Incident Summary:
01/23/2011: On Sunday, in Marawara, Konar, Afghanistan, militants kidnapped 21 tribal elders because Taliban leader Qari Zai sent a text message to Agence France Presse and claimed that “some relatives, sons and close family members of these men, work in the Afghan army, Afghan police and some with NATO”. The Taliban first called the elders to a meeting at a mosque and after they had a discussion, they were taken away to an undisclosed location. On 01/31/2011 six of the elders were released on the condition that they would not allow their children to work for Afghan or international security forces. The remaining hostages were released on 02/25/2011. No casualties were reported and the Taliban claimed responsibility.
Overview
GTD ID:
201101230019
When:
2011-01-23
Country:
Afghanistan
Region:
South Asia
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Kunar
City:
Marawara
Location Details:
The attack took place in Marawara, Konar, Afghanistan.
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Hostage Taking (Kidnapping) |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Private Citizens & Property |
Name of Entity |
|
Specific Description |
Tribal elders |
Nationality of Target |
Afghanistan |
Additional Information
Hostages |
Yes |
Number of Hostages |
21 |
US Hostages |
0 |
Days of Kidnapping |
33 |
Outcome |
Combination |
Property Damage |
Unknown |
Extent of Property Damage |
Unknown |
Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Unknown |
|
Weapon Details |
It is unknown if weapons were used in the attack. |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
Combination was selected because six of the tribal elders were released on 01/31/2011, while the remaining hostages were released on 02/25/2011. The hostage details and extended date reflects the later hostage release. The most recent available sources listed the number of hostages taken for this attack from 21 to 24, so the majority casualty figures have been used in order to preserve statistical accuracy in the database. |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
Taliban |
Yes (Confirmed: Unknown; Mode: Other) |
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
Unknown |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
0 Fatalities / 0 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
0 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
0 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
Pajhwok Afghan News, "Six of Tribal Elders Kidnapped by Taleban Freed in Afghan East," World News Connection, Pajhwok Afghan News, February 1, 2011. |
Agence France Presse, "Taliban Hold Kunar Tribal Elders Hostage,” LexisNexis Academic, Agence France Presse, January 31, 2011. |
Atal Menzai, "Eighteen Abducted Tribal Elders Freed in Kunar by Atal Menzai," LexisNexis Academic, Pajhwok Afghan News, February 26, 2011. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties