Instability In Pakistan- Merged Thread

[CougarKing]

Yet another Predator strike?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090708/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan

By CHRIS BRUMMITT, Associated Press Writer Chris Brummitt, Associated Press Writer – 4 mins ago
ISLAMABAD – Suspected U.S. unmanned aircraft launched two attacks against militants loyal to the head of the Pakistani Taliban on Wednesday, killing at least 45 in the latest in a barrage of strikes against a group also being targeted by the Pakistani military, intelligence officials said.

The convergence of U.S. and Pakistani interests in the South Waziristan tribal region suggests the two uneasy allies were cooperating in the strikes, making it harder for Islamabad to protest them publicly as it has in the past.

The army denied signing off on the attacks and insisted they were hurting its campaign against Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud by alienating local tribes it is trying to enlist in the fight.

Meanwhile, an army spokesman said a Pakistani jet attack wounded the local Taliban commander in the scenic Swat Valley elsewhere in the northwest. Troops have been battling militants in Swat for more than two months, an offensive that has so far failed to net any top insurgent leaders.

The mountainous border region is home to al-Qaida and Taliban leaders who plot attacks in Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan, which is witnessing an unprecedented level of violence against U.S. and NATO troops.

South Waziristan is the stronghold of Mehsud and his followers, whom the government blames for more than 90 percent of the suicide bombings in Pakistan in recent years. The U.S. State Department says Mehsud is a key al-Qaida facilitator in the region.

Suspected American drones have carried out more than 45 attacks in the region since last August. Although most have targeted foreign al-Qaida militants and those accused of violence in Afghanistan, increasingly they are aimed at the Mehsud network.

The first strike Wednesday took place before dawn. Six missiles were fired at a mountaintop training camp in the Karwan Manza area of South Waziristan, killing 10 militants, Pakistani intelligence officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media.

Hours later, 12 miles to the east, missiles hit four vehicles carrying Taliban militants, killing at least 35, including a key Taliban commander, one intelligence official said. Another said 50 were killed.

Independent verification of the targets and casualties was not possible because the region is remote, dangerous and largely inaccessible to journalists. U.S. and Pakistani officials do not publicly comment on such strikes.

On Tuesday, a suspected U.S. missile attack killed 12 militants in South Waziristan, including five foreigners, according to intelligence officials. Another recent strike killed up to 80 insurgents attending a funeral.

The timing is significant because Pakistan's military is also carrying out bombing runs and firing mortar rounds at militant targets in the region as part of efforts to kill or capture Mehsud and his followers. It says it plans to launch a large offensive there soon.

The government routinely protests suspected U.S. missile strikes as violations of Pakistani sovereignty and has publicly asked the U.S. to give it technology to launch its own attacks. But many analysts suspect the government — which has received billions of dollars a year from the U.S. since 2001 — supports the strikes, especially those against Mehsud and his Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.

"They are decrying them on one hand and aiding and abetting them on the other," said Shuja Nawaz, director of the U.S.-based Atlantic Council. "It is helpful for the Pakistanis when the TTP is being targeted. There is obviously much better coordination now."

Speaking after Tuesday's attack, Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas insisted the U.S. help was unwelcome and alienated local tribes it wanted to enlist in the fight against Mehsud.

The United States has been trying to get Pakistan's military to crack down on militants in the border area since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, but the country's past nurturing of militants to use as proxies in Afghanistan and Pakistan has complicated those efforts.

The Swat offensive began after militants there violated a peace deal with the government and moved into regions close to the capital, Islamabad. The army claims to have nearly cleared the valley of insurgents, killing more than 1,500.

Abbas told a news conference Wednesday that according to "credible information," the leader of the Swat Taliban, Maulana Fazlullah, was wounded in a recent airstrike. Fazlullah's capture or killing would be a major symbolic victory for the army and could ease the fears of some 2 million residents who fled the valley and surrounding districts and have yet to return.

___

Associated Press writers Munir Ahmad, Ishtiaq Mahsud and Hussain Afzal contributed to this report from Islamabad, Dera Ismail Khan and Parachinar.

 

[CougarKing]

Will the helos discussed below be actually used in the Northwest Frontier against the Taliban or diverted for patrolling the Kashmir border is another question that weighs on some people's minds.

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4177914&c=ASI&s=TOP

France Preps Arms Package for Pakistan
By USMAN ANSARI
Published: 8 Jul 2009 17:49 
ISLAMABAD - France is preparing a comprehensive defense package to offer to Pakistan for its counterterrorism operations in the North West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan, according to a spokesman at the French defense section at Paris' Embassy here.

Local media had reported a possible Franco-Pakistani defense deal in early July.


The spokesman said that the deal would include weapons and training, but gave no further details..

"Nothing has been agreed, but a lot of things have been discussed. The main issue is to help Pakistan in the area of counterterrorism," he said.

As for media reports that an agreement had been reached to sell the Franco-German Tiger attack helicopter to Islamabad, the spokesman dismissed them as "a media buzz."

The spokesman said the larger deal might be concluded when French President Nicholas Sarkozy visits sometime after Sept. 21.

France is already working to remedy a shortage of helicopters that has hindered the Pakistan Army during its counterterrorism operations in the North West Frontier Province. The French have returned Pakistan's Puma transport and utility helicopters to full operational status. They are also providing the armed variant of the AS550 Fennec light helicopter, which will join the unarmed Ecureuil variant that is in service with Pakistan Army Aviation.

However, the Tiger gunship, if it is included in the package, may not be suitable for Pakistan's needs, said defense analyst Haris Khan of the Pakistan Military Consortium.

Khan said the Pakistan Army needs extra gunships "immediately," but he noted that the most obvious source, Washington, is unable to meet the need. Pakistan had hoped to acquire the AH-64 Apache, but no funds are available for the purchase.

Additional AH-1F Cobras are also unlikely to materialize soon because, he said, "it takes close to 24 to 36 months to refurbish a stored AH-1 S/F and make it fully combat-operational."

However, a spokesman for the defense section in the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad said Pakistan had previously declined an offer of further refurbished Cobras.

"Through Foreign Military Financing [FMF], the U.S. provided 12 refurbished AH-1Fs to Pakistan in 2007. Pakistan used U.S. grants to pay for the refurbishments. Also through FMF, the U.S. offered to refurbish an additional eight Pakistan Army AH-1F Cobras; however, Pakistan decided not to pursue this course of action," he said.

Khan said the only other U.S. option also comes with a considerable time delay.

"The U.S. has indicated that they are willing and able to release close to 14 AH-1W Super Cobras immediately, but first Pakistan Army pilots and technicians would need to be trained. Therefore, the Pakistan Army would be looking at another 10 to 12 months before it wears Pakistani colors," he said.

Khan said Pakistan's needs would best be met by the South African AH-2 Rooivalk.

"It is hard-hitting, rugged, needs little support, the Pakistan Army is familiar with the Puma platform [upon which it is based] and has expertise with it, and it suits Pakistan's industrial base to a large degree."

But he said the Rooivalk program is now all but at a premature end, and Islamabad lacks the finances to revive and purchase it from the South Africans. ■

E-mail: uansari@defensenews.com.

 

[CougarKing]

And the clashes re-ignite as the Pakistani Army and friendly militias called Lashkars encounter more Taliban fighters.

Agence France-Presse - 7/14/2009 5:01 PM GMT
Deadly Pakistan clashes, NATO tanker ambushed
Fresh fighting against the Taliban in Pakistan killed more than 30 militants and destroyed an oil tanker supplying NATO forces based across the border in Afghanistan, officials said Tuesday.

The unrest came as officials said the number of displaced returning home to the Swat valley and adjoining northwest districts surged despite the reported killing of nine militants there over the last 24 hours.

The deadliest clashes involved a village militia in the border tribal areas, officials said, reflecting the state's increasing reliance on local tribesmen to battle Islamist radicals allegedly plotting attacks against targets in this region and in the West.

The worst violence occurred Monday and overnight in the village of Anbar in Mohmand district, 15 kilometres (nine miles) southwest of Khar, the main town of the neighbouring Bajaur district -- another Islamist stronghold.

