When Pashtun Deaths are Treated with Nod of Approval -Discriminating Among the Dead

When Pashtuns and Baluchi Deaths are a Favored  Policy 

In an ideal world all lives should be valued equally, but when the reaction to the loss of a life varies with the ethnicity, nationality, color or religion of the deceased, then for sure we have reached a less than ideal state of affairs. We Pakistanis are very quick to protest such behavior, especially when it comes to the Western media’s response to issues involving the death of Muslims.

But it so happens that for us Pakistanis, showing indignation is limited to issues where it doesn’t mean much. Many among us were heartbroken by the plight of the stranded in Gaza and fully supported the forced breaching of their economic blockade, but at the same time we are completely oblivious to the plight of our fellow Pakistanis in Kurram agency, who have also been cut off from essential supplies.

An area that is in desperate need of Pakistani indignation, is our media’s discriminatory coverage of the Taliban onslaught; a bomb blast in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or FATA somehow does not result in the same level of urgency and priority as a bomb blast in other parts of the country.

An example of this is the difference in coverage between two recent suicide attacks, one of which was in Darra Adam Khel on the 5th of November while the other was in Karachi on the 12th of November. If the loss of human lives is the measure of the importance of these incidents, then in that respect our media associated a much lower weight to the dead in Darra Adam Khel.

The 16 dead in Karachi resulted in dedicated talk shows, awareness loops and the suspension of regular programming. On the contrary, the 61 dead in Darra Adam Khel, were met with a considerably colder response; the suspension of regular programming was for a much shorter time and none of our major media pundits chose to dedicate their shows to the issue.

Back in 2009, I had the opportunity to put this question to the owner of one of our leading news channels. He simply replied that since he was running a business, he had to cater to his demand, implying that the indifference that comes on the screen is a reflection of the indifference that is felt by a majority of Pakistanis.

The probable reason for this could be the smoke screen that is created by Taliban apologists in politics as well as media. At its core are misperceptions about the supposedly stubborn nature of Pakhtuns. These perceptions have gone beyond the realm of racially motivated jokes, and are fast becoming an explanation for the persistence of the Taliban phenomenon. The Taliban conquered FATA is still seen by many as being the land of the free, where people are so angry with drone attacks that they have decided to head to Karachi and Lahore to exact revenge. While these points could result in short term political gains, in the long term the persistence of these beliefs has major consequences for the future of the Pakistani identity.

This selective indifference i.e. shoulder-shrugging on bombings in the North and revulsion on those in the South, is creating a divide between the Pakhtuns and Non-Pakhtuns of Pakistan. It is no secret that the Taliban are predominantly a Pakhtun movement. Naturally, in case of bombings in non Pakhtun areas the first response is to blame Pakhtuns for the attack. However this realization could be countered by equally highlighting the death and destruction brought about by the Taliban in Pakhtun areas. A lesser emphasis on these attacks robs the ordinary Pakhtuns of a legitimate defense that rather than being the perpetrators, they are in fact the biggest victims of Taliban atrocities, accounting for almost 70% of the dead in 2009. Furthermore, on the other side, this selective indifference causes resentment among Pakhtuns, who feel abandoned by the rest of Pakistan.

The fight against Talibanization is being fought on two fronts, i.e. the physical and the ideological. On the physical side we are dealing with an enemy that is becoming increasingly sophisticated; the number of killed per attack has risen from 1.3 in 2006 to 3.31 in 2009. This increased devastation, which is predominantly caused by the Taliban, should have resulted in a major victory on the ideological front, i.e. in terms of a loss in Taliban popularity. But according to the latest PEW research survey, Taliban approval has actually increased from 10% in 2009 to 15% in 2010.

The provincial breakup of the survey shows that at 22%, Punjab has the highest approval rate for the Taliban, a feat that could not have been achieved without the Taliban-neutral stance of its main political parties. The emphasis on drone strikes and indifference towards terrorist attacks within Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, wrongly paints the Taliban as Pakhtun resistance to United States and thus creates support for their antics, but then the extra emphasis on attacks in non Pakhtun areas turns that misguided sympathy for the Pakhtuns into resentment against them.

Some might argue that comparing Karachi to Darra Adam Khel would be to ignore the importance of the former to Pakistan. While this argument would make sense if we were talking about natural disaster, in the case of the Taliban, the destruction between the two is interlinked. A peaceful Darra Adam Khel is a pre-requisite for a peaceful Karachi.

source: https://iopyne.wordpress.com/2010/12/07/discriminating-among-the-dead/

How we Have Invented Narratives to Promote Terrorism as Pakistani State.

by Farukh Khan Pitafi @farrukhKPitafi

The terrorist narrative of victim hood, denial and conspiracy theories can easily be De-constructed and dismantled. 

