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Operation Rah-e-Rast (Swat)

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Pakistan Army destroys RAW in Swat–Delhi fails in destabilization scheme
Posted on July 4, 2009 by Moin Ansari

Even the worst detractors of the Pakistan Army have been impressed by the speed at which the strongholds of the Zaliman have been eradicated. After tightening the noose around them in Swat, the army pounded them in a variety of ways. The foreigners did not have time to escape back to their bases in Afghanistan. The Indian Consulates could get them weapons, but could not guarantee them victory. The defeated Zaliman are now a spent force, with the population against them, the lashkars chasing them, the Swatis hating them, and the army on the hunt for them. It is a matter of time that more of their bodies will be on display on the streets. RAW and its sponsors are on the run in Swat and hiding in the Bharati Consulates now. The message is “you can run, but you cannot hide”. The insurgency has been reduced to a militancy and then degraded to a nuisance. Eliminating the nuisance will take time

Our nation is proud of its soldiers, airmen and sailors who have laid their lives in recent operations, he said.

‘Let me assure you that in line with our proud traditions, the armed forces of Pakistan will never flinch whenever the nation gives us a call,’ the COAS remarked.

‘I can say with conviction that with the help of the people of Pakistan, we will succeed in our fight against terrorism,’ he added.

The COAS told the passing out mid-shipmen that the PNA has provided them with a solid foundation in line with its highest traditions of excellence.

‘The nation has reposed its trust in you. Now it is your responsibility to uphold that trust as professional sailors. It is your duty to come up to the expectations of the nation and the Navy,’ he added. ‘I pray that Almighty Allah gives you the courage and strength to discharge your responsibilities in the best interest of Pakistan.’ General Kiyani

The campaign against Taliban forces in the northwest has impressed observers…

Reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan — The Pakistani army has exceeded expectations in its offensive against Taliban fighters in northwestern Pakistan, effectively marshaling arms, tactics and political support. But the tougher challenge will be preventing the extremists from returning, or from regrouping elsewhere.

“The key question is whether the army can hold the ground afterward,” said Urmila Venugopalan, a South Asia expert with the defense analysis group Jane’s…..The army has deployed more than 20,000 troops against an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 Taliban fighters. A rule of thumb holds that armies need a 10-to-1 advantage in fighting insurgencies, said Farrukh Saleem, executive director of Islamabad’s Center for Research and Security Studies.

Military experts sometimes refer to the type of fighting going on in the Swat, Buner and Dir districts as “asymmetric warfare.” Put simply, most armies aren’t great against scrappy, highly motivated, mobile militants.

Since the offensive was launched in late April, Taliban fighters have avoided head-on conflict with a superior military force, engaging in hit-and-run, harassment and scare tactics, and, when all else failed, hiding or fleeing, hoping the army would lose interest. That’s exactly what happened in Swat in late 2007, late 2008 and early this year.

They’ve also focused on softer targets, such as police stations and government offices, in a bid to create fear among the civilian population.

What’s potentially different this time around, analysts said, is the greater public support for the army, provided it holds. That could be tested as more retaliatory suicide attacks hit Pakistani cities, such as the recent strikes on a security headquarters in Lahore and a five-star hotel in Peshawar.

Although most Pakistanis had gone along with a controversial February deal allowing the Taliban to impose Sharia, or Islamic law, in Swat, the Taliban’s expansion into Buner, a mere 60 miles from Islamabad, the capital, set alarm bells clanging at home and abroad.

“I think the army played it very intelligently,” said Tasneem Noorani, a former minister. “Everyone begged them to come in. So people can’t complain during the next election. It’s a popular operation.”

Targeting Buner and Dir first also made strategic sense. By attacking two districts that bracket Swat, analysts said, the army forced militants inward, letting the military effectively employ its air power and artillery against a more lightly equipped adversary using rocket launchers, machine guns, explosives, light artillery and small arms.

Initially the military relied heavily on air power, claiming success against Taliban strongholds and ammunition dumps.

“The army couldn’t just put boots on the ground and get slaughtered,” said Talat Masood, an analyst and retired Pakistani general. “Once they soften them up significantly, and they’re on the run, they can make better progress.”