"According to reports received here, a lashkar (traditional tribal militia) killed 23 militants and several others were wounded," local administration official Asad Ali Khan told AFP.

Administration official Mohammad Rasul Khan said three villagers were missing after the clashes between a 150-strong village force and militants.

Intelligence and security officials confirmed the death toll.

Hundreds of Islamist fighters are believed to have fled Afghanistan into Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal areas to carve out safe havens after the US-led invasion toppled the hardline Taliban regime in Kabul in late 2001.

Pakistan is encouraging locals to organise lashkars against militants in several northwestern regions, as they widen the fight against extremists blamed for bomb attacks that have killed about 2,000 people in two years.

In the infamous Khyber region, militants ambushed a tanker carrying fuel for NATO forces in Afghanistan and an ensuing gunfight killed two civilians, said local administration official Rehan Gul Khattak.

The attack took place near the town of Landi Kotal on the main highway which links Pakistan to landlocked Afghanistan.

"Militants first fired a mortar on the oil tanker and then set it on fire. Meanwhile a gunfight broke out with paramilitary troops which left two civilians dead and three others wounded," Khattak said.

The ambush was staged by around 30 militants who fled after the exchange of fire, he said. The highway was temporarily closed, but NATO supply convoys were halted even after the road re-opened, Khattak said.

"We will target all those who continue," Umar Farooq, a spokesman for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Khyber, told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location.

Violence has flared in the tribal areas despite a two-month campaign welcomed by the United States against the Taliban in and around the northwest district of Swat, once dubbed the "Switzerland of Pakistan" for its mountain resorts.

The military reported killings in Swat on Tuesday for the first time in days, saying that nine militants were shot dead in the last 24 hours.

The government this week bussed home the first of nearly two million people displaced by the conflict ahead of the monsoon season, although so far only a fraction have taken up the offer -- with most still fearful about security.

Lieutenant Colonel Waseem Shahid said the pace of returns was quickening to Swat and the neighbouring district of Buner, where Taliban fighters thrust towards Islamabad in April, defying a peace deal and sparking the offensive.

"Some 1,200 families returned by buses provided by the government and another 1,066 families returned by private vehicles," said Shahid, giving an update Tuesday afternoon.

But many displaced families vowed not to return until they receive bank cards charged with 25,000 rupees (300 dollars) to rebuild their lives.

Crops were left to rot during the two-month offensive and the local economy has been shattered by a two-year Taliban uprising to enforce sharia law.

"I fear the Taliban will come back because their leadership is alive," said Saleh Shah, 40, living with his wife and five children in Sheikh Shehzad.

 

[CougarKing]

Meanwhile, in Pakistan's own front against the Taliban in its own country:

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/090726/world/pakistan_unrest_northwest

Pakistani jets kill 13 militants: officials
2 hours, 47 minutes ago



PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) - Pakistani fighter jets pounded militant positions, killing at least 13 rebels and destroying their hideouts in the restive northwest, security officials said Sunday.


The bombardment took place on late Saturday in Lower Dir town, where troops have been carrying out search and clearance operation to hunt down militants.


"At least 13 militants were killed and 15 of their hideouts destroyed in the bombing carried out by fighter jets in Lower Dir," a security official in the area told AFP.


A local government official confirmed the incident and the militant casualties, saying the death toll might rise as intelligence intercepts revealed that there were some 140 militants holed up in the area.

The Pakistani army launched the offensive to dislodge Taliban guerrillas from the three districts of Lower Dir, Buner and Swat in late April and early May after rebels flouted a peace deal and thrust towards the capital Islamabad.


The offensive has the backing of the United States and enjoys broad popular support among Pakistanis exasperated by worsening Taliban-linked attacks, which have killed nearly 2,000 people in the nuclear-armed country since July 2007.


Meanwhile the military continued its search and clearance operation in Swat, Dir and Buner to track down militants.


"A local Taliban commander was killed and nine other terrorists were arrested in Swat during the last 24 hours," it said in a statement.


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, a tactic militants adopted after similar military offensives in the past.


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.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/090725/world/pakistan_unrest_northwest_289

Troops kill 14 militants in NW Pakistan: military
Sat Jul 25, 11:24 AM



ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Pakistani troops killed at least 18 militants and arrested another 29 during an ongoing offensive against Taliban insurgents in northwest Pakistan, the military and police said on Saturday.


The military continued search and clearance operations across Malakand district and the former tourist resort of Swat.

"During last 24 hours, search and clearance operations were conducted in Swat and Malakand division," it said in a daily update on the operation.


Ten militants were killed in Buner district and 29 were arrested elsewhere in the region, it said.


Troops killed four militants in Swat and destroyed a training camp and a militants' cave, recovering a huge cache of arms and ammunition, the statement said.


In the nearby district of Upper Dir jets pounded a suspected Taliban base, killing at least four militants, local police chief Ejaz Ahmed said.


"It was a key militant stronghold in the area which has been totally destroyed," Ahmed told AFP by telephone.


Local administration chief Javed Marwat said: "It was heavy bombing and the toll may go up."


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


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, a tactic militants adopted after similar military offensives in the past.


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.


Separately, a remote controlled bomb killed two Pakistani soldiers in the tribal Bajaur district, local administration official Ghulam Haider said.


"A remote controlled bomb exploded when soldiers were scanning a road for possible landmines in Charmang region's Matak town of Bajaur, killing two soldiers," he said.


Troops retaliated, killing three suspected Taliban militants, he added.


A military official confirmed the incident but gave no casualty figures.


Bajaur borders eastern Afghan province of Kunar.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/090726/world/pakistan_afghanistan_unrest_military_3

Pakistan stretched thin for Mehsud battle
Sun Jul 26, 1:25 AM



ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Consolidating military gains in Swat and worries about Taliban spillover from south Afghanistan are clouding Pakistan's offensive against the country's most wanted warlord, analysts say.


In mid-June, the military said it had received orders and was preparing to launch an offensive against Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud and his network in the South Waziristan tribal district bordering Afghanistan.


Troops have sealed off much of the eastern border between South Waziristan and areas under government control, and carried out air raids in what the military calls softening up for a full-scale ground operation.


Pakistan says it has eliminated the Taliban in a military offensive launched last April in northwestern districts Buner, Dir and Swat, which rendered nearly two million people displaced.


But deadly skirmishes continue, raising fears that the Taliban escaped into the mountains and might return, as after previous offensives.


Signs of battle were visible on the road winding up to Swat at the weekend. South of the valley at Batkhela, two bodies were dumped by the road. Residents said they were Taliban killed by the army.


Another body lay in the Swat town of Marghazar. Residents identified him as a local Taliban commander who was captured and killed as a warning.


"The army has to consolidate Swat and help maintain security so that IDPs (internally displaced persons) return without any fear that the Taliban would come back," former interior minister Hamid Nawaz told AFP.


"My assessment is that the army will remain in Swat until the civilian set-up is also consolidated and an intelligence network is in place," added Nawaz, who is also a retired lieutenant general.


Last week US regional envoy Richard Holbrooke heard concerns in Pakistan that 4,000 US Marines operating further south in Afghanistan will push Taliban across the border and inflame in insurgency in Baluchistan.


When the US airborne assault began, Pakistan said it redeployed troops along the Afghan border to stop Taliban fighters fleeing into its southwest, ripped apart by Islamist, sectarian and regional violence.
"There can be a spillover of the Helmand operation into Pakistan and the military has to guard the border as well," said Nawaz.


"But in South Waziristan, firefights continue and strikes are being carried out against militants with a view to cause maximum damage."


Mehsud has two prices on his head -- five million dollars from the United States, which considers him a key Al-Qaeda facilitator, and 615,000 dollars from the Pakistani government.


Suspected US missiles and Pakistani air strikes target his strongholds but so far he has escaped harm.


"Baitullah Mehsud is one of the most dangerous and odious people in the entire region," said Holbrooke, but added he thought a Waziristan offensive had been delayed because of operations in Swat.


"The highest priority right now has to be to secure the areas in Swat and Buner as the refugees return... So maybe they're delaying their offensive.


