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Operation Rah-e-Rast (Swat)

Rawalpindi - July 23, 2009:

Update Operation (Rah e Rast) 23rd July 2009

1. During last 24 hours, search and clearance operations were conducted in Swat and Malakand.

2. Swat

Security forces carried out search operation near Dadrah. During operation 2 terrorists were killed and 3 were apprehended.

Security forces conducted search operation at Samai Kalle. 11 houses of terrorists were demolished and 1 machine gun, 2 rifles and 150 rounds of sniper were recovered.

Security forces conducted search operation at Dardial, Maira Banda, Kamyari and Daku Banda and recovered 1029 rounds of machine gun and 2 safety fuses.

3. North Waziristan Agency.

Terrorists looted 8 lacs rupees from a small group of Khasadars moving from Dossali to Damdil. During exchange of fire 2 Khasadars were injured.

4. Relief Activities.

211,024 cash cards have been distributed amongst the IDPs of Malakand.

So far 3.91 billion rupees have been withdrawn by the IDPs of Malakand.


---

KIT Over n Out :victory::pakistan::sniper::guns:
 
Revenge killings may push Swat towards civil war

* Shattered residents of Swat keen to avenge Taliban atrocities

By Iqbal Khattak

PESHAWAR: Senior government officials have expressed concern over killings of people with alleged links to the Taliban, in some parts of Swat, prompted by locals’ eagerness to avenge their sufferings at the hands of the Taliban before May 7.

“I have been told of one such incident ... a man killed a [Taliban] sympathiser,” NWFP Governor Owais Ghani told Daily Times. “We should be careful not to allow this to spread,” said the governor.

Military sources confirmed that such incidents had taken place in Kambar, a former stronghold of the Taliban; Kokore area near Saidu Sharif; and Mingora city.

“A Kambar resident killed someone apparently for being a Taliban supporter,” said the sources, and quoted the killer as saying that locals were “leading a terrible life now because of the Taliban”.

According to the sources, the provincial government is anticipating that Swat residents might take on the Taliban themselves if “they get a chance to avenge the sufferings caused by the group’s activities”.

“One or two cases is not a problem, but if this spreads, the district may plunge into civil war ... this will be a great setback to government efforts aimed at retaking ground lost to the Taliban,” said the sources.

Meanwhile, Mingora city would remain under curfew for “quite some time” as action against Taliban still in parts of Swat’s border areas continues, said government sources.

“There are a bunch of Taliban in the areas close to the border with Lower Dir and Buner districts ... the military is yet to flush them out,” the civil and military sources told Daily Times, but refused to give a timeframe for the return of normalcy to the area.

While internally displaced persons have started returning to Mingora city, signs of normal life and confidence in the writ of the state have not surfaced yet: banks, government offices and police stations have not resumed normal operations and paramedics are hesitant to resume duty.

A densely-populated city of nearly half a million people, Mingora has been under curfew since May 8, when the army launched Operation Rah-e-Rast against the Taliban.

“We are back home, but there are no signs of life,” said a resident in Malookabad, referring to a ban on free movement in the city.
 
Troops being redeployed along Pak-Afghan border

* Drones counter productive, Islamabad tells Holbrooke

By Sajjad Malik

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad on Thursday said it was redeploying troops along its border with Afghanistan to stop the Taliban while fleeing the US operations in Helmand province from infiltrating its territory.

“We are re-arranging our troop deployment along the border and beefing up our presence in those areas where we think infiltration can take place as a result of the Helmand operation,” Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said at the weekly briefing.

He said the issue of militants’ infiltration from Afghanistan was part of the discussion between Pakistan and the US, adding that steps were being taken to handle any possible fall out of the Helmand operation.

Telling the truth: The spokesman said Pakistan had discussed the issue of displaced people, regional stability, and the drone attacks with special envoy Holbrooke. “Pakistan conveyed its concerns regarding these drone attacks, which we consider as counter productive,” he said.
 
