Reclaiming Pakistan's Frontier!

[RabzonKhan]

Peace will be ensured at all costs, says CM Hoti

Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Bureau report

PESHAWAR: Pledging to ensure tranquility in Malakand division at all costs, NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haidar Hoti said Monday the miscreants would not be allowed to destroy the peace of Swat again.

He was addressing a gathering held at Government College Palosa (Charsadda) to mark the start of the return of the IDPs on Monday.Provincial ministers, MPAs from Swat and Charssadda and other provincial and district high officials were also present on the occasion.

The chief minister said the anti-terror war against those having the agenda of destruction and bloodshed would last till the elimination of the last terrorist. “People of Malakand division have faced a lot of destruction and devastation. Their sacrifices will never go waste, “ he said.

Hoti said the announcement about Nizam-e-Adl Regulation was made purely on the demands and aspirations of people of Malakand, not under any pressure.The chief minister assured the affectees of Swat that the government would continue to support them.

He eulogized the affective role of the president, prime minister, federal government, international donor agencies, NGOs, provincial governments, political parties, and particularly the people of Swabi, Mardan, Charsadda, Nowshera and Peshawar who provided shelter to more than 80 percent homeless people in their homes and hujras.

“The provincial government was only able to fulfill its responsibility due to their spirit. Their role is an exact example of Pukhtunwali and which is now part of history.” Hoti maintained.The chief minister said: “The miscreants are the enemy of Islam, humanity, Pukhtuns, peace and stability and our future. We will fight them collectively with the help of Pak army and the people will triumph.”

Hoti said that the reconstruction process would start soon in the affected areas and all the losses would be compensated. He lauded the sacrifices of the Pak army in the military operation, adding they had the support of all segments of the society.

The chief minister said that the terrorists had been defeated. He appealed the general public to immediately point out the terrorists wherever they were found in their areas to exterminate them.

He said that other arrangements would be made for the security of the public. It included the establishment of 7,000 young people based Community Police Force and increase in police stations, number of police force and tehsils.Later, the chief minister formally commenced the phased-wise return of IDPs to their native homes.

 

[iPhone]

Thirteen Al Qaeda suspects held in Dera Murad Jamali

Tuesday, 14 Jul, 2009


Security personnel have intercepted a bus and arrested three Turks, two Saudis, two Kuwaitis and five Afghanis near Dera Murad Jamali.—AP



QUETTA: Security agencies arrested on Monday at least 13 suspected Al Qaeda militants from a place near Dera Murad Jamali.

Security personnel intercepted a bus going to Multan from Quetta after receiving information about the movement of militants and found three Turks, two Saudis, two Kuwaitis and five Afghan nationals and a Pakistani in the vehicle.

The suspects were carrying five suicide vests and an 11-kilogramme bomb in their baggage.

They were also carrying currency notes of 4,240 US dollars, 694,000 Pakistani rupees, 50,000 Iranian tumans and more than 100,000 Afghanis.

Some documents were also seized. Security officials did not announce the names of the arrested Al Qaeda suspects.

‘They were going to Multan for carrying out suicide attacks in southern Punjab,’ sources said.

that's a great fukin news. Scary, too but great that the bastards were caught before they got to the innocents.

 

[RabzonKhan]

Editorial: The journey home

July 15, 2009

“Experts” who said it would take 10 years to pacify Malakand and send the displaced persons back home will be surprised by the speed with which the terrorists of Fazlullah have retreated in the face of the first resolute military action against them. The refugees have started going back; and, despite the negative glance of the media, more have returned than were expected to on the first day. Expect more negative coverage after they get home and face the unavoidable hardship of resettlement. In fact the tough part of the job is going to begin now.