With the area ringed, ground troops were sent in to control mountain passes and other choke points, cutting off Taliban supply routes and hampering escape.

“I think that was quite effective,” said Rahul Bhonsle, head of Security-risks.com, a New Delhi-based military analysis group.

It also dropped special-forces units from helicopters into Taliban strongholds, analysts said. Armies, with their mechanized transport and heavy artillery, don’t tend to do well in densely covered mountainous terrain, said I.A. Rehman, an independent analyst. The special forces helped blunt that disadvantage by calling in bombing targets for aircraft and taking the fight to the militants before they could flee or fully dig in.

Early on, the army concentrated on the northwestern side of Swat, analysts said, blocking escape routes in the direction of the porous Afghan border and driving militants south, where the flatter terrain favored the army and where troops moving in from Buner and Dir could intercept them.

“Basically, the army tried to cut off the routes that give them an exit,” said Nasim Zehra, an independent defense analyst.

The government also employed some sleight of hand to prevent Taliban fighters from being resupplied.

In a cable reportedly intercepted by the army that was subsequently leaked, Swat Taliban leader Maulana Qazi Fazlullah pleaded for assistance from Baitullah Mahsud, a top Pakistani Taliban leader based in the South Waziristan region.

But South Waziristan officials distracted Mahsud with a jirga, or council, of tribal elders ostensibly sent to conduct local peace talks, said Rahimullah Yusufzai, an editor with the News newspaper in Peshawar.

“It was a smart strategy,” he said. “He never stopped talking.”

They’ve done military before and they’ve done the economic side before. The question is whether it can be well planned together.”
 
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Rawalpindi - July 5, 2009:

Update Operation (Rah e Rast) 5th July 2009

1. During last 24 hours, few terrorists were apprehended while 3 security forces personnel embraced shahadat and 6 were injured in Malakand.

2. Swat

a. Security forces raided house of a terrorist in Mohalla Nehrabad, Kuza Banda and recovered 1 Suzuki Pick Up, 1 Small Machine Gun including 2 magazines,1 Pistol and 175 rounds of miscellaneous caliber.

b. Security forces conducted search operation south of Kotah near Bari Kot. During exchange of fire with terrorists 3 soldiers embraced shahadat and 4 were injured.

c. During search and clearance operation in Rangeela security forces apprehended few terrorists.


d. Security forces conducted search and clearance operation around Magaltan and apprehended few suspects for screening and also recovered IED making material including 6 Kgs Black Powder, 2 Kgs Potassium Chloride, 90 meters white electric cable, 3 weight machines, 22 electric detonators, 6 non electric detonators and 1.5 meters prima cord.

e. Security forces conducted search operation and extended the cordon areas around Mangaltan valley including Zangai village and Asharband village. 6 suspects were apprehended and 2 explosive laden double cabins were destroyed in area Jungle, north of Mangaltan. 1 IED bag, 1 grenade, one I communication charger, 3 detonators, 10 meters safety fuse, 1.5 Kgs potassium chloride and training material were also recovered.

f. Security forces carried out search and clearance operation in area around Kokaria and recovered computers and survey equipment.

g. Security forces conducted search operation at Takhtaband area and recovered 4 pistols, 1 RPG-7 round, 1 metal detector and 1 motorola set.

3. Dir

Terrorists fire raided at check post near Qamar Post. Exchange of fire took place in general area Chinarai, Lal Qilla and Maidan. During search operation 1 bullet proof jacket, 1 camouflage uniform and some propaganda pictures / posters were also recovered.

4. Orakzai Agency.

Security forces targetted suspected hideouts in Orakzai Agency.

5. D I Khan.

A suicide bomber voluntarily surrendered himself to the district administration.

6. Bannu.

Security forces apprehended 3 terrorists alongwith a Binjo car having fake MPA number plate at Shindi Adda, Mamsh Khel, Bannu.

7. Relief Activities.

a. So far 1,888 tons of rations from Army Supply Depot distributed amongst IDPs of Malakand Division.

b. Cash cards were distributed amongst the IDPs of Malakand at Gordwara Panja Shaif, Hasanabdal.

