Shah Hassan Khel
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Shah Hassan Khel is a village in
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
's
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...
province. It is located to the south of
Lakki Marwat Lakki Marwat or Lakki (Urdu and ) is the headquarters of Lakki Marwat District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Lakki Marwat has become List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, one of the fastest growing cities in Khyber P ...
, in the
Lakki Marwat District Lakki Marwat (, ) is a Districts of Pakistan, district in the Bannu Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It was created as an administrative district on 1 July 1992, prior to which it was a tehsil of Bannu District. Geogra ...
, on the Lakki Marwat Road between Lakki Marwat and
Shahbaz Azmat Khel Shahbaz Azmat Khel is a town and union council in Bannu District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, ...
. In 2011, it had some 4,000 inhabitants in about 500 households. The village is located between two streams which lead down from a southern tributary of the
Tochi River The Gambila River (Pashto and ), also called the Tochi River (), is located in Khost Province, Afghanistan, and North Waziristan and Bannu District, northwestern Pakistan. The source of the river lies in the hills six miles south of the Spīn Gh ...
. The area to the south is mountainous, known as the Sheikh Badin Range. Struggling from insecurity from extremist militants since around 2007, the 2010 Lakki Marwat suicide bombing took place here killing at least 105 people and wounding more than 100 others.


History

Historically, Shah Hassan Khel was a village unit of the tehsil of
Marwat The Marwat () is a Pashtun tribe, a branch of the Lohani tribe and belong to Lodi section. The Marwats were named for their ancestor Marwat Khan Lodi.Mohmand, Sher Muhammad, ''The Marwats''. p. 50-53 Distribution They are located primarily in ...
. Administratively it bordered the village units of
Ahmed Khel Ahmed Khel is a town and union council in Lakki Marwat District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, ...
to the north,
Abdul Khel Abdul Khel is a town and union councils of Pakistan, union council in the Lakki Marwat District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is located at 32°23'59N 70°54'49E and has an altitude of 493 metres (1620 feet). References

Union coun ...
to the southwest, and the southwestern part of Chowki Jand to the south and southeast. In 1992, Marwat tehsil became a part of
Lakki Marwat District Lakki Marwat (, ) is a Districts of Pakistan, district in the Bannu Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It was created as an administrative district on 1 July 1992, prior to which it was a tehsil of Bannu District. Geogra ...
. The neighbouring villages of Ahmed Khel and Abdul Khel constitute official
union council Union council may refer to: *Union Council of Ministers The Union Council of Ministers is the Cabinet (government), principal executive organ of the Government of India, which serves to aid and advise the President of India in execution of t ...
s of the district today. The first mentions of trouble with the Taliban in the region of Shah Hassan Khel date from early 2007, with extremists taking six hostages at a marriage party and beating up a group of singers. After the 2007
Siege of Lal Masjid The siege of Lal Masjid (; code-named Operation Sunrise) was an armed confrontation in July 2007 between Islamic fundamentalist militants and the government of Pakistan, led by president Pervez Musharraf and prime minister Shaukat Aziz. The ...
, Taliban militants took first control of the Shah Hassan Khel mosque, and soon of the whole village. When Pakistan security forces tried to expunge the militants from the village in the summer of 2009, the village became a ghost town for three months, with all villagers fleeing to other villages close by. After the operation was successfully ended and 24 militants were captured by the Pakistani forces, the villagers returned and organised a ''lashkar'', a village militia to defend themselves and prevent the return of the Taliban. This worked, despite a volunteer of the militia being killed in a skirmish.


2010 terrorist attack

On 1 January 2010 a Mitsubishi Pajero suicide bomb car with some 600 pounds of explosives drove into a village square where a crowd was watching a volleyball game played by some members of the ''lashkar'', while most of the elders of the village and the lashkar were meeting in a nearby mosque. The blast caused at least 97 deaths (other sources claim 105 deaths), with a further 40 wounded. An unknown organisation within the
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan The Pakistani Taliban, officially the Tehreek-i-Taliban-e-Pakistan (TTP), is an umbrella organization of various Islamist armed militant groups operating along the Durand Line, Afghan–Pakistani border. Formed in 2007 by Baitullah Mehsud, i ...
(TTP) was responsible for the attack, which caused the most fatalities of any TTP attack. The driver of the bomb car was the son of a member of the Shah Hassan Khel ''lakshar''. In response to the attack, the villages expanded the armed militia to defend the town and to hunt down those responsible for the attack. A boys' school which had also been demolished during the attack was rebuilt and reopened in 2012.


Geography

Shah Hassan Khel is located in northern central Pakistan in
Lakki Marwat District Lakki Marwat (, ) is a Districts of Pakistan, district in the Bannu Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It was created as an administrative district on 1 July 1992, prior to which it was a tehsil of Bannu District. Geogra ...
of
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...
. By road it is located south of the district town of
Lakki Marwat Lakki Marwat or Lakki (Urdu and ) is the headquarters of Lakki Marwat District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Lakki Marwat has become List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, one of the fastest growing cities in Khyber P ...
, southeast of
Bannu Bannu (, ), also called Bani Gul or Bani (, ) is a city located on the Kurram River in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is the capital of Bannu Division. Bannu's residents are primarily members of the Banuchi tribe and speak Banuch ...
, and south of
Kohat Kohat (; ) is a city that serves as the capital of the Kohat District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is regarded as a centre of the Bangash tribe of Pashtuns, who have lived in the region since the late 15th century. With a population o ...
. The main road connecting the village, Lakki Marwat Road, stems from the
Indus Highway The Indus Highway (), also known as National Highway 55 (N-55) (), is a 1264 km long two to four-lane national highway that runs along the Indus River in Pakistan, connecting the port city of Karachi with the northwestern city of Peshawar ...
, the N55 road. Like the N55, this road connects
Shahbaz Khel Shahbaz Khel is a village of Mianwali District, in the northern part of the Punjab Province, Pakistan. It is located at 32°36'36N 71°31'40E with an altitude of 890 meters , and is situated in the north-west of the district, Mianwali. It ...
in the southwest and Sarai Naurung to the northwest, but bypasses the route, passing through Shah Hassan Khel and the district town of Lakki Marwat en route. The village is located between two streams which lead down from a southern tributary of the
Tochi River The Gambila River (Pashto and ), also called the Tochi River (), is located in Khost Province, Afghanistan, and North Waziristan and Bannu District, northwestern Pakistan. The source of the river lies in the hills six miles south of the Spīn Gh ...
. The
Indus River The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayas, Himalayan river of South Asia, South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in the Western Tibet region of China, flows northw ...
flows some way to the east of the village. The area to the south is mountainous, known as the Sheikh Budin Range.


References

{{Lakki-Marwat-Union-Councils Populated places in Lakki Marwat District Terrorist incidents in Pakistan in 2010 Suicide car and truck bombings in Pakistan