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PESHAWAR: Thousands in Upper Dir attended the weekend funerals of seven Pakistani militants killed in a drone strike in Afghanistan, a local official confirmed Monday.
The funerals were offered at the Dir Stadium in Upper Dir, said an official, adding that at least 1,000 people had gathered there.
The strike that killed the militants was carried out on Wednesday on a training camp in the eastern province of Khost near the border with Pakistan, local authorities said.
They added that it was launched by the United States. There was no immediate confirmation from the US-dominated Nato force which is combating Taliban and other militants in Afghanistan.
It is unclear how many people were killed in the strike. The Khost provincial governor put the figure as high as 50 but that could not be confirmed.
A local official told DawnNews on Monday that 21 bodies were brought to the Upper and Lower Dir districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for burial. He said 14 bodies were brought to Lower Dir while seven of the dead were from Upper Dir.
Also read: Bodies of ‘militants’ killed in Afghanistan brought home.
“I myself attended the funeral prayer of four fighters, villagers told me they were mujahideen,” Alamzeb Khan, a district official in Lower Dir, told AFP.
Khan said the coffins were wrapped in the flag of Al Badr, a Pakistani militant group linked to the Taliban, and guests at the funeral shouted slogans against US troops in Afghanistan.
The bodies were badly mutilated, and one villager who attended the funeral said the names of the fighters had been written on the wooden coffins for identification.
Local residents said that in the past, bodies of militants killed in Afghanistan used to arrive in ones and twos but this was the first time that such a large number had been killed and bodies brought home for burial.
“I fear that the number of fighters killed in the drone strike was high and we may receive more dead bodies,” the security official told AFP.
Khost provincial governor Hukum Khan Habibi said the strike was staged on Wednesday.
“In this incident, more than 50 Pakistani fighters were killed.”
Faizullah Ghairat, Khost provincial police chief, confirmed the attack and said it was carried out by the US.
Read more
On DawnNews
Comments (46) Closed
Nov 23, 2015 03:37pm
With whom these militants are fighting with? Nato forces are in and around Kabul. What are they doing in Khost which is their area?
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Nov 23, 2015 03:37pm
Why was the district official attending the funeral of terrorists, and should they be allowed to be buried in Pakistan?
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Nov 23, 2015 03:40pm
Let us start the mantra again that those who killed and those who are giving tribute were not from us. This tug of war among Muslims will continue. Some will disown us and some will be disowned by us.
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Nov 23, 2015 03:41pm
Wow
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Nov 23, 2015 03:48pm
there will never be peace in Pakistan until people stop supporting these terrorists. Pakistan should not accept the bodies of these terrorists.
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Nov 23, 2015 03:52pm
What a Shame
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Nov 23, 2015 03:53pm
lets pray for them good taliban
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Nov 23, 2015 03:54pm
They were terrorists and must be eliminated no matter what. I think Pakistani government should not allow to be buried in pakistan and should not allow anyone to attend their funerals else it will motivate them and join terrorist groups to become martyr also.
These are Taliban... Can be TTP who killed 150 children in APS.. So take it serious and take action who attended these funeral because they clearly knew they were terrorists killed in Afghanistan and should not be allowed to take funerals with dignity...
TERRORISTS SHOULD NOT BE MOTIVATED !
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Nov 23, 2015 04:04pm
House of shame. Have we, the people of KPK not learnt anything yet? Do 132 innocent lives of APS Peshawar children were for nothing?
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Nov 23, 2015 04:09pm
Those dead are one thing first, mercenaries fighting and killing for gold. Who pays them??
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Nov 23, 2015 04:10pm
Either the militants were innocent civilians and the local people did not buy the official line that they were culprits. This case highlights the question of credibility of the international coalition as well as the national government. Second possibility is that the local people have a soft corner for the militants, which again is the failure of the government on a critical diplomatic front. It is the failure of the government to win the hearts and minds of the people against its war on terror. How important it is to win hearts and minds in a war should not be hidden from anyone.
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Nov 23, 2015 04:12pm
Why is NAP only active in karachi only. Here facilitators , sympathizers or even people hearing Altaf's speeches are arrested and charged. Does this not extend to Dir and other areas of pakistan. I wonder, i just wonder.
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Nov 23, 2015 04:14pm
Alam Zeb Khan should be charged .
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Nov 23, 2015 04:25pm
Isn't attending someone's funeral a normal Islamic Custom? Or should they be burried without offering funeral prayers....??
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Nov 23, 2015 04:29pm
Is Dir part of Pakistan? If so what happened to National Action Plan
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Nov 23, 2015 04:33pm
@Danish Don't forget that they were terrorists and killed over 100s of people with no mercy.. so attending their funeral is a sin.
Don't support terrorists and don't motivate terrorists if you want a bright future for your children and next Pakistani generation & the region. Thank you.
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Nov 23, 2015 04:34pm
Where is the law enforcement? did they apprehended?
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Nov 23, 2015 04:51pm
Once again, we notice double standards and twisted mindset of this confused nation...???
Terrorist fighting against the state are given respect in form of funerals ???
Feeling ashamed...