---

KIT Over n Out :victory::pakistan::sniper::guns:
 
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News

APWA organises charity musical evening for Swat IDPs


LONDON: The UK Chapter of All Pakistan Women Association (APWA) organized a well attended fundraising musical event for displaced people of Swat entitled “Music for Swat” at the Pakistan High Commission here on Friday evening.

The well-known singer-composer Raja Kaasheff, vocalist Attaullah Khan Essakheli, Rajab Ali and his son Saqib and Muhammad Arshad, son of later music director Muhammad Ashraf entertained the guests with a range of popular songs, ghazals and geet.

Pakistan High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan while welcoming the guests spoke of the woes of the displaced persons of Swat and Malakand and urged the Pakistani British Diaspora to contribute generously towards the rehabilitation of the affectees.

The APWA Chairperson Zarina Hasan informed the guests that the organisation donated five thousand pound sterling to the President’s Relief Fund while another cheque of two thousand pound sterlings was handed over to the Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in his recent visit to London towards the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund.

The organisation general secretary Shahida Khan said APWA is working whole heartedly for this noble cause and endeavouring to raise as much funds as possible through a variety of programmes.

Courtesy Geo TV Pakistan - Breaking News, World, Business, Sports, Entertainment, & Video News
 
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Pakistan army operation hinders Taliban efforts in Afghanistan, U.S. says - Los Angeles Times


Pakistan army operation hinders Taliban efforts in Afghanistan, U.S. says
Pakistani army in Swat Valley


The offensive against militants in the Swat Valley, as well as Pakistanis' growing support for the campaign, gives U.S. officials reason to believe Islamabad can turn the tide against extremists.
By Greg Miller

Reporting from Washington -- Pakistan's military offensive against the Taliban has slowed the flow of arms and fighters into Afghanistan, U.S. officials say, and has prompted intelligence analysts to issue cautiously upbeat new assessments of Islamabad's ability to contain the threat of violent extremists.

U.S. intelligence and military officials said the revised outlook reflected a series of developments over the last few months, including not only the Pakistani military campaign in the country's Swat Valley, but shifting political currents that have prompted many Pakistanis to turn against extremist groups and back their government's anti-insurgency efforts.
 
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Crush these bastards with full force.Drop bombs so that they burn alive.They need to be teached a lesson.
 
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Top aide of Fazlullah among 10 militants killed in Pak

Top aide of Fazlullah among 10 militants killed in Pak

Islamabad, July 05: At least 10 militants, including an aide of Taliban commander Maulana Fazlullah, and three soldiers were killed as Pakistani security forces on Sunday stepped up their operations against rebels in the restive Malakand division and the tribal belt.

Ehsan alias Abu Jandal, described as an aide of Fazlullah, the Taliban chief in Swat valley, was killed during operations in the Qambar area, a news channel reported.

Ehsan was reportedly killed when security forces bombarded Qambar after facing tough resistance from militants in the area.

Four suspected militants were killed when combat jets carried out air strikes in Datakhel area of North Waziristan Agency, where the army launched an operation after a recent attack on a military convoy.

Reports said some civilians were also killed in artillery shelling in the area.

Five militants were killed and 10 more injured in clashes with troops in the Orakzai tribal region. Seventeen militants have been killed so far in the semi-autonomous region, media reports said.

The military said in a statement that three soldiers were killed and four injured when an exchange of fire erupted while troops were conducting a search near Barikot in Swat valley. Two more security personnel were injured in operations in Swat.

Authorities also took into custody several militants during search operations in different parts of the North West Frontier Province, including six suspects apprehended near Mangaltan valley in Swat and a would-be suicide bomber who surrendered in Dera Ismail Khan.

Troops also destroyed two explosive-laden pick-up trucks and seized material for making improvised explosive devices during search and clearance operations in Mangaltan valley.

In the Dir area, militants raided a check post near Qamar Post. Exchanges of fire between militants and troops were also reported in Chinarai, Lal Qilla and Maidan, though the military did not say whether there were any casualties in these skirmishes.

In Bannu district of NWFP, troops captured three militants who were in a car having fake number plates for a member of the provincial assembly.