The Taliban denies claims that Maulana Fazlullah, architect of the Swat uprising, was wounded and threatened renewed holy war.

"Northern Swat is still insecure and the leadership, Fazlullah, is not captured, so there's a long way to go there," recognised Holbrooke.

He said Pakistan was busy coordinating its military activities with NATO troops in Afghanistan, where the United States was determined not to repeat mistakes of the past when Taliban escaped.

Defence analyst Talat Masood said "this could be the consideration," but argued the army would continue targeted air strikes against Mehsud's network, concentrated on perfect guerrilla terrain.

"They have always been hesitant to launch a full-scale operation in South Waziristan, because the conditions there are very different than Swat," Masood said. "They would continue with limited targeted action."

Military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas ruled out any question that Waziristan was on the back burner.

"Military operations are of different forms... The areas around South Waziristan are sealed and aerial targeting is being done," Abbas said.

"We will decide upon the ground offensive at an appropriate time. We do not start operations because someone or media reports say so," he said.

 

[CougarKing]

Reserved- contents edited out.

 

[tomahawk6]

Mehsud evidently has been killed by a Predator strike that also killed one of his wives. The taliban will have to decide who moves up to take Mehsud's job. Short term disruption then business as usual for the taliban. I think that Mehsud's death is more psychological. Proof yet again that the good guys have eyes and ears everywhere and if the ISI wants a HVT dead the word goes out to the americans.

 

[CougarKing]

We'll see which one of these reports are true as the story develops.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090808/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan

By ELENA BECATOROS and ZARAR KHAN, Associated Press Writers Elena Becatoros And Zarar Khan, Associated Press Writers – 5 mins ago
ISLAMABAD – Senior Taliban commanders denied that their leader, Baitullah Mehsud, had been killed in a CIA missile strike, while conflicting reports emerged late Saturday of a clash between rival Taliban factions during a meeting to chose a successor.

Interior Minister Rahman Malik said authorities had received information about a fight breaking out during a meeting, or shura, between groups led by Hakimullah, one of the Taliban's most powerful commanders, and Waliur Rehman. Both are believed to be top contenders to replace Mehsud should reports of his death in Wednesday's strike prove true.

"We had the information that one of them is dead. So the information is being verified. We need to see the dead bodies, we need to do some DNA, we need to have something solid," Malik told local television.

He said the incident occurred Friday. However, Hakimullah spoke to an AP reporter on Saturday morning, when he called to claim that Mehsud was alive.

A senior government official, who could not be named due to the sensitivity of the situation, cast doubt on the claim.

He said there were reports of a clash among Taliban guards at a meeting Saturday evening and indications some people had been wounded, but that there was no credible information to suggest any of the Taliban leaders were among them.

Another Taliban commander, Noor Sayed, denied to The Associated Press that there had been any quarrel between rival Taliban factions. He said he had spoken to Waliur Rehman himself and that he was not injured.

Nevertheless, local TV stations were running stories saying that either Hakimullah or Waliur Rehman, or both, had been killed.

The meeting was reportedly being held somewhere in the lawless, rugged tribal region of Waziristan, an area off limits to journalists, and the claims were impossible to verify independently.

The conflicting reports came as Taliban commanders, including Hakimullah, insisted Mehsud, suspected in the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and numerous suicide attacks across Pakistan, was alive despite assertions he was killed during a missile strike on his father-in-law's house in South Waziristan.

On Friday, four intelligence officials said they had information that the Taliban leader had been killed in Wednesday's missile strike, but acknowledged that authorities did not have his body as proof. Intelligence officials said Taliban commanders were holding a meeting to decide a successor. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter with the media.

Mehsud's aide Kafayat Ullah told the AP on Friday that Mehsud was killed with one of his two wives in his stronghold in South Waziristan, while on Saturday, Malik told Pakistani television there were "confirmed reports" that Mehsud was dead. He did not elaborate.

Yet three Taliban fighters — Hakimullah, Qari Hussain, who is known for training suicide bombers, and Taliban spokesman Maulvi Umar — called AP reporters and insisted their leader was alive.
"The reports about his death are false," Hussain said, adding that "I will take revenge against the Pakistan government for celebrating the false news of Baitullah Mehsud's death."

He said he met with Mehsud on Saturday and that he was well.

But the Taliban commanders offered no proof, and the claim could be aimed at keeping militants unified until a successor could be found.

Mehsud's Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan is more a loose alliance of groups operating in Pakistan's lawless and mountainous tribal region near the border with Afghanistan, rather than one cohesive organization. Taking out the man who coordinated the factions could lead to fierce rivalry over who will succeed him, and it could be in the interests of the top commanders to deny their leader was dead until they could agree on who will replace him.

Mahmood Shah, a former security chief for the tribal regions, was skeptical about the Taliban's assertions, saying the claims could be part of a leadership struggle.

"I think that this denial from them ... doesn't appear to be holding much water," Shah said, noting that the Taliban had waited for two days after news began to leak out that Mehsud was probably dead to deny it.

"It should have come earlier and .... much stronger. For example, if he was alive he could have spoken himself," Shah said.

"There is, I think, a struggle going on for the leadership, and Hakimullah Mehsud is one of the contenders," he added.

Without irrefutable evidence either way — a body or an appearance by Mehsud himself — it was impossible to determine whether the man Pakistan considered its No. 1 threat was dead.

Last year, a senior Pakistani intelligence official said Mehsud had died of kidney failure due to diabetes complications. But a Taliban spokesman and a doctor denied the report the same day and Mehsud re-emerged.

___

Associated Press writers Ishtiaq Mahsud in Dera Ismail Khan, Riaz Khan in Peshawar, and Ashraf Khan and Nahal Toosi in Islamabad contributed to this report.

 

[The Bread Guy]

"In a little-noticed article published last month in a West Point counterterrorism journal, a British academic pointed out that while the world waits for the kind of global public announcement of doomsday that would come from a Bond villain, Islamist militants in Pakistan have quietly launched at least three attacks in the past two years on military bases that may contain nuclear weapons."


"Pakistan’s nuclear facilities have come under attack from the Taliban and other groups, and there is a “genuine” risk that militants could seize weapons or bomb-making material, an article published in a West Point research group’s newsletter said."


"The Terrorist Threat to Pakistan’s Nuclear Weapons" (.pdf)


Canada's latest this week (from PAK media):  "Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday expressed his gratitude to the people and government of Canada for its announcement of enhanced assistance of 25 million Canadian dollars for the rehabilitation of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) and reconstruction phase in Malakand Division.  In a meeting with Beverly Oda, Canadian Minister for International Cooperation, here at the PM House, the prime minister also conveyed his appreciation for the debt swap of 449 million Canadian dollars by the Canadian government in the field of education, teachers training and vocational institutions in Pakistan .... The prime minister also briefed the Canadian minister on successful military operation against the militants in Malakand Division. He said Pakistan would continue its campaign against the menace of extremism and terrorism for its own peace and security.  Beverly Oda acknowledged that Pakistan had commendably confronted the militants at a great human and material cost. She termed the government’s relief efforts for millions of IDPs laudable and promised that her country would continue assisting Pakistan."

 

[CougarKing]

Another update:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090813/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan

Dozens die in militant battle in NW Pakistan
By ISHTIAQ MAHSUD and ELENA BECATOROS, Associated Press Writers Ishtiaq Mahsud And Elena Becatoros, Associated Press Writers
34 mins ago

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan – Fierce clashes between Taliban fighters and those loyal to a pro-government warlord killed at least 70 people Wednesday, intelligence officials said, a week after a CIA drone reportedly killed the top Taliban leader in Pakistan.

The battles pitched Taliban militants against followers of tribal warlord Turkistan Bitani on the fringes of the South Waziristan border region, where U.S. and Pakistani officials believe Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud died in a missile strike on Aug. 5.

Pakistan's army sent in helicopter gunships as reinforcements to pound about 300 Taliban fighters attacking Bitani's mountain stronghold, two intelligence officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

The fighting raged for five hours, with militants using rockets, mortars and anti-aircraft guns against Bitani's village of Sura Ghar, the officials said. They said wireless intercepts from the area showed at least 70 people — including one woman in the village — were killed. Ten of the dead were from Bitani's stronghold, the officials said, while the rest were militants.

