hakimullah Mehsud had in a statement called for ending attacks on the military in the agency, apparently in response to an offer for talks made by the Awami National Party.

After the assassination of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s senior minister Bashir Ahmad Bilour in a suicide attack in Peshawar on Dec 22, ANP President Asfandyar Wali Khan offered peace talks and asked the TTP and other militant groups to renounce violence
before negotiations.

The ANP has announced that it will convene an all-party conference to discuss measures to resolve the issue of militancy.

Hakimullah’s statement was circulated in Miramshah early on Sunday morning. It said: “Mujahideen brothers, the local Taliban
and Mujahideen have signed an agreement with the government in North Waziristan and taken some decisions for maintaining peace in the area. Therefore, all Mujahideen groups affiliated with the TTP are ordered to follow the decisions and cooperate
with the local Taliban.”

Hakimullah said all Mujahideen fighting in Pakistan and Afghanistan were united under the command of Mullah Mohammad Omar and had been cooperating with each other.

According to Reuters, it was unclear if the leaflet was related to rumours of splits in the TTP as it called upon local and foreign fighters to unite because “the enemy is trying to divide and rule us”.

Elders of the Utmanzai tribe backed by Taliban commander Hafiz Gul Bhadur had signed the six-point peace deal with the government on Feb 17, 2007.

According to the agreement, tribes will not allow local and foreign militants to use North Waziristan’s territory for attacks in Afghanistan and will be responsible for protecting security forces, government employees and installations in the agency. The government was to withdraw army troops from all checkposts.

But despite the peace deal, security forces have been frequently attacked in the volatile area which forced the Utmanzai tribe and the Gul Bhadur group to take tough measures to salvage the agreement.

Tribal elders and the Taliban recently held a jirga in Angher Kally in Mirali subdivision and raised a lashkar comprising 100 volunteers and empowered it to patrol sensitive areas and stop attacks on security forces and curb incidents of kidnapping for
ransom.

AP adds: Military officials confirmed the bombing, but said four soldiers were killed and 11 others wounded. The discrepancy could not immediately be reconciled. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to
reporters.

Pakistani soldiers drive through a stream during their patrolWaziristan tribal region. — File  Photo by Reuters

MIRAMSHAH: Two soldiers were killed and two others wounded in a roadside bomb explosion in Gherlamai area of North Waziristan on Sunday.

Helicopter gunships fired at residential compounds after the bomb attack and, according to local people, a house caught fire and several others were damaged.

Sources said troops were being deployed along the main road in the area ahead of the movement of a military convoy when the explosion took place.

An explosive device placed along the road was detonated by remote control when a truck carrying soldiers reached Boya from the Gherlamai post. A curfew had been imposed on the area.

Political Agent Siraj Ahmed on Monday issued directives to heads of all government departments including Nadra, passport and tehsildar office to stop issuing passports, national identity cards and domiciles certificates to members of Wazir and Dawar — two major tribes of North Waziristan.

According to the directives, ban has been imposed on provision of lungi (honorarium given to tribal elders), fresh recruitments of Class IV employees and developmental work till these tribal elders ensure security of teams taking part in the anti-polio campaign.

The decision was taken under collective territorial responsibility clause of Frontier Crimes Regulations.

The political agent told Dawn that the decision was taken after the elders of Wazir and Dawar tribes failed to cooperate with the government in carrying out the anti-polio drive.

He said that thousands of children were at risk in the tribal region owing to a ban, imposed by militants, on anti-polio drive. He said that government would not tolerate challenging its writ at any cost.

The political agent said that it was responsibility of tribal people to make security arrangements for the polio teams.

It may be recalled that Shura Mujahideen of North Waziristan (Hafiz Gul Bahadar group of Taliban) had imposed ban on anti-polio campaign in the tribal agency.

A pamphlet distributed on June 15, 2012 by the Shura stated that the ban on polio campaign would be continued till end to US drone attacks.

After one week, the Shura of South Waziristan Taliban (Maulvi Nazir group) also distributed a similar pamphlet, linking anti-polio campaign to drone attacks in the tribal agencies.

However, tribal people had held America responsible for ban on polio campaign. They said that Dr Shakil, presently languishing in Peshawar jail, and other ‘US agents’ had played negative role during anti-polio campaign.

They said that Dr Shakil and his team helped America to trace out whereabouts of Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden by running a fake immunisation drive in Abbottabad.

A doctor responsible for carrying out polio campaign in tribal areas told Dawn on condition of anonymity that 160,000 children were deprived of vaccine during each campaign.

He said the government had made alternative arrangements to reach maximum children by administering vaccine to children under the age of five years at various points on roads from Bannu to Peshawar.