As a very competent General Nadeem Ahmad of the Emergency Response Unit (ERU) said on TV, he had made arrangements for over 2,000 families to leave the camp on Monday, but more than that number actually made it to their homes. The police escorted the families leaving the Jalozai camp and Chief Minister Haider Khan Hoti escorted the ones leaving the Charsadda camp. Two million people had to be looked after amid scenes of extreme disorganisation but when the final verdict is in from the international community, the effort will be lauded. People still complain that they did not get the Rs 25,000 grant promised by the government to each family. But in the end most things will slowly fall in place.

There are still areas in Dir where Fazlullah’s men are present in pockets but General Nadeem’s plea that the administrative machinery laid down in the rest of Malakand is capable of looking after the population must be heeded too. People don’t want to live under the Taliban again; but their plight in the refugee camps in Pakistan’s hot summer was also a kind of attrition that could have defeated the military operation. President Asif Zardari is already anticipating the difficulties of rehabilitation in his appeals to the international community, while the PPP government is strapped for cash, can’t pay for its imports and for the electricity made for it by the IPPs. The world has promised to help but finally it is all Pakistan’s own battle to win. The first phase is sucessfully over.

 

[RabzonKhan]

Operation only against terrorists, Wazirs assured

Staff Report
July 17, 2009

PESHAWAR: NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani visited Wana on Thursday to seek the support of Ahmedzai Wazir tribes against Baitullah Mehsud, the chief of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.

“No action is being taken against Mehsud tribes. Instead certain steps are underway against those elements who have not only been openly challenging the writ of the government but also have accepted the responsibility of terrorist activities in various parts of the country,” the governor told a jirga of Ahmedzai Wazirs.

The governor sought the tribes’ support for peace, offering fast-track development in their areas, suggesting they should stand up against the militancy.

“Maintenance of law and order is a must to ensure (fast-track) development,” the governor told the jirga.

---------- Post added at 03:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:17 PM ----------



Kayani briefs Mullen on Waziristan action plan

By Sajjad Malik
July 17, 2009

ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Kayani on Thursday briefed US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen on the on-going preparations of an operation against Baitullah Mehsud in South Waziristan.

Sources said Kayani also briefed Mullen about the security forces’ recent success against the Taliban in Swat and three neighbouring districts.

Praise: The sources said Admiral Mullen praised the Pakistani troops for their success against the Taliban, and assured US support in the efforts to defeat terrorism in the region.

The US Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman also met Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Tariq Majid.

A brief statement by the ISPR confirmed Mullen’s meetings with General Majid and General Kayani, and said he discussed various issues of mutual interest with the Pakistani military leadership.

Meanwhile, Lt Gen Nadeem Ahmed, chief of the army’s Special Support Group (SSG) told Admiral Mullen that the initial estimate for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of internally displaced persons (IDPs) of Malakand is $2.5 billion.

“The initial estimates for reconstructions and rehabilitation are close to $2.5 billion,” Lt Gen Nadeem Ahmed, chief of the army’s Special Support Group, told Admiral Mullen during his visit to an IDP camp in Jalozai.

 

[ajpirzada]

Commander TTP, five extremists held in Khyber Agency
Updated at: 0332 PST, Friday, July 17, 2009
PESHAWAR: Six extremists have been rounded up including a Taliban commander for tehsil Bara of Khyber Agency, Geo news reported.

Two separate Jirgas held for maintenance of law and order situation in between Brang and Atman Khel tribes while the curfew will remain imposed in separate parts of North Waziristan even today.

The militants were arrested during the security forces’ operations with a view to recovery of kidnapped officials of security forces including a chief commander Zarmat Khan who were later shifted to unknown place for stepping up investigation, sources said.

According to political administrators, the curfew, from 10pm to 6am, will stay clamped in Miran Shah, Mir Ali, Ghulam Khan and Data Khel, the parts of North Waziristan on Friday.
Commander TTP, five extremists held in Khyber Agency - GEO.tv

 

[ajpirzada]

BISP launched in FATA

Daily Times Monitor

LAHORE: The Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) has also been launched in FATA, a private TV channel reported on Friday.