It was impossible to independently confirm the death toll, as the fighting was taking place in a remote mountainous area that is off-limits to journalists.

Bitani put the casualty figure higher, telling The Associated Press that about 90 fighters were killed and 40 houses destroyed.

The fighting followed days of confusion and competing claims over Mehsud's fate. While U.S. and Pakistani officials say they are almost certain he is dead, Taliban commanders insist he is alive.

Neither side has produced any evidence, and since the claims of Mehsud's death, both the Taliban and the Pakistani government have been waging competing propaganda campaigns over the state of the Taliban's leadership.

Days after the missile strike, Interior Minister Rehman Malik claimed a Taliban meeting to choose Mehsud's successor degenerated into a gunbattle between the leading contenders — Waliur Rehman and Hakimullah Mehsud — and that one of the two was dead.

Bitani made similar claims, saying there had been a gunfight at the meeting, known as a shura — although he had said both Rehman and Hakimullah Mehsud were dead.

The two militant commanders both later phoned international media organizations to prove they survived.

Baitullah Mehsud and his followers have been the target of both U.S. and Pakistani operations aimed at ridding the country's volatile northwest of militants.

Washington has increased its focus on Pakistan's rugged tribal regions because they provide safe haven for insurgents fighting international forces across the border in Afghanistan. The U.S. is also concerned the militants could undermine the stability of the government in Islamabad, especially after Taliban insurgents briefly captured areas some 60 miles (100 kilometers) from the capital. That bold takeover stoked fears Pakistan's nuclear weapons could fall into the wrong hands.

A recent report written by a U.K.-based security expert said militants had attacked nuclear facilities three times in two years, but a military spokesman denied that on Wednesday.

Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said there is "absolutely no chance" the country's atomic weapons could fall into terrorist hands.

Shaun Gregory, a professor at Bradford University's Pakistan Security Research Unit, wrote that several militant attacks have already hit military bases where nuclear components are secretly stored. The article appeared in the July newsletter of the Combating Terrorism Center of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Abbas said Wednesday that none of the military bases named was used to store atomic weapons.

Separately, a bomb and gunfire attack against a paramilitary checkpoint in the southwestern city of Quetta killed at least two passers-by and wounded four other people, including a police officer, authorities said.

Senior police officer Mohammad Suleman said a booby-trapped motorcycle exploded near a Frontier Corps checkpoint, and then gunmen on another motorcycle opened fire.

Quetta is the capital of Baluchistan, where ethnic Baluch militants have waged a low-level insurgency for decades. Suleman said Baluch separatists were suspected in the attack.

____

Becatoros contributed from Islamabad. Associated Press writer Zarar Khan in Islamabad also contributed to this report.

 

[CougarKing]

And the offensive continues:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090813/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan

Pakistan pounds Taliban commander's bases, 12 die
By HUSSAIN AFZAL, Associated Press Writer Hussain Afzal, Associated Press Writer
24 mins ago

PARACHINAR, Pakistan – Helicopter gunships pummeled a key Taliban commander's bases in Pakistan's northwest, killing at least 12 insurgents Thursday as government forces ratcheted up pressure on the militants following their top leader's reported death, officials said.

Military helicopters destroyed several bases and hide-outs Thursday morning near the Kurram and Aurakzai tribal regions run by militant commander Hakimullah Mehsud, three intelligence officials said.

Hakimullah Mehsud is a clansman and potential successor to Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who was reported killed in a CIA missile strike on Aug. 5.

Thursday's attacks were on bases in tribal areas near the Afghan border, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) north of the Mehsud clan's main base in south Waziristan.

The intelligence officials said troops saw the bodies from the air but did not retrieve them. Several militants were also wounded, and the casualties could rise because some people were believed to be still buried under the rubble of their hide-outs, said the officials, who sought anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Pakistan's military redoubled its fight against the Pakistani Taliban — a loose federation of Islamist groups with various tribal and regional factions — in April after militants broke a peace deal and took over a district about 60 miles (100 kilometers) from the capital, Islamabad.

(...)

 

[MarkOttawa]

Petraeus offering and persuading:

U.S. general in Pakistan for talks on equipment
http://www.reuters.com/article/asiaCrisis/idUSISL487557

U.S. General David Petraeus and Pakistan military leaders would discuss on Wednesday expediting delivery of U.S. equipment to Pakistan so it can expand its offensive against Taliban militants, U.S. officials said.

With U.S. troop strength growing in Afghanistan, the United States wants Pakistan to eradicate Islamist militant enclaves on its side of the border and prevent Taliban fighters from crossing into Afghanistan.

The Pakistani army has been battling militants in parts of the northwest for months but a commander said on Tuesday the army was short of equipment, including Cobra attack helicopters [emphasis added], needed for a large-scale ground operation.

"It is part of a substantial effort to strengthen U.S.-Pakistani military cooperation," U.S. envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, told Reuters, referring to the Patraeus visit.

Holbrooke said on Tuesday that Washington was trying to expedite delivery of equipment requested by the Pakistani army, including helicopters and parts.

Pakistan's request for equipment would "come up for sure" in talks between Petraeus and senior Pakistani military officials, Holbrooke said.

He said Pakistani army chiefs would also provide Petraeus with their assessment of the battle in the Swat valley, northwest of Islamabad, after a three-month offensive in which Pakistani forces have pushed back militants.

Pakistan forces have also stepped up attacks on Pakistani Taliban fighters led by Baitullah Mehsud in the South Waziristan region on the Afghan border.

Mehsud is widely believed to have been killed this month in a missile strike by a U.S. pilotless drone aircraft.

OTHER FACTIONS

The United States also wants Pakistan to move against other militant factions, based in various areas including North Waziristan, which focus on battling Western forces in Afghanistan.

But a senior Pakistani commander, Lieutenant-General Nadeem Ahmed, said on Tuesday Pakistan would need months to prepare for a ground offensive against the Taliban in South Waziristan [emphasis added].

Some U.S. officials have expressed concern Pakistan will lose momentum if it puts off the offensive for too long...

Mark
Ottawa

 

[CougarKing]

Hopefully a Predator UAV will find him quite soon.

Ruthless new Pakistan Taliban leader named
(philstar.com) Updated August 23, 2009 06:56 PM 

ISLAMABAD (AP) – The commander named by members of the Pakistani Taliban as its new leader is as ruthless as his predecessor, taking credit for several attacks, and could order more in the coming weeks to prove the terror network is still in business.

Despite the naming of Hakimullah Mehsud to replace ex-chief Baitullah Mehsud, who is believed to have been killed in a CIA missile strike Aug. 5, questions remained Sunday as to whether the al-Qaida-allied group was united behind their new leader.

A new Taliban leader could direct more fighters across the border in Afghanistan like other jihadi commanders in the northwest, joining insurgents there in the fight against US and NATO forces as they try to stabilize the country eight years after the US-led invasion.

Baitullah was mostly known for suicide strikes against Pakistani civilian, government and security targets.

Two close aides to another commander, Maulvi Faqir Mohammad, told The Associated Press on Saturday a 42-member Taliban council, or shura, had appointed Hakimullah their new leader in an unanimous decision. Like other members of the network, they insisted Baitullah was alive but sick, hence the need for a new chief. US and Pakistani officials are almost certain he is dead.

"Now all these talks of differences should end," said one of the aides, Bakht Zada. "There have not been any differences ever."

Mohammd Amir Rana, an expert on Pakistani militant groups, said he believed the Taliban had not agreed on a replacement, regardless of Mohammad's aides' remarks.

"Maulvi Faqir Mohammad is trying to manipulate the race by announcing to the press that Hakimullah is the head," he said. "Until now there is no consensus," he said, adding that supporters of Hakimullah's major rival, Waliur Rehman, did not accept him.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the government had received intelligence reports about Hakimullah's appointment "as the chief terrorist" but there was no official confirmation. The Dawn newspaper quoted one unidentified intelligence officer as saying the announcement "was a ruse" as part of the ongoing power struggle.