Bureau Report
 
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Kayani has done pretty well: Mullen | Pakistan | News | Newspaper | Daily | English | Online

Kayani has done pretty well: Mullen
Published: July 06, 2009


WASHINGTON (APP) - Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman US Joints Chiefs Staff, on Sunday said Pakistan has taken significant steps to counter Taliban insurgency in its Northwestern areas and acknowledged that the country has recently “ made a lot of progress” toward that end.
“In fact, they’ve actually made a lot of progress, taken significant military steps, had a significant impact and moved in a positive direction,” Mullen told CBS TV channel, comparing the current drive in Swat and other areas with the situation a year ago.
Mullen, who has been engaging with Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, said the Pakistani military knows the area and is proceeding with its own plan to counter the threat.
“He’s (Gen Kayani) concerned about the focus both the threat from India as well as the growing threat in terms of the insurgency. He’s addressing both of those. Actually they’ve done pretty well.”
In answer to a question, the top US military officer said “General Kayani has a very deliberate plan and he’s on his plan. He’s aware. He knows his country very well. The military leadership knows their country very well. And I think they’re dealing with it.”
“He has pushed, I mean, he has a force focused in two different directions. He’s rotating forces not unlike us. So he’s approaching it in a measured, thorough way.”
The admiral, however, also reminded that the effort is “going to take some time.”
 
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Gen Kyani couldnt have come at a better time. he is a blessin in disguise espacially when we are being ruled by so morally corrupt leaders.
 
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US and Pakistan renew intelligence co-operation

01 July 2009

The New York Times reported on 29 June that there was increased intelligence co-operation between the United States and Pakistan, citing officials in both countries.

The article stated that the US had resumed surveillance drone flights over Pakistan's tribal areas "to provide Pakistani commanders with a wide array of videos and other information on militants". The news report also claimed that this increased intelligence sharing comes as Washington is accelerating the delivery of "transport helicopters, body armour and other equipment" to Pakistan ahead of its imminent offensive against Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud in South Waziristan tribal agency.
 
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ASIA PACIFIC
Date Posted: 03-Jul-2009


Jane's Defence Weekly


Pakistan claims Swat operation is nearing completion

Farhan Bokhari JDW Correspondent - Islamabad

Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani claimed on 1 July that the country's military operation against Taliban militants in the northern Swat valley was nearing a conclusion.

His announcement came just hours before thousands of US Marines backed by hundreds of Afghan soldiers began a major military operation in Helmand region, southern Afghanistan: the first such large-scale operation since US President Barack Obama took office.

Western defence officials said the two operations were loosely linked. Some of the Taliban in Pakistan, under attack in Swat and the Waziristan region along the Afghan border, are believed to have retreated to Afghanistan.

"Now there is pressure on both sides of the Pak-Afghan border. I believe this is part of a newly co-ordinated push," one Western defence official in Islamabad told Jane's . The US and Pakistan, however, have not confirmed such co-ordination.

"The nation will soon hear the good news. Soon the army operation [in Swat] will be over," said Gilani after meeting with General Ashfaq Kayani, the Pakistan Army's chief of staff.

Pakistani government officials have recently been claiming that the campaign in Swat was heading towards a military victory, with estimates of the number of Taliban killed ranging between 2,500 to 3,500.

Pakistani officials estimated that before the conflict there were up to 5,000 Taliban militants in Swat and its surrounding region. Gilani has ordered government officials to step up the repatriation of more than two million civilians who fled the fighting in the area.

However, Pakistani officials say that less than a fifth of an estimated USD2.5 billion for immediate relief and the long-term reconstruction of Swat has so far been promised by the country's international partners.

In the past, Western diplomats have said that the Taliban advance in the Pak-Afghan region has been fuelled in large measure by the financial gains made by warlords in regions like Helmand. These financial gains have been shared with the Taliban, one Western official told Jane's .

"The [current US-led] campaign in Helmand is meant to curb the activities of the Taliban, to essentially beat them back from an important area of their activity and also to close their financial lifeline," said the official.
 
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ASIA PACIFIC
Date Posted: 03-Jul-2009


Jane's Defence Weekly

Second front opens in Waziristan following militant attacks

JDW Asia-Pacific Editor - Trefor Moss - London

Key Points
Taliban groups in North Waziristan have killed 16 soldiers in an ambush as they ditched a peace deal with the government

The development threatens to make the army's campaign against Baitullah Mehsud in South Waziristan even more difficult



The Pakistan Army's campaign against Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader Baitullah Mehsud has come under pressure before ground operations have even begun, with North Waziristan militants loosely affiliated with Baitullah abandoning a 16-month-old peace deal with the government.