According to the channel, a ceremony was held in Parachinar where cheques were distributed amongst deserving families from Kurram Agency. The ceremony was attended by local tribal elders and political administration officials. The programme is aimed at helping deserving women of the tribal areas on monthly basis.

The BISP was launched by the government with an initial allocation of Rs 34 billion for fiscal year 2008-09. The programme was launched to partially offset the impact of inflation on the purchasing power of the poorer sections of society.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[RabzonKhan]

Taliban slipping into other NWFP parts

By: Shamim Shahid | Published: July 19, 2009

PESHAWAR - Hundreds of Taliban militants getting advantage of the poor security on Swat’s boundaries with Dir and Buner have succeeded in slipping into other parts of the province.

During a visit to Swat and Malakand, TheNation came to know about slipping of hundreds of Taliban militants to other regions through Dir and Buner. A resident of Matta informed that he himself witnessed 500 to 600 militants, scattered in Qadar Banda, situated just on the boundaries between Dir and Swat.

He informed that so far these Taliban militants were on defence and some of them were in a bid to slip into other parts.

For this purpose, these militants are changing their outlook and face structure by shaving their beards and changing clothes. Similarly, they are also trying to restore contacts with their accomplices. In this respect, they are also utilising services and presence of their like-minded colleagues throughout the province.

Apart from Matta, hundreds of Taliban militants are present in certain parts of Buner. In the mountains, connecting Buner with Swat, Taliban are still ruling the roost. They are involved in killing of innocent people including personnel of the security forces, activists of different political parties, and others. The militants recently set on fire and bombed houses of two journalists and slaughtered two policemen in surrounding areas of Pir Baba.




Fazlullah back on Swat airwaves

July 19, 2009

PESHAWAR: Taliban leader Fazlullah addressed the residents of Swat via his illegal radio station a few days ago, the first such broadcast since reports emerged that the Taliban leader was injured during the military operation in the district. “Fazlullah was heard on his illegal FM radio channel three or four days ago,” residents of Mingora city told Daily Times by phone. However, they added, the Taliban leader seemed to have lost his drive and was not as aggressive when referring to the security forces as he had once been. “You can feel as if the operation has taken the sting out of him,” they said. The residents, however, were unable to confirm whether Fazlullah was broadcasting live or whether it was a pre-recorded message to keep the government confused about his present status. staff report

 

[RabzonKhan]

Govt to take action against Taliban-linked officials

July 21, 2009

PESHAWAR: Government employees with connections to the Taliban will be dismissed from service, NWFP Information Minister Iftikhar Hussain said on Monday.

“The NWFP cabinet has taken a principled decision to dismiss all those government employees who are found to be involved with the Taliban,” he said while spelling out salient features of the 14th special cabinet meeting. Regarding the procedure of dismissal, he said the Law Establishment secretary would submit a report within two weeks in this regard. He said the cabinet had directed the chief secretary to submit another report regarding the procedure to confiscate the property of individuals with links to the Taliban.

Hefty award: The meeting reviewed various decisions regarding the implementation of the proposals forwarded during the cabinet’s last meeting. NWFP Inspector General of Police Malik Naveed and the home secretary briefed the cabinet about the overall security situation, while the Emergency Response Unit in-charge informed the cabinet about the internally displaced persons’ repatriation and rehabilitation programme. The cabinet expressed satisfaction over the law and order situation in the province, noting the Taliban were on the run. “In some restive areas, some miscreants are present in very small groups but with the passage of time these would also be eliminated,” Hussain added. The minister said the cabinet has approved a Rs 500,000 award for the capture of each Taliban commander, including Hafizaullah Khan, Qari Shahid, Dr Wazir Miftahuddin and Abdus Salam.

The minister said that 40,000 displaced families had returned to Swat and Malakand Division by Sunday, adding 12,000 more had left for their hometowns on Monday.