Verifying information from the tribal regions is very difficult, especially since both the government and the Taliban have made claims in the past that turned out not to be true.

Hakimullah comes from the same tribe as Baitullah and had been seen as a likely replacement.

Earlier this month, Pakistani intelligence agencies claimed Hakimullah had been killed in a shootout between rival factions over who should take over a movement that controls large swaths of territory close to the Afghan border, up to 25,000 men and much arms and cash.

Hakimullah called The Associated Press and other news agencies after that battle to say he was still alive.

His apparent selection as head could shore up the Taliban, said Kamran Bokhari, director of Middle East analysis for Stratfor, a global intelligence company.

"It's an attempt to stabilize the group after the initial reports of infighting," Bokhari said, noting the loss of Baitullah was "a massive blow to the organization."

As military chief of Baitullah's Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or Pakistani Taliban Movement, Hakimullah commanded three tribal regions and had a reputation as Baitullah's most ruthless deputy. He first appeared in public to journalists in November 2008, when he offered to take reporters on a ride in a US Humvee taken from a supply truck heading to Afghanistan.

Authorities say he was behind threats to foreign embassies in Islamabad, and there was a 10 million rupee ($120,000) bounty on his head. Hakimullah claimed responsibility for the June 9 bombing of the Pearl Continental hotel in the northwestern city of Peshawar, and the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore earlier this year.

Since Aug. 5, Pakistani officials have been eager to portray the Taliban as in disarray, saying commanders and the rank-and-file were fighting among themselves. At one point, Mohammad — who comes from a different part of the tribal region — claimed to have taken over the leadership.

While it is unclear whether he will be able to maintain unity, Hakimullah was likely chosen for his operational capabilities, said Bokhari, adding that new suicide bombings could be expected.

More attacks would demonstrate the Pakistani Taliban is still intact, he said.

"I think that the decision of the shura to appoint this particular individual is based on that consideration," he said.

Another close Mohammad aide, Sher Zamin, also confirmed that Hakimullah had been elected as the new Taliban chief.

 

[CougarKing]

Yikes. Give the Pakistani Taliban any breathing room again and they will bounce back again, like after that ceasefire which allowed them to regroup and reinforce in Swat.

Pakistan's Noncampaign Against the Taliban

Despite strenuous entreaties by top U.S. officials, Pakistan has abandoned plans to mount a military offensive against the terrorist group responsible for a two-year campaign of suicide bombings across the country. Although the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has been in disarray since an Aug. 5 missile strike from a CIA-operated drone killed its leader, Baitullah Mehsud, the Pakistani military has concluded that a ground attack on its strongholds in South Waziristan would be too difficult.

The Pakistani military has choked off main roads leading out of South Waziristan, and the country's fighter jets have been pounding targets from the air (an operation Islamabad insists it will continue). But that falls short of the military campaign the U.S. desires. Instead, Pakistani authorities are hoping to exploit divisions within the TTP to prize away some factions, while counting on the CIA's drones to take out Baitullah's successors. (See pictures of refugees fleeing the fighting in Pakistan's Swat Valley.)

U.S. counterterrorism officials worry that a failure to capitalize on the post-Baitullah confusion within the TTP will allow its new leader, Hakimullah Mehsud, to consolidate his position and reorganize the group. Officials in Washington say special envoy Richard Holbrooke and NATO commander General Stanley McChrystal have pressed the Pakistanis to strike while the iron is hot. But after initial promises to launch a ground offensive in South Waziristan, the Pakistanis have backed off.

A top Pakistani general, Nadeem Ahmed, recently said preparation for such an operation could take up to two months. Now there will be no ground assault at all, according to a senior Pakistani politician known to have strong military ties. Instead, the politician tells TIME, the military will try to buy off some TTP factions through peace deals.

This alarms U.S. officials, who point out that terrorist leaders have previously used peace deals to expand their influence. Such deals have been "abject failures that at the end of the day have made the security situation in parts of Pakistan worse," says a U.S. counterterrorism official. "Why the Pakistani government keeps returning to this strategy is a mystery." (See pictures of Pakistan beneath the surface.)

A senior Pakistani military official tells TIME a ground operation in the mountainous wilds of South Waziristan would be too difficult and would risk triggering a "tribal uprising" in a region over which Islamabad has little control.

That assessment is shared by some Pakistan experts in Washington, who say the country's military, despite some success against militants in the Swat Valley, simply doesn't have the ability to confront the TTP head-on. A ground operation would leave the Pakistani army "with its nose bloodied," says Daniel Markey of the Council on Foreign Relations. Having "come out of Swat looking reasonably good," Pakistan's generals don't want to risk "taking a morale hit." (Read "Are Pakistan's Taliban Leaders Fighting Among Themselves?")

But the experts — like some U.S. officials — suspect the Pakistani military lacks the desire to eliminate the TTP entirely. Bruce Riedel of the Brookings Institution, who conducted the Obama Administration's review of Afghanistan and Pakistan policy, says the military may simply want "to get the TTP back to where it was two years ago — a malleable force that doesn't attack the Pakistani state, and particularly not the army." A somewhat tame TTP is a useful bogeyman "to keep civilians appreciative of the need for the army to be getting resources and priority attention," Riedel adds.

For the Obama Administration, the Pakistani military's reluctance to take on the TTP doesn't bode well for the pursuit of U.S. interests. Washington would like Islamabad to confront the groups that pose a direct threat to NATO forces across the border in Afghanistan — the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network. But "it's not clear that the Pakistanis are prepared to pay more than lip service to that," says Riedel.

— With reporting by Omar Waraich / Islamabad 

http://www.time.com/time/world/artic...919327,00.html

 

[tomahawk6]

From Strateypage.

Standing Back And Hoping For The Best
August 31, 2009: As police expand their search of Pakistan's Swat valley, looking for any remaining Taliban, they are finding that local tribal militias, who have openly declared war on pro-Taliban tribesmen, have been there first. Over two hundred bodies, of pro-Taliban men, have been found so far. Many local men in Swat sided with the Taliban, and participated in the brutal Taliban rule. These guys have not been able to get transport out of the area, because of all the army roadblocks, and the difficulty of going cross country for long distances. So the tribal militias are hunting down and killing known Taliban thugs.

The Taliban movement in Pakistan is also a business. While the Afghan Taliban have lucrative financial arrangements with the heroin gangs, the Pakistan Taliban get lesser amounts of cash by helping the heroin smuggling and distribution inside Pakistan, and into India and elsewhere in the region. Karachi, the largest port in Pakistan, is also a key smuggling conduit for heroin headed to the Persian Gulf. The heroin business in Pakistan is farmed out to whichever criminal gangs offer the best deals. It's all very competitive and businesslike. It's also very ruthless. Homicide is a common problem solving method. Many Pushtun tribesmen join the criminal gangs outright, rather than being Taliban mercenaries. The poor, illiterate and tough Pushtun tribesmen have long been prominent in the gangs. One reason the government was so eager to get millions of Afghan refugees to go home (which most now have) was to eliminate the many criminal gangs that formed among the unemployed Afghan Pushtuns. But the Pakistani Pushtun gangsters remain a problem. At one point, in the 1980s, it was thought that the establishment of hundreds of religious  schools in the tribal areas would reduce the number of gangsters. But instead, these schools gave rise to the Taliban and al Qaeda. All this is nothing new for the lowland people of Pakistan and northern India. The Pushtun tribes have been a problem for centuries.

The army has changed its mind about invading South Waziristan, the home of the pro-Taliban Mehsud tribe, and the core of Taliban power in Pakistan. The generals believe that the new Taliban leader, Hakimullah Mehsud, is such a hot headed terrorist thug, that more tribal factions (both Taliban and anti-Taliban) will rise up against him. Pakistani gunships and warplanes, along with American UAVs, will support the anti-Taliban tribesmen as they finish off the Islamic radicals in their midst. Or at least that's the plan.

