460 militants, 22 troops die in Pakistan

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Official: 460 militants, 22 troops die in Pakistan

By RIAZ KHAN, Associated Press Writer
Fri Aug 15, 9:34 AM ET

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Pakistan’s top civilian security official vowed Friday to “wipe out” Islamic militants in a volatile tribal region where the government says more than 460 insurgents and 22 troops have died in 10 days of fighting.

Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik said Pakistani intelligence have reports that about 3,000 armed militants are present in the northwestern region of Bajur, which borders Afghanistan. He said they included Pakistanis, Afghan Taliban and Central Asians.

“We will wipe them out,” Malik told a news conference in Peshawar. “We will not surrender before them.”

Pakistani army helicopter gunships and jets have been pounding militant positions in Bajur since the fighting broke out Aug. 6 when scores of insurgents attacked a military outpost. The region is regarded as a stronghold for Taliban and al-Qaida.

The insurgent attack followed a Taliban threat to retaliate against the government for launching military operations in other frontier regions where it has earlier sought to use dialogue to reach peace with militants — a controversial policy that appears in danger of collapse.

Alongside Malik at a news conference, provincial Gov. Owais Ahmed Ghani said some 219,000 residents have been displaced by the fighting in Bajur and promised to provide them food and shelter.

Ghani gave the details of the latest toll from the fighting. With some 480 killed, it is one of the bloodiest episodes since Pakistan first deployed its troops along its volatile border with Afghanistan in support of the U.S.-led war on terror nearly seven years ago.

It has not been possible to independently confirm the casualty figures, which are more than double the number given by the army in recent days. Insecurity and the remoteness of the region prevent journalists from covering the fighting. Also telecommunications in Bajur are poor.

On Thursday, nine men died when troops backed by helicopter gunships destroyed their two vehicles near Khar, the region’s main town, said Mohammed Khan, a local government official.

Malik said he could not confirm reports that the local Taliban chief, Maulvi Faqir Mohammed, was among the dead. Mohammed is believed to be an associate of al-Qaida No. 2 leader Ayman al-Zawahri.

Pakistan has faced a blizzard of criticism that its policy of negotiation with militants has allowed more freedom for Taliban and al-Qaida-linked fighters to operate and launch attacks on U.S. and NATO forces in neighboring Afghanistan.

Malik, however, claimed that the militants were receiving rocket launchers, missiles and other munitions from across the border.

“We have evidence to prove what we are saying,” he said, without elaborating on who was supplying them.

Official: 460 militants, 22 troops die in Pakistan - Yahoo! News

While we are busy discussing impeachment, scenarios, bashing MQM, criticising govt for not doing anything else… there is lot going on, esp against militancy.

I remember that soon after govt took control they made a “deal” with Taliban in some areas and in came flood of criticism and bashing the deal.

Anyway, above is good to know that govt is working against militancy. Hope that govt successfully contains militancy in the FATA border regions and eventually wipe them out.

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Re: 460 militants, 22 troops die in Pakistan

Very good news. About time, Govt. action had been long overdue and either these people accept the writ of the state or get wiped out.

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Taliban win a fight - and settle scores

Taliban win a fight - and settle scores
By Syed Saleem Shahzad

KARACHI - When several hundred Pakistani troops backed by paramilitary forces on Friday launched an operation against militants in Bajaur Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan on the border with Afghanistan, they received a most unwelcome surprise.

News of the offensive, which proved to be the most bloody this year in Pakistan, had been leaked to the Pakistani Taliban and al-Qaeda militants by sympathizers in the security forces, and the army walked into a literal hail of bullets.

Contacts familiar with the militants told Asia Times Online that every hill had observers as the first military convoys entered Bajaur - the main corridor leading to the Afghan provinces of

Kunar, Nooristan, Kapisa and the capital Kabul - and they were quickly under attack.

In just a few hours, 65 soldiers were killed, 25 were taken prisoner and scores more were wounded. Under air cover, the soldiers retreated, leaving behind five vehicles and a tank, which are now part of the arsenal of the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

On Tuesday, the Pakistan Air Force, whose air power played a central role in the Bajaur operation, was on the receiving end. Once again on the basis of precise information, eight airmen were killed in a suicide attack near Peshawar, the capital of North-West Frontier Province (NWFP).

Limited fighting continued on Wednesday. The government said that 200 militants had been killed, but a Taliban spokesman confirmed only seven dead. The remainder, he said, were civilians killed during aerial bombardments.

Unconfirmed reports said leading al-Qaeda military commander Abu Saeed al-Masri had been killed. He is said to be number three in the group behind Ayman al-Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden, and if indeed he is dead it would be a major setback for al-Qaeda.

The fierce militant response against the army, which is under heavy pressure from the United States to be more proactive, was under the unified command of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, whose base is in the South Waziristan tribal area. The hardline Baitullah does not believe in “limited war” - his goal is full-scale war across the country. Bajaur could be the beginning of this.

Pakistani Taliban spokesman Moulvi Omar issued a statement claiming responsibility for the Peshawar attack and warned of more across the country in reaction to the Bajaur offensive.