The NWFP IGP told the cabinet that 119 police officers had sacrificed their lives in the last seven months. He said that 700 new jobs were being created to facilitate the local youth of Malakand. app

 

[RabzonKhan]

Intercepting the Taliban

Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Rahimullah Yusufzai

Baitullah Mahsud has again gone quiet. It happens whenever he becomes the target of a military operation by Pakistan’s armed forces or the US drones. He stops chattering on his satellite phone and walkie-talkie and is often unavailable to even his commanders. His code name, Nasrat, is no longer heard on the airwaves.

We are told the intelligence agencies, or those assigned to eavesdrop on anyone suspicious, could hear him loud and clear until a few weeks ago. He was even giving commands to his fighters during a recent battle against Pakistan Army troops in South Waziristan. That was the last time they heard his by now familiar voice.

The military authorities would love to get back Baitullah Mehsud`s voice on their listening machines. The signalmen are waiting to hear the code name Nasrat again. This could possibly provide them clues about him and understand his mind. An unguarded sentence by him or his associates could provide the military an idea about his whereabouts. The army could better understand his plans by intercepting his conversations with Taliban commanders. Even if its in bits and pieces, such information helps in filling the gaps with regard to the intelligence available on the head of the Tehrik-e-Tliban Pakistan (TTP).

Intercepts are a good source of information on the militants. The military finds the intercepted communication quite useful in knowing about the morale of the Pakistani Taliban and their jihadi allies, their battlefield losses and their plans. The almost daily claims made by the army spokesmen about the losses inflicted on the militants are sometimes based on the intercepts of communication between the Taliban fighters. Though the information made available to an obliging media is one-sided and difficult to believe in view of the tall claims of success, it is still useful to understand the way the battle is proceeding in places like Swat, Bajaur, Mohmand and South Waziristan.

It is not the military alone that can monitor the militants` communication. The Taliban too are sometimes able to listen in to the communication lines of their rivals. They too make claims about their battleground achievements by insisting that the information was partly obtained by listening to the intercepted communication between military officials. No doubt that the claims the militants make are exaggerated but they do try to copy the tactics used by the army authorities.

Knowing pretty well that their communication is being intercepted, would the militants continue to give away their secrets by talking unguardedly on their satellite, mobile and other phones? Won’t they try to misguide their foe by relaying wrong information? This is something normal as deception is considered a legitimate tactic in war. The militants do have their code words but some of the codes have been used so often they these are no longer a secret. Nasrat, which means victory, is a codeword for Baitullah Mahsud and he has not bothered to change it and get a new one to avoid detection. In fact, during the Afghan war against the Soviet occupying forces, Nasrat was a favourite codename for a number of mujahideen leaders and commanders. The Taliban, both Afghan and Pakistanis, have continued the practice because they believe the word is a constant source of inspiration for their fighters.

The recent military claim about injuries sustained by the Swat Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah too was based on intercepted communication between the militants. But there has been no further communication that could provide clues about his fate. The same holds true for his deputy Maulana Shah Dauran as reports of his death in a military operation need to be confirmed, possibly through some new intercepts. The intercepts despite their utility are, therefore, unable to tell the whole story. The intercepted communication will thus provide as much information as is intended by the users.

While still on the subject of the Taliban in Swat, their spokesman Muslim Khan used to talk on his mobile phone with journalists for hours. Using his two cell phones, he gave interviews in Pashto, Urdu and even English that he learnt while serving for four years in the US, negotiated with government officials, sympathetic politicians and supportive clerics, and passed on messages to fellow Taliban in Swat and beyond as some sort of a contact person. The government made no effort to block his mobile phones as his conversations provided it with useful information on him and his group.