Attacks on trucks carrying NATO supplies from Pakistan to Afghanistan have resumed. The cause is not a Taliban attempt to halt these supply movements, but local criminal gangs trying to force customs police to stop searching trucks crossing the border. The customs police have become more diligent lately, as part of a crackdown on smuggling via the two main highways between the two nations.

India has arrested the son of an ISI (Pakistani intelligence service) in northern India, and interrogation revealed that son and father were heavily involved in a Pakistani operation that produced counterfeit Indian currency in Lahore and Karachi, flew it to Nepal, and then smuggled it across the border into India, where it was sold at half the face value.

India has been conducting an offensive all Summer against Maoists in several eastern states. While successful, casualties among security personnel has been higher than expected. The Maoists have been aggressive in resisting police and army patrols.

August 30, 2009: Pakistani police arrested two more suspects in the terror attack in Mumbai India last November. This makes seven suspects that have been arrested, and that Pakistan says it will prosecute. India remains doubtful. In the Swat Valley, a suicide bomber got into a police training camp, and killed fifteen police trainees.

August 29, 2009: In Bihar, India, police captured a Maoist leader, who had recently ordered an attack that left five policemen dead.

August 28, 2009: Pakistani gunships attacked a small island in the Swat river, which was found to be a training camp for suicide bombers, and the source of three recent attacks. The gunships killed 18, including six suicide bombers in training. Troops came in after the attack to collect documents and other evidence.

August 27, 2009: In Torkham, Pakistan,  one of the major border crossings with Afghanistan, a terrorist bomb killed 22 border guards  gathered for the meal to break the Ramadan fast. A few hours earlier, U.S. Hellfire missiles from a UAV had killed at least eight Taliban.

In the eastern India state of Jharkhand, Maoists attacked the house where a suspected police informer lived, killing four civilians, including a child. For the last week, several Maoist bands have been on a rampage in the states of Orissa, Jharkhand and Bihar, attacking several civilian targets. All this was to force the police to admit they had arrested two Maoist leaders, and to show that the Maoists would not be intimidated by the loss of the two leaders.

August 26, 2009: In southwest Pakistan, rebel Baluchi tribesmen blew up a natural gas pipeline. While this was quickly repaired, more attacks were promised. The Baluchis want a larger cut of the natural gas revenue. Most Baluchis don't want to set up a separate Baluchistan, because they fear being taken over by neighboring Iran (which already has a lot of Baluchi in its southeast). While most Pakistanis still fear an Indian invasion, in the southwest, Iran is the big bad. Al Qaeda and the Taliban have kept their violence out of Baluchistan, because the province has become a good base area. Many Baluchi tribesmen are willing to shelter Taliban and al Qaeda leaders, especially if it means much less terrorist violence in their territory. 

 

[CougarKing]

Another update:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090919/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan

Pakistan police raid US-contracted security firm
By MUNIR AHMAD and NAHAL TOOSI, Associated Press Writers Munir Ahmad And Nahal Toosi, Associated Press Writers
55 mins ago

ISLAMABAD – Pakistani police raided a local security firm that helps protect the U.S. Embassy on Saturday, seizing dozens of allegedly unlicensed weapons at a time when unusually intense media scrutiny of America's use of private contractors has deepened anti-U.S. sentiment.

Two employees of the Inter-Risk company were arrested during the raids in Islamabad, police official Rana Akram said. Reporters were shown the seized weapons — 61 assault rifles and nine pistols. Akram said police were seeking the firm's owner.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Rick Snelsire said the U.S. contract with Inter-Risk to provide security at the embassy and consulates took effect this year. It is believed to be the first U.S. contract for the firm, said Snelsire, who did not have a figure for its amount.
"Our understanding is they obtained licenses with whatever they brought into the country to meet the contractual needs," he said. "We told the government that we had a contract with Inter-Risk."

Akram said he had no idea about any U.S. links to Inter-Risk. A man who answered the phone number listed for the company and identified himself as Riaz Hussain confirmed the raid but gave contradictory answers when asked about any U.S. ties.

The company popped up Friday in one of a slew of local media reports that have focused on private security firms American diplomats are believed to use in Pakistan.

In particular, Pakistani reporters, anti-U.S. bloggers and others have suggested the U.S. is using the American firm formerly known as Blackwater — a claim that chills many Pakistanis because of the company's alleged involvement in killings of Iraqi civilians.

The U.S. Embassy denies it uses Blackwater — now known as Xe Services — in Pakistan.

Scandals involving U.S. private contractors have occurred elsewhere in the region.

In Washington on Friday, the Commission on Wartime Contracting heard testimony about another contractor — ArmorGroup North America — involving alleged illegal and immoral conduct by its guards at the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan.

Earlier this year, the Iraqi government refused to grant Xe Services an operating license amid continued outrage over a 2007 lethal firefight involving some of its employees in Baghdad, although the State Department has temporarily extended a contract with a Xe subsidiary to protect U.S. diplomats in Iraq.

Many of the reports in Pakistan have been prompted by U.S. plans to expand its embassy space and staff. Among the other rumors the U.S. denies: that 1,000 U.S. Marines will land in the capital, and that Americans will set up a Guantanamo-style prison.

The U.S. says it needs to add hundreds more staff to allow it to disburse billions of dollars in additional humanitarian and economic aid to Pakistan. The goal is to improve education and other areas, lessening the allure of extremism.

Some analysts say Islamist and other opposition groups may be planting the stories in the Pakistani press and blogs to portray Pakistan's government as an American lackey.

Pakistani political analyst Talat Masood said Inter-Risk's association with America "will increase the apprehensions that existed that the Americans are engaged in clandestine activities," and that the raid shows "the Pakistan government is asserting itself."

The U.S. considers stability in Pakistan critical to helping the faltering war effort in neighboring Afghanistan, and has pressed Pakistan to crack down on extremism on its soil. Al-Qaida and Taliban fighters are believed to use Pakistan's northwestern regions bordering Afghanistan as hide-outs from which to plan attacks on Western troops in Afghanistan.
Pakistan has launched offensives against militants, but has also relied on some local militias to help fend off the Pakistani Taliban. Some of these militias share the same aims as the Taliban in Afghanistan, but disagree with targeting the Pakistani government.

On Saturday, one pro-government militia leader said the army had asked him to stop fighting the Pakistani Taliban. Turkistan Bhitani told The Associated Press that he and 24 aides surrendered their weapons to the army in the northwestern city of Dera Ismail Khan and that he had asked 350 of his men to do so as well.

Pakistani army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, however, said he knew nothing of such an arrangement.

Also Saturday, a bomb at a security checkpoint in the northwestern region of Dara Adam Khel killed at least two people, local government official Aslam Khan said. He said police are still investigating if it was a suicide attack and determining the identity of the victims.

Taliban fighters in Pakistan's northwestern regions bordering Afghanistan frequently target security checkpoints. The Sunni extremist militants also have fueled violence pitting Muslim sects against each another.

Police said Saturday that the death toll from a suicide car bombing at a hotel in a Shiite Muslim-dominated village in Pakistan's northwest rose to 40. The Friday blast in Usterzai village was followed by a bomb in nearby Cho village that killed a Sunni official.

The army said in a statement that 51 militants had surrendered in the last 24 hours in the northwest Swat Valley, and that another seven were arrested during ongoing operations there. It also said militants fatally shot five civilians in a minibus there.

___

Associated Press writers Lori Hinnant in Kabul and Ishtiaq Mahsud in Dera Ismail Khan contributed to this report.

 

[CougarKing]

A couple of more notable updates, including the Pakistani military's concern over the latest US aid bill:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091007/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan

ISLAMABAD – Pakistan's powerful military, preparing for a new offensive against Taliban and al-Qaida militants, expressed "serious concern" Wednesday about a proposed multibillion-dollar U.S. aid package some consider an avenue to American meddling.

The military's unusual public statement opens a rift with the weak U.S.-backed civilian administration in Islamabad and bolsters opposition leaders. It also appears intended to show the Pakistani people that their army is not taking orders from Washington.

The aid bill, which awaits President Barack Obama's signature, would provide Pakistan with $1.5 billion a year over the next five years to spend on democratic, economic and social development programs. It also allows "such sums as may be necessary" for military aid, subject to special conditions related to its fight against militants.