1. The closer you want to get to eradicating the menace of terrorism, the bigger this menace seems to get Narrative . 

For the past week, following the attack in Peshawar, our leaders, both in Khaki and Mufti, have deliberated and deliberated. But this piece is not about them and the solutions they might come up with. It is about the sociology of the mindset that either justifies or rationalises terrorism, or impedes tangible action against it.

It is about the failure of the state and the society to come up with a narrative that can defeat the terrorists.

Terrorists of all hues — Al Qaeda, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and its countless affiliates, Afghan Taliban and its affiliates like the Haqqani network, India-focused terror groups like Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and sectarian terror groups like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi — use two weapons: incredible hatred towards their victims and a narrative to convince and recruit new supporters to the cause.

This narrative of victimhood, denial and conspiracy theories can easily be deconstructed and dismantled. But what with the rising anger in the country, fracturing of the society and the general iffiness of the times we live in, no one has done anything substantial about the issue despite harping on about it at great length.

 2. We should never Admit our Flawed Policy Narrative:  

After 9/11, the United States knew whom to blame and the nation’s anger was projected outwards. After 7/7, the United Kingdom knew whom to blame, and the country was able to vent its anger. After Mumbai attack, India too, vented its anger on Pakistan and somehow managed to cool off.

In Pakistan, though, where the state had pandered to extremist inclinations for long, at the time of 9/11 there was a dictator in place, whose rise to fame and then power owed a lot to the Kargil debacle. When General Musharraf decided to take a U-turn in his Afghan/Taliban policy, he gave his people the wrong reasons for doing so.

Instead of telling them that extremism of all kinds is bad for the country; that it can easily turn against the country's own people and that nation states are held accountable if found guilty of exporting destabilising ideologies beyond their borders; he told the nation that had Pakistan not taken the step, it would have been bombed back to the stone age.

That was an admission not of flawed policies but merely of foreign pressure.

At the time, there was neither any parliament nor the free media we see today. Lack of proper debate turned the country’s anger inwards and Conspiracy Theories to Save our Selfs were made .

 Later, conspiracy theories of sorts would emerge, people living in denial would scavenge western media sources for whatever half-truths would fit into their narrative.

Today, we have a developed popular narrative which says that Islam is in danger, that Pakistan is about to break; all of this is linked to belief in the end of time.

All faiths have eschatological predictions. Since each brand of 'endism' focuses on end of the universe, the predictions are found to be dire and can easily be exploited at any time of adversity. Our local religious extremists and televangelists have very effectively inserted these prophecies into the reactionary narrative. By raising doubts about some of the most well-documented historical developments and mixing it with this narrative, the terrorists have managed to win over a host of fence-sitters.

3. Just textbooks or more?

A oft-made point is the ideological indoctrination in school textbooks. It is said that our books preach hate and a distorted version of history which unhinges a young impressionable mind from the very beginning.

Be that as it may, such a thought is predicated on the assumption that all Pakistanis go to school and imbibe every word written in the textbooks. While there is no justification of hatred finding way into the school books, these books barely play even a secondary role.

Even if the textbook is saying a certain thing, what the teacher thinks and what the best friend thinks matters much more to the pupil than what is written in the book. A young child spends more time with friends, family and in front of television.

So while it is important that the curriculum must be reformed, let us not lose sight of the fact that the problem is of understated heart-to-heart oral tradition which transmits through culture.

As a child, for instance, I usually internalised much of what my father used to think with considerably less resistance, and when I met my friends, our individual sets of views would collide with each other, evolving into something new altogether.

4. The tragedy of television !!! 

The quality of our television news product is quite important here. In the 24/7 live news cycle where a talk show host and a news director are forced to operate at breakneck speed and take decisions on the fly, very little thought is given to quality or for that matter, narrative.

Then there is the matter of the presence of Taliban and terrorist apologists amongst our midst, which creates a problem because while the moderate majority is too divided and disorganised, the sympathisers of terrorists are very well organised and persistent. So, the resultant end product invariably confuses viewers instead of clearing their minds.


But that is not all. The reason why viewers watch our news channels a lot is because our entertainment industry has been underperforming for a decade. The power of a drama serial should not be underestimated. A playwright can say things which are difficult or impossible to say on news channels.

