Operation Rah-e-Rast (Swat)

[fatman17]

Well Sir, this is gonna be a pincer kind of attack, just like swat operation where from multiple directions they came onto the taliban. The mehsud's tribe is sandwiched between the wazir's tribal area. Meaning the wazir are in the tank, jandola & wana areas, but going ahead on this route comes the mehsud tribal area, and when the mehsud tribal area finished again the wazir tribal area comes, this is the miranshah & the afghan border area. So what army has done for the time being is they have completely sealed the routes to the mehsud tribe area, and have provided an alternate route through the gomal zam dam to the wazir tribal people, it by passes the mehsud tribal area.

If army is successful in separating the wazir militants on the miranshah side to not support the mehsud, then army will be coming on the mehsud area from two sides, one from the wana side area and 2nd would be miranshah side area.
So the deployment of forces is specific on both sides.

Plus, the tank, jandola, wana areas have been to a great extend emptied of the mehsud militants due to the local wazir,bhittani & anti-baitullah mehsud militants & security forces action, so now the way is to go forward.

PA is first going for an isolation of the mehsud area, that's why we see the frequency of suicide attacks reduced in cities and even on the security forces in those tribal areas.

very good analysis!

 

[fatman17]

Well Sir, this is gonna be a pincer kind of attack, just like swat operation where from multiple directions they came onto the taliban. The mehsud's tribe is sandwiched between the wazir's tribal area. Meaning the wazir are in the tank, jandola & wana areas, but going ahead on this route comes the mehsud tribal area, and when the mehsud tribal area finished again the wazir tribal area comes, this is the miranshah & the afghan border area. So what army has done for the time being is they have completely sealed the routes to the mehsud tribe area, and have provided an alternate route through the gomal zam dam to the wazir tribal people, it by passes the mehsud tribal area.

If army is successful in separating the wazir militants on the miranshah side to not support the mehsud, then army will be coming on the mehsud area from two sides, one from the wana side area and 2nd would be miranshah side area.
So the deployment of forces is specific on both sides.

Plus, the tank, jandola, wana areas have been to a great extend emptied of the mehsud militants due to the local wazir,bhittani & anti-baitullah mehsud militants & security forces action, so now the way is to go forward.

PA is first going for an isolation of the mehsud area, that's why we see the frequency of suicide attacks reduced in cities and even on the security forces in those tribal areas.

just one more question!
where is gomal zam dam located - i am assuming north/west of miran shah!

 

[fatman17]

View attachment 4174
gomal zam dam not shown on this recent ops map!

 

[TaimiKhan]

just one more question!
where is gomal zam dam located - i am assuming north/west of miran shah!

Govt takes Wazirs onboard over Mehsud blockade

* Allows tribe to use alternative route to go out of South Waziristan

By Iqbal Khattak

PESHAWAR: The government has exclusively allowed Ahmedzai Wazir tribes to use an alternative route linking South Waziristan to the rest of the country, following a blockade of the Jandola-Wana road, tribal elders told Daily Times on Friday.

The security forces blocked the Jandola-Wana road following Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud’s new offensive against the security forces deployed in the Speenkay Raghzi area in the South Waziristan Agency and Bannu district. “We have been taken on board the plan to pressure the Mehsud tribes for letting Baitullah Mehsud launch new attacks on the security forces in the area,” the elders from Wana said anonymously.

A security official said anonymously, “No movement is allowed from Jandola to Wana for all tribes living in South Waziristan.”

The official said the military authorities however offered the Wana-Gomal road to the Ahmedzai Wazirs as an “alternative route”.

“We have been allowed to use the Wana-Gomal road with a condition that no Wazir-owned transport will allow Mehsud people to use the route,” the elders.

The Jandola-Wana road was also blocked for three months early this year following the security forces’ operation against Baitullah Mehsud, who was wanted by the government in connection with the murder of former premier Benazir Bhutto in a gun-and-bomb attack on December 27. The blockade was lifted on May 2.

The security official said the authorities will check every vehicle on the Wana-Gomal road at three different points, to ensure no Mehsud was availing the relief granted to the pro-government Ahmedzai Wazirs.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

Location

Gomal Zam Dam is located at Khajuri Kach on Gomal River in South
Waziristan Agency, Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA), on the
West of Districts Tank and D.I.Khan of NWFP. The areas to be irrigated
fall in District Tank & Tehsil D.I.Khan Tank Road. From Tank, the Dam
site is about 60 km (38 miles) to the West and is connected through a metal led road.