U.S. officials say the bill's broad goal is to alleviate widespread poverty among the 175 million Pakistanis, lessening the allure of Taliban and other Islamist extremists who have wreaked havoc in the country and across the border in Afghanistan.

But to many here, the conditions attached to the aid are a sign of growing, and unwanted, U.S. influence in Pakistan. The worries are burnished by a media-fueled backlash over U.S. plans to add hundreds more embassy staff in Islamabad. American officials say the added staff are needed to disburse and monitor the cash flow.

"The question in Pakistani minds is: 'Is so much intrusion worth what we will be getting?'" said Ayaz Amir, a journalist and member of parliament with the Pakistan Muslim League-N, the largest opposition party. "Once we accept the terms of this bill and we start receiving aid under it, already great American influence will grow."

A Parliament discussion of the issue began on a fiery note Wednesday night, with PML-N lawmaker Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan claiming "each and every page of the bill is reflective of the insulting attitude towards Pakistan."

The military's statement was vague. It said senior commanders, including the army chief, "expressed serious concern regarding clauses (of the bill) impacting on national security." But it also referred to the parliament's deliberation on the subject, which it said would allow "the government to develop a national response."

The statement came after local media reports signaling military displeasure with the bill.

One part of the bill says the U.S. must assess the extent of control Pakistan's government has over the military, including its budgets, the chain of command and top promotions. In a country that has spent about half its 62-year existence under military rule, such language may not go down well with the army.
Cyril Almeida, a columnist for Dawn newspaper, said it was unusual to see the military view publicized so blatantly, and that could lead to greater tension with the Pakistani president, causing political instability at a time the U.S. needs Islamabad to stay focused on battling militants.

The debate comes as the army stepped up preparations for a new offensive in South Waziristan — seen as al-Qaida and the Taliban's major stronghold on the Afghan border — in what could be one of the most important operations against militants here since 2001.

"God willing, peace will again be restored in the area through a successful operation," Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, the army's chief spokesman, told the ARY news channel.

He did not give a start date for an offensive, which would face steep challenges, ranging from harsh terrain to well dug-in militants. Analysts say 10,000 well-armed militants, including foreign fighters, are in the region.

Pakistan's government and the U.S. embassy on Wednesday defended the aid bill, while Pakistan Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said the government will look into the army's reservations.

Opposition leaders object to a number of items in the bill, including references to the southwest city of Quetta and eastern town of Muridke as militant hubs — a claim they say there is no evidence to back up.

The U.S. believes the Afghan Taliban's top leadership is in Quetta, while Muridke is a base for militants linked to attacks on India.

The Quetta reference in particular could be seen as potentially giving latitude for the U.S. to launch missile strikes into Pakistan's southwest, something that would infuriate Pakistanis already unhappy with such attacks in the northwest region.

Language in the bill that says the U.S. will expect Pakistan to cooperate in efforts to dismantle nuclear weapons supplier networks alarms some because it suggests Pakistan provide "direct access to Pakistani nationals associated with such networks."

Aside from specifics, critics say the bill paints Pakistan as a misbehaved child needing a monitor, and does not give it enough praise for the sacrifices and progress it has made against militants on its soil.

"The tone and tenor of the bill in terms of conditionalities is not just intrusive, it's also overbearing and bordering on the humiliation of Pakistan," said Mushahid Hussain, a leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q. "We are not being treated kindly."

Gerald Feierstein, the deputy chief of the U.S. mission in Islamabad, dismissed the notion that the U.S. was trying to interfere in Pakistani affairs.

"Our viewpoint is that this should not be a discussion about the conditions, it should be a discussion about what this legislation can accomplish for Pakistan," he told The Associated Press in a phone interview. "It has the U.S. and Pakistan working together on trying to address the relevant challenges confronting Pakistan — health, education, transportation, energy."

Farahnaz Ispahani, a top aide to Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, insisted the standards presented by the bill were reasonable and that the language had actually been softened through the various versions.

"If the government feels at any point that this is intrusive to the sovereignty of Pakistan, it can say 'No, thank you,' and walk away from the aid," she said, declining to comment on the reported displeasure within the army.

Almeida said that no matter what, in the end, Pakistan was unlikely to reject billions of dollars in U.S. assistance. The economic needs of the country are simply too great.

"There'll be a lot of noise, but at the end of the day the bill is about giving Pakistan money, and we need money and we're probably going to take the money, but we're going to do in a way which suggests that we're taking it under protest," Almeida said.

___

Associated Press writers Zarar Khan and Munir Ahmad contributed to this report.

Plus another update from yesterday:

Taliban claim responsibility for UN blast
AP

6 mins ago

ISLAMABAD – The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility Tuesday for the deadly suicide bombing at the U.N. food agency's heavily fortified compound in Islamabad and said they planned more such attacks in the future.

The attack, which killed five workers for the World Food Program on Monday, pushed the U.N. to temporarily close its offices in Pakistan and exposed the vulnerability of many international relief agencies working to provide aid to millions of civilians affected by the fight between the government and Islamic militant groups.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik accused the Taliban of carrying out the attack to avenge the Aug. 5 slaying of their leader Baitullah Mehsud in a U.S. drone attack.

Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq confirmed his group was behind the strike in a phone conversation with The Associated Press.

"We proudly claim the responsibility for the suicide attack at the U.N. office in Islamabad. We will send more bombers for such attacks," he said.

Tariq did not reveal why the group attacked a U.N. relief agency. He said its future targets would include Pakistani security officials, government offices and American installations.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091006/ap_on_...WxpYmFuY2xhaW0-

 

[CougarKing]

Let's see how long this new offensive will last, if it ever starts or if this will result in just more talk; one has to be more skeptical especially after they abandoned the offensive a few months ago, IIRC.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091010/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan

    PESHAWAR, Pakistan – Pakistan vowed to launch a new offensive against militant strongholds along the Afghan border after a suicide bomber blew up a car near a crowded outdoor market on Friday, killing 49 people in the bloodiest attack to hit the country in six months.

The United States has been pushing Pakistan to take strong action against insurgents who are using its soil as a base for attacks in neighboring Afghanistan. A push into the rugged mountains of South Waziristan could be risky for the army, which was beaten back on three previous offensives into the Taliban heartland there and forced to sign peace deals.

But the army may have been emboldened by a reasonably successful military campaign in the Swat Valley and adjoining Buner district and by the killing in a U.S. missile strike of Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud. The military also appears committed to destroying Mehsud's group, as opposed to its often ambivalent position toward other insurgents in the past.

Islamic militants have been carrying out nearly weekly attacks in Pakistan, but the sheer scale of Friday's bombing — which killed nine children — pushed the government to declare it would take the fight to South Waziristan, part of the lawless tribal belt where al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden may be hiding.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the militants had left the government "no other option" but to hit back. "We will have to proceed," he told a local television station. "All roads are leading to South Waziristan."
The massive blast tore through a busy road in the heart of Peshawar, a city of more than 3 million people about 150 miles northeast of South Waziristan along the Afghan border. The force of the bomb flipped a bus on its side, ripped apart a motorbike and flung charred debris down the street.

Passers-by pulled out the wounded and the dead, covering the bodies of victims whose clothes were burned. One man staggered down the road, his face covered with blood.

Another man dashed from the scene carrying an 8-year-old girl dressed in a bright orange outfit in his arms. The child, Amna Bibi, was heading to a wedding when she was caught by the blast. Her family, sobbing at the main Peshawar hospital in their wedding finery, said later that she had died. Amna's mother, Zareen, kissed her daughter's bandaged face and wept.

"I understood for the first time in my life what doomsday would look like," said Noor Alam, who suffered wounds to his legs and face.

The hospital was overwhelmed by the wounded, with many forced to share beds. Some of the dead were laid out on nearby gurneys, covered with sheets.

"I pray to Allah, please destroy all these people who are killing the innocents," said Sher Akbar from his hospital bed.

Zafar Iqbal, a doctor at the hospital, said 49 people were killed and more than 100 were wounded.

