Jirga for retribution

PESHAWAR - Tribal elders from North Waziristan Agency Friday declared to carry out suicide attacks on the Americans to avenge the massacre of their elders, who were killed in the US drone attack on a tribal Jirga in their area the other day. More than 40 tribal elders were killed and 50 injured in the drone attack. None of the deceased was a terrorist. All of them were our respectable elders, Malik Jalal Khan, head of the North Waziristan Peace Committee said, while addressing a news conference here. He said that there was no safe haven of Al-Qaeda and Taliban in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. The US had endorsed that more than 70 per cent of the top Al-Qaeda leadership was in the war-ravaged Afghanistan, he said adding, the logic behind that was incomprehensible. Condemning the Thursdays US drone attack at a peace Jirga of tribal elders in DattaKhel area of North Waziristan, Jalal announced that, We will take revenge from Americans and its allies, as all the deceased were innocent tribesmen. There is mourning everywhere in Waziristan due to the deadliest attack. He also came down hard on Pakistans coalition with the US and questioned what would be the stance of Islamabad after the killing of innocent tribesmen in the recent drone attack. Flanked by other tribal elders including Malik Faridullah and Malik Niaz Daraz, he said that it was barbarism and complete injustice with the innocent patriotic tribesmen, and they would take revenge from Americans and corrupt rulers of Pakistan as well. The government of Pakistan didnt take any action against the US incursion inside the country, he lamented. We will never pardon our foes, and will take revenge even after lapse of 100 years. Jalal also urged media not to propagate negative US agenda against the tribesmen to appease America and its allies to earn dollars. He said that most of the civilians including women and children had been targeted in these drone attacks in Pakistani tribal areas, and informed that they have valid evidences that most of the innocent tribesmen including elders were killed in the attacks, he added. He maintained that there were no foreigners, or Taliban among dead. He said the US-drone attack in Waziristan had proved that tribal people were the main target of US, saying neither foreigners nor Al-Qaeda operatives were killed in the drone attack. We will not accept dollars on the heads of innocent civilians, as Pakistani corrupt rulers and family members of the deceaseds did in Raymond Davis case, he warned. He stressed the need for kicking out US-secret operatives from the country, otherwise he warned, they reserved the right to take action against them, saying they would not tolerate more US-hegemony and atrocity in the region.

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