The controversial claim by President General Pervez Musharraf`s government about Baitullah Mehsud`s involvement in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto was also based on the intercepted communication between him and one of his trusted aides. Baitullah Mahsud is heard talking in Pashto and asking the man about the success of the mission. Intriguingly, Baitullah Mahsud doesn’t know the names of the attackers and is heard asking whether they were their men. Nowhere is Benazir Bhutto’s name mentioned in the conversation. All this generated controversy and things were further compounded when the PPP and Benazir Bhutto’s family expressed doubts about the veracity of the Musharraf regime’s claim that Baitullah Mahsud was involved in the conspiracy to eliminate the two-time prime minister of Pakistan.

As many wanted Al Qaeda and Taliban figures have been killed or captured after being tracked down through their satellite phones, the militants have either stopped using these communication gadgets or become cautious and selective in their use. It seems Osama bin Laden, his deputy Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri and other Al Qaeda figures no longer use their satellite phones and faxes. Afghan Taliban leader Mulla Mohammad Omar too appears to have given up the use of the satellite and mobile phone. This is the major reason of their staying alive and remaining free eight years after the US invasion of Afghanistan and the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001. They are obviously using more traditional means of communication such as couriers, hand-written letters and audio-tapes.

One is reminded of the story of Nek Mohammad, the first Pakistani Taliban commander who became well-known when he forced the Pakistan Army to sign a peace accord with him in April 2004 in South Waziristan. After gaining instant fame, the young tribesman in his 20s took a liking for the satellite phone. He would talk with reporters for long durations and pester them with requests to be interviewed. Finally, the Americans got him in a village near Wana, tracking his satellite phone when he was talking with a reporter and firing a laser-guided missile from a US drone at the compound where he was staying.

Now that the militants are making selective and clever use of the modern means of communication, it will become increasingly difficult for the armies and their intelligence agencies in Pakistan, Afghanistan and other theatres of war to track them down. Intercepts too could become few and far between or there would be greater recourse to deception to mislead the enemy. Still the intercepts would continue to remain a useful tool in collecting information and updating intelligence on one’s foe. There perhaps is no substitute for good old human intelligence. But modern technology and its clever use combined with human intelligence could achieve far better results than those presently being obtained through one source alone. Then one will not have to wait for Baitullah Mahsud or the likes to come back on the line and start using satellite phone again to become traceable.

The writer is resident editor of The News in Peshawar.

 

[RabzonKhan]

Mehsud tribe ditches militants

By: Akhtar Shehzad | Published: July 22, 2009

TANK - Baitullah Mehsud, chief of Taliban Tehrik, faced another setback when traditional Jirga of Mehsud tribe announced their disassociation from the militant groups and assured to remain peaceful and loyal to the rule of law.

Such a decision on the part of Mehsud tribe’s traditional Jirga could further isolate Baitullah Mehsud. Some one month back, the Ahmadzai Wazir tribal Jirga from Wana South Waziristan, while announcing impartiality, directed militant leader Mullah Nazir to disassociate himself from war between the government and Baitullah Mehsud.
The Jirga was held in Tank on Tuesday. Leading tribal elders and representatives of Mehsud tribe attended the Jirga, which aimed at reviewing the existing situation, particularly the confrontation between Baitullah Mehsud and Zain Ud Din Mehsud groups. Besides others Maulana Hassam Ud Din, Malik Rupa Jan, Mufti Faqir Jan, Adam Khan Advocate, Yousaf Barki Advocate, Pir Jehangir Shah and Sardar Ahmad Gul were also present.

After discussing in depth the existing issues and challenges, the Jirga members submitted a written memorandum before District Coordination Officer (DCO) Tank, announcing their disassociation from all the militant and extremist groups. The Jirga also promised that Mehsud tribesmen would not extend any sort of support to militant or terrorist groups and would remain loyal to the rule of law.

According to the written memorandum, copies of which were also sent to President, Prime Minister, NWFP Governor, Chief Minister, Chief Secretary and other high ranking authorities, the Mehsud tribesmen have reaffirmed their loyalty to the country to ensure the writ of law.

They also demanded of the government to review the situation regarding the maltreatment with the Mehsud tribesmen on check posts and early withdrawal of restrictions and sanctions against the displaced families throughout NWFP, particularly in Tank, Dera Ismail Khan and Lakki Marwat Districts.