Sixteen soldiers were killed in an "unprovoked attack" by militants near the town of Miranshah in North Waziristan on 28 June, the army said in a statement, shortly before the three North Waziri militant groups responsible for the ambush - the Haqqani network and local groups led by Hafiz Gul Bahadar and Saddiq Noor - announced that they were ending their truce with Islamabad. They blamed the army's continued presence in the tribal agency and attacks by US unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for their decision.

The army's strategy, announced in mid-June, had been to isolate Baitullah in South Waziristan without engaging other Taliban organisations. However, the declaration of war by the North Waziri Taliban has now significantly increased the challenge faced by the country's military as it prepares to enter the remote tribal region.

As 'softening-up' operations continued in South Waziristan in the form of artillery and air strikes, Pakistani fighter aircraft began attacking militant targets in North Waziristan on 30 June in retaliation for the ambush, local media reported. However, army spokesmen have so far been unable to reveal when ground operations against Baitullah will commence.

Asif Ali Khan Durrani, Pakistan's deputy high commissioner in London, told the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) on 30 June that, while Pakistan may have been slow to come round to the idea of countering the Taliban militarily, the world should "not doubt our resilience" now that operations have started.

Research published on 1 July by WorldPublicOpinion.org backed Durrani's view that Pakistani public opinion was now behind military action. Of the people questioned, 70 per cent said that they sympathised with the government (as opposed to just 5 per cent who sympathised with the Taliban); 67 per cent said the Swat Taliban had violated their agreement with the government and so had provoked a military response; and 82 per cent identified the Taliban as a "critical threat" to the country.

Alex Neil, the head of RUSI's Asia programme, agreed that public support for military action now appeared quite firm. However, he warned that Baitullah was likely to counter-attack once the Army's Waziristan offensive was properly underway.

"Once they start closing in on his tribal domain, he's probably got cells already in place in the Punjabi heartland [which he will activate]," said Neil, pointing to one such cell that the authorities recently discovered in Karachi.

He also observed that the entry of the North Waziri groups into the conflict meant that the army "risks being overstretched" and would need help from outside.

"My suspicion is that this operation was planned with the US," he said. "They wouldn't be going into such a high-intensity operation unless it was part of a game plan formed with the US [involving] an enhanced US air support effort."

In addition to an increase in the UAV missions that the US has been conducting over Pakistan, Neil said NATO forces in Afghanistan needed to support the Pakistani offensive by cutting off the militants' escape routes into Paktika and Khowst.
 
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Mullen satisfied with Pak action against Taliban

WASHINGTON: US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen on Sunday acknowledged that Pakistan had recently made “a lot of progress” in its fight against the Taliban insurgency in its northwest. “They’ve actually made a lot of progress, taken significant military steps, had a significant impact and moved in a positive direction,” Mullen told CBS TV channel, comparing the current drive in Swat and other areas with the situation a year ago. Admiral Mullen, who has been engaging with Army Chief General Ashfaq Kayani, said the Pakistani military was familiar with the topography of the area and was proceeding with its own plan to counter the threat. “He is concerned about the focus – both the threat from India as well as the growing threat in terms of the insurgency. He’s addressing both of those. Actually they’ve done pretty well,”


the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman said. To a question, the top US military officer said, “General Kayani has a very deliberate plan and he’s on his plan.” The admiral, however, also reminded that the effort is “going to take some time”.

app
 
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Associated Press Of Pakistan ( Pakistan's Premier NEWS Agency ) - Army’s new back home plan for Malakand IDPs

Army’s new back home plan for Malakand IDPs


ISLAMABAD, Jul 6 (APP): Pakistan Army designed a new plan for the IDPs’returning to their houses in Malakand. Director-General programme for rehabilitation of IDPs Shakeel Qadir told Geo News in an exclusive talk that programme for rehabilitation of IDPs from affected areas consists of three phases.

Measures will be started for restoration of facilities in first phase, compensation fordestructed houses in second phase and then steps will be taken towards further development.
 
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