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Operation Rah-e-Nijat (South Waziristan)

I largely agree, but I do think that the task will be somewhat harder than the one in Swat because I do not see the same level of local support from the populace in SW, at least not immediately. By that I do not mean that the locals will actively support the Taliban, but that they may choose to remain 'neutral' for a while after they return, despite the Taliban having been beaten militarily.

Sustaining peace in SW is going to depend on reconstruction and creation/recreation of economic opportunities a lot more than Swat - and it is possibly the latter that is causing the political/military leadership to debate the opening of the Gomal-Zam road to bypass the Mehsud areas (as suggested in the article from Dawn) - in fact we would want as much traffic and direct and indirect economic activity from that traffic to give the Mehsud a stake in peace and cooperation against militants.

Agreed totally, but the major reason for this new road has been the years old hostility between the Mehsud and Wazir tribe as Wazir tribe were totally dependent on this single road, they couldn't do anything against the Mehsud. The one factor in success for this offensive and Wazir tribe neutrality has been this road, a long sought demand by wazir tribe and the siege of Mehsud area was possible after opening of this road otherwise no siege could have happened, once this new road opened, army put the siege in place. So lets hope that once InshAllah things start becoming normal, govt would definitely look into this perspective too.
 
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Well it felt really good to be seeing a lot of improvement in the tactics being employed by PA in its fight against the militants & the drill shown in this clip showed a lot of professionalism. The one major improvement i am seeing is the soldiers removal of unnecessary equipment making them move fast and in zig zag fashion.

And we have Draganov as a sniper weapon too, good move. But i believe its one of the captured one from the militants.

Excellent professionalism and tactics shown, May Allah protect Pakistan and give strength to PA to finish this evil, Ameen. :pakistan:
 
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Agreed totally, but the major reason for this new road has been the years old hostility between the Mehsud and Wazir tribe as Wazir tribe were totally dependent on this single road, they couldn't do anything against the Mehsud. The one factor in success for this offensive and Wazir tribe neutrality has been this road, a long sought demand by wazir tribe and the siege of Mehsud area was possible after opening of this road otherwise no siege could have happened, once this new road opened, army put the siege in place. So lets hope that once InshAllah things start becoming normal, govt would definitely look into this perspective too.

This operation is not against Mehsud or Wazir tribes , COAS also clarified it .

PA should try to get support of local tribes for long lasting peace and free FATA from Al Qaeda ,Ujbik,Tajik,Chenchins.

Ulitimately Pushtoon tribes will have to control area after completion of operation .

Mehsud and Waziri both are pushoon tribes , there is no major dispute between them
 
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28 more terrorists killed in Rah e Nijat

ISLAMABAD, Nov 5 (APP): 28 more terrorists were killed, 5 others apprehended by the security forces in the on going Operation Rah e Nijat in South Waziristan Agency.According to ISPR here on Thursday five soldiers including an officer embraced shahadat and two others were injured in the last 24 hours.

On Jandola Sararogha Axis the security forces are consolidating their positions in the area around on the peaks. Where during clearance operation, 5 soldiers including an officer embraced shahadat and 2 were injured in blast in Sararogha. Later during encounters, 16 terrorists were killed and 5 others were apprehended.

On Shakai Kaniguram Axis, security forces have secured Ladha Fort and north east area of Shashak and cleared area at Bangel Khel. Area around road Asman Manza up to Gadawai has been cleared and consolidation of positions is under process.

Terrorists fired rockets at Mangora Sar and Ghundai Gar.
During encounter 7 terrorists were killed.

On Razmak Makeen Axis, security forces conducted house to house search and clearance operation in area around Spin Qamar, Wucha Kauna Algad and Lugar Manza.

Clearance and search operation is under process at China.
Terrorists fired with small arms at Litta Sar. During encounter 5 terrorists were killed.

Following arms and ammunition have been recovered by the security forces from Razmak Makeen axis which include 900 Rounds of 12.5 mm, 625 Rounds of Small Machine Gun, 960 Rounds of Rifle 303, 2 Rifle 7mm, one Rifle 12 Bore, 3 Grenades, 2 Rockets of 107 mm along with 2 Rockets of RPG 7, and one Anti Personnel Mine (APM).

