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Pakistan frets over Burqa bombers
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Pakistan frets over Burqa bombers (pakistan to consider Burqa Ban)
.
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LAHORE: The Taliban-sponsored third suicide
attack by a veil-clad female bomber in less than a
year in Pakistan has set alarm bells ringing
among security agencies as the new tactic to
conceal deadly explosives under all-enveloping
burqas without being intercepted presents a huge
challenge to counter-terrorism officials who are
already finding it hard to nip the menace of
suicide bombers in the bud.
A female suicide attacker and a separate handcart
bomb targeted the police on August 11 in the
Lahori Gate area of Peshawar, killing seven people
in the first deadly suicide attack during the holy
month of Ramazan. The target of the female
bomber, believed to be a 17-year-old, was a
police check post which was completely
destroyed in the attack. The girl first threw a hand
grenade on the check post, 20 meters from the
site of the first blast which had already killed
seven people, including five policemen, and then
blew herself up. But luckily enough, she failed to
inflict adequate damage as her vest did not
explode fully, and killed only an elderly woman.
TTP quickly claimed responsibility for the attack,
with TTP spokesman Azam Tariq telling the
media that they have a large number of women
suicide bombers who would be used in future
attacks against the security forces to avenge the
Pakistani military operations in the tribal belt.
The TTP head in Mohmand Agency Commander
Omar Khalid threatened further suicide attacks
until the Pakistani military offensives, which he
said were being waged to appease the United
States, come to an end. The TTP leader said that
using female bombers was part of a new
strategy as strategies keep changing in war."
The Peshawar suicide bombing was the third
suicide attack carried out by a female in Pakistan
since December 2010. Three suicide bombings
carried out by female attackers in eight months,
which killed nearly 60 people and injured around
150, have raised concerns about the Taliban's
dangerous strategy to multiply challenges for the
Pakistani security forces. Interior Minister Rehman
Malik has condemned TTP for using women as
human bombs, describing it as a sign of their
desperation in the wake of the strict security
measures taken by the agencies which have
made it difficult for the saboteurs to strike their
targets at will.
According to those in security agencies who are
responsible for dealing with the menace of suicide
bombings, the emerging phenomenon of female
bombers pose a bigger challenge to the Pakistani
authorities since women in their all-enveloping
burqas can easily breach security and inflict
maximum damage by exploding themselves.
Well-informed circles in the security agencies say
both the TTP and al-Qaeda have established
female suicide bombing cells in remote areas of
north-western Pakistan and north eastern
Afghanistan. The existence of these cells was
confirmed by a 12-year-old Pakistani girl, Meena
Gul, who had confessed (in June 2010) to have
been trained to be a human bomb. Meena Gul
said she was brainwashed to kill Pakistani troops
in one of several such training camps. She was
detained by police in Dir district of Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa. According to Meena, female
suicide bombers coming from Pakistan and
Afghanistan are being trained in small cells on
both sides of the Pak-Afghan border, to be
eventually dispatched to their missions with a
sermon, "God will reward you with a place in
heaven". Meena said her cell was led by Zainab,
her sister-in-law, who used to dress as a man
and fought alongside the Taliban against Pakistani
troops.
Sources in the security agencies say the training
cells of the human bombs operate on both sides
of the Pak-Afghan border and work under the
command of Qari Ziaur Rahman, the dual-hatted
Taliban and al-Qaeda leader. Qari Zia is not only a
top regional commander of TTP but also an al-
Qaeda member who operates in Kunar and
Nuristan provinces of Afghanistan as well as
across the border in Bajaur Agency in Fata. Zia's
private army has fighters from Pakistan,
Chechnya, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan,
Afghanistan, and various Arab countries. He
commands a brigade in al-Qaeda's paramilitary
shadow army, which is called the Lashkar-e-Zil
(LeZ), previously led by Ilyas Kashmiri, who was
reportedly killed in a US drone strike in July 2011.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik had claimed in
March 2010 that Qari Zia was killed in an air strike,
but he later spoke to the media and mocked
Rehman Malik for wrongly reporting his killing.
Similarly, the American CIA, which offers
$350,000 bounty for information leading to his
death or capture, has targeted him in multiple
drone attacks in Kunar province of Afghanistan
since January 2010, but failed to hunt him down
despite repeated attempts.
Female suicide bombers are relatively new in
South Asia. The first known suicide bombing by
a female anywhere in the world came in 1985
when a 16-year-old girl, Khyadali Sana, drove an
explosive-laden truck into an Israeli Defence Force
convoy and killed two soldiers. Since then,
women have driven bomb-laden vehicles, carried
bomber bags, and strapped huge explosives and
metal implements on their bodies in Lebanon, Sri
Lanka, Chechnya, Israel, Turkey, Somalia and last
but not the least, in Pakistan. Terrorist
organisations worldwide which have publicised
their use of female bombers include the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the Syrian Socialist National
Party, the Kurdistan Workers Party, Chechen
rebels, Al-Aqsa Martyrs, Palestinian Islamic Jihad,
and most recently, Hamas.
The first incident of suicide bombing carried out
by a female in Afghanistan happened on June 21,
2010 in Kunar province, killing two American
soldiers. Similarly, the first suicide attack by a
female bomber in Pakistan was carried out on
December 24, 2010 at an aid distribution centre of
the United Nations World Food Programme in
Bajaur Agency, which killed 47 people.
The second attack was carried out on June 25,
2011 when a husband and wife team, said to be
Uzbeks, attacked a police station in Dera Ismail
Khan, killing seven policemen and a tea boy. The
TTP had claimed responsibility for both these
attacks.