Sadly, however, while a debate is underway to curtail the appearance of sympathisers of terrorism on live news networks, the storytelling in the entertainment industry still remains with the same forces who played a critical role in indoctrination.

As a result, the teleplays on political matters are often found to be highly reactionary, irrational and riddled with conspiracy theories.

5. Hostage crisis at the pulpits and Mosques 

Prayer leaders don’t usually go to regular schools or watch television; their tradition is essentially oral. There is no doubt that religious seminaries (some of which are genuinely committed to spreading hate) play a crucial role in forming their worldview. But it is daily interaction with other religious-minded people and groups (Tableeghi Jamaat for instance), the availability of vast amounts literature and personal assumptions which consolidate their distorted perceptions.

The threads which feed their mindsets, some of which I have reproduced below, are of such a nature that every maulvi gets ensnared in the enemy’s propaganda with very little resistance. The message from the pulpit, may it be in the shape of the Friday sermon or the after-prayer dua, is essentially highly reactionary and counter-productive, to say the least.

What we need right now is a supply of religious scholars of integrity who can answer these questions with comfort and authority to reclaim the narrative in the mosques from the terrorists.
The terrorist's narrative

Here are some assumptions that play a crucial role in the terrorist and his sympathiser’s narrative:

6. Islam is in danger False Narratives to help Terrorists  :

Muslims are scattered all over the world. Given their recent turbulent history it is claimed that Islam as a faith is on the brink of extinction and only violent jihad can save it. One look at the 1400 years of their history and you realise that the faith can take care of itself and needs no saviors.

7. These are end-of-time wars Narratives to Promote Terrorism :

Islamic eschatology predicts the arrival of an Antichrist called Dajjal, and it is said that whoever chooses to side with him will never be forgiven. Now, years of propaganda has projected the West as that Antichrist. Ergo the fear that is easily exploited by terrorists.

Muslims all over the world, owing to the absence of timely 'ijtehad' or interpretation, have found it difficult to integrate with local cultures. After every two or three centuries, they are confronted with challenging times and start thinking this is the end of time.

A careful survey of Islamic literature shows no timeframe is originally given about the end. In expert hands, this element of doubt should be enough to debunk the terrorist’s propaganda.

8. Muslim ideal is a pan-Islamic Caliphate:

The current schools of thought in Islam took their final shape almost a millennium ago. As further debate could generate controversy, no one showed interest in challenging these dated interpretations. That era was the time of empires and nation states did not emerge until much later, till the treaty of Westphalia.

Hence, the last political model known to the Islamic thought is a theocratic Muslim empire called the Caliphate.

Itself an interpretation, this model is highly outdated and inefficient. The Ottoman Empire was a big example of the inefficiency. However, terrorists and a long list of intellectual movements (like Hizbut Tahrir) that serve as bedrock for them, use this thought to recruit new volunteers.

If, however, you study the formative phase of Islam, you will notice that Islam as a faith is not averse to the idea of a nation state. That is another thought which can be expanded to counter the terrorist’s narrative.

9. Muslims are victims Narratives for Helping Terrorists :


Terrorists exploit the all-pervasive feeling of Muslim victimhood to their advantage. It is stunning to see that this perception has lingered on in our country for this long.

Pakistan has accumulated over 50,000 dead bodies as gifts given to it by these 'saviours' of Muslims. How hard can it be to expose these people for who they really are?

10. Pakistani state is fighting terrorism due to foreign pressure:

I have explained this point at length at the start. The state must own this war and explicitly state that it is being waged for the nation's good, not under international pressure. It's a promising sign that the government is finally doing that. It will also be helpful if foreign countries didn’t appear to be pressuring the country to do more. Any concerns can be conveyed through the diplomatic channel; negotiating through the media should stop.

11. Democracy is evil and un-Islamic Narrative:

This, too, is an ugly propaganda tool. Democracy as the cultural 'other' is used to lure people in to the extremist side.

A bit more sensitisation about democracy and exploration of political thought in Islam would make it plain that democracy is not antithetical to the original teachings of Islam. What we lack is religious interpretation on the matter. It is tragic that no coherent work has been done in this regard during the past 13 years of fighting terrorism.

12. Terrorists are good Muslims Narrative:

Somewhere in their heads is this deep seated regimentation that at the end of the day, the terrorist's demand — imposition of Shariah — is a legitimate one, and so it's wrong to fight them.

This is one of the terrorist’s biggest weapons. Again, the havoc these terrorists have wreaked should speak for itself. But since, for a large number of people, it appears to have not done so, we need organised campaigns to educate the public of the real context and designs of the terrorist movement. It would help if religious figures of authority came forward shattered the myth of 'good terrorists'.