US focuses new intelligence effort on Taliban

* High US casualties could continue through 2010

WASHINGTON: The US military in Afghanistan is consolidating intelligence-gathering operations as part of its new drive against the Taliban, a senior defence official said on Thursday.

Assistant Defence Secretary Michael Vickers told reporters that data from unmanned drones and other aircraft, intercepted messages, ground troops and other sources were being merged into a unified effort for the first time. Top US military officials have credited a similar consolidated intelligence approach with helping to break the back of Sunni and Shia insurgent groups in Iraq. The initiative is key to the success of US President Barack Obama’s more aggressive strategy in Afghanistan, where July has already been the deadliest month on record for the US forces and months more of heavy fighting are predicted. The US will more than double its military presence in Afghanistan this year to 68,000 troops, from about 32,000 last December, to quell insurgent violence that has reached its highest levels since the 2001 invasion. The first major offensive of the Obama strategy occurred this month when 4,000 US Marines swept into former Taliban strongholds in the southern Helmand province.

Casualties: Political analysts say the counter-insurgency strategy could strain American public support for the war by generating high casualties into the 2010 congressional election campaign. Vickers suggested it could take Western forces until mid-2011 to gain the upper hand.

Fleet: “In the immediate term – immediate term meaning the next year or so, one to two years, max – the objective is really to reverse the momentum that the insurgency had been gaining,” Vickers said at a breakfast for defence writers. He said the US offensive would be backed by expanded fleets of unmanned aerial vehicles including Predator drones capable of air strikes on important targets.

The military is also building a large fleet of hunter-killer Reaper drones capable of extended periods of high-altitude surveillance. “We have a combination of manned and unmanned (aircraft) that are providing this unblinking eye,” Vickers said. Drones and other aircraft including C-12 patrol aircraft are being integrated with other parts of the operation that include signals intelligence, biometrics, analysis and expanded links with ground troops. “All of those had to come together and they are starting this year,” Vickers said.

reuters
 
Ok right, talking about the (entire) Tribal history, i'll beg diversion from here on.


Xeric, i didn't mention entire history, history in my context meant some parts of tribal history.
 
ASIA PACIFIC
Date Posted: 24-Jul-2009

Jane's Defence Weekly

Pakistan urges US to consider impact of Afghan campaign

Farhan Bokhari JDW Correspondent - Islamabad

Key Points
Insurgents fleeing US troops in Afghanistan could have a destabilising effect on Pakistan, Islamabad has warned

The US should have allowed Pakistan to consolidate its position in Swat before launching operations in Helmand, officials have said



The United States has been urged to consider the impact of its operations in Afghanistan on Pakistan's efforts to consolidate recent military gains in Swat, senior Pakistani officials have told Jane's .

President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and General Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani, the army's chief of staff, expressed their concerns over the potential fall-out of current US operations in Helmand and elsewhere in Afghanistan in meetings with Richard Holbrooke, the US special envoy to the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, on 22 July.

"There are serious consequences of the US military action near Pakistan's border," a senior Pakistani government official said. "This action will inevitably push the Taliban from Afghanistan into Pakistani territory. The recent US action in Afghanistan's Helmand region is meant to improve security ahead of next month's Afghan elections but this is likely to undermine our interests."

Holbrooke appeared to play down the impact that the US military campaign in Helmand might have on Pakistan's security. "To the best of our knowledge, Taliban move freely across the border," he said. "Sometimes the Afghan Taliban [and] the Pakistan Taliban co-ordinate, sometimes they don't. There's constant movement."

However, senior Western defence officials said that the US and Pakistan disagreed on how best to consolidate Pakistan's military gains in Swat while also increasing the pressure on militants in Afghanistan.

"We are not telling the Americans to stop their military campaign in Afghanistan," said one Pakistani security official. "We are asking them to improve their co-ordination with Pakistan. In the case of what has happened recently, the US could have delayed the Helmand campaign until we had consolidated our presence in Swat. The problem is, they moved only with an eye on what is going on internally in Afghanistan, without any reference to Pakistan."