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Nov 23, 2015 05:01pm
@Naseem I hope you understand the term keeping an eye? it has nothing to do with Pakistan in general so stop making it look like that.
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Nov 23, 2015 05:01pm
They could gather because they were sure, there will be no attack on the funeral. If it was the funeral of an army officer, people would have been scared of those animals, who do not even spare funerals.
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Nov 23, 2015 05:11pm
Well done US. All sympathizers of Taliban are crime fellows.
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Nov 23, 2015 05:11pm
How they crossed the border and on whose backing these ppl have been crossing the border, summon security estab. for reasons in the court and if they can't satisfy the court punish those responsible..... but if army is involved than my comments are
THANK YOU RAHEEL SHARIF..
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Nov 23, 2015 05:12pm
Terrorist, civilian or the army.. funeral is a funeral.
Attending a funeral doesnt mean you are supporting their cause, instead you are praying for their hereafter.
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Nov 23, 2015 05:24pm
Maybe next time drone these sympathizers aswell.
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Nov 23, 2015 05:31pm
And so it continues...an endless cycle of lawlessness. The supply of militants seems to be endless. Until people can get a proper education and jobs, this problem wont ever end.
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Nov 23, 2015 05:36pm
@Mr.Afghanistan I raised this question because we must understand the mindset of people here in Afghanistan and Pakistan. I have no doubt about the severity of the sin of terrorism. These were not the questions I am asking, everyone here is confused in these questions. Moreover, Americans said they disposed off the body Mr Osama Bin Laden according to the customs of Islam. My point is lets not label all those attending these funerals as terrorists; may call them confused.
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Nov 23, 2015 05:40pm
Please share some snaps also.
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Nov 23, 2015 06:06pm
I thought things might have changed but this news tells me a different story altogether.
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Nov 23, 2015 06:35pm
Will this solve the problem or multiply it...it will only be solved if the whole world unites and then makes a single policy and handle the terror problem all over the world...
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Nov 23, 2015 06:38pm
When IK and company will look into it??? they are ready to 'FREE' Karachi from terrorism while completely ignoring the terror right under their nose. What a hypocrite lot we have.
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Nov 23, 2015 06:39pm
Should have let them ROT in Afghanistan, to call them mujahideen is an insult to our religion and our country,these murderers are waiting on the other side of border until the army finishes in the area when they will return to carry on their activities.They dont deserve a islamic funeral as they are not muslims.
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Nov 23, 2015 06:45pm
@Rafi
Not really my friend
Think you do not really understand the culture in rural areas of the country
All good and bad things are gone with the their life, after death, they are just someone who needs burial in a right way
I do not believe size of funeral mean something where people come only to console the famililies
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Nov 23, 2015 06:46pm
Wow that is why Afghan government keeps blaming Pakistan for interfering in Afghanistan. Now we see how accurate Afghanistan's allegations are.
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Nov 23, 2015 06:52pm
Until our ulema stop sympathizing with terrorist & start clearly condemning the killings of other human beings, people will remain confused as to what really is Islam. Those who don't make their position clear should be the first to be apprehended under NAP.
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Nov 23, 2015 06:54pm
So we still have thousands militants sympathizers left to take out.
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Nov 23, 2015 07:25pm
Stupidly prevails among ignorants
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Nov 23, 2015 09:54pm
A few bombs would have saved a lot of drone flights.
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Nov 23, 2015 10:01pm
We still have a long way to go before we get rid of the menace of extremism.
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Nov 23, 2015 10:04pm
War is darkness while peace is light, so powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole world! we should strive to bring Love and not War .
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Nov 23, 2015 10:07pm
And the US buried Osama bin Laden with Muslim burial rites in the middle of a nowhere ocean or sea. OBL's funeral in Pakistan would have been attended by hundreds of thousands of ordinary people and hundreds of government sympathizers.
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Nov 23, 2015 10:11pm
US Drone should have attacked the stadium where funeral was in progress.
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Nov 23, 2015 10:15pm
reports says they were 1000. But the headlines sensentionlized by mentioning "thousands".
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Nov 23, 2015 10:35pm
i also belong to district dir lower, i our village we have coeducation in private schools and ladies now a days go for shopping alone but the fact is ,middle class people goes to English medium private schools ,some goes to government school if they can,t afford private schools, many people here goes to middle east for job after matriculation ,students of private schools continue their education in colleges and also some students from government schools. some middle class people also begin to start a small business , but the remaining poor people either work on daily wages or some time don,t find work on daily wages, this frustrated youth having little or no knowledge about islam are brain washed and misused. terrorism can only be eliminated through education and employment, once people begin to feel that they are part of the system, problem will be solved.
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Nov 23, 2015 10:40pm
Wow kpk is really backward
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Nov 24, 2015 02:37am
Drones or any large cruise missle has 20:80 ratio, meaning every 20 bad guy will be killed with 80 civilians. USA knows it and Saudi arabia knows it. USA is good but S.A. has 5:95 ration because of inexperience.
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Nov 24, 2015 03:40am
It is shameful,to say the least. Most incapable Govt.that makes no effort in educating masses in what is good and what is not. Or,is this by design??
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