- Spinkai
Spinkai is a town in
South Waziristan ,Federally Administered Tribal Areas ,Pakistan . This semi-autonomous area is inhabited byPashtun tribeMahsud . In January 2008,Pakistan Army launched "Operation Zalzala" to flush out theTaliban militants belonging toBaitullah Mehsud group [ [http://www.dawn.com/2008/05/19/top3.htm http://www.dawn.com/2008/05/19/top3.htm] ]On 20th May 2008, the
Pakistani Army conductedcollective punishment against Spinkai. The operation was called 'zalzala' which is Urdu for earthquake. At first, the Pakistan Army swept through with helicopter gunships, artillery and tanks that crunched across a parched riverbed. After four days of heavy fighting, 25 militants and six soldiers died. The rest of the militants retreated up the valley. After the capture of the village the army discovered bomb factories, detonation-ready suicide jackets and schools for teenage suicide bombers. [cite web
url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/20/pakistan
title=Demolished by the Pakistan army: the frontier village punished for harbouring the Taliban
work=The Guardian
author=Declan Walsh
publisher=guardian.co.uk
date=May 20, 2008
accessdate=2008-06-30]The Pakistan Army immediately decided to punish the village for harboring the
Taliban and allowing the militants to operate in and from the village to conduct further terror attacks in Pakistan. Bulldozers and explosives experts turned Spinkai's bazaar into a mile-long pile of rubble. [cite web
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/in_pictures/7421903.stm
title=In pictures: Pakistan's most feared militant
work=BBC News
publisher=news.bbc.co.uk
accessdate=2008-06-30] Petrol stations, shops, and even parts of the hospital were levelled or blown up. The villagers were forbidden from returning to their homes.Pakistani commanders, who were speaking to the media, insisted they had been merciful in their application of "collective punishment" - a practice invented by the British who demarcated the tribal areas over a century ago.
See also
*
Mahsud
*South Waziristan References
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