In Swat Malakand where Operation Rah e Rast is being carried out the security forces during search at village Pir Patai near Fathepur apprehended 5 relatives of local terrorist commander Ali Rehman alias Sparay.

Five terrorists voluntarily surrendered themselves to security forces at Shin near Fathepur and Shakardara while four others at Salhand and Mingora.

Nine trucks carrying mix rations from Army have been distributed amongst the displaced families of Waziristan as 7,641 cash cards have been distributed amongst the displaced families.
 
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This operation is not against Mehsud or Wazir tribes , COAS also clarified it .

PA should try to get support of local tribes for long lasting peace and free FATA from Al Qaeda ,Ujbik,Tajik,Chenchins.

Ulitimately Pushtoon tribes will have to control area after completion of operation .

Mehsud and Waziri both are pushoon tribes , there is no major dispute between them

Who is saying that this operation is against Wazir tribe or Mehsud tribe ?? Plz understand the point of view being discussed.

And i am from that area, i know more then you what conflicts happen between which tribes and what are the historic background to the relations of these tribes.
 
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"So doesn't that tell you that they are not all the same, but different groups, some having the same goal and some different. Has the truce worked ?? I don't believe it has, doesn't that gives you some idea of who is what and what everyone wants ??"

I think it's fair to say that the much larger and stronger Bahadur and Nazir factions have not made decisive war upon the TTP nor do they now. I guess, therefore, it did work from the TTP's perspective even if Nazir and Bahadur don't assist the TTP.

"why weren't then they active inside Pakistan, they had 95% of Afghanistan in their control, perfect opportunity to create trouble over here..."

It seems clear that, literally, up until 9/11 the taliban were decisively engaged in securing Afghanistan. Witness their seeking the active assistance of A.Q. to assassinate Massoud. Their work was not yet finished in Afghanistan.

Equally, it seems clear that the presence of Haqqani, Hekmatyar, A.Q. and Omar/afghan taliban on pashtu lands of baluchistan and FATAville AFTER 9/11 and their ejection from Afghanistan had inspired, radicalized, and mobilized your own pashtus to their pre-disposed inclinations.

A child in the streets Miram Shah can see who is respected and who is not, no? Join the F.C. or join a taliban faction-which brings better pay and more prestige? Who does your government reward and negotiate it's sovereignty with between 2002-2008? Who, of the two, is the jihadist and who is the lackey of a puppet U.S. government in the lexicon of the neighborhood?

That child will easily see that the taliban are a preferable lifestyle. Hopefully now it is not so much so.

"...why is it that the location of his hideout can't be given."

You might ask the ISI that. I HIGHLY doubt that the C.I.A. have any functioning HUMINT networks around Quetta. We may be privy to ELINT intercepts and we may pick up intel in Afghanistan WRT to these networks but it's clear that Omar and others work very hard to assure their security from us and your government...

...for now. The afghan taliban do not wish to antagonize their hosts and have worked very hard on behalf of their hosts to keep others whom are Pakistani from doing so. OTOH, the afghan taliban are not actively assisting the P.A. in combat operations against these same groups, are they?

":rofl::rofl:if US forces are so efficient in controlling the border, then why do they cry for our help, why can't then they control the Taliban crossing the durand line on daily basis."

Are you truly so arrogant as to believe that large numbers of insurgents weren't killed in Konar and Nuristan by American forces? Are you truly so naive to not understand the difficulties for anybody to fully control these borders? Do you think that the combat in the Korengal valley and many, many others was a fantasy concocted by Hollywood directors and not a reality?

Would you care to try crossing into Afghanistan with a taliban group?:agree:

I doubt you'll find it easy-even now as we pull some of these forces into more populated zones. Do try, though, if you find it such an easy and amusing giggle and we'll see who laughs last.:sniper::hang2:

"Possible explanation, they were knowingly let to cross into and later over to Pakistan by the ever efficient US forces controlling the border."

Anything is possible, correct? Do you believe such is LIKELY?:lol:

"Let them open, they will be getting the same treatment as given to the Mehsud, at least PA did its job by neutralizing them & recovered the area lost for many years, let the future come and we will see what happens to them too."

That remains to be seen but I certainly will hope so.

"...And unfortunately, the objectives, goals and the intention of US is different comparing to Pakistan."

