Journalism of Courage
Premium
This is an archive article published on May 3, 2011
No Taliban,no US drone attacks,Abbottabad was refuge for many
Besides its schools and colleges,Abbottabad is famous as a military town. But it has acquired a new notoriety now as the place where the worlds most wanted man,Osama bin Laden,found refuge during the last few years of his life.
Written by Arshad Yusufzai
Peshawar | May 3, 2011 12:35 AM IST
3 min read
Besides its schools and colleges,Abbottabad is famous as a military town. But it has acquired a new notoriety now as the place where the worlds most wanted man,Osama bin Laden,found refuge during the last few years of his life.
Named after British military officer Major James Abbott during the colonial era,Abbottabad is the third biggest city in Pakistans Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province,known as the North-West Frontier Province until last year. It is the biggest city in Hazara division,where the majority of its 130,000-strong population speak Hindko language unlike the rest of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in which Pashtuns are the biggest ethnic group.
This is also one reason why Hazara and Abbottabad didnt have any real Taliban presence,as the Taliban are largely Pashtuns,who are in a minority in this area. Hence,Abbottabad escaped the violence that engulfed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the adjoining tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. There was no military operation in Abbottabad and the rest of Hazara region,neither did the US use drones to attack any targets in the region. In fact,people displaced due to militancy and military operations in the rest of the province often sought refuge in Abbottabad.
The Pakistan Armys Baloch and Frontier Force regiments have their centres in Abbottabad. On the outskirts of the city,at Kakul,is the Pakistan Military Academy,founded in 1947,where Army officers are trained and commissioned. It is significant that Osama was hiding in a large and distinct compound not far from a key military installation,and his presence was a secret until now.
Just 71 km north of Islamabad,Abbottabad is surrounded by the Sarban hills and is a popular summer destination. Not far from Abbottabad is the Galiyat,the mountainous valley where the rich have their summer cottages.
The Karakoram Highway,located on the old Silk Route,starts from Havelian town in Abbottabad and moves on to Gilgit-Baltistan before linking Pakistan with China at the Khunjerab Pass. The cities closest to Abbottabad are Rawalpindi-Islamabad in the south,Muzaffarabad in the east,Mansehra in the north and Haripur and Tarbela Dam in the west.
The political significance of Abbottabad can be gauged from the fact that former PM Nawaz Sharif won the National Assembly election from the district twice. Other important politicians from the area include Sardar Mahtab Ahmad Khan,the former CM of the province,former federal minister Amanullah Khan Jadoon,former deputy speaker of the National Assembly Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob and Sardar Haider Zaman,the founder of the Hazara province movement.
The writer is a Peshawar-based freelancer
Advertisement
Live Blog
Photos
Top Stories
Advertisement
Must Read
Advertisement
Buzzing Now
TrendingCricketer Rinku Singh accepts he's afraid of ghosts, once ran out of KKR teammate's room screaming 'papa, papa': 'I can't sleep alone'
TrendingRedditor builds Rs 1-crore net worth by 25; works over 60 hours a week as an AI engineer: ‘Am I mentally sound?’
TrendingBengaluru Google engineer says ‘day in the life’ videos from big tech companies only show the honeymoon phase: ‘Real game begins after a year’
- 01
- 02
- 03
- 04
- 05
Advertisement