More US air attacks on Pakistan - tribesmen vow revenge

September 5, 2008: Malik Mumtaz & Mushtaq Yusufzai reported in Pakistan's The News (Jang) today that six more people, including two suspected Arab nationals and four Dawar tribal militants, were killed and four others injured in yet another missile strike by a US Predator (unmanned "drone" warplane) on Achar Khel village near Miramshah in the North Waziristan Agency (NWA) on September 4.
"Official and tribal sources told The News that a US spy plane was seen flying over the area during the aerial attack on the village.According to the sources, the plane, which had been hovering over the border tribal villages for the past several days, fired a Hellfire missile that razed to the ground the house of local tribesman Farman Dawar at Achar Khel village, about 25 kilometres west of Miramshah.
"Sources close to tribal militants, led by Maulana Hafiz Gul Bahadur, told The News that two among the dead were identified as Arab guests who had come to Farman's house for Iftar dinner, while the remaining four persons killed in the air strike were local Dawar tribesmen.
"They said four people injured in the missile attack were also Dawar tribesmen and were shifted to a hospital in Miramshah. According to the sources, the US Predator fired a Hellfire missile on an unoccupied school building on Wednesday in the same Achar Khel village near Mohammad Khel, which did not cause any human loss."
The News report added that eight other people, including some suspected Arab nationals, were killed and several others injured when a US Predator had fired two Hellfire missiles on Tapi village in North Waziristan on August 31.
Vow to avenge killings
The report said that a pro-Pakistani government local militant commander Maulana Hafiz Gul Bahadur condemned the air strikes in his native North Waziristan Agency and vowed to avenge the killing of his people.
"Ahmadullah Ahmadi, a spokesman for Hafiz Gul Bahadur, later called The News from an undisclosed location and said they considered Pakistani security forces equally responsible for the killing of innocent tribesmen in the US air strikes.
"We consider it an attack from Pakistan rather than from the Unites States," Ahmadi said, adding that a meeting of Taliban Shura had been convened at a secret place to devise further line of action.
Militant groups of both the tribal regions - South and North Waziristan - have signed an agreement in which they promised to fight together if they were attacked in either tribal region.
Both these militant groups, one led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur operating in North Waziristan and another led by Maulvi Nazeer in South Waziristan, are considered as pro-government, explained the report.
Ahmadi accused the Pakistani rulers of selling Dr Aafia to the US for sake of dollars and now they wanted to sell the people of tribal regions to earn money. Ahmadi said the government had betrayed the tribesmen and was silent on repeated aggression on its soil by the US and Nato forces. He added that the tribes in the area would not tolerate further attacks and would retaliate if the tribesmen were targeted in the future.
Source: The News (Jang)

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