What are your objectives? I ask this because when referring to the U.S. in Afghanistan, you seem inclined to assign nefarious goals to us. Is this true? If so, how do you explain a U.N. mandate to be there and that forty other nations spend their blood and treasure there as well? Are they all toady lackeys of America? Seriously?

I understand that you're concerned about India in Afghanistan. Sadly, for you and so many others here, nobody else is-least of all the Afghan government. They receive great heaps of very transparent aid from India. They provide India with no more embassies and consulates than they do for Pakistan and, most of all, like Pakistan-Afghans will always decide who has that right and who does not to legally be on their lands. THAT prerogative, btw, will of course include the taliban government should they again come to power. THAT, btw, might explain the eagerness of so many here to see exactly such occur.

So, given your concerns and given afghan objections to your concerns, can we assume that you make proxy war on Afghanistan after all? Your mouth will say "no, no, no" but your actions say "yes, yes, yes".

Of course, in doing, you also make proxy war on your ostensible ally America and its forty thieves...errr...national partners.

This remains the fundamental source of our mutual distrust. You seek to dominate Afghanistan and to do so through proxy pashtu agents. Hekmatyar works even though he somewhat disdains Omar. Omar, though, also works just fine for Pakistan. So too Haqqani.

taimikhan, you've displayed a superbly nuanced grasp of strategic depth in EXACTLY the correct posture as it relates to Afghanistan. You are correct to assume, for instance, that retreating into Afghanistan were you to face open conventional war in your east would be difficult and, likely, a slaughter.

Your heavy weapons and armor would be channelized and possibly destroyed by Indian airpower as they attempted to pull back. That is how most understand "strategic depth".

Not you, though. Congratulations...sincerely so as it's about DENYING the western flank to India where true strategic depth in the Pakistani context resides.
 
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guerilla warfare is fought by adopting the guerilla tactics....

And I am proud to say that our active men in uniform, regardless of rank, have shared notes. Painfully long hours are spent analyzing their movements and war tactics --during day & night.

I have a feeling that some of these foreign and local fighters may try to take refuge in North Waziristan and Kurram Agency (most likely Lower Kurram, as Upper Kurramis will without a doubt put up resistance)

The maliks/elders should cooperate and ensure that nobody in the administrations and none of the locals are giving any kind of support to terrorists.

lets see what happens. This is a critical time; History will judge the unwavering professionalism of our Armed Forces.
 
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Who is saying that this operation is against Wazir tribe or Mehsud tribe ?? Plz understand the point of view being discussed.

And i am from that area, i know more then you what conflicts happen between which tribes and what are the historic background to the relations of these tribes.

May be you have more information , but your post giving impression that there is conflict between these two major tribes , PA should get benefit of that.
 
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PA will not benefit from Pakistanis fighting eachother.

There have been engagement with Mehsud and Waziri tribes, trying to isolate the militants AWAY from their tribes.

Because in the end, everything these militants are doing is anti-Islam. It doesnt matter if they are Uzbeks or Tajiks or Arabs or Chechens or Pakistani. What they are doing is wrong. And those that refuse to mend their ways --they will either be arrested; or they will die during engagement.

Look at the Orakzais. They used to be sympathetic to ttp, but now they are mostly pro-government and are helping Armed Forces.

People are not dumb, they know that the militants have been bad for name of Islam and bad for business!
 
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May be you have more information , but your post giving impression that there is conflict between these two major tribes , PA should get benefit of that.

O Bhai mere, I am talking about the road, it was a single life line for the wazir tribe living in the Wana area, in the past whenever a dispute arose between the two tribes, the Mehsud would use to close the road or create problems for the wazir tribe people passing through their territory. Also, PA could not effectively block the road to monitor and halt the movement of Mehsud militants, specially the ones leaving for inner Pakistan for missions to kill innocent human beings, so once the new road was opened, the wazir tribe people got independent of being dependent on that one road due to which they were in trouble from the mehsud tribe. Plus in any tribal society, there are always conflicts between different tribes, that's a natural thing. Neither has PA used this conflict to its benefit, all they did was open another road for the wazir tribe so that they can blockade the entry & exit points of the Mehsud area militants and restrict their flow inwards to Pakistan.
 