 

[TaimiKhan]

View attachment 4174
gomal zam dam not shown on this recent ops map!

This is north waziristan, miran shah, razmak and these areas come in north waziristan, south waziristan is the wana jandola area.

 

[TaimiKhan]

http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/2789/wanajandolatank.png

The black area highlighted is the area where gomal zam dam would be, in this direction the alternate route goes by.

 

[TaimiKhan]

http://img35.imageshack.us/i/wanajandolatank.png/

 

[TaimiKhan]

Guys, if u have noticed, in recent statements by Rehman Malik, he says Fazlullah will be captured soon. He doesn't uses the words will be killed, but is now using will be captured, can this be taken as a sign that something significant has happened (may be he has been captured) but information not being revealed.

What all of u think ???

More, a lot of the local people are having strong opinions that he is dead.

 

[Murshad]

What is happening there? Molvi Sufi Muhammad first vanished then rumors of his arrest in May. He is now Peshawar some say he is arrested and other say he is in “custody”. Is same story is going to be repeated again. This guy was used as pressure thong in BiBi’s govt. Then same happened during US invasion he lead a lasker to Afghanistan. Whole lasker was massacred in war but this “mujahid” did not get even a single scratch. He was again “arrested”.

Now even after being declared “wanted” he was “comfortably” found in Peshawar. Well there is news “flying around”, commissioner of Malakand considered responsible for shahdet of Pak soldiers has also been released. Once said “confirmed” involved in shahdet of soldiers, found travelling with militants, now quite released.

By this time whole first line leadership of militants is at large. Only Sufi Muhammad is “caught” after appearing on media.

What game is going on?

 

[courageneverdies]

Guys, if u have noticed, in recent statements by Rehman Malik, he says Fazlullah will be captured soon. He doesn't uses the words will be killed, but is now using will be captured, can this be taken as a sign that something significant has happened (may be he has been captured) but information not being revealed.

What all of u think ???

More, a lot of the local people are having strong opinions that he is dead.

Exactly, you see about Maulvi Sufi Muhammad they said that he is not in the custody of Government but after a week or two he was revealed on ground and than again two days earlier was captured and now the Spokesman of NWFP Govt. Mr. Iftikhar said that he was under custody.

I am in total agreement with you because if Fazlullah isn't under their "Protection" they can't be sure that he will be get caught. Because these extremists never let themselves to get caught rather they opt to finish themselves just like Abdullah Mehsood did.

KIT Over

 

[courageneverdies]

Rawalpindi - July 27, 2009:

Update Operation (Rah e Rast) 27th July 2009

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

2. Swat

Security forces conducted search operation at Pashmal near Kalam and apprehended wanted terrorists commander Kabir of Sattal.

2 terrorists surrendered voluntarily to security forces at Fizaghat.

Security forces conducted search operation at Dangram near Mingora and recovered different items looted from Poly Technical College.

Security forces conducted search operation at village Langar near Khawzakhela and killed 1 terrorist, apprehended 2 suspected terrorists and demolished 7 terrorists hide outs.

Security forces conducted search operation at Chur Banda and apprehended 4 suspects and recovered arms and ammunition.

3. Dir.

Security forces conducted search operation at Awishah and apprehended 6 suspects.

Local Lashkar during search operation at Karodara, Shakoh, Chopra Kandao, killed 10 terrorists and apprehended 6.

4. Mohmand.

7 terrorists belonging to Safi group surrendered before civil administration.

5. Relief Activities.

So far 4.526 billion rupees have been withdrawn by the IDPs of Malakand.

12 trucks of rations have been distributed amongst the IDPs of Malakand.

---

KIT Over n Out

 

[fatman17]

Gunships kill 20 militants in Khyber Agency

* 11 Taliban killed in Swat and Dir
* Nine terrorists surrender

Staff Report

LANDIKOTAL/ISLAMABAD: Helicopter gunships struck four militant hideouts in the Khyber Pass region on Monday, killing 20 insurgents, a spokesman for the Frontier Corps said.

The attacks in Tirah valley follow a number of militant attacks in recent months on convoys transporting military equipment, fuel and food to Afghanistan.

Monday’s attacks targeted Lashkar-e-Islam insurgents.

The group, headed by Mangal Bagh, has no links with the Taliban, according to government and security officials, Reuters reported.

