By Nation special report
PESHAWAR: Eight people have been killed in a roadside bombing that targeted an anti-Taliban village elder’s vehicle in northwestern Pakistan, police said.
Saeed Khan, a senior police official in Swat, said the slain head of a village peace committee, Idrees Khan, was traveling in the area when the roadside bomb hit his vehicle. He said that initial reports suggested the bombing killed five but later they concluded eight people had died, including two policemen.
In a statement, Mohammad Khurasani, the spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban militant group — known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan — claimed responsibility. He said that the slain head of the peace committee had been supporting security forces for the past several years.
The Pakistani Taliban have been holding peace talks since May in Kabul, Afghanistan. But isolated militant attacks and security raids on militant hideouts have continued, raising fears these talks could break in the coming months, if not weeks.
A formal cease-fire between Pakistan and the TTP is still in place.
The talks in Kabul are hosted by the Afghan Taliban, a separate group allied with the Pakistani Taliban. The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan a year ago. That takeover has emboldened the Pakistani Taliban, whose fighters and leaders, officials say, have been hiding in Afghanistan.
Islamabad has demanded that the new Taliban rulers in Afghanistan prevent militant groups, including TTP, from using Afghan territory for attacks inside Pakistan. Before the Taliban takeover next door, Islamabad and Kabul had often traded blame and accused each other of sheltering militants.
Protests in Swat
A large number of civil society members took to the streets on Wednesday against the fresh wave of terrorism in the valley and condemned yesterday’s attack.
Protesters held banners and placards bearing messages of peace as they gathered at Nishat Chowk in Mingora. They also chanted slogans demanding peace in Swat and Malakand Division.
The protesters said the people of Swat had suffered from 2007 to 2009 due to terrorism and would not allow militant activity on their land. “We are peace-loving people and will not allow elements to sabotage our hard-earned peace anymore […] we will not allow anti-state elements to steal our peace,” one of the protesters said.
They also questioned how militants were able to enter Swat given the presence of intelligence and law enforcement officials.
“We do not know how militants can enter Swat as it does not share borders with Afghanistan. In situations like this, the presence of terrorists is not only condemnable but also questionable,” a demonstrator said.
Further, the office bearers of the Swat District Bar Association condemned the recent wave of terrorism in an emergency meeting chaired by Advocate Muhammad Mushtaq Khan.
“We strongly condemn the recent incidents of terrorism as well as the weak law and order situation,” the lawyers said, adding that several important personalities had received extortion letters and threatening phone calls telling them to pay a huge amount.