A man grieves the death of a relative, who was killed by a bomb attack in Peshawar.—Reuters/File photoAs is usually the case, the Taliban have targeted another anti-Taliban militia member and succeeded in killing him and members of his family as his vehicle passed by a remote-controlled roadside bomb.
From the report at DAWN:
A roadside bomb targeted an anti-Taliban militia member in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday, ripping through his vehicle and killing four people, police said.
The blast badly damaged the militiaman’s car in a remote village in the district of Lower Dir, where Pakistan launched a major operation designed to dislodge a Taliban insurgency in 2009.
Sponsored by the government, tribesmen across the northwest have set up militias in a bid to drive the Taliban out of their communities.
“The bomb targeted anti-Taliban militia member Aziz-ur-Rehman. His 12-year-old son, a son-in-law and a neighbour who were also travelling in his car were also killed,” local police chief Salim Khan Marwat told AFP.
“It was a remote-controlled IED (improvised explosive device) which exploded when the vehicle passed. Two people passing near by the car were wounded,” said Marwat.
The trend in Pakistan has always been that as the anti-Taliban militias gain some numbers and some boldness, the Taliban retaliate with a vengeance and as is usually the case, the militia backs down and cowers from it. First off, it shows just how many "friends" the Taliban have in these village areas as the intel getting to the Taliban is usually flawless. Secondly, the Taliban use these deaths to the hilt after they occur to intimidate the crap out of the rest of the militia members.
What we haven't seen in Pakistan is the militias (lashkars) really take root and be able to sustain themselves through the adversity and attacks although I should add that the number of militias in southern and eastern Afghanistan is woefully miniscule compared to Pakistan.
Bomb kills anti-Taliban militiaman, three others in Dir
PESHAWAR: A roadside bomb targeted an anti-Taliban militia member in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday, ripping through his vehicle and killing four people, police said.
The blast badly damaged the militiaman’s car in a remote village in the district of Lower Dir, where Pakistan launched a major operation designed to dislodge a Taliban insurgency in 2009.
Sponsored by the government, tribesmen across the northwest have set up militias in a bid to drive the Taliban out of their communities.
“The bomb targeted anti-Taliban militia member Aziz-ur-Rehman. His 12-year-old son, a son-in-law and a neighbour who were also travelling in his car were also killed,” local police chief Salim Khan Marwat told AFP.
“It was a remote-controlled IED (improvised explosive device) which exploded when the vehicle passed. Two people passing near by the car were wounded,” said Marwat.
Another police official said the victims were travelling from their home village of Ghundo to the Samar Bagh area, 60 kilometres (37 miles) northwest of Timergarah, the main town of Lower Dir.
The Lower Dir district, 200 kilometres from the capital Islamabad, borders Pakistan’s semi-autonomous tribal belt on the Afghan border.
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