13. Foreign powers are doing it and blaming it on unsuspecting religious groups Narrative:

The proscribed terrorist organisations take responsibility and post videos as proof. All the apologists contributing to an alternative explanation can be and should be confronted in this regard. This can bear fruits.

14. Pakistan was conceived as a religious state hence it should cave in to the extremist pressure Narrative:

You will find this argument widely available in the society. But given that terrorists are essentially against Pakistani state, the state will also have to end its ambivalence on the issue and come up with an identity of the state which is not entirely dependent on religion. It is not that difficult to find such an interpretation.

These are some of the assumptions that the terrorists play with. The state’s reluctance to address them has led to the current proliferation of terrorist outfits. It has played a crucial role in the birth and growth of such organisations. Now, it cannot shut its eyes to their mutating ideology and pretend that the problem will go away. It knows their language, it can speak to them. I understand that it is not easy to control every Friday sermon and talk in every mosque and madrassah. But if the state comes up with a coherent narrative and sells it to the opinion makers, the terrorists’ narrative can easily be undone.

Political and democratic ownership is essential because in the past lack of it has ruined the effort. The state knows how to highlight the narrative and sell it in the media and elsewhere despite resistance from the apologists.

source: http://www.dawn.com/news/1153475

Taliban Claims Peshawar School Massacre of Pashtuns Kids were Treated Like Jews of Saudia.

 Taliban Punjab Wing Jamaat Ahrar Part of LEJ and LET , spokesman: “The Peshawar attack is in complete accordance with the Prophet’s teachings” done to Jews of Tribe in Saudia Arabia . He thought Pashtuns should be treated like Jews may be as taught in Madrissah in Pakistan and Punjab to Treat the 5o Lakh Pashtuns Killed in last 35 Years of Jihadi Economy for Punjab Interests as Jews and Treated Like Jews for Sake of Islam. 

All 4 Died as Taliban thought Pashtuns are Jews 

December 18, 2014 10:04 am By Robert Spencer 31 Comments


According to Hindol Sengupta, the Editor-at-Large at Fortune India, Taliban spokesman Muhammad Khorasani has justified the Peshawar jihad massacre by likening it to Muhammad’s massacre of the Jewish Qurayzah tribe. 

Khorasani says: “The Mujahideen were instructed to only kill the older children. The Peshawar attack is in complete accordance with the Prophet’s teachings because when the Prophet killed the Jewish Tribe of Banu Qurayza, he put the same guideline, that only the children who have hair below their belly button (pubic hair) are allowed to be killed. Killing of women and children is also in accordance with the teachings of the Prophet. Those who object to this claim can refer to Sahih Bukhari, Volume 5, Hadith 148.” 

Taliban Claimed they checked the Puberty of Kids before Killing them Just like in East Pakistan Pakistan Army did in  1971. 

Sahih Bukhari volume 5, hadith 148 says this: “Narrated by Abu Said Al-Khudri: Some people (i.e. the Jews of Bani bin Quraiza) agreed to accept the verdict of Sad bin Muadh so the Prophet sent for him (i.e. Sad bin Muadh). He came riding a donkey, and when he approached the Mosque, the Prophet said, “Get up for the best amongst you.” or said, “Get up for your chief.” Then the Prophet said, “O Sad! These people have agreed to accept your verdict.” Sad said, “I judge that their warriors should be killed and their children and women should be taken as captives.” The Prophet said, “You have given a judgment similar to Allah’s Judgment (or the King’s judgment).” 

And his statement about pubic hair comes from this: “Narrated Atiyyah al-Qurazi: I was among the captives of Banu Qurayza. They (the Companions) examined us, and those who had begun to grow hair (pubes) were killed, and those who had not were not killed. I was among those who had not grown hair. (Sunan Abu Dawood 38:4390) 

Work of Taliban Punjab Wing. 

If this statement by Muhammad Khorasani is authentic, then Hindol Sengupta is absolutely right: this is the problem in a nutshell. For Western leaders continue to insist that Islamic jihad terrorism has nothing to do with Islam. Jihad terrorists, meanwhile, consistently and frequently invoke the Qur’an and Muhammad to justify their actions. When counter-jihadists point this out, they’re denounced as racist, bigoted “Islamophobes” and accused of “validating” the terrorists’ narrative. What we don’t see is any significant effort to refute that narrative on Islamic grounds. Instead, Islamic apologists such as Reza Aslan and Qasim Rashid crank out pieces claiming that massacres like this one have nothing to do with Islam, while ignoring altogether the passages Khorasani invokes to justify such massacres. 

