Shambulizi katika hoteli Pakistan
Takriban watu kumi na mmoja wamefariki na zaidi ya watu sitini kujeruhiwa katika shambulizi la kujitoa mhanga katika hoteli moja ya kifahari mjini Peshawar nchini Pakistan.
Takriban watu kumi na mmoja wamefariki na zaidi ya sitini wengine kujeruhiwa katika shambulizi la kujitoa mhanga nchini Pakistan.
Kwa mujibu wa maafisa wakuu nchini humo, shambulizi lilitokea katika mji wa Peshawar kaskazini magharibi mwa nchi hiyo.
Ripoti za vyombo vya habari nchini humo, ziliarifu kuwa watu waliokuwa wamejihami walishambulia walinzi karibu na hoteli ya kifahari ya Pearl Continental kabla ya kulipua gari liliokuwa limebeba mabomu katika eneo la kuegesha magari.
Walioshuhudia tukio hilo waliiambia BBC kuwa mlipuko huo ulionekana kwa umbali wa kilomita tano. Sehemu moja ya hoteli hiyo imeporomoka kabisa.
Mwandishi wa BBC nchini Pakistan amesema kuwa hoteli hiyo ndiyo maarufu zaidi katika mji wa Peshawar na ni mojapo ya majengo yanayotambuliwa zaidi ya mji huo.
Miji kadhaa nchini Pakistan ukiwemo ule wa Peshawar imekumbwa na mashambulizi ya mabomu tangu jeshi kuanza operehseni dhidi ya wanamgambo wa Taliban.
Hata hivyo hakuna aliyekiri kutekeleza mashambulizi hayo.
Islamabad, Sunday, May 31, 07:18 GMT
A Pakistani defence official has said Pakistan's battle will be over in two to three days.
Syed Athar Ali's comments at a security conference in Singapore on Sunday have caused much consternation here in Islamabad.
Ali told a Singapore conference that Pakistan's battle will be over in two to three days [AFP]
The assessment is seen as "optimistic".
The Taliban are still fighting back on the outskirts of Mingora. They are still in control, so local sources tell us, of key towns and villages surrounding Swat valley city.
There are still pockets of resistance in the neighbouring area of Buner, where Taliban fighters recently beheaded three men they suspected of spying.
Also, the type of tactics the Taliban are now using are much more in line with classic insurgency warfare.
They are using hit-and-run tactics, spraying machine gunfire at army troops and then retreating.
The army are treating this type of tactic more as a nuisance then a threat, but it shows just how fraught the battle is.
Also if the battle is over within the next three days, then is the war over?
There are now, according to the Pakistani government, 3.4 million people displaced by the fighting.
Making sure they can go home will be an indicator that this war is over. That's certain to take more than three days.
The defence officials' comments may, however, have deeper context.
One analyst, retired General Talat Masood, says these comments could be a result of the government wanting to be seen as in control.
"This chap in Singapore has a message and he could be seen as selling the governments side ... it's an optimistic statement," he said.
Two to three days is, as a another political observer told me, "fighting talk".
But let's see - two to three days is a long time in war.
Peshawar, Tuesday, May 12, 2009, 09:22 GMT
Peshawar is a town with a past littered with the ghosts of war.
A palpable fear now hangs over the city after frequent deadly attacks [EPA]
Traditionally it has inhabited the crossroads between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
It was here the British Empire headquartered its great game against Russia in the 19th century.
It is here that the Afghan mujahidin gathered logistics to fight their war against Russian occupation in the 1980s.
This dusty town with its cobbled alleyways was the place where CIA agents mingled with their Pakistani counterparts to conduct their war in Afghanistan after the twin towers in New York fell.
And now Peshawar is once again at the centre of conflict.
It's already home to thousands of refugees fleeing those wars in Afghanistan.
But this time its war is raging within Pakistan's borders and those refugees are Pakistani.
It's had an incredible effect on Pakistan.
The media here have dubbed this the biggest movement of people since partition, when millions crossed the new border between Pakistan and India in 1947.
"The media here have dubbed this the biggest movement of people since partition... in 1947"
Ordinary Pakistanis have taken to the streets demanding the fighting stops.
One taxi driver told me he fears the break-up of Pakistan.
Another shop owner in one of Peshawar's hotels says war will only make the situation worse, that the Taliban will hide in the mountains and fight until the bitter end.
The bitter end.
It's worth thinking about how exactly Pakistan will end its military operation.
The government wants a swift operation that will allow them to claim victory.