 

[RabzonKhan]

Army kills 33 Taliban in Malakand, S Waziristan

Staff Report
July 23, 2009

RAWALPINDI/Khar/ MIRANSHAH: Troops killed at least 27 Taliban in various districts of Malakand division over “the last 24 hours”, said the ISPR in the latest update of the military offensive in the region, after fighter jets reportedly destroyed two Taliban hideouts in South Waziristan, killing six men believed to be associates of Baitullah Mehsud.

The ISPR said troops had also arrested several Taliban and destroyed a number of their hideouts. In South Waziristan, the AP news agency said the airstrikes flattened hideouts of Baitullah’s associates in two villages late on Tuesday.

Separately in North Waziristan, Taliban fired two mortar shells at an army camp in Khar, killing a security forces personnel and seriously wounding five others. The injured were flown to hospital in Peshawar, where one of them is said to be in critical condition.

In Bajaur Agency, a jirga of elders and clerics from Alizai tribes handed over six Taliban commanders wanted by the government to the political administration. The jirga also announced full support for the government against the Taliban.

 

[RabzonKhan]

Some success, many failures

Reality check

Friday, July 24, 2009
Shafqat Mahmood

The barbers are back in business in Swat, says a story in this paper. More than the daily body count of terrorists killed, this is the first hint of real change in the troubled valley. It shows a perceptual shift, a lessening of fear, a retreat of the barbarians.

So does the slow, but sustained, journey back of the displaced. They do not listen to government propaganda or feel-good stories in the media. For them too much is at stake: their life, their honour, the future of their children. If they are going back, it is only because they believe they can.

Remember the Afghans. They are still here, thirty years later.

These hopeful signs need to be quietly celebrated, but the journey is long and hazardous. Much of the Frontier has to be won back, piece by piece. The festering sore of Balochistan requires a soothing balm of ownership and support. And Punjab and Sindh have to be inoculated against the insidious spread of misguided fanaticism.

Then there is the snake pit of Waziristan, the nucleus of our many troubles. Some people here and abroad are impatient for results, but this is not a conflict of haste. Guile has to combine with force and attrition used as a weapon to overwhelm the enemy.

Overreach and getting stretched too thin would not help. Swat, indeed the entire Malakand, needs to come back to normal, as it is doing, one small step at a time. Once this is done, the next phase can begin.

There is also little wisdom in exposing assets before degrading the enemy strength in Waziristan. It is a tough terrain and the number of militants is large. Much better to wear them down and, if possible, strangulate their supply lines.

This seems to be the military strategy and it has a great deal of merit. Impatience would create large-scale casualties, and while sacrifice is part of war, it must be purposeful and at the right time. This is what friends here and abroad need to understand.

The challenge we face does not end with militancy. The structure of governance seems to be breaking down. Trains are being burnt, government buildings attacked and commerce brought to a standstill. There is deep unrest throughout the land.

Inept leadership by our current rulers has much to blame for this, but they are not the only culprits. Years of neglect, bad planning and misplaced priorities are now hitting us in the face. Read more.

 

[RabzonKhan]

Waziristan vs Swat

Friday, July 24, 2009
Ali Abbas Rizvi

With the Swat operation now more or less over, it is time for the return of the IDPs. However, the military operation in South Waziristan has just commenced. How different will it be from the operation that has recently concluded? Taking into account several factors, one expects it to be vastly different. Consider the following.

First, the size of Waziristan, both North and South, is almost two and a half times the size of the Swat valley. It is a rough terrain, sparsely populated unlike the lush green Swat valley, which was densely populated. As such, security forces will adopt different strategies and parameters to operate in this inhospitable terrain, not all of them uncomplicated.