And so there will be more jihad massacres, and again they will be justified by their perpetrators on Islamic grounds, and again any call for serious reform and a genuine attempt to address this problem will be denounced as “Islamophobia.”

:

source: http://www.jihadwatch.org/2014/12/taliban-spokesman-the-peshawar-attack-is-in-complete-accordance-with-the-prophets-teachings

Pashtuns and Baluchi this Will not be the Last Massacre

It wasn’t the final atrocity
Pervez Hoodbhoy
Updated Dec 20, 2014 09:23am

THE gut-wrenching massacre in Peshawar’s Army Public School has left Pakistan aghast and sickened. All political leaders have called for unity against terrorism. But this is no watershed event that can bridge the deep divides within. In another few days this episode of 134 dead children will become one like any other.

All tragedies provoke emotional exhortations. But nothing changed after Lakki Marwat when 105 spectators of a volleyball match were killed by a suicide bomber in a pickup truck. Or, when 96 Hazaras in a snooker club died in a double suicide attack. The 127 dead in the All Saints Church bombing in Peshawar, or the 90 Ahmadis killed while in prayer, are now dry statistics. In 2012, men in military uniforms stopped four buses bound from Rawalpindi to Gilgit, demanding that all 117 persons alight and show their national identification cards. Those with typical Shia names, like Abbas and Jafri, were separated. Minutes later corpses lay on the ground.

If Pakistan had a collective conscience, just one single fact could have woken it up: the murder of nearly 60 polio workers — women and men who work to save children from a crippling disease — at the hands of the fanatics.

Hence the horrible inevitability: from time to time, Pakistan shall continue to witness more such catastrophes. No security measures can ever prevent attacks on soft targets. The only possible solution is to change mindsets. For this we must grapple with three hard facts.

First, let’s openly admit that the killers are not outsiders or infidels. Instead, they are fighting a war for the reason Boko Haram fights in Nigeria, IS in Iraq and Syria, Al Shabab in Kenya, etc. The men who slaughtered our children are fighting for a dream — to destroy Pakistan as a Muslim state and recreate it as an Islamic state. This is why they also attack airports and shoot at PIA planes. They see these as necessary steps towards their utopia.
Let’s openly admit that the killers are not outsiders or infidels.

No one should speculate about the identity of the killers. Taliban spokesman Muhammad Umar Khorasani released pictures of the eight ‘martyrs’, justifying the killing of minors with reference to Hadith (a horrific perversion, of course). Dizzied by religious passions, the men roamed the school searching for children hiding under desks and shouted “Allah-o-Akbar” before opening fire. Shot in both legs, Shahrukh Khan, 16, says he survived by playing dead. Another surviving student, Aamir Ali, says that two clean-shaven gunmen told students to recite the kalima before shooting them multiple times.

Second, Pakistan must scorn and punish those who either support terrorism publicly or lie to us about the identity of terrorists. Television anchors and political personalities have made their fortunes and careers by fabricating wild theories. For example, retired Gen Hamid Gul and his son Abdullah Gul have adamantly insisted multiple times on TV that suicide attackers were not circumcised and hence not Muslim. Though body parts are plentifully available for inspection these days, they have not retracted earlier claims.

Those on the state’s payroll that encourage violence against the state must be dismissed. Maulana Abdul Aziz of Islamabad’s Lal Masjid — a government mosque — led an insurrection in 2007 against the Pakistani state. He flatly refuses to condemn the Peshawar massacre. Other state employees have called upon all to not pray for army soldiers killed in action. At another level is Jamaatud Dawa’s supremo, Hafiz Saeed. He blames India for the Peshawar massacre and, ignoring ironclad evidence, misguides Pakistanis about the identity of the enemy.

Among political leaders, none is more blameworthy than Imran Khan, the icon of millions of immature minds. He has never named the Taliban as terrorists even when they claimed responsibility for various atrocities. That the TTP may be involved in the Peshawar massacre is the first exception, but this is contained only in a tweet. For a man who uses the strongest language against political opponents and has hogged TV channels for months, he has yet to condemn TTP before a national audience. Why the reticence?

It was even worse earlier. In 2009, as the Taliban took over Swat, on Hamid Mir’s Capital Talk he claimed that the Swat Taliban were fighting a war of liberation against the Americans. When I asked why they were fighting in Pakistan and killing our policemen and soldiers, he accused me of being an American agent and then, later, attempted to physically attack me. Readers can google this video.

