Threatening messages: TTP posts handwritten letters in marketplace

Militants warn people not to join peace militias or they will become the target of militant attacks. DESIGN: SIDRAH MOIZ KHAN

Talking to The Express Tribune, villagers said the pamphlets had been handwritten in Urdu on Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) letterheads. They said this was not like other communication where they just pasted copies of their messages on walls.

Residents reported seeing three separate pamphlets. In one of the letters, militants claimed responsibility for killing a resident named Ahmad and his son Niaz Wali for working against the Taliban and warned his family not to confront militants for the sake of their own safety. In the second pamphlet, police had been warned to abandon a police checkpoint in the market near the house of a man called Altaf Bacha, or they would bomb the post and police would be held responsible for the bloodshed.

The third letter was directly addressed to the residents. “We greatly respect the people of Mattani,” it said, “We warn them to stay away from peace militias otherwise we will claim war between you and the Taliban.” The letter also said that if anyone had complaints, they should call the TTP directly on a number that was listed in the poster.

This is the first time a pamphlet written on a TTP letterhead has appeared in this area. In the past, militants have distributed pamphlets and sent letters in the adjacent villages of Adezai and Darra.

Local elder and ex-nazim Haji Aassad knew that the letters had appeared, but declined to comment on the matter. He said that militants and his villagers were not ‘on a war path’ and had nothing to do with each other.

“TTP Adezai is a spin-off of TTP in Darra Adam Khel which has been active over the past five years, but the presence of TTP here is a new development,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 13^th, 2012.