Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
June 28, 2008 By Habibullah Khan and Ravi Nessman, Associated Press
Khar, Pakistan--A gang of Pakistani militants executed two Afghan prisoners in front of thousands of cheering supporters Friday, beheading one man and shooting the other after accusing them of aiding a U.S. missile strike.
The executions in the Bajur region highlighted the power of local Taliban forces in lawless tribal areas near the Afghan border.
Meanwhile, a top U.N. official expressed fears that Pakistan's peace deals with militants are sparking a wave of similar abuses.
Militants calling from the loudspeakers of mosques summoned people to the banks of a stream outside the town of Khar, about 120 miles northwest of Islamabad. At least 5,000 people gathered to watch the executions.
Waliur Rehman, a local Taliban commander, told the crowd that the two men had confessed to aiding in a strike on a house in the border town of Damadola that killed 14 people last month. The men disclosed the names of others accused of involvement, who would be killed as well, Rehman said.
Pakistan's army lodged a formal protest to "allied forces" in Afghanistan after saying Pakistan had concluded the attack was launched by drones from across the border. The U.S. did not comment on the incident.
"Whoever, for the sake of money, for the sake of America, harms the interest of the Islamic world will meet the same fate," Rehman said.
After the executions, the crowd erupted in cheers of "God is great!" and gunmen fired in the air in jubilation. The celebratory gunfire killed two bystanders and wounded six, local official Fazal Rabbi said.
There was no immediate reaction to the killings from U.S. or Pakistani officials.
The recently elected Pakistani government has supported negotiations that would give local tribes and militants broad authority over some tribal areas. The U.S. says those deals will only give Taliban and al-Qaida forces in the border region more freedom to attack Afghanistan.
A deal has not yet been reached over Bajur, but the militants are clearly able to operate freely in the area.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said Friday that she was concerned that the peace deals undermined state authority and left residents vulnerable to a range of human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings.
Minorities and women were particularly in danger, she said.
Hours before Arbour spoke, suspected Taliban militants torched two girls schools in the Swat region, the latest in a string of attacks on the female education system in the area, police said.
June 28, 2008 By Habibullah Khan and Ravi Nessman, Associated Press
Khar, Pakistan--A gang of Pakistani militants executed two Afghan prisoners in front of thousands of cheering supporters Friday, beheading one man and shooting the other after accusing them of aiding a U.S. missile strike.
The executions in the Bajur region highlighted the power of local Taliban forces in lawless tribal areas near the Afghan border.
Meanwhile, a top U.N. official expressed fears that Pakistan's peace deals with militants are sparking a wave of similar abuses.
Militants calling from the loudspeakers of mosques summoned people to the banks of a stream outside the town of Khar, about 120 miles northwest of Islamabad. At least 5,000 people gathered to watch the executions.
Waliur Rehman, a local Taliban commander, told the crowd that the two men had confessed to aiding in a strike on a house in the border town of Damadola that killed 14 people last month. The men disclosed the names of others accused of involvement, who would be killed as well, Rehman said.
Pakistan's army lodged a formal protest to "allied forces" in Afghanistan after saying Pakistan had concluded the attack was launched by drones from across the border. The U.S. did not comment on the incident.
"Whoever, for the sake of money, for the sake of America, harms the interest of the Islamic world will meet the same fate," Rehman said.
After the executions, the crowd erupted in cheers of "God is great!" and gunmen fired in the air in jubilation. The celebratory gunfire killed two bystanders and wounded six, local official Fazal Rabbi said.
There was no immediate reaction to the killings from U.S. or Pakistani officials.
The recently elected Pakistani government has supported negotiations that would give local tribes and militants broad authority over some tribal areas. The U.S. says those deals will only give Taliban and al-Qaida forces in the border region more freedom to attack Afghanistan.
A deal has not yet been reached over Bajur, but the militants are clearly able to operate freely in the area.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said Friday that she was concerned that the peace deals undermined state authority and left residents vulnerable to a range of human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings.
Minorities and women were particularly in danger, she said.
Hours before Arbour spoke, suspected Taliban militants torched two girls schools in the Swat region, the latest in a string of attacks on the female education system in the area, police said.