Third, if Pakistan is to be at peace with itself then it must seek peace with its neighbours and begin disassembling the apparatus of jihad. The bitter truth is that you reap what you sow. Today, massive militant establishments hold the Pakistani state hostage. They run their own training centres, hospitals, and disaster relief programmes. When Sartaj Aziz, adviser to the prime minister on foreign affairs, said that Pakistan was not going to target militant groups which “did not pose a threat to the state”, he accidentally spilled the beans. In fact he was merely restating Pakistan’s well-known zero-sum paradigm — we live to hurt others, not to better ourselves.

While bewailing the murder of our children, let us acknowledge that Pakistan’s soil has been used time and again for inflicting grief and sorrow across the world. Today it is not just India and Afghanistan who accuse us, but also China and Iran.

By launching Zarb-i-Azb, Gen Raheel Sharif has broken with his timid predecessor, Gen Kayani. North Waziristan should never have become the epicentre of terrorism. He has done well to meet President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul and demand the extradition of TTP’s Mullah Fazlullah, now ensconced on the Afghan side. But what of Mullah Omar? The Pakistani Taliban and the Afghan Taliban are two sides of the same coin. I wonder if President Ghani asked General Sharif to help extradite Mullah Omar for facing justice before the Afghan people.

The author teaches physics in Lahore and Islamabad.

Published in Dawn December 20th , 2014: http://www.dawn.com/news/1151930/it-wasnt-the-final-atrocity

Alleged target killer for ISI and Blackwater executed after “confessing” to assassinations during peace talks

by Carol Anne Grayson

Sun 14th Sep 2014

ISI + CIA + BLACK WATER WORKING AS ONE ????

In recent days the name of the firm “Blackwater” has reared its ugly head once again with the trial of four men, part of an assignment contracted by the US State Department to provide “security” in Baghdad during 2007. This case has received widespread media attention but a much lesser know unofficial “trial by Taliban” of Atif Khan, an alleged arrester and target killer claimed to be linked to Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Blackwater has also emerged highlighting serious concerns regarding how state agencies may operate. First the background to the Iraq case as follows…
Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard are facing manslaughter charges for an incident when they were in the employment of Blackwater with a fourth man Nicholas Slatten accused of murder. The former guards stand before a Washington DC federal court alleged to have participated in the killing of 14 Iraqi civilians “without cause” in Baghdad’s Nisoor Square. The men are accused of running amok, opening fire and slaughtering unarmed locals going about their business as they responded to fear of a security threat on a Blackwater convoy. Defense lawyers allege that there was unprovoked firing at the vehicles by insurgents.

