Operation Rah-e-Rast (Swat)

[fatman17]

its good to see that army seems very effective against Taliban but question is. will army able to hold for long enough the affected area to make sure Taliban don't come again?
once this will finish, gorilla war will start and holding will increase the death toll.

looks like you can tell the future mate!

 

[Hellfire]

looks like you can tell the future mate!

seems to be the logical follow on ..... until and unless they persist in being daft (as they are now)

 

[Jihad]

MALAKAND: Between 180 and 200 insurgents were killed in the last 24 hours in a fierce military offensive to push Taliban fighters out of Pakistan's northwestern Swat valley, the military said on Sunday.

'During the last 24 hours, as many as 180-200 miscreants have been killed in various areas of Swat and Shangla by security forces,' the military said in a statement.

The military has been pounding the Swat valley and several nearby districts since late last month after Taliban fighters advanced to within 100 kilometres of Islamabad despite a February peace deal.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, the army ordered people out of parts of the Swat valley, temporarily relaxing a curfew to enable civilians to flee an intensifying offensive against Taliban militants.

Hundreds of thousands of people have left Swat in the past week and in all about 500,000 are expected to get out. They join 555,000 people displaced earlier from Swat and other areas because of fighting since August.

‘We have ordered the civilian population in four districts to vacate the areas,’ said Nasir Khan, a military spokesman in the region. ‘They have seven hours to leave because we have to strike militant hideouts there,’ he said.

The Swat administration announced that the curfew had been relaxed from 06:00 a.m. to 01:00 p.m. on Sunday and asked the residents of Qamber and Amankot to leave the areas as soon as possible.

‘We expect more than 100,000 people will quit their homes at different places in Swat today,’ local administration chief Khushhal Khan told AFP, adding that while vehicles would be allowed to leave the valley, no one would be allowed in.

The UN refugee agency has warned up to one million people have already been displaced in northwest Pakistan, with tens of thousands streaming out of Buner, Lower Dir and Swat, registering in camps or sheltering with families.

The government has said it was bracing to cope with half a million people displaced by the fighting.

Earlier, on Saturday, at least 44 militants were killed when jet fighters, helicopter gunships and artillery shelled different areas in Swat, Dir and Malakand.

Local people and officials said that 25 militants had been killed and several others wounded in the bombing and shelling in Qambar, Amankot, Green Chowk, Landi Kas, Shahiabad, Namal, Chamkali, Wenai and Peuchar areas of Swat.

The longstanding curfew in the entire Malakand division had multiplied the misery of the displaced and a large number of people were trapped in their homes in Mingora and other areas of swat.

They had appealed to the government to relax the curfew to enable them to leave their homes for safety. They also alleged that Taliban were stopping them from vacating their houses.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said Saturday that the army would minimise civilian casualties while the government would look after those displaced by the conflict. These views echoed President Asif Ali Zardari’s special message from New York, which stated that the government must take special care to protect the refugees of the operation, in particular addressing the needs of women and children. APP quoted the President as saying that a billion rupee fund would be announced for the rehabilitation of the IDPs.

Meanwhile, ten people, militants and non-combatants among them, were killed and five others injured when helicopter gunships shelled Maizara and Thana areas of Malakand.

A mortar shell hit the house of one Qadir Gul in Thana village, killing his daughter-in-law and grand son. Another shell hit a house in the same area, killing Qayyum, son of Habibur Rehman, and Hazrat Nawab, son of Abdul Wahab.

Hundreds of people left their homes in Thana and Batkhela and moved to other areas through Palai road via Buner. About 500 new families arrived at the Rangmala relief camp. A large number of people were stranded on roads because of curfew.

Thirteen militants, including a key commander, were killed and five others wounded when security forces pounded militant hideouts in Maidan, Lower Dir.

