By Tanveer Ahmed in Daily Times, July 16
ISLAMABAD: The foreign tourists at Nanga Parbat base camp in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) were killed to avenge the killing of Waliur Rehman, the senior commander of Tehreek-e-Talban Pakistan (TTP), the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan was informed on Monday.
The committee, which met under Senator Haji Adeel, was told that the four persons, nabbed by law enforcement agencies, have revealed that they had been directed to kill the foreign tourists to avenge Wali’s killing in a US drone attack. GB Chief Secretary Younas Dhaga told the committee that the porters who were taken hostage to guide the terrorists to the site also told the authorities during the investigation that the assailants raised the slogans that “we took revenge of Wali’s killing in drone attacks after massacring the foreign tourists”.
He pointed out that the elements involved in Lalusar bypass terrorist act, in which passengers were killed after being offloaded from a bus, have also been identified to have played a role in this tragic incident.
He, however, noted that locals do no support these terrorists as the jirga of the area fully cooperated with the authorities to apprehend the four culprits out of 15 involved in the base camp attack.
“By weekend, we are hopeful of achieving a breakthrough into this incident”, the chief secretary told the committee which voiced concerns over the killing of foreign tourists by saying it would devastate already dwindling tourism sector of the country. Senator Farhatullah Babar called for making National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) functional immediately for which necessary legislation has already been passed by parliament to deal with Nanga Parbat-like incidents. “Some progress has been made on making the NACTA functional,” Tariq Lodhi, the Ministry of Interior director general, told the committee while replying to a query of Farhatullah Babar.
He also criticised the suspension of IG and chief secretary of GB over the incident and said this step of the government has demoralised police and civil administration. “The IG and chief secretary should be reinstated with honour,” he demanded. Minister for Kashmir Affairs and GB Barjis Tahir, however, explained that he has no authority over transfer or posting of IG and chief secretary in the region.
Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed objected to the stance of GB administration that it was not expecting such an attack in the area. “The same argument that doesn’t hold the ground was given for Abbottabad incident,” Mushahid said.
Speaking about significance of the area in view of cooperation with the China, Mushahid said that a special industrial force should be established to protect the projects being carried out with the Chinese cooperation.
The former GB IG, Capt Zikria, who was suspended after the incident told the committee that the local police neither have the potential nor resources to deal with such incidents and pointed out that the terrain of the killing site was so difficult that it takes local police around 14 hours to reach the area.
http://dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2013\07\16\story_16-7-2013_pg7_3
Be First to Comment