Pakistani officials said they feared that the "psychological pressure" of the continuing US offensives in Afghanistan would cause Afghan militants to cross the border into Pakistan, with destabilising consequences.

Meanwhile, Pakistani officials have given permission to almost two million internally displaced persons (IDPs) to return to Swat and the surrounding region in the first step towards normalising the area. However, the effort has been hampered by the remnants of the Swat Taliban movement, which has formed small bands of gunmen to attack the returning IDPs.

On 16 July a Pakistani official who worked for the UN's High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was killed in Peshawar during a kidnapping attempt by four suspected Taliban gunmen.

The attack prompted UN officials to warn that a deterioration in local security conditions was now likely, especially as the Taliban who are under attack in Afghanistan seek to stage retaliatory attacks in Pakistan.
 
Revenge killings may push Swat towards civil war

* Shattered residents of Swat keen to avenge Taliban atrocities

By Iqbal Khattak

PESHAWAR: Senior government officials have expressed concern over killings of people with alleged links to the Taliban, in some parts of Swat, prompted by locals’ eagerness to avenge their sufferings at the hands of the Taliban before May 7.

“I have been told of one such incident ... a man killed a [Taliban] sympathiser,” NWFP Governor Owais Ghani told Daily Times. “We should be careful not to allow this to spread,” said the governor.

Military sources confirmed that such incidents had taken place in Kambar, a former stronghold of the Taliban; Kokore area near Saidu Sharif; and Mingora city.

“A Kambar resident killed someone apparently for being a Taliban supporter,” said the sources, and quoted the killer as saying that locals were “leading a terrible life now because of the Taliban”.

According to the sources, the provincial government is anticipating that Swat residents might take on the Taliban themselves if “they get a chance to avenge the sufferings caused by the group’s activities”.

“One or two cases is not a problem, but if this spreads, the district may plunge into civil war ... this will be a great setback to government efforts aimed at retaking ground lost to the Taliban,” said the sources.

Meanwhile, Mingora city would remain under curfew for “quite some time” as action against Taliban still in parts of Swat’s border areas continues, said government sources.

“There are a bunch of Taliban in the areas close to the border with Lower Dir and Buner districts ... the military is yet to flush them out,” the civil and military sources told Daily Times, but refused to give a timeframe for the return of normalcy to the area.

While internally displaced persons have started returning to Mingora city, signs of normal life and confidence in the writ of the state have not surfaced yet: banks, government offices and police stations have not resumed normal operations and paramedics are hesitant to resume duty.

A densely-populated city of nearly half a million people, Mingora has been under curfew since May 8, when the army launched Operation Rah-e-Rast against the Taliban.

“We are back home, but there are no signs of life,” said a resident in Malookabad, referring to a ban on free movement in the city.
It's payback time for TTP.:guns::guns::guns:
 
the only question to ask is if US is killin the talibans in helmand or only pushing them. they should rather encircle them first and then launch any offencive
 
the only question to ask is if US is killin the talibans in helmand or only pushing them. they should rather encircle them first and then launch any offencive

They still don't have enough troops for that, but you know pakistan should "do more".
 
Rawalpindi - July 24, 2009:

Update Operation (Rah e Rast) 24th July 2009


1. During last 24 hours, search and clearance operations were conducted in Swat and Malakand.

2. Swat

a. Security forces conducted search operation at Surgulai and Syed Piranda Baba Ziarat and killed 2 terrorists, demolished 2 houses of terrorists at Akhun Kalle and Garoh and apprehended 1 terrorist.

b. Security forces conducted search operation at Sambat near Khawzakhela and killed 1 terrorist.

c. During search operation, Security forces apprehended 4 suspected terrorists from a house at Kankaro near Gulijabba.

d. During an encounter at Allah Dand near Thana, 1 soldier embraced shahadat and 2 terrorists were killed and 1 was apprehended.

3. Relief Activities.

a. 214,772 cash cards have been distributed amongst the IDPs of Malakand.

b. 13 trucks of rations and relief goods have been distributed amongst the IDPs of Malakand.