Clashes between security forces and militants were also reported in Hayaserai, Kumbar and Darro areas of Maidan. Several bunkers and hideouts of militants were destroyed in Kolal Dheri, a stronghold of the Taliban.

The security forces recaptured the bungalow of Khan of Hayaserai, a son of the late Nawab-i-Dir. It was occupied by militants a few days ago.

Officials claimed that troops had cleared Hayaserai, Kumbar and Darro villages of militants.

However, a spokesman for the Taliban told Dawn by phone from an unspecified location that they had repulsed attacks by security forces in Kumbar and Hayaserai and claimed that troops suffered heavy casualties. Civilian casualties were reported in the Maidan fighting.

‘Taliban have taken shelter in vacated houses and are attacking security forces,’ the spokesman said.

Lower Dir DCO Ghulam Mohammad enforced curfew for an indefinite period in the district on Saturday, causing problems for the displaced persons trapped in different areas.

About 12,000 people have moved out of Tazagaram, Shawa, Kityari, Gul Abad, Gaddar, Chakdara and Ouch areas of Adenzai tehsil.Local people said that helicopters gunships had conducted an aerial search of Osakai and Warsak areas of Adenzai, sparking panic and fear among the locals.

According to sources, over 100 armed Taliban entered the Osakai village on Saturday evening and asked the residents to vacate their homes. The militants had started taking positions in mountains of the village and a clash between them and security forces might take place any time, the sources added.

The Swat Taliban active in Adenzai areas reportedly held a public gathering at Chakdara Square on Saturday. The meeting, attended by a few people, mostly children, was addressed by a local commander, the sources said. Militants whisked way a local photographer who tried to take footage of the gathering.

In Buner, army troops were moved to cover up the deployment of the Special Service Group on hilltops between Daggar and Pir Baba. Militants offered stiff resistance to SSG personnel soon after they were dropped in the area by helicopters, the sources said.

Security forces, backed by helicopter gunships and tanks, moved to the troubled area. Air and ground forces combed the localities. Heavy artillery pounded hideouts of militants in Patora, Jaffar, Dagger, Pirabai, Ghazi Khanay, Sultanwas and Pir Baba.

Dawn Correspondents Hameedullah Khan, Haleem Asad, Gohar Ali Gohar and Abdur Rehman Abid have contributed to this report.

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect...e-troubled-areas-as-operation-continue--bi-05

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/05/10/world/main5004199.shtml

http://kdka.com/national/pakistan.taliban.militants.2.1005651.html

etc..etc..

 

[Jihad]

"Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said 400 to 500 militants had been killed since the operation's launch last week."

Hmm..if these numbers keep rising, we can conclude so far that the Army is not holding back and is fightning an all-out war.
Thank god for minimising the casualties on our side.

 

[fatman17]

Curfew lifts, more flee war-torn Pakistani valley

MINGORA, Pakistan – Thousands of fearful civilians — many on foot or donkey-pulled carts — streamed out of a conflict-ridden Pakistani valley Sunday as authorities briefly lifted a curfew. The army said it had killed scores of militants in the latest fighting.

Pakistan has urged residents of the Swat Valley to leave over the past week, while its warplanes have pounded the Taliban-held valley and surrounding areas in a U.S.-backed operation the prime minister has called a "war of the country's survival."

Hundreds of thousands of civilians have already fled the valley, seeking refuge with relatives or flooding relief camps. Many of those camps were already filled with Pakistanis displaced from previous army operations, exacerbating a humanitarian crisis in a nuclear-armed nation that also faces economic woes.

Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said 400 to 500 militants had been killed since the operation's launch last week.

Much of the latest fighting occurred along the periphery of Swat and Shangla, a neighboring district, he said, and at least 140 bodies of alleged militants were discovered at a militant training camp in that area.

Reports that militants from Swat had filtered into Shangla came out well before the latest operation, but it also was possible that more insurgents were headed to that district to escape the bombardments in the valley.