Analysts say the army wants to be able to secure the area quickly and withdraw leaving the police in charge.
At the time of writing, the end is nowhere in sight.
The only thing we can say with any degree of certainty is that Pakistanis will flood into the camps and the battle still rages.
Swabi, North West Frontier Province, Thursday, May 14, 12:22 GMT
The first thing that hits you when you visit a refugee camp is the sheer scale.
"Camp" is too small a word to use- these are cities of canvas and rope.
Yar Hussein is home to 4,000 refugees, much smaller than the 48,000 strong Jallala camp
Yar Hussein camp has only been running for a few days. So far it houses 4000 refugees - a small town compared to say Jallala refugee encampment which has upwards of 48,000 people living there.
But nonetheless housing people is a mammoth task.
Getting these tents up, supplying water and food is a logistics nightmare.
I spoke to the cook at the camp. He told me: "We are doing the best we can, but look at what we have."
He pointed to huge cauldrons bubbling away, cooking rice. The pots had definitely seen better days.
His whole open air kitchen reminded me of a wedding I had been to in Pakistan as a child - the fires roasting, the multi-coloured awning covering the kitchen area.
This, though, was far from a celebration. It is a "massive crisis" - according to Antonio Guterres, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees.
A soft-spoken man, he is visiting the crisis area for the first time and has passionately pleaded for the world to take notice.
"Pakistan has hosted the largest refugee population in the world - 5 million Afghans - Pakistan now needs help itself and the world must pay attention."
The UN and other aid agencies have a big job on their hands.
This is the biggest movement of people in recent times. The figures are worth going over again.
At least 1.3 million people are on the move and more than 800,000 are registered with the UN alone as refugees.
But behind that figure lies another one. You could call them the forgotten refugees.
Since August 2008, people have been fleeing clashes across the North West Frontier Province. The army has been battling Taliban fighters and more than 500,000 refugees have been registered in camps by the UN since August last year.
They have been living makeshift accommodation since then. The Red Cross has registered another 400,000.
These figures are mind boggling.
I had a chance to reflect on the numbers while I was in the camp. Watching children roam freely, playing as they do, I found myself wondering how many of them would spend their formative years living in places like these.
When so many people live together disease also becomes a problem. Cases of diarrhoea and skin problems have already been registered.
I wonder how many of the children I saw will survive.
Peshawar, Friday, May 15, 13:47 GMT
One of the great things about Peshawar is its history. Behind its noisy, congested streets lie alleyways and markets that have stood for centuries. One such place is Storytellers Bazaar.
In days gone by, this was where artists, poets and thinkers would gather to sing, argue and swap stories late into the night.
Thousands of charities have sprung up in response to the crisis [GALLO/GETTY]
I have come here because another song is now being sung, a lament for Pakistan's displaced - refugees in their own country.
Here one of thousands of charitable organisations has set up a stall gathering together vital food aid, money and supplies to ship to the camps where hundreds of thousands now live.
The stall is surrounded by electric fans. Stacks of rice are piled high and small denomination currency is strewn across a ramshackle wooden table.
The stall is run by Habibullah Zahid, a large, jolly, bearded man who runs restaurants by day and the charity by night.
I asked him what on earth refugees living in tents would do with electric fans.
"They need these desperately," he said.
"Those camps will get electricity eventually. You have to remember that these people are used to the cooler climes of the Swat Valley. This is [a] hot place. You will see these will be most useful."
Whatever Pakistanis feel about the military operation, the humanitarian crisis has united them.
Newspapers are full of advertisements urging readers to donate, television commercials run on loop showing heartbreaking images of children and the elderly.
As I talked to him, people drop money onto Habibullah's table. Some of Pakistan's poorest people, are donating as much money as they can to stalls such as these all over the country.
Their generosity is humbling.
As Habibullah and I talk, a small boy - he must be seven or so years old - begins to sing and a crowd quickly gathers.
His voice rises as more people watch; his words capture the crowd's attention.
I later find out that he is singing the poetry of Sufi Rehman Baba, a 17th century mystic more commonly known around here as the "Nightingale of Peshawar".
The boy's choice of song is particularly poignant. A few months ago Sufi Rehman Baba's shrine, which has stood since he died in the 17th century, was attacked by men claiming to be Taliban fighters.
They planted four devices to try to destroy the shrine, but it survived.
When this chapter in Pakistan's history closes, perhaps it will be remembered and re-told by the storytellers in Peshawar.
Perhaps people will wonder how such a thing ever came to pass.
