The Battle for Bajaur - PA seizes control

[ajpirzada]

AgNoStIc MuSliM:

""but at least a third of Pakistan's half-million strong army is now deployed in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of which it is part"".

1/3rd of the Army deployed on our own soil, while the nation is groaning under extreme poverty and 16-hours of load shedding; and you call that a "successful" strategy? Being a US "ally" or sorts should have been the key to attaining the prosperity level of Taiwan and Korea. Instead we are sliding down the bottomless pit of misery.
NA KHUDA HI MILA NA WISAL-E-SANAM


""In Bajaur, Pakistan Army faults U.S. strategy""

This is absolutely comic!. Our brilliant Military commanders have been reading too much into the Hammer and Anvil operations!. They really believed they are some sort of "Hammer".

yes thanks to taliban for bombing our cities, marketplaces, businesses, foreigners, hotels, schools, development workers, foreign engineers and leaders. dont u think its bec of all this that today we are in such a miserable state with almost crippled economy and not bec of our 1/3rd army fighting these terrorists.

 

[Javed3]

Under normal circumstances, Taliban could not have survived even for a week in FATA and Swat with their primitive, destructive and simplistic agenda.

Since 2003 repeated PA operations caused enormous casualties, destruction, hardships and displacement of population. Taliban emerged as the rallying point for the affected masses, gaining a level of acceptability.

The full scale insurgency we see today was carefully orchestrated and nurtured to somehow convince the Americans that we too are Fighting a War on Terror of sorts.

The only long term solution is to stop waging war on our own soil and focus on building economy, infrastructure and jobs. Right now the people of FATA and Swat have nothing more to lose.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Under normal circumstances, Taliban could not have survived even for a week in FATA and Swat with their primitive, destructive and simplistic agenda.

Since 2003 repeated PA operations caused enormous casualties, destruction, hardships and displacement of population. Taliban emerged as the rallying point for the affected masses, gaining a level of acceptability.

Please provide evidence of this 'enormous casualties, destruction and displacement of the population' between 2003 and 2006, and show me how that correlated with the rise of the Taliban and the massacres of over 300 Tribal elders.

The only long term solution is to stop waging war on our own soil and focus on building economy, infrastructure and jobs. Right now the people of FATA and Swat have nothing more to lose.

The part about focusing on building the economy, infrastructure and jobs is correct, but whatever you believe to be the cause of the rise of the TTp and Al Qaeda in Pakistan, the fact is that they did rise and are now beyond redemption.

Military operations to destroy these entities as organized gangs/militias, until such time as local law enforcement can step in to hold the territory, are essential now, especially if we are to invest in building the economy, jobs and infrastructure in the terrorism affected areas.

 

[Slides]

Since 2003 repeated PA operations caused enormous casualties, destruction, hardships and displacement of population.

Please name and date these repeated ops from 2003. Looking forward to it.

 

[Metallic]

Taliban kill tribal elder, wife and son in Bajaur
PAKISTAN - 27 MAY 2010

KHAR: Taliban armed with rockets and grenades stormed the home of a pro-government Pakistani tribal elder Thursday, killing him, his wife and son before blowing up their house, officials said.

The pre-dawn killings took place in Asghar village, about 40 kilometres northwest of Khar, the main town in Pakistan's lawless tribal district of Bajaur, which borders Afghanistan.

“Malik tur Mulla, his wife and a son died in the attack while one women was wounded,” Irshad Khan, a local administrative official in the area, told AFP by telephone. His son was 22 years old, Khan said.

Mulla, 52, raised an anti-Taliban militia in the Chaharmang valley and returned home last year after the army claimed the area was secure following prolonged fighting designed to crush militant sanctuaries.

“Taliban militants attacked the house. First they fired rockets and hurled hand grenades. Then they entered. They killed Malik and his family with Kalashinkovs,” Jamil Khan, a local government official, told AFP by telephone.

Two intelligence officials described Mulla as an active tribal elder in the area who supported military operations against the Taliban in Bajaur.

Pakistan launched operations in the district in August 2008 and has claimed several times to have eliminated the militant threat.

Bajaur is at the northern tip of the semi-autonomous tribal belt that Washington calls the most dangerous place on Earth. It has seen a spike in attacks since security forces opened new fronts against the Taliban elsewhere.

The country's northwest tribal belt has become a nest of homegrown militant groups, Afghan Taliban and other foreign extremists since the 2001 US-led invasion that brought down the hardline Taliban regime in Afghanistan.


Source: AFP

 

[Jazzbot]

RIP all fallen.

 

[Realist]

What kind of numbers do the Taliban have? Guys are the most violent creatures on earth.

 

[F86 Saber]

Under normal circumstances, Taliban could not have survived even for a week in FATA and Swat with their primitive, destructive and simplistic agenda.

Since 2003 repeated PA operations caused enormous casualties, destruction, hardships and displacement of population. Taliban emerged as the rallying point for the affected masses, gaining a level of acceptability.

The full scale insurgency we see today was carefully orchestrated and nurtured to somehow convince the Americans that we too are Fighting a War on Terror of sorts.

The only long term solution is to stop waging war on our own soil and focus on building economy, infrastructure and jobs. Right now the people of FATA and Swat have nothing more to lose.

You are giving the same pathetic excuses that the f***** Taliban representatives give in their "Heroic" claims while accepting the responsibility of blowing up a Mosque in Islamabad Parade Lane or a market place in Lahore.
How can we friggin' build our economy when no foreign investor in his right mind is willing to invest even a penny in Pakistan due to the security situation? So what is this security situation anyway?? It is the blowing up or killing of every poor old "Gora" who was only visiting Pakistan to place an order or to build a factory and was killed because fundamentalists like you believe every foreigner who visits Pakistan is either a CIA agent or belongs to the blasphemous Norwegian or Danish contingents.