Hassan Jabir lies in a hospital bed Sept. 20, 2007, after he was wounded when guards employed by security company Blackwater opened fire at Nisoor Square in 2007, in Baghdad, Iraq. (Khalid Mohammed/AP)
The following account from Paul Yost, Associated Press details some of the victims of this incident which caused international outrage, including one witness, a weeping father, describing the killing of his 9 year old son.
After the gunfire stopped, the father said, he opened a back door on his car. His son’s brains fell out at his feet, he said.
“The world went dark for me,” he testified through an interpreter.
Among the victims was a down-on-his-luck potato farmer who had gone to Baghdad looking for work. He was wounded; two cousins with him were killed.
Other victims included a devoutly religious mother and her daughter, who were in the Nisoor Square area applying for travel documents so they could visit holy sites. The mother’s last act before dying was to grab her daughter’s head and shelter it in her lap, likely saving her life.
Investigative journalist, Jeremy Scahill detailed the background and actions of the sometimes deadly global security business in his book, Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army. The company has changed its name but does not appear to have changed its controversial practice. Extraordinary allegations appeared this week in Azan, an online “jihadi” publication, detailing the “trial” and confessions of a young Pakistani claimed to be working for the Pakistan Inter- Services Intelligence (ISI) and Blackwater as a hired contract killer.
Some would immediately rush to dismiss this as propaganda however there is a considerable history within Pakistan of “enforced disappearances” torture in state custody and extra-judicial killings that warrant further investigation. On 30th August, international human rights groups issued a press release condemning the state saying,
“on the eve of the annual International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch urge Pakistan’s government to stop the deplorable practice of state agencies abducting hundreds of people throughout the country without providing information about their fate or whereabouts”
See link for full statement,
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA33/013/2014/en/bc28de56-fdfb-41f0-8d17-0aa9ec77f4cb/asa330132014en.html
The following abstract from Azan highlights this alleged practice in Pakistan and reads as follows:
Azan Report: Blackwater and ISI Working Together in Pakistan
“All Praise is due to Allah …Alone. And may His Peace and Blessings be upon Prophet Muhammad… Atif Khan, a teenager hailing from Mohallah Qazi Abad, Peshawar, was arrested by the Mujahideen in Miran Shah on the grounds of serving as an arrester and a target killer for the Pakistan Inter- Services Intelligence (ISI) and the private US Security Agency , famously known as “Blackwater” (also known as Xe Services LLC, “Academi” or TIS [Total Intelligence Solutions]) . This 9th Grade teenager was trained jointly by ISI and Blackwater at CID center, Peshawar in January, 2014 and was subsequently tasked with killing or arresting several prominent Afghan T aliban Mujahideen and one Pakistani Mujahid. The teenager successfully completed 9 out of the 10 missions assigned to him, before being captured during his 10th mission. A week after being captured, Atif Khan confessed to his crime and revealed the entire story of his brief career as a target killer and kidnapper for ISI and Blackwater . This report details his story as well as some insight on Blackwater secret activity in Pakistan, and the role of ISI in secret detainments, co- operation with foreign mercenaries and killings of the people of the country it vows to protect…”
The report which also draws on books and journalistic research for a history, highlights that Blackwater was allegedly implicated in undercover operations in Pakistan and collecting intelligence for US drone strikes working under the CIA. Of particular concern is what appears to be this new information which is worthy of serious investigation, the role of Blackwater in allegedly recruiting and training young men to arrest and even assassinate individuals whose names are provided. Azan continues,
“Recently (May 2014), the Taliban Mujahideen captured a young teenager, Atif Khan, in Miranshah who had arrived to partake in the assassination of a TTP Commander for Ghazi Force Red Mosque (Lal Masjid). The teenager was arrested on the 37th day of his arrival after trying to escape twice towards the end of April and start of May. His arrest led to a whole lot of revelations about ISI’s and Blackwater’s activities in Pakistan in endangering the lives of the Pakistanis, terrorism within a foreign country’s boundaries (for US and Blackwater) as well as the treacherous face of the Pakistani military and establishment. His revelations are also important in analyzing the role of the ISI in removing people that the US wants out of the way. Possibly, the recent shooting of journalist Hamid Mir which he attributed to the intelligence agencies, might well be done via similar methods as well”
Atif Khan …AS -9 (Arrester/shooter no 9)