However, the militants’ current tactics are different from those of previous years when they reacted within a few hours or days. Now, the militants spend more time waiting for information on their “daunting foe”, the Pakistani security forces and the government, so they can decide on their targets and cause maximum damage. Much of this information comes from informants in the security forces.

In the broader picture, al-Qaeda decides when to switch on the attacks or switch them off in their own version of war and peace. This is the new face of the neo-Taliban - more radical and more strategic - raised on al-Qaeda ideology.

These neo-Taliban don’t forget, either.

On Wednesday morning, Haji Namdar, the chief of the “Vice and Virtue” organization in Khyber Agency, a tribal region on the Afghan border, was gunned down in his office by Baitullah’s men.

Although Namdar supported the Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan, he was a strategic asset for the Pakistani security agencies trying to wipe out al-Qaeda-influenced radicals and the neo-Taliban.

In April, he sold out the Taliban after initially agreeing to help them target the North Atlantic Treaty Organization supply lines passing through Khyber Agency. (See Taliban bitten by a snake in the grass Asia Times Online, April 26, 2008.) Namdar had survived an earlier suicide attack in which about 30 people died.

Namdar’s death leaves the Pakistani security agencies and the government with only one “precious asset” - Haji Nazeer in South Waziristan. Other than him, they have no choice but to deal with Baitullah’s radical face.

**Economic and political chaos **
Apart from the Peshawar Valley, the whole Pashtun-dominated region of NWFP is effectively under the control of the Taliban and their al-Qaeda allies. The chaotic state of the economy plays into their hands as people become increasing disgruntled.

Inflation is running at 25% a year, the Karachi stock exchange has lost 35% of its value since April, there are frequent electricity shutdowns and foreign exchange reserves have fallen from US$17 billion last year to $9 billion, barely enough to cover imports for three months.

These economic woes are compounded by an ongoing political crisis which al-Qaeda is already exploiting.

Zawahiri has issued an audio message critical of President Pervez Musharraf, who is under pressure to resign or else face impeachment. A leading militant from the Swat area, Muslim Khan, has issued a statement that anyone who supports Musharraf during an impeachment process would become the Taliban’s enemy. Musharraf is the United States’ point man in the South Asian theater of the “war on terror”.

In a similar manner, when a military junta recently ousted Mauritania’s president Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, al-Qaeda immediately called for a jihad in the North African country to establish Islamic rule. As with Pakistan, this is a bid by al-Qaeda to pitch itself as the only viable choice in Muslim countries.

**The Bajaur showdown plays into this scenario. The Pakistani military, as it has every time in other operations in the tribal areas over the past few years, will pull back. Prisoners will be swapped and a hollow ceasefire will be agreed on, backed by cash inducements for the militants and more military aid for Pakistan from the United States. **

Battle will break out again. In the meanwhile, the Taliban will increase their strength and boundaries, and al-Qaeda’s ideology will draw in new recruits.

Asia Times Online :: South Asia news, business and economy from India and Pakistan

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Re: 460 militants, 22 troops die in Pakistan

Which one of those two articles is true?

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Re: 460 militants, 22 troops die in Pakistan

^ The first one is govt minister making a claim, there is probably some exaggeration in his numbers, but atleast shows that there is fight going on against militants.

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Re: 460 militants, 22 troops die in Pakistan

ummm its hard to believe

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Re: 460 militants, 22 troops die in Pakistan

Interior minister Rehman Malik is a scumbag, I wouldn't believe him.

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Both are true. Taliban did ambush FC convoy and forced them to retreat from their check posts at first. They even surrounded the FC headquarter at Khar. Since then army and FC have hit back hard at the Taliban with aerial bombing and shelling. Off course elements sympathetic to Taliban are now making the usual noises about fighting own people, following Musharraf and US policy and demanding end to operation. When Taliban kill Pakistani forces and people, they remain quite but when action is taken against them they start demanding muzakrat.

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Re: 460 militants, 22 troops die in Pakistan

“When it comes to telling numbers, Taleban are usually more correct”. This is what the following report says.

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Re: 460 militants, 22 troops die in Pakistan

A Podcast has correct information? You seriously have to be joking.

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Gentlemen calm down please.... Always remember truth is the first casulty of war..

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Re: 460 militants, 22 troops die in Pakistan

When we have decided to play with fire then play it like a man,why hide and seek policy.NWFP government scores of leniant behaviour and talks comes to ground in few days by burning girl schools, check posts and slaughtering people openly .When they only learn the language of bullets,then teach them accurately,why bouncing back time and again.Moreover,FC, i think is para millitary force mostly from Paktoon area(may be some tribal sympathies with talibans) not trained specifically for guerilla fight.Why armed forces dont have a Baloch and Punjab Regiments to have iron hand fight with full swing. We should stop this Peek-a-boo games and ready to bear the brunt.Why Kiyani not pick some furious Major General from GHQ , with his mighty Division to have bones and blood game on in the fifth gear!