Islamabad, Friday, May 22, 13:20 GMT
It looks like Pakistan's battle with the Taliban is about to get worse, or to use military-speak, enter a new phase.
The army is making noises about entering the Swat valley's main town of Mingora.
So far the main thrust of its tactics has been to use heavy artillery and air power to pound Taliban hideouts.
The army insists that it has had to use that kind of tactic to avoid heavy civilian casualties.
In fact, it says the civilian death toll so far in the upper Swat valley is just 10.
The army says the civilian toll in upper Swat valley is just 10, a figure impossible to verify
That figure is impossible to independently verify.
In the fight for Mingora though the army will not use heavy artillery and air power.
It is sending in the infantry which will mean house-to-house, street-to-street fighting.
It's going to be bloody and hard fought.
When I visited Mingora just after the Taliban signed a peace deal, the Taliban were still armed and highly visible as if to say "This is our town".
Thier confidence is not idle boasting. They know this area well. They know the streets and the best places to hide. This is to be the Taliban's last stand in the Swat valley.
They have always maintained they will fight to the last man.
The army will take over this town. No one expects the Taliban to fight Pakistan's well- trained, well-equipped army into submission but the fighters are likely to claim some sort of victory.
We will know what both will say soon enough. Until then Pakistan awaits the outcome with anticipation and fear.
Islamabad, Tuesday, May 19, 13:13 GMT
After careering around the North West Frontier Province for the past week or so, it feels good to be back in the relative calm of the capital Islamabad.
The government assault on pro-Taliban fighters has forced 1.5m to flee their homes [AFP]
I say relative calm because, despite the fact that I was here just a few weeks ago, I have noticed a few changes.
Huge concrete walls have gone up around some buildings. In other parts, black and yellow concrete safety barriers have turned open roads into go-kart courses.
The Marriott Hotel, subject to a massive bomb blast in September last year, is cocooned in a massive shell made out of blast walls and sandbags.
Armed guards, pump action shotguns draped casually over their shoulders, stand on every street.
This is Fortress Islamabad.
It's been like this for a while now, but in last few months security the capital has gone into security overdrive.
Driving past the Parliament requires you to navigate several checkpoints and the route from one end of Islamabad to the other, which used to take 20 minutes, can now take an hour.
I contrast this with the Islamabad of my youth. My younger brother, sister and I used to come to the capital city on holiday as children.
In the 1980s it was nice place. Families would picnic in the hills that surround the city, you could go horse riding, every available space seemed to taken up by young men playing cricket and groups of girls would sit in cafes sharing ice cream and gossip.
The only security you would see was on the outskirts of the city. You would have never seen Pakistani army soldiers ensconced in sand bag posts.
That peaceful Islamabad seems to have gone.
Don't get me wrong, Islamabad still continues in it's own way, but as city it has changed irrevocably.
Fashion shows still happen here, there is a thriving arts scene, the markets are packed with every kind of Pakistani buying every kind of cloth and the cafes are still doing a brisk trade.
But it's not the carefree atmosphere of my youth. People tend not to hang around as much as they used to, most entertaining now happens at home and Islamabad's vast array of restaurants, though packed by day, remain emptier than ever at night.
Islamabad - they call it the beautiful city here. Carved out of the hills it's definitely that, but it's also nervy and tense.
Sheikh Yassin camp , North West Pakistan, 25 May, 10:45 GMT
The heat is punishing. It must be 45 degrees C with no wind. A haze seems to rise from every surface.
It's midday in the camp. Seemingly, there is no escape from the brutal sun.
Children try and cool off by splashing water over each other, which would be a happy scene anywhere else in the world.
Except here.
These children are at risk from dehydration, skin diseases and other problems.
The Swati refugees come from a pleasant and temperate valley, and are used to average temperatures of 25 degrees C.
The refugee camps are on the plains. There is little shade. The refugees are forced to live under canvas; water and food are limited and the toilet facilities are basic.
It's taking a toll on the people.
Children are especially at risk of dehydration
as the sun beats down on the plain
Iqbal Ahsan is a rickshaw driver from the main Swat valley town of Mingora.
He heads an extended family of 30. He came to the camp on foot, which took two days. When he got here he was tired and ill, but it was the heat that got him down the most.
"It was unbearable for me. But for my children they suffered more. I had to take them to the doctor. I was scared for them, they were so ill," he says.
Iqbal's children have recovered, but his story is common in all the camps.
Doctors have been battling to see as many patients as they can. The risk of diseases spreading is high. Any epidemic would only add to the misery.
