Civilian casualties may dent support for security forces
Sunday, May 10, 2009
The News, Pakistan
Sunday, May 10, 2009
By Rahimullah Yusufzai
PESHAWAR: Two incidents involving security forces in Malakand Agency and South Waziristan on Saturday in which a number of civilians lost their lives underscore the need for an extra care by the military, if it wants to keep the public opinion on its side while tackling the militants.
A stray mortar shell hit the house of a villager, Qadar Gul, in the Thana area in the Malakand Agency, which is adjacent to the restive Swat and Dir Lower districts. It killed four people, including his daughter-in-law and grandson, along with one Qayyum, son of Habibur Rehman, and Hazrat Nawab, son of Abdul Malik. Six other civilians were injured by the shell.
The people of Thana blamed security forces for firing the shell and staged a protest at the post of the Malakand Levies in the town. The post was apparently the only government building. Thus, the protest was staged there.
The protesters chanted slogans against the Army for killing innocent people.
Thana is outside the conflict zone, even though it is located perilously close to both Swat and Dir Lower, where military operations are underway at the moment. It is located on the road linking Malakand Agency to Swat and its population has to live in curfew whenever military convoys are moving through the area.
Read more
Labels: Army Operation, Pakistan, Swat, Taliban, Terrorism
posted @ 8:21 PM,
0 Comments:
Post a Comment