Military offensive: Over 50 militants killed in Waziristan, Khyber air blitzes

[Edevelop]

ISLAMABAD / BARA: Over 50 suspected militants were killed and several others injured when fighter jets and helicopter gunships bombed their hideouts in the tribal regions of North Waziristan and Khyber, officials said on Tuesday. The air strikes – targeting militant hideouts in Mir Ali, Miramshah and Tirah Valley – came in response to the recent surge in militant attacks targeting security forces.

About the Waziristan air raids, a senior security official claimed that at least 40 militants were killed and scores were injured. “On confirmed intelligence reports about the presence of militants, their hideouts were targeted by air strikes last night [Monday night] in North Waziristan Agency,” said the official requesting anonymity. “The militants killed were linked with attacks on Peshawar’s All Saints’ Church, Qissa Khawani Bazaar and Bannu garrison bombing.”

Among the targets was the home of Adnan Rashid, a senior militant commander who wrote an open letter last year to Malala Yousafzai, justifying the attack on her. He was also accused of being behind the failed assassination attempt on former military ruler Pervez Musharraf.

There were reports about him being killed in the attack, but he escaped unscathed, according to Reuters. Rashid was later seen alive in a marketplace in Miramshah, militant and military sources said.

A Miramshah-based intelligence official said the airstrikes and shelling were ongoing (until the filing of this report) and had forced some residents of the area to flee.

In the remote Tirah Valley of Khyber Agency, at least a dozen suspected militants were killed when fighter jets bombed their hideouts in the Inzar Kor area of Kuki Khel. A security official claimed that four militant hideouts were flattened in the blitz. However, he wouldn’t say how many militants were killed in the early morning air raids.

When asked, officials dismissed suggestion that the air strikes were the formal beginning of a military offensive against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its affiliates.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif insisted that the nation was united against terrorism and cowardly attacks could not lower its morale. During a visit to the Combined Military Hospital, Rawalpindi, on Tuesday‚ he said the nation was proud of the armed forces personnel ‚ who have offered matchless sacrifices in the fight against militancy.

“Those who have sacrificed their lives today for our better tomorrow are our benefactors,” remarked Nawaz, who was also accompanied by army chief General Raheel Sharif. He met those who were injured in Monday’s RA Bazaar bombing in Rawalpindi.

Military offensive: Over 50 militants killed in Waziristan, Khyber air blitzes – The Express Tribune

 

[Armstrong]

@Icarus - For how long would these mini-operations carry on ? First in North Waziristan & now in Khyber - Surely somethings going on !

 

[Icarus]

@Icarus - For how long would these mini-operations carry on ? First in North Waziristan & now in Khyber - Surely somethings going on !

There's no ground Op, its just airstrikes against militant positions to push them back until the government can come up with a policy on how to deal with them.

 

[Armstrong]

There's no ground Op, its just airstrikes against militant positions to push them back until the government can come up with a policy on how to deal with them.

To soften them up enough so that they are more amenable for talks - Is that the strategy for now ?

I guess it seems fair but I shudder at the reports talking about widespread civilian casualties happening there !

 

[Icarus]

To soften them up enough so that they are more amenable for talks - Is that the strategy for now ?

I guess it seems fair but I shudder at the reports talking about widespread civilian casualties happening there !

Nope, just give them a taste of the state's power.
There are no civilian casualties, any one who says that has no idea about how the houses are built in FATA. There were four non-combatants killed and they were family members of the militants.

 

[Kompromat]

@Icarus

Do your folks have UCAVs yet?

We need to step up and target their leadership. Its a trend i've noticed, that everytime a commander is killed, internal fights erupt.

Mehsuds have lost the control of TTP and don't like it one bit. We must track down and kill Mullah Radio and other commanders.

Unlike Americans, 'we don't have clocks'.

 

[Icarus]

@Icarus

Do your folks have UCAVs yet?

No UCAVs, UAVs but no UCAVs.

We need to step up and target their leadership. Its a trend i've noticed, that everytime a commander is killed, internal fights erupt.

That's easier said than done, its like finding a needle in a haystack.

Mehsuds have lost the control of TTP and don't like it one bit. We must track down and kill Mullah Radio and other commanders.

Our man Radio is not coming back from Afghanistan in fear of being killed. We'll get him eventually.

Unlike Americans, 'we don't have clocks'.

Very true, we are in a stare down. It will take time and lives will be lost but we're no short of either.

 

[Sugarcane]

Now, this is the language of dialogs which i will support, keep these dialogs continue until they agree terms of their surrender.

 

[Azizam]

Well done!

 

[Sugarcane]

Our man Radio is not coming back from Afghanistan in fear of being killed. We'll get him eventually.

When amreeka can send drone to eliminate their targets in Pakistan than why we can't send our fighters to eliminate our targets in kunar and nuristan?

 

[Icarus]

When amreeka can send drone to eliminate their targets in Pakistan than why we can't send our fighters to eliminate our targets in kunar and nuristan?

1) Allied Aerial Response Force, A dog fight between Danish and Pakistani pilots over Afghanistan is not good PR for anyone.
2) We don't know where they are.
3) When we have to hit Afghanistan, it's best done through Artillery, much more psychologically terrifying.

 

[Armstrong]

When amreeka can send drone to eliminate their targets in Pakistan than why we can't send our fighters to eliminate our targets in kunar and nuristan?

Amreeka....Amreeka haiii !

 

[Areesh]

Don't know about Adnan Rasheed but former interim TTP chief Asmat ullah Shaheen is said to be confirmed dead including few other important commanders. Hafiz Saeed is said to be killed in Tirah Valley.

 

[Armstrong]

1) Allied Aerial Response Force, A dog fight between Danish and Pakistani pilots over Afghanistan is not good PR for anyone.
2) We don't know where they are.
3) When we have to hit Afghanistan, it's best done through Artillery, much more psychologically terrifying.

How about setting a hit-squat there to assassinate him after pinpointing where the heck he or other filllth such as him really are !

A little like how, it was alleged that the NDS sent their boys, to take out Haqqani here in Islamabad or Pindi !

Don't know about Adnan Rasheed but former interim TTP chief Asmat ullah Shaheen is said to be confirmed dead including few other important commanders. Hafiz Saeed is said to be killed in Tirah Valley.

JuD walaaa ?

Not that I'm gonna miss him but what the heck was he doing there ?

 

[Basel]

Is Burraq UCAV operational if yes then it should be used as it will be more useful due to its ability of search and destroy the targets.