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taimikhan, you've displayed a superbly nuanced grasp of strategic depth in EXACTLY the correct posture as it relates to Afghanistan. You are correct to assume, for instance, that retreating into Afghanistan were you to face open conventional war in your east would be difficult and, likely, a slaughter.

Your heavy weapons and armor would be channelized and possibly destroyed by Indian airpower as they attempted to pull back. That is how most understand "strategic depth".

Not you, though. Congratulations...sincerely so as it's about DENYING the western flank to India where true strategic depth in the Pakistani context resides.

Thank U Sir for your comments, but i would just like to add that i don't have the perception about PA getting slaughtered, the main reason that for any possible strategic depth to occur you need either assets already in place or have such a huge infrastructure that you can move your heavy equipment, which we don't have also we don't have much routes to transfer such equipment. The only thing i see is the western flank thing that you mentioned, plus the most we can do using this strategic depth thing is, utilizing airstrips in Afghanistan by PAF to give them a better survivability rate, but that also needs ready infrastructure in place, unfortunately which the Afghans do not have in their country. Except for that i don't see any other thing happening in the strategic depth concept.
 
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9 militants killed as operation Rah-e-Nijat completes three weeks
Updated at: 0918 PST, Friday, November 06, 2009

9 militants killed as operation Rah-e-Nijat completes three weeks WANA: Nine more militants were killed and eight injured as operation Rah-e-Nijat underway in South Waziristan has completed three weeks.

Security forces speed up the action after entering in militants’ stronghold Ladha. At least 400 militants were killed and more then 100 hideouts destroyed during three weeks of operation that begun on October 16.

According to sources, security forces operation continued in Makeen, Ladha, Sararogha and adjoining areas. Fighter jets, gunship helicopters and heavy artillery pounding militants positions. Nine militants were killed and eight wounded in the action. Militants are fleeing to North Waziristan, Kurram Agency and Orakzai Agency because of operation.
 
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The Task ahead
Dawn Editorial
Friday, 06 Nov, 2009

While the first phase of the operation against what was supposed to be a redoubtable enemy in South Waziristan is apparently almost over, equally daunting tasks lie ahead. The tactics adopted by the army high command have beaten the Taliban on their own ground — descend from the ridges, command the heights and do not advance via roads. Four months of planning, with close coordination between the army and the air arm, has paid off, with many Taliban strongholds taken. The arms the militants left behind betray a flight in panic rather than a tactical withdrawal.

Nevertheless, it is an enemy that has been subdued, not vanquished. Before operation Rah-i-Najat was launched, the army put the Taliban strength at about 10,000. Since the maximum number of Taliban fatalities has been put at about 500, those not taken prisoner may have slipped into North Waziristan or the adjoining settled districts. They must be pursued relentlessly without being given a chance to reorganise, and the nation ought to be told what strategy the authorities have up their sleeve to finish the job.

Civil administration must now move into South Waziristan to prepare the groundwork for an eventual return to normal life. The agency has been virtually depopulated, and tribesmen wanting to return home will hesitate to do so because of the fear of a Taliban re-entry and backlash. It is thus the army’s responsibility to give the people a sense of security and establish a long-term presence in South Waziristan.

The military has done well to rehabilitate its image with victories over the Taliban in Swat and initial success of the ongoing operation. The army has all but recovered from the body blow suffered during the Musharraf era. It is now incumbent on politicians to provide high profile leadership that is in sync with the harsh reality of war. If they fail to do so, and the military continues to look good in comparison, the civil leadership will only undermine itself.
 
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Op Rah-e-Nijat: calendar with portraits of suicide bombers found
Updated at: 0330 PST, Friday, November 06, 2009

Op Rah-e-Nijat: calendar with portraits of suicide bombers found RAWALPINDI: Security forces have found a calendar showing portraits of suicide bombers from a Madarsa in Spankai area during Operation Rah-e-Nijat Thursday.

According to security officials suicide bombers were trained in Spankai area.

Amid ongoing Operation Rah-e-Nijat security forces found a calendar showing portraits of suicide bombers from a Madarsa.

The portraits on the calendar also include the pictures of banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Commanders and killed Al-Qaida leader Abu Lais al-Libby, besides the photographs of 10-15-year old children used in terror activities.
 
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