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WANA (South Waziristan): Security Forces in Wana have killed six miscreants with Nek Muhammad on top of the list with two associates of this most wanted man in the tribal belt of Pakistan.

The Director General ISPR Major General Shaukat Sultan said in Islamabad that the security forces have been targeting suspected hide-outs of the militants. They were also tracking the movement of Nek Muhammad.

The forces targeted a house Thursday night where they suspected that Nek Muhammad and other militants were taking shelter. As a result of the firing Nek Muhammad and two of his associates were killed.

Amnesty Offer

The ISPR chif said the government hopes that the miscreants will accept its amnesty offer in which they have been asked to surrender unconditionally and the foreign elements will get registered.

The government has accelerated political process and hoped that normalcy would come very soon in the area.

Communiqué

An ISPR press release said that operations of security forces in various parts of South Waziristan Agency are continuing against suspected hideouts of miscreants.

Presence of Nek Muhammad, local facilitator of the foreign elements along with his associates, was suspected in one such hideout, which was appropriately hit by the security forces. He is believed to be killed.

While activities of security forces will continue , the political process will also move at tandem, rather it is being accelerated, so as to allow the foreign elements to avail of the government’s offer of amnesty in return for their surrender.

Seventy Terrorists Wiped-out

The Interior Minister Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat in a statement in National Assembly said that the operations against the foreign terrorists in Wana and other areas of South Waziristan are continuing and so far sixty-five to seventy terrorists have been killed.

He said five terrorists including the main harbour Nek Muhammad who violated the Shakai agreement and killed a number of security personnel, had been killed in the operation on Thursday.

He reiterated Government’s resolve to flush out terrorists and said these operations would continue till its logical end. He said these operations had also helped to control terrorist activities in other parts of the country including Karachi.

Terrorism to be Eliminated in Totality

Later, talking to ‘Pakistan Times’ Faisal Saleh Hayat expressed Government resolve to eliminate terrorism from everywhere in the country including the tribal areas.

He paid tributes to the security forces and the concerned agencies on their performance for tracing out the entire network of terrorists involved in a series of terrorist activities in the country.

The Minister said the extremist groups in the country had one thing common with al-Qaeda that they want to impose their respective ideologies, strategies or their own agendas on the society.

In-depth

Pakistani forces killed a tribal leader allied with suspected al-Qaeda militants in a helicopter assault on a mud-brick fortress near the Afghan border.
Nek Mohammed was tracked down by tracing an intercepted satellite phone call, a credible source said on condition of anonymity. Six others were killed with him in the missile strike late on Thursday night.

Nek, a former Taliban fighter, led fierce resistance to the army’s offensive to flush out foreign militants from the rugged tribal belt near the Afghan border where al-Qaeda is believed to be active.

Some reports say that the British Broadcasting Corp had conducted at least two phone interviews with Nek in the past week, though it was not clear whether either of those alls was used to track him down.

In one of the interviews, he acknowledged foreigners were living in the tribal areas, but denied that they were terrorists.

“Those foreigners who are living here are not terrorists — rather they are Mujahedeen (holy warriors) who took part in the Afghan jihad,” he said, a reference to the US-backed war in the 1980s to drive the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan.

General Sultan would not confirm whether Mohammed was traced through a satellite phone call.

A Major Victory

Nek Mohammed’s death was a major victory for the Pakistani army, which has faced losses in fighting with the militants, who are thought to enjoy protection from some tribes along the border.

The United States military, pursuing al-Qaeda on the Afghan side of the border, has been pressing hard for Islamabad to step up military activity in Waziristan.

Funeral prayer of those killed in the attack will be offered at Azam Warasick on 10: 30 a.m. (PST)

Tribesmen Reax

Thousands of shocked tribesmen amassed at a remote dusty village near the Afghan border on Friday to bury rebel tribal leader Nek Mohammad, the ex-Taliban commander killed by Pakistan's army.

"Some 5,000 people took part in funeral prayers," said Mohammad Noor, a tribesman who joined the ceremony in Kaloosha village some 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) from the border.

"Most of the people were silent. They didn't show any reaction." The army said it killed Mohammad in a targeted attack on a mud-walled tribal fortress a few kilometers from Kaloosha on the western outskirts of Wana, the main town of the remote tribal district of South Waziristan.

Witnesses

Residents believe a satellite-guided missile hit him, describing a low whistling sound preceding the precision night-time hit. "The missile which directly hit the spot where Mohammad was sitting," tribesman Mohammad Noor told.

"People think that it was a guided missile," said another tribesman Nazar Wazir. "Nobody knows from where the missile came, we didn't see any planes overhead. We heard a whistling sound, and then the house where he was staying was hit."

The attack happened at 9:45 pm (1715 GMT), the residents said.Nek Mohammad was injured in the head and was rushed to hospital in Wana but was already dead on arrival, they added.

Buried

On Friday morning his body was laid out at his home. Half of his face was covered by a white shroud to hide the wounded side.

Most of the mourners had come to confirm that that Nek was dead, Noor said.

The funeral ceremony was without the customary speeches. "There wasn't even a peech by an imam (prayer leader)," Wazir said.

"Normally an elder starts speech. In this case there was not one speech, everyone was silent. Most of the people came to see whether it was true that he is no more."

Operations Continue

Operations of security forces in various parts of South Waziristan Agency are continuing against suspected hideouts of miscreants.

According to ISPR, presence of Nek Muhammad, local facilitator of the foreign elements along with his associates was suspected in one such hideout, which was appropriately hit by the security forces. He is believed to be killed.

A spokesman of ISPR Friday said that while activities of security forces will continue, the political process will also move at tandem, rather it is being accelerated, so as to allow the foreign elements to avail government's offer of amnesty in return for their surrender.

Earlier the Pakistan security forces had successfully conducted operation against terrorists near Angoor Adda and Shakai in South Waziristan Agency, he told.

Similarly, last night some hideouts were also targeted as a part of same move against the sheltered teorrrots in Wana and Diog town was our key target, he remarked.