Word: dera
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...brutal attacks from extremist Wahabi-inspired militant groups that regard them as heretics or apostates. With the emergence of the Pakistani Taliban, that threat has intensified. In recent years, the town of Parachinar in the wild tribal areas along the Afghan border, Baluchistan province's capital of Quetta, Dera Ismail Khan in the northwest, and parts of Punjab have been among the areas scarred by anti-Shi'ite attacks. The latest bombing will call attention to the Taliban's long-standing but murky presence in Karachi. Until this past week, they have resisted mounting attacks in the city, preferring...
...with the Swat refugee crisis earlier this year, the demands of hospitality can be heavy. In a rural suburb of Dera Ismail Khan, Hayat Khan, 55, gives a tour of a cramped, mud-walled two-room home where he brought 10 members of his family to join the 12 who already live there. A deep hole in the ground serves as a makeshift toilet. Barefoot children run around, their hair streaked red and large brown spots on their faces - both signs of severe malnutrition...
...Dera Ismail Khan traditionally welcoms the Mehsud tribe this time of year, as they vacate their homes in the chilly mountains in favor of the town's warmer plains. But the influx now is seen as fanning the flame of the town's existing ethnic and sectarian tensions. "It changes the dynamic," says Faiysal AliKhan, head of Fida, the main refugee support group in the area. "Dera Ismail Khan is already cash-strapped. There is a shortage of schools and water. There is a lot of crime. Some of the locals are growing resentful. They say that troubles will follow...
...Helping the security effort in Dera Ismail Khan are some of its most unusual residents: the so-called good Taliban. In a small, nondescript house deep inside the town live the successors of the late militant leader, Abdullah Mehsud. Once the object of the army's fury, the group has since rediscovered favor as the enemy's enemy. Baitullah Mehsud, the Pakistani Taliban leader who was killed in a CIA-operated drone strike in August, had murdered two of their leaders, and they want revenge against his successors. (Read "Are the Taliban Leaders Fighting Among Themselves...
...with Pakistan," says Maulana Sher Muhammad Mehsud. "We have told the police about the threat coming to Dera Ismail Khan, with terrorists entering the city. The police are weak in this regard. They do not recognize these people - we have informants there." All around him, young men with long hair and disheveled beards flaunt a range of weapons. During the conversation, a farouche-looking man emerges, carrying a cleaver dripping with fresh blood. "Don't worry," says one of the gunmen, with a broad and satisfied grin. "They are only slaughtering a lamb...