Akbar Noor is a medic from the charity Ummah Welfare Foundation. He says he sees 300-500 people a day in the six hours he holds his surgery.
Besides the health problems, Noor faces another issue.
"The medicines we have aren't sufficient and then the ones we do have are getting spoiled because of the heat. We are trying to build storage facilities but it takes time," he says.
As I walked down through the camp, the sun was at its highest.
I could feel the sun burning down. I have the luxury of leaving the camp for my hotel. Swatis have no choice but to bear the heat.
On the road to Lahore, Wednesday, May 27, 06:41 GMT
I have now been covering Pakistan for a number of years, but today's attack in Lahore is the thirteenth I have either covered or witnessed.
There was always a fear that Pakistan's war with the Taliban would spill over into the major cities.
We have seen attacks in the last 10 days in Peshawar, but this attack in Lahore has all the hallmarks of something more organised and more deadly.
Ordinary Pakistanis now fear the country as a whole is under threat [AFP]
Lahore is one of Pakistan's most iconic cities. Known for its liberal attitudes, it is the home of Pakistan's art and cinema community.
The attack here shows that not only are Pakistan's security forces under threat, ordinary people are too.
The fear now among many - particularly the friends I have spoken to in Lahore - is that even if the Pakistani army wins the battle for the Swat valley, Pakistan itself will be under threat.
It is worth noting that the Pakistani Taliban, in addition to having a significant presence in the North West Frontier Province, have a reach across the country.
I hope Wednesday's bombing isn't the beginning of a new wave of attacks in Pakistan. However, all the indications suggest that is exactly what it is.
Lahore, Thursday, May 28, 08:17 GMT
Lahore comes to terms with another attack on the city.
At the attack site the rangers and the police try and secure the area. The target, seemingly, was the home of Pakistan's security service.
It is home to many sensitive documents.
As I stood at the scene, the army moved badly damaged computer servers and filing cabinets.
Up to 30 people were killed in the Lahore
attack on Wednesday [AFP]
With this attack the Taliban have upped the ante.
They claimed responsibility for the attack immediately, something they have rarely done in the past.
Their tactic now, according to many analysts here, will be to attack as many of Pakistan's cities as possible.
By doing so, they will want to put pressure on the Pakistani government to make the war as unpopular as possible, thereby building public pressure on the government to strike some sort deal for a ceasefire.
The government is resolute that it will not bow to pressure.
Ordinary Pakistanis, though, are scared.
In the next few days, markets will be emptier and cafes and restaurants a little less busy.
Lahore will bounce back, it always does. But with every attack, the city that's famed for an easy going atmosphere will get that little bit more edgy.
Islamabad, Thursday, June 4, 13:51GMT
He seemed confident, articulate, and his words hit all the right notes when it came to Islam.
But what did Obama's speech mean to the people of Pakistan?
I met with a group of young friends, all of them recent graduates from some of the world's best schools.
These are Pakistan's educated elite. The kind of people that Obama needs to appeal to if he hopes to sell his message of American change towards the Muslim world.
Nadine Murtaza is a teacher. Her short, bobbed hair and quiet outlook hide a fierce intellect.
"I thought the speech was heartfelt and passionate. But moreover it felt like a long-overdue apology to the Muslim world which I think it was."
Obama's speech did not register with many of Pakistan's poor [AFP]
We are watching the speech at the home of one of my friends, Uzair.
He is deciding whether to go to Paris to study international relations.
He was positive about the US president's words.
"There was a lot of 'I will, I will' in his speech and I hope in two years' time, he goes back to Cairo and makes a speech that says 'I have, I have'."
Nosheen Abbas, a columnist, nods in agreement.
But she says the US president has already impacted on the relationship with Pakistan in a positive manner.
"He is the only president who has managed to convince Pakistan that the war against violent extremists is not only a US war, but a Pakistani one as well."
The fourth friend, Samad Khurram, was cynical, of sorts.
"The speech was not an accurate reflection of the US' relations with the Muslim world, it was sugar-coated."
All in all, this group of friends has welcomed the US overture. But perhaps this group would. What about Pakistan's poor?
Asif is a cab driver. The speech didn't even register with him.
"I have been running around trying to earn a living, what does Obama mean to me?"
And that solitary statement, perhaps, sums up Pakistan's relations with the US ... some want change, others just want to earn a buck.
When I arrived a little under a month ago, I had no idea what to expect.
Not that Pakistan is unfamiliar to me - on the contrary, I have reported in this part of the world on-and-off since 2001.
I had no idea what to expect because the Pakistanis had shifted tactics when it came to the Taliban.
