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What happened in the Parod operation
our correspondentTuesday, April 08, 2014
From Print Edition
90 15 54 0
Area of Operation? Parod, about 100 kilometers south of Noshki, and about 50 kilometers west of Kalat. According to the Interior Ministry, “this 60 to 80 square kilometers stretch has no roads and no direct access.” The IG-FC Balochistan, Major General Ijaz Shahid, calls this “the most difficult area of Balochistan I have seen. I’ve been all over this province, but this place is not easy to reach. There are no tribes there, and hardly any civilians. Anyone who is out there is out there for an irregular purpose, not living a regular life.”
What was targeted? According to an Interior Ministry source, this was a “logistics and training base which provided manpower, training, weapons and ammo and was jointly run by the Baloch Liberation Army and the Baloch Republican Army.”
“No one will be allowed to challenge the writ of the government and run terrorist camps in Balochistan,” said Sarfaraz Bugti, the Balochistan Home Minister.Who was targeted? “At least 30 militants were killed and two camps crushed in the crackdown,” said Sarfaraz Bugti, the Home Minister. Bugti also claimed that these militants were focused on targeting pipelines and railways tracks in the region: “Foreign funded armed men were involved in attacking trains, kidnapping for ransom and target killings.”
What’s the significance of the operation? “For six or seven years, we knew what was happening, but didn’t have the wherewithal to go in there,” explained a Balochistan security official. “Any approach from Noshki, Kalat, or any other axis would be compromised. The moment you would take a track to this place, an informer would let the enemy know, and they would plant land mines and IEDs along the route. It wasn’t worth it to go in then.”
What happened on the ground? The surprise element were two companies – around 175 men – of a heli-borne contingent of the Frontier Corps’ Special Operations Wing (SOW) personnel, in the Interior Ministry’s Huey UH-1Hs, which are also fitted with small arms, landing in Parod via a route never taken: the air. Around 200 paramilitary Kalat Scouts/Levies provided ground support.
“The clearance operation lasted till sunset. We withdrew because we couldn’t stay there overnight, because the enemy knows the area well and because some of the peaks were still occupied,” said the IG-FC, Maj Gen Ijaz Shahid, who led the clearance operation. ”But at the cost of ten injured men, one critical, we have broken the myth of entering into a so-called no-go area, thanks to government’s backing.”
What were the gains? According to the IG-FC, “the complete battle procedures and training manuals of this contingent of the BLA and BRA, how they were operating and what call signs they were using have been dug out.”
However, a senior Interior Ministry official admitted “we haven’t ascertained that we’ve taken out a high-level commander in the 30 or so we’ve estimated killed [the bodies were left lying at the camps targeted]. But because logistics is an important financial exercise, and a lot of weapons and ammo were processed through these camps, it’s fair to assess that we didn’t just get ordinary terrorists, but some higher ups too.”
What about the crashed heli? After dropping off a contingent, one of the Hueys came back to Kalat Fort for refuelling, and could not take off again. It was forced into a crash landing nearby and then recovered through cranes, said an Interior Ministry official.
What happened in the Parod operation - thenews.com.pk
our correspondentTuesday, April 08, 2014
From Print Edition
90 15 54 0
Area of Operation? Parod, about 100 kilometers south of Noshki, and about 50 kilometers west of Kalat. According to the Interior Ministry, “this 60 to 80 square kilometers stretch has no roads and no direct access.” The IG-FC Balochistan, Major General Ijaz Shahid, calls this “the most difficult area of Balochistan I have seen. I’ve been all over this province, but this place is not easy to reach. There are no tribes there, and hardly any civilians. Anyone who is out there is out there for an irregular purpose, not living a regular life.”
What was targeted? According to an Interior Ministry source, this was a “logistics and training base which provided manpower, training, weapons and ammo and was jointly run by the Baloch Liberation Army and the Baloch Republican Army.”
“No one will be allowed to challenge the writ of the government and run terrorist camps in Balochistan,” said Sarfaraz Bugti, the Balochistan Home Minister.Who was targeted? “At least 30 militants were killed and two camps crushed in the crackdown,” said Sarfaraz Bugti, the Home Minister. Bugti also claimed that these militants were focused on targeting pipelines and railways tracks in the region: “Foreign funded armed men were involved in attacking trains, kidnapping for ransom and target killings.”
What’s the significance of the operation? “For six or seven years, we knew what was happening, but didn’t have the wherewithal to go in there,” explained a Balochistan security official. “Any approach from Noshki, Kalat, or any other axis would be compromised. The moment you would take a track to this place, an informer would let the enemy know, and they would plant land mines and IEDs along the route. It wasn’t worth it to go in then.”
What happened on the ground? The surprise element were two companies – around 175 men – of a heli-borne contingent of the Frontier Corps’ Special Operations Wing (SOW) personnel, in the Interior Ministry’s Huey UH-1Hs, which are also fitted with small arms, landing in Parod via a route never taken: the air. Around 200 paramilitary Kalat Scouts/Levies provided ground support.
“The clearance operation lasted till sunset. We withdrew because we couldn’t stay there overnight, because the enemy knows the area well and because some of the peaks were still occupied,” said the IG-FC, Maj Gen Ijaz Shahid, who led the clearance operation. ”But at the cost of ten injured men, one critical, we have broken the myth of entering into a so-called no-go area, thanks to government’s backing.”
What were the gains? According to the IG-FC, “the complete battle procedures and training manuals of this contingent of the BLA and BRA, how they were operating and what call signs they were using have been dug out.”
However, a senior Interior Ministry official admitted “we haven’t ascertained that we’ve taken out a high-level commander in the 30 or so we’ve estimated killed [the bodies were left lying at the camps targeted]. But because logistics is an important financial exercise, and a lot of weapons and ammo were processed through these camps, it’s fair to assess that we didn’t just get ordinary terrorists, but some higher ups too.”
What about the crashed heli? After dropping off a contingent, one of the Hueys came back to Kalat Fort for refuelling, and could not take off again. It was forced into a crash landing nearby and then recovered through cranes, said an Interior Ministry official.
What happened in the Parod operation - thenews.com.pk