---

KIT Over n Out :victory::pakistan::sniper::guns:
 
Slides: yes Pakistan should do more as we are their humble subcontractors! It is our "responsibility" to relieve the pressure on the Americans; and to stop any Taliban moving to Afghanistan.
 
World : 14 militants killed in Pakistan

14 militants killed in Pakistan

Islamabad, July 25 (DPA) The Pakistan Army said Saturday that 14 Taliban fighters were killed in clashes with security forces in the country's northwestern Swat valley and its adjoining district of Buner.

According to an army statement 10 militants died when the troops conducted search operations in four areas of Buner, located some 100 km northwest of Islamabad.

Four rebels were killed in two separate clashes in Swat, where the security forces also destroyed a terrorist training camp and a cave, recovering a huge cache of arms and ammunition.

Pakistani troops are wrapping up a 10-week offensive to expel Taliban from Swat and three neighbouring districts.

So far over 1,700 militants and 160 soldiers have been killed in the army offensive in the region, known for hilly terrain and thickly forested valleys.

The fighting displaced over 1.9 million people, who have started going back to their homes after the army took control of major towns. But violence continues, as the army has been trying to clear the remote northern belt of the Swat region.
 
BBC NEWS | South Asia | Pakistan's South Waziristan puzzle

Pakistan's South Waziristan puzzle

By Syed Shoaib Hasan, Islamabad
BBC News

What is Pakistan's government up to in South Waziristan?


Since the middle of May, the army has been conducting a military offensive against Pakistan's Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud - whose hideout lies in the mountainous terrain there.

But unlike the recent operation in the Swat valley, it says it has refrained from going all out against the militants so far.

The reasons for this are not exactly clear.

The army says it wants to surround the militants and use air power and artillery to ''soften them up".

"We are just punishing them at the moment," says Maj General Athar Abbas, head of the army's public relations wing.

"This is so that when the operation starts they can't stand up to us. We have surrounded the entire area where the Taliban are based," he says.


If this is true, the army appears in a prime position to fulfil its mission to "eliminate" Baitullah Mehsud and his organisation.

But it appears in no mood to begin the much-heralded military assault which already has a name - Rah-e-Nijat or Path to Deliverance.

"We are waiting for the right time to launch the operation," says Gen Abbas.

Taliban truce?

But the fact that people have had to wait so long for a serious assault on militants has led to fears, not without precedent, about a possible deal between the army and the Taliban.

One of the allegations concerns correspondence between Baitullah Mehsud and the head of Pakistan's army.


Maj Gen Athar Abbas flatly denied the report.

"The army will not even consider such a possibility. This is utter speculation," he said.

Gen Abbas said the army was fully committed to its goal of defeating the Taliban.

But there are those who feel the army and the Taliban are engaging in battle only because of certain "misunderstandings".

Foremost among these is Shah Abdul Aziz, a former Pakistani parliamentarian.

He has been trying to negotiate a truce between Pakistan's security forces and the Taliban. For some time Mr Aziz has acted as a mediator between the government and the Taliban and other extremists.

He enjoys very close relations with the Taliban leadership and with radical clerics such as the head of Islamabad's Red Mosque, Maulana Abdul Aziz.

Mr Aziz played a key role when in 2007 Pakistani security forces laid siege to the Red Mosque after dozens of radical Islamists barricaded themselves inside.

He was a key figure in mediating between the mosque administration and the government. Although that episode ended with troops storming the mosque killing scores of militants, Mr Aziz has continued in his role as a negotiator.

He was the man behind the Taliban's statement that it would cease operations against the army in December 2008, soon after the Mumbai attacks.

Missing letter

Mr Aziz's most recent project has been to try and "resolve" the stand-off between Baitullah Mehsud and the government.

Elders from Pakistan"s Jani Khail tribes arrive to attend a meeting to discuss the situation of the area, Sunday, June 28, 2009 in Bannu, Pakistan
The tribal district of South Waziristan has seen some anti-Taliban assaults

In this regard, he is said to have delivered a letter from Baitullah Mehsud to General Ashfaq Kayani, the head of Pakistan's army.