In Swat, the main town of Mingora was relatively calm, though an army statement said 50 to 60 militants died Sunday in various parts of the valley, a one-time tourist haven. Two soldiers also died in the latest fighting, including one who succumbed to injuries suffered Friday, the army said. The death tolls could not be confirmed independently.

Once the curfew was lifted early Sunday, more residents in Swat towns tried to get out any way they could — on motorbikes, animal-pulled carts, rickshaws or simply on foot. A ban on civilian vehicles entering the valley complicated the exodus for those without cars.

"We are going out only with our clothes and a few things to eat on the long journey," said Rehmat Alam, a 40-year-old medical technician walking out of Mingora with 18 other relatives. "We just got out relying on God because there is no one else to help us."

Some cursed the situation and condemned the Taliban, while others blamed Pakistani leaders for engaging in the offensive to please the U.S. "Show our picture to your master America and get money from him," some taunted.

Taliban fighters were visible in Mingora. Army helicopters briefly shelled two neighborhoods in the city, but overall the fighting was significantly less than in previous days.

The curfew was reimposed in the mid-afternoon, confirmed Col. Mohammad Nadeem, a military spokesman.

By giving residents a chance to escape, the army may be signaling it is preparing an escalation in its offensive against the militants who began a violent campaign to take over Swat some two years ago.

Pakistan's leaders launched the full-scale offensive Thursday to halt the spread of Taliban control in districts within 60 miles (100 kilometers) of the capital, Islamabad. The goal is to wrest Swat and neighboring districts from militants who also dominate the adjoining tribal belt along the Afghan frontier, where U.S. officials say al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden may be hiding.

In the northwest district of Mardan, government official Khalid Umerzai said more than 100,000 displaced Pakistanis were expected Sunday, on top of 252,000 already there.

Already in Pakistan, some 550,000 people were registered as displaced from past offensives in other parts of the northwest, including the semi-autonomous tribal belt, according to the U.N.

"Vehicles loaded with people are coming down bumper-to-bumper from Swat, and we are expecting a huge crowd of people and organizing two more relief camps in Mardan and Takhtbai," Umerzai said.

The international aid agency World Vision said its relief workers were finding "intolerable" conditions at some relief camps due to soaring temperatures, overcrowding, inadequate toilets and a lack of electricity.

"Despite the coordinated efforts of the Pakistani authorities, World Vision and other aid agencies on the ground, we may not be able to meet the most basic needs of the refugees as quickly as they are arriving in the camps if it continues at this pace," said Jeff Hall, an official with the aid group.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has directed millions of dollars to help the residents of the region where faith in the government is shaky, saying the army "can only be successful if there is support of the masses."

Taliban militants who had their stronghold in Swat began moving into surrounding districts in recent weeks despite a peace deal in which the government agreed to their main demand to impose Islamic law in the region.

U.S. officials likened the deal to a surrender. Pakistani leaders said the agreement's expected collapse had opened the eyes of ordinary citizens to the extremist threat.

The army says 12,000 to 15,000 troops in Swat face 4,000 to 5,000 militants, including small numbers of foreigners and hardened fighters from the South Waziristan tribal region.

The army accused militants of causing civilian casualties with indiscriminate mortar fire. However, officials have given no details of civilian casualties, apparently for fear of a public outcry that could make it hard for the army to press ahead.

___

Associated Press Writer Zarar Khan contributed to this report from Islamabad. An AP reporter in Mingora who was not identified for security reasons also contributed.

 

[waraich66]

PA already attacked half dozen times in SAWT before but could not suceed ,what was wrong before and what will be their new strategy?

This is gurilla war may continue more then decades.

Pakistan is poor country could not afford long term war , fighting on US aid will only continue uptill US aid is in pipe line .

PA should be trained for gurilla war otherwise success is not possible.

 

[Patriot]

PA already attacked half dozen times in SAWT before but could not suceed ,what was wrong before and what will be their new strategy?