The report details the role of young Atif, his training, trainer/employers, names of alleged victims, details such as phone numbers, locations as well as more personal family details. For example we learn he was educated to 9th grade, engaged to his paternal cousin, that his father is a wine seller, owned a grey Suzuki Alto and that Atif had two brothers named Jasim (age 11) Hamza (age 10) and also two sisters.
The report, neatly laid out as a research paper with reference grids, claims to provide information obtained from Atif of his “missions” to arrest and/or assassinate insurgent targets, there are 10 documented… example as follows:-
Alleged “Second Mission” (one of 10 documented)
Goal…. To Kill or Cap ture Mr Wajid Zabuli, a Mujahid From Islamic Emirate Afghanistan
Details……Mr. Wajid Zabuli was a resident of Chalmaro area, Peshawar, he was tracked by his mobile phone, attested in Board Area, Peshawar, then shifted to CID Centre GoraQabristan
Reason for arrest….. supporting Pakistan Taliban
Assignment date…..2nd week of January 2014
Assignment given by…… Mr Saeed
Place of assignment….. CID Centre Peshawar
Result…. mission successfully accomplished
Further details… Mr Wajid was (allegedly) shot dead by ISI in CID Centre in his cell, his dead body was then thrown in Chalmaro area of Peshawar; Mr Atif was member of the team that transferred the dead body.
The complete Azan report goes on to include a section on “observations” discussing 6 main points as follows:-
1) Blackwater/ISI T raining Program in Peshawar
2) ISI is T argeting the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
3) Blackwater is Present and Actively Working Within P akistan
4) “ AS-9” Shows Other Similar T arget Killers are Operating in the Country
5) Hamid Mir’s Shooting and Discarded Dead Bodies Could be Connected
6) T arget Killings are Rampant in Pakistan
Further research from investigative journalist sources cover more activities of US “security” firms in Pakistan.
The full report can be read here and is shared due to the serious nature of the allegations which should be taken up by lawyers and those investigating “state terrorism” and criminal activity within Pakistan…
There is a saying… “you can’t see the wood for the trees”… which can sometimes be applied when a person is undertaking an important piece of research and embroiled in detail, the obvious can be missed. What is hugely significant with this report is that if the allegations could be proven it shows that arrests and assassinations of those claimed to be connected to insurgency were going on DURING so called “peace talks” with the Taliban. Dates of !missions” are clearly stated. There are also likely to have been other target killers involved given that Atif Khan was known as AS-9 suggesting there were 8 before and who knows how many afterwards? This would show the state agencies were not sincere in supporting the Pakistan government, thereby well and truly sabotaging efforts at dialogue with insurgents… talks set up to fail!
It is important to remember also that a key point raised by the Taliban during peace talks was their allegations of torture in custody and extra-judicial killings. I tried to raise these issues myself as an independent human rights activist but my letter was ignored. Failure to listen and address these issues led to the well-documented retaliation attack by the Pakistan Taliban, the killing of 23 FC men as detailed in my earlier article,
Pakistan: Warning letter on human rights abuses in custody was ignored, Taliban kill 23 FC men in retaliation
http://activist1.wordpress.com/2014/02/18/pakistan-warning-letter-on-human-rights-abuses-in-custody-was-ignored-taliban-kill-23-fc-men-in-retaliation/
When William J Burns, Deputy Secretary of State visited Pakistan earlier this year, his mission was clear, to put pressure on Pakistan to take more active measures on insurgency. His press statement of May 9th 2014 read,
“militancy continues to threaten Pakistan’s revival. Few countries have paid a heavier price than Pakistan in the fight against extremism. We support the Prime Minister’s efforts to reestablish authority over all Pakistani territory in whatever way Pakistan deems appropriate, and especially urge him to sustain pressure on militant groups, deny them a safe-haven, and prevent cross-border attacks!
The pressure again increased with the announcement that continuing US aid would depend on success in eliminating terrorists “hide-outs” in North Waziristan. Consequently the military launched operation Zarb-e-Asb which entailed clearing out the tribal areas of civilians prior to air strikes and ground assaults and is estimated to have created around 1 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
Important questions that must now be asked are… who are the “terrorists” in Pakistan (aside from the militants)? What action will be taken against those who allow “state terrorism” to flourish?
The killing of Atif Khan
I contacted Azan to ask what happened to Atif Khan? I was told he was interrogated regarding his actions, was afraid but when asked “if they sent you again then what would you do?….He used to reply “I have no choice”.
His captors informed me that he was later “killed”… “slaughtered like a lamb”….”he was slaughtered in Mir Ali, on the road, at night time.” I inquired as to whether his family knew of his fate? The answer was “no, you can expose his bitter end”. I was then told his body was “left by the road during the last week in May, 2014.”
This report and allegations raise a series of concerns. What is the legal position with regard to private and foreign firms that are alleged to have carried out contract killings? Who will investigate the allegations? What actions will be taken to stop such killers from happening again?
This report has focused on “arresting”and target killing of alleged insurgents however a number of previous articles have highlighted that individuals from many walks of life end up as “enforced disappearances” in Pakistan. Media persons like Hamid Mir have come under physical attack and some like investigative journalist Saleem Shahzad have been kidnapped, tortured and murdered with no-one ever held to account.
See Pakistan: “Enforced disappearances” condemned, practice threatens security of the state,
http://activist1.wordpress.com/2014/08/30/pakistan-2014-enforced-disappearances-condemned-practice-threatens-security-of-the-state/
It is a great pity that Atif Khan was not tried in court for alleged assassinations and put through the process of undergoing a fair judicial trial if sufficient evidence was found. However the brutal reality of Pakistan is, that if he had been handed over and ended up in state custody it is likely he would have been killed in detention to keep him quiet and stop him from revealing names. It appears laws no longer appear to apply in Pakistan, (unless it suits those with power or in power). The state stands accused from various bodies of gross human rights abuses both in detention and on the streets, so it it any wonder that insurgency continues to flourish. If the state cannot lead by example and follow its own rules, what incentive is there for anyone else to keep within the law!
Carol Anne Grayson is an independent writer/researcher on global health/human rights and is Executive Producer of the Oscar nominated, Incident in New Baghdad . She is a Registered Mental Nurse with a Masters in Gender Culture and Development. Carol was awarded the ESRC, Michael Young Prize for Research 2009, and the COTT ‘Action = Life’ Human Rights Award’ for “upholding truth and justice”. She is also a survivor of US “collateral damage”.

source: This article first appeared at http://activist1.wordpress.com