Subsequently, Mr Aziz has gone missing amid reports he was arrested outside the house of radical cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz.

"He was picked up on the morning of 27 May along with a man called Fidaullah," says Khalid Khawaja, an ex-ISI [Inter-Services Intelligence agency] official turned human rights activist.

Fidaullah was later produced by the Islamabad police in a highly publicised press conference as the "mastermind" of a spate of recent suicide bombings.

Mr Aziz, however, has not been heard from.

Senior security officials have told the BBC that he is in detention and being interrogated for his links with Baitullah Mehsud.

They say a letter was discovered on his person from the Taliban commander, but it was for a former head of Pakistan's ISI agency.

The letter is said to discuss the various alternatives available to Baitullah Mehsud and his militants.

But officials deny any letter addressed to the army chief was found or even existed.

Mr Khawaja, a close confidant of Mr Aziz, denies that his friend was in any way directly involved in planning or abetting militant acts.

"He was a peaceful and well intentioned man," he says.

"Shah Abdul Aziz did not want a conflict to take place between the Taliban and the army as it would cost the nation dear.

"I have been trying to register a police complaint for his recovery, but the police have refused to act so far," Mr Khawaja says.

As far as the mysterious letter letter to the head of Pakistan's army is concerned, Mr Khawaja confirms its authenticity.

"I have seen the letter, and it is has now been delivered to its destination," he says.

These developments come days after a pro-government tribal leader accused the government of making a deal with Baitullah Mehsud.

Turkistan Bhittani, leader of the anti-Baitullah Mehsud group in Waziristan, had until recently been accorded the complete support of Pakistan's security forces.

But, on 14 July, he accused the authorities of closing down his offices in the Dera Ismail Khan district bordering Waziristan.

"The government is openly supporting the Baitullah group and allowing it to re-establish itself," he told reporters.

Although, the government strongly rejects any such suggestion, every previous operation against the Taliban has ended in a peace deal.

-------
Time to turn the tides, i supposed?
 
Last edited:
BBC NEWS | South Asia | Pakistan's South Waziristan puzzle

Pakistan's South Waziristan puzzle

By Syed Shoaib Hasan, Islamabad
BBC News

What is Pakistan's government up to in South Waziristan?


Since the middle of May, the army has been conducting a military offensive against Pakistan's Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud - whose hideout lies in the mountainous terrain there.

But unlike the recent operation in the Swat valley, it says it has refrained from going all out against the militants so far.

The reasons for this are not exactly clear.

The army says it wants to surround the militants and use air power and artillery to ''soften them up".

"We are just punishing them at the moment," says Maj General Athar Abbas, head of the army's public relations wing.

"This is so that when the operation starts they can't stand up to us. We have surrounded the entire area where the Taliban are based," he says.


If this is true, the army appears in a prime position to fulfil its mission to "eliminate" Baitullah Mehsud and his organisation.

But it appears in no mood to begin the much-heralded military assault which already has a name - Rah-e-Nijat or Path to Deliverance.

"We are waiting for the right time to launch the operation," says Gen Abbas.

Taliban truce?

But the fact that people have had to wait so long for a serious assault on militants has led to fears, not without precedent, about a possible deal between the army and the Taliban.

One of the allegations concerns correspondence between Baitullah Mehsud and the head of Pakistan's army.


Maj Gen Athar Abbas flatly denied the report.

"The army will not even consider such a possibility. This is utter speculation," he said.

Gen Abbas said the army was fully committed to its goal of defeating the Taliban.

But there are those who feel the army and the Taliban are engaging in battle only because of certain "misunderstandings".

Foremost among these is Shah Abdul Aziz, a former Pakistani parliamentarian.

He has been trying to negotiate a truce between Pakistan's security forces and the Taliban. For some time Mr Aziz has acted as a mediator between the government and the Taliban and other extremists.