This is gurilla war may continue more then decades.

Pakistan is poor country could not afford long term war , fighting on US aid will only continue uptill US aid is in pipe line .

PA should be trained for gurilla war otherwise success is not possible.

Well, from what i have observed before PA was fighting too softly but now PA have started a proper war against them and using all the assets available at it's disposal and now the public support and even support from religious parties is overwhelming.Civilians are leaving the area so PA can kill these bastards easily now without worrying about civilian life damage.

 

[waraich66]

Well, from what i have observed before PA was fighting too softly but now PA have started a proper war against them and using all the assets available at it's disposal and now the public support and even support from religious parties is overwhelming.Civilians are leaving the area so PA can kill these bastards easily now without worrying about civilian life damage.

In mountain areas no weapon is effective ,only solution is PA should prepare same type of gurrilla force(SSG) and take help of local tribes.

 

[Patriot]

In mountain areas no weapon is effective ,only solution is PA should prepare same type of gurrilla force(SSG) and take help of local tribes.

SSG are being used in Swat for hit and run missions and for taking out top leadership of talibans (Day and Night Missions)

 

[ajpirzada]

As far as the situation in Shangla is concerned the area upto Biladarm has been secured by security forces which during advance encountered IEDs at Chamtalai bridge. Intense exchange of fire also took place between the miscreants and security forces at Chamtalai.

Security forces resumed operation from important heights known as point 2245 and point 2266 which were captured on Saturday and secured area upto Shalwal Kandao. One soldier embraced Shahadat during the operation at Shalwal Kandao. During advancement a large number of dead bodies and weapons of miscreants were found near Ramotai Loe Sar. One soldier who was injured during operation on May 8 succumbed to injuries and embraced shahadat during evacuation.

A training centre of miscreants at Banai Baba was destroyed while dead bodies and weapons of miscreants were found in the area. Reportedly 140-150 miscreants were killed at Banai Baba Training Camp. Later, the DCO Shangla confirmed the number of casulilities inflicted upon miscreants through various sources.

Shangla top has also been secured from miscreants.

In Dirasuies the area from Kala Dag to Haya Sarai has been secured by the security forces as the miscreants gave resistance during advancement at Musa Jan and Sarai Kot. Resultantly, one soldier injured and 5 militants were killed in the process.

Reportedly, miscreants kidnapped a reporter of leading private News Channel from Chakdara, Lower Dir.

In Gulabad the consolidation of positions by the security forces on heights continued while area between Chakdara Bridge at Landakai has been secured by ground forces. Troops during advance encountered three IEDS which were successfuly neutralized.

In Buner various locations and hideouts of miscreants were engaged by attack helicopters at Barwada Char. Resultantly, miscreants suffered heavy casualties,6 miscreants bunkers and 2 ammunition dumps were also destroyed during the efforts.

The security forces have secured the ridges around Sultanwas and miscreants present there have been surrounded while two miscreants were arrested in a raid at Daggar.

On Saturday late miscreants attacked a security forces convoy at Spin area south of Tanai.The security forces swiftly retaliated and and killed 18 miscreants. An officer Capt Muneeb also embraced shahadat while 2 other soldiers were injured during the attack by miscreants. The miscreants fled from the area leaving behind dead bodies. One injured miscreant was arrested.

Associated Press Of Pakistan ( Pakistan's Premier NEWS Agency ) - Around 200 miscreants killed by security forces in Shangla, Swat during last 24 hours: ISPR

 

[Hellfire]

Well, from what i have observed before PA was fighting too softly but now PA have started a proper war against them and using all the assets available at it's disposal and now the public support and even support from religious parties is overwhelming.Civilians are leaving the area so PA can kill these bastards easily now without worrying about civilian life damage.

and they are inducting more troopssssssssss!!!!!!!!!

had been stressing upon this from day 1!!!!

now we will actually see some backsides be kicked ...... real good

 