.
.
Pakistan frets over Burqa bombers (pakistan to consider Burqa Ban)
.
.
LAHORE: The Taliban-sponsored third suicide
attack by a veil-clad female bomber in less than a
year in Pakistan has set alarm bells ringing
among security agencies as the new tactic to
conceal deadly explosives under all-enveloping
burqas without being intercepted presents a huge
challenge to counter-terrorism officials who are
already finding it hard to nip the menace of
suicide bombers in the bud.
A female suicide attacker and a separate handcart
bomb targeted the police on August 11 in the
Lahori Gate area of Peshawar, killing seven people
in the first deadly suicide attack during the holy
month of Ramazan. The target of the female
bomber, believed to be a 17-year-old, was a
police check post which was completely
destroyed in the attack. The girl first threw a hand
grenade on the check post, 20 meters from the
site of the first blast which had already killed
seven people, including five policemen, and then
blew herself up. But luckily enough, she failed to
inflict adequate damage as her vest did not
explode fully, and killed only an elderly woman.
TTP quickly claimed responsibility for the attack,
with TTP spokesman Azam Tariq telling the
media that they have a large number of women
suicide bombers who would be used in future
attacks against the security forces to avenge the
Pakistani military operations in the tribal belt.
The TTP head in Mohmand Agency Commander
Omar Khalid threatened further suicide attacks
until the Pakistani military offensives, which he
said were being waged to appease the United
States, come to an end. The TTP leader said that
using female bombers was part of a new
strategy as strategies keep changing in war."
The Peshawar suicide bombing was the third
suicide attack carried out by a female in Pakistan
since December 2010. Three suicide bombings
carried out by female attackers in eight months,
which killed nearly 60 people and injured around
150, have raised concerns about the Taliban's
dangerous strategy to multiply challenges for the
Pakistani security forces. Interior Minister Rehman
Malik has condemned TTP for using women as
human bombs, describing it as a sign of their
desperation in the wake of the strict security
measures taken by the agencies which have
made it difficult for the saboteurs to strike their
targets at will.
According to those in security agencies who are
responsible for dealing with the menace of suicide
bombings, the emerging phenomenon of female
bombers pose a bigger challenge to the Pakistani
authorities since women in their all-enveloping
burqas can easily breach security and inflict
maximum damage by exploding themselves.
Well-informed circles in the security agencies say
both the TTP and al-Qaeda have established
female suicide bombing cells in remote areas of
north-western Pakistan and north eastern
Afghanistan. The existence of these cells was
confirmed by a 12-year-old Pakistani girl, Meena
Gul, who had confessed (in June 2010) to have
been trained to be a human bomb. Meena Gul
said she was brainwashed to kill Pakistani troops
in one of several such training camps. She was
detained by police in Dir district of Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa. According to Meena, female
suicide bombers coming from Pakistan and
Afghanistan are being trained in small cells on
both sides of the Pak-Afghan border, to be
eventually dispatched to their missions with a
sermon, "God will reward you with a place in
heaven". Meena said her cell was led by Zainab,
her sister-in-law, who used to dress as a man
and fought alongside the Taliban against Pakistani
troops.
Sources in the security agencies say the training
cells of the human bombs operate on both sides
of the Pak-Afghan border and work under the
command of Qari Ziaur Rahman, the dual-hatted
Taliban and al-Qaeda leader. Qari Zia is not only a
top regional commander of TTP but also an al-
Qaeda member who operates in Kunar and
Nuristan provinces of Afghanistan as well as
across the border in Bajaur Agency in Fata. Zia's
private army has fighters from Pakistan,
Chechnya, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan,
Afghanistan, and various Arab countries. He
commands a brigade in al-Qaeda's paramilitary
shadow army, which is called the Lashkar-e-Zil
(LeZ), previously led by Ilyas Kashmiri, who was
reportedly killed in a US drone strike in July 2011.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik had claimed in
March 2010 that Qari Zia was killed in an air strike,
but he later spoke to the media and mocked
Rehman Malik for wrongly reporting his killing.
Similarly, the American CIA, which offers
$350,000 bounty for information leading to his
death or capture, has targeted him in multiple
drone attacks in Kunar province of Afghanistan
since January 2010, but failed to hunt him down
despite repeated attempts.
Female suicide bombers are relatively new in
South Asia. The first known suicide bombing by
a female anywhere in the world came in 1985
when a 16-year-old girl, Khyadali Sana, drove an
explosive-laden truck into an Israeli Defence Force
convoy and killed two soldiers. Since then,
women have driven bomb-laden vehicles, carried
bomber bags, and strapped huge explosives and
metal implements on their bodies in Lebanon, Sri
Lanka, Chechnya, Israel, Turkey, Somalia and last
but not the least, in Pakistan. Terrorist
organisations worldwide which have publicised
their use of female bombers include the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the Syrian Socialist National
Party, the Kurdistan Workers Party, Chechen
rebels, Al-Aqsa Martyrs, Palestinian Islamic Jihad,
and most recently, Hamas.
The first incident of suicide bombing carried out
by a female in Afghanistan happened on June 21,
2010 in Kunar province, killing two American
soldiers. Similarly, the first suicide attack by a
female bomber in Pakistan was carried out on
December 24, 2010 at an aid distribution centre of
the United Nations World Food Programme in
Bajaur Agency, which killed 47 people.
The second attack was carried out on June 25,
2011 when a husband and wife team, said to be
Uzbeks, attacked a police station in Dera Ismail
Khan, killing seven policemen and a tea boy. The
TTP had claimed responsibility for both these
attacks.