He enjoys very close relations with the Taliban leadership and with radical clerics such as the head of Islamabad's Red Mosque, Maulana Abdul Aziz.

Mr Aziz played a key role when in 2007 Pakistani security forces laid siege to the Red Mosque after dozens of radical Islamists barricaded themselves inside.

He was a key figure in mediating between the mosque administration and the government. Although that episode ended with troops storming the mosque killing scores of militants, Mr Aziz has continued in his role as a negotiator.

He was the man behind the Taliban's statement that it would cease operations against the army in December 2008, soon after the Mumbai attacks.

Missing letter

Mr Aziz's most recent project has been to try and "resolve" the stand-off between Baitullah Mehsud and the government.

Elders from Pakistan"s Jani Khail tribes arrive to attend a meeting to discuss the situation of the area, Sunday, June 28, 2009 in Bannu, Pakistan
The tribal district of South Waziristan has seen some anti-Taliban assaults

In this regard, he is said to have delivered a letter from Baitullah Mehsud to General Ashfaq Kayani, the head of Pakistan's army.

Subsequently, Mr Aziz has gone missing amid reports he was arrested outside the house of radical cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz.

"He was picked up on the morning of 27 May along with a man called Fidaullah," says Khalid Khawaja, an ex-ISI [Inter-Services Intelligence agency] official turned human rights activist.

Fidaullah was later produced by the Islamabad police in a highly publicised press conference as the "mastermind" of a spate of recent suicide bombings.

Mr Aziz, however, has not been heard from.

Senior security officials have told the BBC that he is in detention and being interrogated for his links with Baitullah Mehsud.

They say a letter was discovered on his person from the Taliban commander, but it was for a former head of Pakistan's ISI agency.

The letter is said to discuss the various alternatives available to Baitullah Mehsud and his militants.

But officials deny any letter addressed to the army chief was found or even existed.

Mr Khawaja, a close confidant of Mr Aziz, denies that his friend was in any way directly involved in planning or abetting militant acts.

"He was a peaceful and well intentioned man," he says.

"Shah Abdul Aziz did not want a conflict to take place between the Taliban and the army as it would cost the nation dear.

"I have been trying to register a police complaint for his recovery, but the police have refused to act so far," Mr Khawaja says.

As far as the mysterious letter letter to the head of Pakistan's army is concerned, Mr Khawaja confirms its authenticity.

"I have seen the letter, and it is has now been delivered to its destination," he says.

These developments come days after a pro-government tribal leader accused the government of making a deal with Baitullah Mehsud.

Turkistan Bhittani, leader of the anti-Baitullah Mehsud group in Waziristan, had until recently been accorded the complete support of Pakistan's security forces.

But, on 14 July, he accused the authorities of closing down his offices in the Dera Ismail Khan district bordering Waziristan.

"The government is openly supporting the Baitullah group and allowing it to re-establish itself," he told reporters.

Although, the government strongly rejects any such suggestion, every previous operation against the Taliban has ended in a peace deal.

-------
Time to turn the tides, i supposed?



Well, i won't be agreeing to the possibility of a peace deal, other factors apart, my home town is the staging base for the operations specially in North Wazirstan & also South Waziristan, and the built up of army that has taken place so far is huge, even local people are astonished to the military hardware & troops that have been moved up till now and still a lot of movement is taking place. Such events were not witnessed before in any of the operations.

Peace deal is not possible, army has been filled with so much hatred for these talibans that i guess only the military guys will know, and this time army is fully poised to crush them as they have tried their level best to destabilize pakistan, the recent reports of a planning of an attack on any nuclear installation will add another concern to the Pakistani Govt & Military Establishment, so they shouldn't take any chances to leave these murderers alone and do a peace deal.
 
I was watching a video footage of Swat the other day, the place seems to be very calm, but there is a lot of presence of soldiers, but rightfully so. The Islamabad type police was also there so its good to see.

It will take time, but it will definitely be hard for the people to adjust there again.
 
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