The first operation that started in the SWAT region was because PA was forced to take on the "school blowing" and "beard enforcing" Moulana Fazlullah and his band of Mullah's at the request of the Swaties and it has carried on since than as the militants have ran from one place to the other. And when they've seen that they have no chance against the PA they have resorted to blowing up civilian buildings, markets, mosques and police stations in order to divert the attention of the GOP from them. These cowardly TTP scum have to be annihilated and wiped out from the face of the earth without so much of an after thought.

 

[Metallic]

Soldier killed, school, health facility blown up in Mohmand
PAKISTAN - 2 JUNE 2010

GHALLANAI: A soldier was killed and a government-run school and health centre were blown up in militancy-related incidents in various areas of Mohmand Agency on Tuesday, tribal sources said.

The sources said that militants also fired several mortar shells at the checkpost of security forces in Ghanam Shah village near Pak-Afghan border in Baizai subdivision. One of the shells, the sources said, killed a soldier named Idrees.

In Safi Tehsil, militants blew up a government primary school and basic health unit in Adinkhel. The sources said that explosives planted in the buildings of school and health centre were triggered with remote-controlled device early in the day. Soon after the explosions, security forces carried out search operation in Wali Kor, Tarakai Kandao, Kamalkhel and Qandharo areas in Safi. However, no arrest was made.


Source: The News International

 

[abm2010]

i dont know exactly

 

[air marshal]

BAJAUR AGENCY: Security official presenting seized arms and ammunition before the media persons captured from the militants.

 

[Javed3]

Now that the arms are ceased and Bajaur is successfully conquered what is the point in the Army staying there?

Is this to give a message that Bajaur is an "occupied" territory? Is'nt Bajuar an integral part of Pakistan? Are'nt the people here the loyal citizens of Pakistan?

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

Now that the arms are ceased and Bajaur is successfully conquered what is the point in the Army staying there?

Is this to give a message that Bajaur is an "occupied" territory? Is'nt Bajuar an integral part of Pakistan? Are'nt the people here the loyal citizens of Pakistan?

you have to bear in mind that the enemy we are fighting easily blends in with the local population. Those that fled can always come back, after being pushed out from other areas.

It is not occupation. It is just a genuine effort to maintain peace. That is the job of the local police forces, which currently are barely even existing. Army does not enjoy doing police work, but until police can be trained to deal with the situation then of course army has to establish checkpoints and presence there.


people are naiive if they think this is an easy war. I regretfully say that realistically, this is going to be a long war, it will take time.

The weapons supplies, 'merchandise' and funding for these militant outfits need to be ascertained and shut down.





by the way, I don't like your use of the word ''conquered''


Bajaur was not conquered by the Army. It is and always will be an integral part of this country.

 

[fatman17]

Taliban ‘reappear’ in Bajaur Agency

* TTP warns of severe consequences if military offensive not stopped

By Habanullah Khan

KHAR: After a two-year long successful military operation and the return of internally displaced persons (IDPs), Taliban have reappeared in Bajaur Agency, warning Levies Force officials through letters to stop the offensive or be ready to face the consequences. Sources told Daily Times that the threats written on Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) letterheads were distributed in various areas of the agency’s Mamoond and Khar tehsils on Monday, saying the TTP would continue its fight in Bajaur against the US and its allies.

The TTP has asked the Levies Force to stop actions against the organisation.

Residents said they feared for their safety again after the distribution of the threatening letters.

On April 19, FATA Law and Order Secretariat Secretary Tariq Hayat told a press briefing, “Security forces had claimed security clearance in most of Bajaur after military operations.”

“We have de-notified the status of conflict zones in 34 villages in tehsil Wara Mamund and 19 villages of tehsil Nawagai, Charmang areas,” he had said. He, however, feared that the Taliban could recapture the cleared areas of the agency if IDPs were not repatriated to these areas.

The battle for Bajaur or Operation Sherdil was launched by the Pakistan Army in August 2008 to clear the area of the Taliban, in control of the agency since early 2007.

 

[GUNNER]

New Pakistan action kills six in Bajaur: officials

(AFP)

KHAR, Pakistan — Pakistani attack helicopters and heavy artillery on Wednesday killed six militants in a tribal district on the Afghan border where commanders had said the Taliban were purged, officials said.
Pakistani troops have been fighting in Bajaur since August 2008, trying to smash Taliban and Al-Qaeda hideouts, but there are indications that militants are trying to make yet another comeback.

Commanders claimed victory in February 2009 but violence returned when the military switched attention to fighting the Taliban in South Waziristan and Swat, elsewhere in the northwest.

Troops mounted another offensive in Bajaur earlier this year and declared the terrain again free of Taliban in March.

But Wednesday, troops swung into action in Ghaundu and Samsai villages about 14 kilometres (nine miles) southwest of Khar, the main town in Bajaur.

Local administration official Tahir Khan said helicopter gunships and long range artillery opened fire following intelligence reports that some Taliban militants had again infiltrated from neighbouring Mohmand district.

A security official said six militants were killed and suspected Taliban hideouts were destroyed.

Officials said Taliban had issued pamphlets warning their comrades not to surrender or accept government job offers.

Posters have also been pasted in markets and at the gates to mosques, local administration chief Adalat Khan told AFP.

"The move appears to be a Taliban effort to terrorise people and say they are still present in the area," he said.

Local residents quoted the Pahstu-language poster as warning: "We would ask people, who fell prey to government propaganda, to repent for their sin, otherwise we will take action against them."

The government fixed June 30 as a deadline for militants to surrender their arms in return for jobs on the local police force, officials said.
Failure to surrender would see their homes destroyed, they added.