The kid gloves were off, this was to be Pakistan's final battle with what the government, somewhat quaintly, calls "miscreants".
And what a battle it continues to be.
All-out war
It has caused the biggest movement of refugees in recent times, making 3.4m people homeless.
Helicopter gunships, heavy artillery, tanks and fighter aircraft have all chased down turbaned men armed with rocket launchers and assault rifles.
Whole towns and villages have been trashed, homes wrecked, lives destroyed.
The finances also beggar belief: $543m is needed for the refugees; $1bn dollars is needed for reconstruction.
Add to that scenes of ordinary Pakistanis cheering for their army, the endless jingoistic commentary on some local television channels and powerful criticism of the government by eloquent writers wondering how on Earth Pakistan got to this stage.
It has been an 'all-out war' to top other 'all-out wars'.
But it is not over.
The army has taken ground, but to secure it they will need to remain in those areas in large numbers. Refugees need to return home.
The key leaders of the Pakistani Taliban remain free and are turning themselves into symbols of resistance.
And every day they are free, the stronger they become.
Like I said, it's not over. But my role in it is.
I return home for a few weeks to spend some time with my wife and two daughters.
We will laugh and play and I will be thankful for the safe, secure lives my two young daughters have.
In a few weeks I will return. It will be too much to hope that things will be different.
Nothing will have changed for the displaced people of the Swat Valley, who will remain homeless.
The army has a huge challenge in making Pakistan's north-west secure [AFP]
Imran Khan, Al Jazeera's reporter in Pakistan, is filing regular dispatches from the country as the army battles Taliban fighters in the North West Frontier Province.
Waliojeruhiwa katika mashambulizi
Watu zaidi ya sitini walijeruhiwa.
Takriban watu kumi na mmoja wamefariki na zaidi ya sitini wengine kujeruhiwa katika shambulizi la kujitoa mhanga nchini Pakistan.
Kwa mujibu wa maafisa wakuu nchini humo, shambulizi lilitokea katika mji wa Peshawar kaskazini magharibi mwa nchi hiyo.
Ripoti za vyombo vya habari nchini humo, ziliarifu kuwa watu waliokuwa wamejihami walishambulia walinzi karibu na hoteli ya kifahari ya Pearl Continental kabla ya kulipua gari liliokuwa limebeba mabomu katika eneo la kuegesha magari.
Walioshuhudia tukio hilo waliiambia BBC kuwa mlipuko huo ulionekana kwa umbali wa kilomita tano. Sehemu moja ya hoteli hiyo imeporomoka kabisa.
Mwandishi wa BBC nchini Pakistan amesema kuwa hoteli hiyo ndiyo maarufu zaidi katika mji wa Peshawar na ni mojapo ya majengo yanayotambuliwa zaidi ya mji huo.
Miji kadhaa nchini Pakistan ukiwemo ule wa Peshawar imekumbwa na mashambulizi ya mabomu tangu jeshi kuanza operehseni dhidi ya wanamgambo wa Taliban.
Hata hivyo hakuna aliyekiri kutekeleza mashambulizi hayo.
The news that 400 villagers have bandied together and surrounded Taliban fighters in Dir Province seems to have been welcomed as a sign that the tide is turning against the Taliban.
The villagers mounted the operation after a mosque was attacked in the area.
At a café in Islamabad I sat with two friends as the news came in.
"Good", said one. "They [the Taliban] deserve it. These people are trying to drag us back to the stone age, and not in a good way like the Flintstones!"
Jokes aside, he was serious in his statement.
It's becoming more commonplace here - the feeling that the Taliban's time is up, despite the war dragging on for over a month now. But it's interesting to watch how Pakistani media is reporting the story.
One English language channel, Express 24-7, is still flying the flag for Pakistan's soldiers. Another, Dawn News, is running a 21-part documentary on Pakistan's army. It's a fascinating watch, but at times it feels like a promo.
Much of the credit has to go to the way the Pakistani army has handled the media during this crisis. It has denied us access to the warzones, instead relying on briefings to sell their side of the story.
Any charity working in the area had to abide by regulations that it would not take media into conflict areas. All of this has meant that controlling the message has been easy.
There are only a handful of reports on civilian casualties and all of those are based on army figures no one can verify them independently.
Major-General Athar Abbas, an army spokesman, has also sold the army's message hard to the international news media. As one pundit put it to me: ''He must have been watching the Americans closely."
I don't know who he has been watching but one thing is for sure. The army's message is coming through loud and clear.
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