[ajpirzada]

and they are inducting more troopssssssssss!!!!!!!!!

had been stressing upon this from day 1!!!!

now we will actually see some backsides be kicked ...... real good

ya one of ur old demand. i guess someone from within the army has taken ur advice after goin through this forum

 

[Patriot]

and they are inducting more troopssssssssss!!!!!!!!!

had been stressing upon this from day 1!!!!

now we will actually see some backsides be kicked ...... real good

6 Brigades shifted to Swat from eastern border .

 

[afzaalkhan]

wow wat a pak army we got more like karaey ke tattoo, killing our own population. Here I wanted nothing much to be part of that army, i backed this army everywhere, this is not pak army this is mercenary army. Only good at killing its own ppl. carry on pak army killing ur own mighty good work u been doing. oh btw congrats u have MQM as allies

 

[Skeptic]

Why Pakistan's assault on Taliban in Swat valley is crucial to credibility

For a country facing an existential threat from extremist groups within its borders, Pakistan has an army peculiarly ill-suited to counter-insurgency.

Until recently, up to 80% of Pakistan's forces had been facing east towards India rather than west, the source of its internal challenge from the Taliban.

Those troops deployed in the tribal areas along the Afghan border and now in the Swat valley have relied heavily on conventional arms, artillery and air strikes in particular, to assault Taliban strongholds, which are often located in populated areas. The consequent civilian casualties have enraged local communities, boosting Taliban recruitment and inflaming public opinion in mainstream Pakistan.

The more forces poured into battle, the stronger the insurgency has become. The vicious cycle has been accelerated by a chronic lack of development aid in the troubled regions.

Swat, the army says, will be different. It halted air attacks today to allow townspeople to flee. But with increasing reports of heavy collateral damage, it remains an open question.

Since the fall of Pervez Musharraf in Pakistan and the end of the Bush administration in the US, American-backed efforts to reform the hidebound forces have intensified. About 70 American and 20 British military advisers have been deployed to impart counter-insurgency skills to Pakistan's 85,000-strong Frontiers Corps, a Pashtun paramilitary force deployed along the Afghan border.

However, the main operation in Swat is being led by the regular army, which has historically been the most resistant to reform.

"The army's performance from 2003 to 2007 has certainly been poor, and we'll have to see if it has improved in the past year or so. So far, it is very hard to say," said Hasan Askari Rizvi, a political scientist and commentator.

Talat Masood, a retired lieutenant general and former secretary of defence production, said: "The army this time is far more determined and showing far greater resolve. It's showing much greater understanding of the magnitude of the threat and has a greater level of co-ordination and is better equipped in going about the operation."

US military officials have been more pessimistic, complaining privately about their Pakistani counterparts' resistance to change.

The armed forces' preoccupation with India is rooted in history. They were created during Partition and have since fought three major wars with India. The Indian threat has been seen as existential far longer than the Taliban, particularly since India conducted its first nuclear weapon test in 1974.

The generals' aim of waging asymmetric war against India, especially since the military rule of President Muhammad Zia ul-Haq, is also at the root of the army's links with extremist groups. They were originally conceived as a cheap and effective way of keeping the Indian army pinned down and ensuring a strategic buffer to the west.

Those longstanding ties help explain why Pakistan's generals have been slow to recognise the seriousness of the challenge from the Pakistani Taliban. Until recently, they tended to see the militants as little more than restive allies.

The $12bn the US has given Pakistan since September 11 2001 has largely served to entrench the status quo. Little of the aid was properly audited.

The aim now is to use aid as leverage to bolster Pakistan's defences against the enemy within. But it is far from clear that reform will come in time to contain the threat. The campaign in Swat will be a critical indicator."There are greater chances of its success but this is going to be bloody and messy," Gen Masood said. " There will be a lot of fallout from this war."

Julian Borger, Declan Walsh in Islamabad