Second, unlike Swat, which was a settled area encircled by Buner, Dir, Shangla and Chitral, South Waziristan shares a long porous border with Afghanistan besides North Waziristan, where the army is not presently launching an operation. Therefore, for militants in South Waziristan, getting supplies and reinforcements may not be a huge problem unlike their 'adolescent' cousins in Swat.

Third, South Waziristan hosts a much larger concentration of militants, including Uzbeks and Al Qaeda, as compared to Swat. Many of these jihadis, entrenched here for the past several years, are battle-hardened, better-trained and better-equipped than their counterparts in Swat. They are not novices like their cousins in the valley but veterans of the Afghan war. As such, they will pose a grave challenge to security forces.

Fourth, the single most important factor in the whole scenario is that unlike the militants in Swat, the Taliban and Al Qaeda in South Waziristan are facing an increasing number of US drone attacks. These attacks are turning out to be extremely effective, accurate and demoralising for the militants. Fifth, there has been a significant change in the American mindset with Washington no longer treating Baitullah Mehsud as Pakistan-specific problem. The Americans are sharing more information with the army, even providing real time intelligence on the movement of militants in the region, say reports.

Some other welcoming aspects of the fighting in Waziristan for the army are subsequent to a major strategic reorientation, security services now have a sense of direction and purpose in the war against terror, that the media coverage will not be as intensive as that in Swat, the issue of IDPs will not be as large as that of Malakand and the army will have at its disposal resources to instil doubts and insecurity in commanders allied to Baitullah and sow dissension and divisions among them.

The army's counterinsurgency strategy seems to have two components. The first is high-intensity kinetic operations and the second is clear political counter-vision.

The military strategy could be to pound the militants from air, target them from drones, force them to retreat to caves, use artillery to hit known and suspected targets and command and control centres and use personnel of Special Services Group to hit far-off militants' hideouts. For a sustained and successful operation, the army will also require combat and cargo helicopters, night-vision devices, counter-fire radars, drones, sensors and battlefield surveillance radars.

The army may have calculated that over a period of time, the Taliban will be demoralised, become prone to error and could rise up against their own comrades. Baitullah is the centre of gravity that holds the entire structure together. The day Baitullah is gone the militants will lose their sting. For security forces, time is of essence. They will have to keep the militants from taking over the cleared territory again. For this, they will require the support of an effective administration and deploy troops to develop confidence in the local population. They cannot afford to lose the support of the people, parliament and the government for the operation, the three key variables.

On the other hand, the trump card that Baitullah holds is suicide attacks. He will try to create chaos in major cities through such attacks. While every suicide attack will bring pain and destruction in its wake, for the people of Pakistan it is something that has been happening for quite sometime. The more it happens, the more it loses its intrinsic value.

On the battlefield, Baitullah will launch ambushes, frontal attacks, improvised explosive devices, diversionary strikes, bait and ambush attacks, hit-and-run raids, anti-armour and RPG ambushes, sniper and suicide attacks. Also, long military columns moving at slow speeds are vulnerable to attacks by militants familiar with the terrain.

In any case, Waziristan is going to be a tough operation for security forces. However, as things stand today, there is no easy way out.

 

[RabzonKhan]

Pakistan battles 'kill 21 militants, soldier'

(AFP) – 10 hours ago

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — At least 21 militants and a soldier were killed Friday during an ongoing military offensive designed to eliminate the Taliban from northwest Pakistan, military officials said.

Sixteen militants were killed by security forces in Maidan, the home town of pro-Taliban cleric Sufi Mohammad in Lower Dir, the paramilitary Frontier Corps said without giving any other details.

A daily military update about the operation said five militants and one soldier were killed during search and clearance operations in Swat, the neighbouring northwest district where the Taliban first rose up in 2007.

A Taliban spokesman on Thursday denied claims that Maulana Fazlullah, the architect of a brutal uprising in Swat to enforce sharia law, had been wounded and threatened to unleash renewed holy war.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said earlier this month the military had "eliminated" extremists and government statistics show that 385,000 of 1.9 million civilians who were displaced by the fighting have returned.