“We got credible information that Mangal Bagh’s men were assembled there and were probably planning some attacks, so we attacked them,” the spokesman said.

Security forces have been conducting sporadic assaults in the region in a bid to secure the vital transport link for foreign troops in Afghanistan.

Making ground: Also on Monday, security forces said 11 Taliban had been killed in Dir and Swat in the ongoing search and clearance operations in the region.

“Local lashkars killed 10 terrorists during search operations in Karodara, Shakoh and Chopra Kandao,” ISPR said, adding that another terrorist had been killed at Langar village near Khawzakhela, APP reported.

Security forces apprehended four suspects and recovered arms and ammunition during search operations at Chur Banda. Six suspects were also held in operations at Awishah.

Change of heart: According to the ISPR, security forces conducted a search operation at Pashmal near Kalam and apprehended wanted terrorist commander Kabir. Also, two terrorists voluntarily surrendered to security forces at Fizaghat.

Separately, seven terrorists belonging to the Safi group turned themselves in to the civil administration.

At least three militants were killed while five others were injured during a clash with the Qaumi Lashkar in Upper Dir.

Separately, NWFP Minister Bashir Ahmed Bilor said that 200 children who had been brainwashed to conduct suicide attacks had been recovered from Malakand, a private TV channel reported. agencies

 

[fatman17]

Pak-US intelligence sharing, military cooperation increasing’

* US officials hope partnership will expand
* US commander in Afghanistan says he is committed to strengthening cooperation with Islamabad

LAHORE: Intelligence sharing and military cooperation have begun to increase between Pakistan and the United States, the Los Angeles Times quoted US officials as saying.

They say their efforts to cultivate key leaders in Islamabad may be beginning to pay dividends, adding that Pakistan had stepped up its cooperation along its border with Afghanistan for the first time in recent years. They added that Islamabad was informing Afghanistan and the US about operations it was conducting and seeking a coordinated response to trap the Taliban.

They say Pakistani officials have also been providing intelligence in the search for a US soldier captured by the Taliban in eastern Afghanistan.

“The cooperation is the best I have ever seen it, and I have seen a lot,” said a US official.

The moves come at a time when the Pakistan Army has increased its efforts against the Taliban and gained confidence with a series of successful operations.

“The Pakistanis have, for the last three months, been fighting hard,” a senior US defence official said. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity when discussing sensitive intelligence-sharing matters.

Across the border, US Colonel Kevin Fagedes, who oversees training of Afghan security forces, has said cooperation is increasing in the three eastern-border provinces where he works. Previously, Fagedes said, the Pakistanis would contact Afghan forces or US trainers only after an incident had occurred, to discuss the aftermath. But three times in recent weeks, they had discussed and coordinated operations in advance, he said. “I see great progress coming in the next six months,” Fagedes said. “The spirit of cooperation is out there. The Pakistanis have had very good success at what they are doing,” he added.

Much of the increased cooperation may be due to a much broader acceptance among the Pakistani public that the Taliban pose a serious threat to the country.

Although intelligence sharing between Islamabad and Washington may be improving, political relations remain complex and fragile. Pakistani leaders continue to publicly denounce drone attacks in the country’s tribal areas.

Several Pakistani leaders have expressed concerns about the latest US offensive in Afghanistan’s Helmand province. Islamabad believes the US push into Helmand will force the Taliban into Pakistan, particularly Balochistan.

The Pakistan Army has not begun a large-scale assault against the Taliban in South Waziristan, a senior US defence official said, adding that he was pleased with the preliminary “shaping” operations against Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud. US officials differ on the value of the intelligence Pakistan has shared on Private First Class Bowe Bergdahl. Bergdahl went missing near his base in eastern Afghanistan on June 30, and is the first US soldier to be captured by the Taleban since the US-led invasion in 2001.

A defence official, who acknowledged that Islamabad had provided intelligence, cautioned against overstating its value.

Another said the information had been important to US forces searching for Bergdahl. “They have been helpful,” the US government official said. “They have been very, very helpful,” he added.

Neither official would describe the nature of the assistance because the search for the soldier is continuing.

Expansion: A US official said intelligence sharing between the US and Pakistan could still be significantly expanded, adding that US officials hoped to persuade Islamabad to quietly expand the training programme. But they remain hopeful that the partnership would expand.

Commitment: General Stanley McChrystal, top US commander in Afghanistan, said he was committed to strengthening US-Pakistani cooperation both through confidence-building measures and concrete initiatives. “We have to do as many as we can, we have to make them as effective as we can and keep building on that,” McChrystal said.

 

[fatman17]

Pak campaign against militants, Obama's Afghan policy | Taliban under pressure: Clinton

Associated Press of Pakistan

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Pakistan's unprecedented anti-militant campaign in its northwestern areas coupled with the Obama administration's policy in Afghanistan, has put the Taliban under "tremendous" pressure along the porous Pakistan-Afghan border.

Appearing in NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday, Clinton defended the Obama Administration's strategy that includes deployment of thousands of additional American troops in Afghanistan's insurgency-hit southern provinces.

She said an intensive review of the Afghan strategy concluded that that "al-Qaeda is supported by and uses its extremists allies like elements within the Taliban and other violent extremists groups in the region as well as worldwide to extend its reach." "In order to really go after al-Qaeda, to uproot it, and to destroy it, we had to take on those who were giving the al-Qaeda leadership safe haven."

The top US diplomat noted that the "border between Afghanistan and Pakistan is permeable."

"There are movements back and forth across it. I think, our new strategy, which has been endorsed by a very large number of nations, some of whom don't agree with us on a lot of other things, is aimed at achieving our primary goal (to defeat al-Qaeda)."

Besides, the United States has also learned from Iraq, "which were hard lessons that in order to have our military intervention be effective, when they go in and try to clear areas of the extremists, we have to follow in to build up the capacity of the local community to defend itself and to be able to realize the benefits of those changes," she stated.

"This is a new strategy. It's just beginning. I think the President (Obama)believes, that it was not only the right strategy but facing what he faced to withdraw our presence or to keep it on the low level limited effectiveness that had been demonstrated, would have sent a message to al-Qaeda and their allies that the United States was willing to leave the field to them.

"And in addition, importantly, we have seen the Pakistani government and military really step up, which had not happened to the extent, it has now.

"So the Taliban, which is, as I believe, part of a terrorist syndicate with al-Qaeada at the center, is now under tremendous pressure. And I think that is in America's national interest."



Clinton said President Barack Obama has been very firm in stating that the policy that was followed in Afghanistan was not working "We know, the threat to the United States, and in fact, those who plotted and carried out the horrific attacks on 9/11 against our country have not yet been brought to justice, killed or captured, "So the president's goal is to dismantle, and destroy and eventually defeat al-Qaeda," she said when asked if the war in Afghanistan is a war of necessity for Obama or it has become his war of choice following the decision to send 17000 additional troops to the insurgency-beset country.

 

[fatman17]

US stops publicising Taliban body count

Agencies

KABUL: The U.S. military in Afghanistan has stopped releasing body counts of insurgents believed killed in operations because the tolls distract from the U.S. objective of protecting Afghans, a spokesman said Monday.

The number of insurgents killed in Afghanistan has provided a bloody scorecard for the deteriorating conflict. Attacks by Taliban fighters have risen steadily the last three years, and militants now control wide swaths of countryside. Nearly 3,800 insurgents were killed in 2008, based on figures collected by The Associated Press. Some of those numbers came from U.S. military statements; others came from Afghan authorities. So far in 2009, more than 2,310 insurgents have been killed, according to the AP count.

The U.S. military policy on releasing insurgent body counts has changed several times during the eight-year conflict, depending on the commander in charge.

The latest decision to stop releasing body counts was made in mid-June when Gen. Stanley McChrystal took command of all U.S. and NATO troops in the country, said spokesman Col. Greg Julian.

The militant death toll ``distracts from the real objectives and isn't necessary to communicate what we're trying to achieve,'' Julian said. ``We want to separate the people from the insurgency by improving their quality of life and opportunities.''

Since taking command in Afghanistan, McChrystal has said repeatedly that the military needs to protect Afghan villagers instead of chasing and killing insurgents.

Civilian deaths caused by U.S. and NATO military operations have long been a source of friction between President Hamid Karzai and the international force. Such deaths alienate Afghan villagers, causing a loss of support for the international mission and the U.S.-backed Afghan government.

The U.S. military hopes to focus more on spreading the word about military efforts to help Afghans rebuild their lives by improving access to government and economic resources, Julian said.

In northwestern Afghanistan, meanwhile, the government and a local Taliban commander agreed to a cease-fire that will allow a road construction project to move forward and presidential candidates to open offices ahead of the country's Aug. 20 election, said Seyamak Herawi, a spokesman in Karzai's office.