But skirmishes have continued, raising fears that the Taliban escaped into the mountains and will return, as after previous military offensives.

Pakistan says more than 1,800 militants and 166 security personnel have been killed since April but the death tolls are impossible to verify independently.

Pakistan launched the offensive last April, under hefty pressure from the United States to clamp down on militants who advanced from Swat into the neighbouring district of Buner, further south towards Islamabad.

 

[RabzonKhan]

Ex-legislator named in plot to kill Polish engineer

By Munawer Azeem and Mudassir Raja
Sunday, 26 Jul, 2009



ISLAMABAD: Shah Abdul Aziz, a former member of the National Assembly, was handed over to Attock police on Saturday for a two-day physical remand for his alleged involvement in the kidnapping and killing of a Polish engineer.

In a statement before court, a police official said Abdul Aziz, a resident of Karak, had been arrested by the Islamabad police and gave some clues about the kidnapping and beheading of Piotr Stanczak, a Polish geologist.

Aziz had been missing since May and was last seen on his way to meet the former Khateeb of Lal Masjid, Maulana Abdul Aziz.

It was believed that he had been picked up by security agencies, but until Saturday he remained missing and no one claimed his arrest.

Aziz, along with another suspect in the engineer’s murder Attaullah, was brought to Anti-Terrorism Court-II in an armoured personnel carrier under the protection of Islamabad and Attock police.

The judge granted remand to the police of the former MNA, who was elected on the ticket of MMA in 2002. The Bosal police also obtained two days’ physical remand of Attaullah.

The Polish engineer was abducted in September last year from the field camp of a Polish seismic survey company, in the jurisdiction of the Bosal police station in Jand tehsil of Attock district.

The gunmen before kidnapping the engineer killed his security guard Constable Mohammad Saleem, driver Inayatullah and assistant driver Mohammad Riaz.

In February this year, the kidnappers released a seven-minute video about the beheading of the engineer.

The MNA was arrested and given in police custody in the light of a statement recorded by Attaullah, arrested on July 15 in Jalal Adah area, near Pirwadhai, by the Islamabad police.

Sources quoted the statement recorded before a magistrate (a CrPc-164 statement) of the alleged terrorist, Attaullah, in which he said he, along with Mufti Ilyas, Hussain and Bilal, had kidnapped the Polish engineer, Stanczak, from Attock and detained him in Teera Mozai on the direction and support of the former MNA, Shah Abdul Aziz, last year.

They demanded Rs50 million and release of their accomplices Fasihullah and Waseem and others arrested for their alleged involvement in a suicide attack on a lawyers’ convention on July 17, 2007.

Attaullah disclosed that the former MNA had good relations with Taliban commander Tariq and used to meet him.

He said Abdul Aziz had suggested to the commander to kidnap the Polish engineer to not only raise money but also pressurised the government to release their accomplices.

He said that during engineer’s detention the former legislator had negotiated with the government. ‘Abdul Aziz asked commander Tariq at a meeting to kill the engineer if he did not return in a week,’ he said, adding that he was also present at the meeting.

‘Mufti Ilyas and his brother Hussain slaughtered the Polish engineer after a week. I only held his legs,’ Attaullah said in the statement.

He also confessed to target killings, bomb blasts and kidnapping for ransom.

Attaullah, who belongs to the banned outfit Lashkar-i-Jhangvi and Taliban of Dara Khyber, said he had assisted suicide attacks on Kohat GOC residence near the flag staff house in 2004, on a mosque at ex-58 ECE Battalion in Kohat in 2005 and on the main gate of 2 Training Battalion ex-signal training centre in Kohat in 2007, along with Abdul Ghafoor, Abdul Samad, Mufti Rashid, Usama, Umer Farooq and Hazafa.

Abdul Wali, Bilal and Abdul Rashid were the suicide bombers in the attacks, he added.