Peshawar Police Chief Liaqat Ali Khan said the attacker drove a car packed with a massive amount of explosives and artillery rounds. The blast was heard for miles around.

There was no claim of responsibility for the bombing and its target was not immediately apparent. Militants typically attack government, military or Western targets, but previous blasts have hit public places as well.

The bombing, along with an attack Monday at a U.N. aid agency in Islamabad that killed five, highlighted the insurgents' ability to hit major cities despite previous army offensives and Mehsud's death in August.

In April, the military launched a three-month offensive in the Swat Valley and largely cleared the region of the thousands of Taliban reportedly based there. That operation followed an August 2008 offensive in the semiautonomous Bajur tribal area along the Afghan border that ended six months later with the army declaring success. The militants have fought back with scores of suicide attacks.

For months, officials have been hinting at a new operation in South Waziristan, blockading roads there and carrying out targeted airstrikes as thousands of civilians fled the area.

But until Malik's comments Friday, no Pakistani official had publicly declared the military was preparing a full offensive.

Malik did not give a timeline for an offensive that is likely to be far fiercer than the Swat and Bajur battles.

The army has launched three operations in South Waziristan since 2001 but each time has been forced to abandon the push and sign peace deals with the militants.

The region is considered the epicenter of militant resistance in the country, and new Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud, who pledged to repel any attack, is reported to have 10,000 guerrilla fighters on his side. An Associated Press reporter visiting the area this week saw Taliban taking up key vantage points, and residents said fighters were digging trenches along routes the military was expected to traverse.

The area is filled with independent, heavily armed Pashtun tribes hostile to outsiders — including the Pakistani army — and any offensive that led to high civilian casualties could spark a quick public backlash and bolster the Taliban.

___

Associated Press writers Munir Ahmad and Asif Shahzad contributed to this report from Islamabad.
 

 

[tomahawk6]

I think the Pakistani Army would like to see other tribal areas throw the taliban out with Army support as they did in Swat.

 

[old medic]

Gunmen attack Pakistani army HQ, killing 6 troops
By: CTV.ca News Staff
Date: Sat. Oct. 10 2009 8:52 AM ET
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20091010/pakistan_attack_091010/20091010?hub=TopStoriesV2

Heavily armed gunmen disguised in military uniforms stormed Pakistan's army headquarters Saturday, triggering fierce gun battles that left six military personnel and four gunmen dead, officials said.

The attack began shortly after the noon hour local time when the gunmen, wearing army fatigues, pulled up to the compound's main gate in a white van and opened fire on security personnel, according to army spokesperson Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas.

The gunmen then left the van and carried on to a second checkpoint before spreading out, Abbas said. They set off at least one grenade and fired a number of rounds at security personnel, who were likely caught off guard by the militants' disguises.

A 45-minute gunfight left four militants dead.

Of the six military personnel killed, one was a brigadier and another, a lieutenant colonel, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Five other troops were wounded, one critically, Abbas said.

Officials first denied that the gunmen were able to infiltrate the compound, which is located in Rawalpindi, just outside the capital of Islamabad. However, Abbas later confirmed that two of the militants were still at large.

CNN reporter Reza Sayah said the brazen nature of the attack, and the fact the gunmen were wearing disguises, shows "more determination and more sophistication on the part of the militants."

"This is a heavily secured area, (with) check posts at three separate gates," Sayah told CTV News Channel Saturday in an interview from Pakistan. "But the dilemma when facing these types of insurgents, militants who are willing to die, militants who welcome death, it's very difficult to stop them without them inflicting some sort of damage. And that's what you saw today."

Khan Bahadur, a shuttle van driver who was standing outside the compound when the attack began, said the gunfight sparked mass chaos at the first checkpoint.

"There was fierce firing, and then there was a blast. Soldiers were running here and there," Bahadur said. "The firing continued for about a half-hour. There was smoke everywhere. Then there was a break, and then firing again."

The attack was the third major assault by militants in Pakistan in the past week.

On Monday, a bombing at the headquarters of a UN aid agency in Islamabad killed five people. In that attack, the bomber was also wearing a security forces' uniform and was allowed entry into the building when he asked to use the bathroom.

On Friday, a suicide bomber blew up a car near a crowded outdoor market in the northwestern city of Peshawar, killing 49 people.

That attack led to promises by the Pakistani government to launch a new series of offensives against militant strongholds along the Afghan border.

The United States has been pushing Pakistan to take strong action against insurgents who are using its soil as a base for attacks in neighbouring Afghanistan. A push into the rugged mountains of South Waziristan could be risky for the army, which was beaten back on three previous offensives into the Taliban heartland there and forced to sign peace deals.

But the army may have been emboldened by a reasonably successful military campaign in the Swat Valley and adjoining Buner district and by the killing in a U.S. missile strike of Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud. The military also appears committed to destroying Mehsud's group, as opposed to its often ambivalent position toward other insurgents in the past.

With files from The Associated Press

 

[old medic]

Gunmen take hostages at Pakistan army HQ
By: CTV.ca News Staff
Date: Sat. Oct. 10 2009 10:27 AM ET

Heavily armed gunmen disguised in military uniforms who stormed Pakistan's army headquarters Saturday are holding several hostages inside the compound, officials said, hours after fierce gun battles left 10 people dead.

While four of the militants were killed in the attack, at least two others managed to infiltrate the compound in the heavily fortified city of Rawalpindi, just outside the capital of Islamabad, officials said.

Authorities had originally denied reports that two gunmen had made it inside the building. But later Saturday, a military spokesperson confirmed that two of the militants are still at large.

Officials said security forces have surrounded the militants, who are barricaded in a single room at a security office building. The hostages are believed to be security personnel.

"We are trying to finish it at the earliest, clear the area of terrorists and restore complete control," army spokesperson Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas told Dunya TV.

Abbas would not confirm if army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, was inside the complex. He had been scheduled to attend meetings there and at the president's office, according to military statements.

The attack began shortly after the noon hour local time when the gunmen, wearing army fatigues, pulled up to the compound's main gate in a white van and opened fire on security personnel, according to Abbas.

The gunmen then left the van and carried on to a second checkpoint before spreading out, Abbas said. They set off at least one grenade and fired a number of rounds at security personnel, who were likely caught off guard by the militants' disguises.

A 45-minute gunfight left four militants dead.

Six military personnel were killed, including a brigadier and a lieutenant colonel, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Five other troops were wounded, one critically, Abbas said.

CNN reporter Reza Sayah said the brazen nature of the attack, and the fact the gunmen were wearing disguises, shows "more determination and more sophistication on the part of the militants."

"This is a heavily secured area, (with) check posts at three separate gates," Sayah told CTV News Channel Saturday in an interview from Pakistan. "But the dilemma when facing these types of insurgents, militants who are willing to die, militants who welcome death, it's very difficult to stop them without them inflicting some sort of damage. And that's what you saw today."

Khan Bahadur, a shuttle van driver who was standing outside the compound when the attack began, said the gunfight sparked mass chaos at the first checkpoint.

"There was fierce firing, and then there was a blast. Soldiers were running here and there," Bahadur said. "The firing continued for about a half-hour. There was smoke everywhere. Then there was a break, and then firing again."

Pakistani media reported that the Taliban had claimed responsibility for the attack. Meanwhile, two news channels known for being critical of the Pakistani government, Geo and SAMA, went off the air late Saturday.

The attack was the third major assault by militants in Pakistan in the past week.

On Monday, a bombing at the headquarters of a UN aid agency in Islamabad killed five people. In that attack, the bomber was also wearing a security forces' uniform and was allowed entry into the building when he asked to use the bathroom.

On Friday, a suicide bomber blew up a car near a crowded outdoor market in the northwestern city of Peshawar, killing 49 people.

That attack led to promises by the Pakistani government to launch a new series of offensives against militant strongholds along the Afghan border.

The United States has been pushing Pakistan to take strong action against insurgents who are using its soil as a base for attacks in neighbouring Afghanistan. A push into the rugged mountains of South Waziristan could be risky for the army, which was beaten back on three previous offensives into the Taliban heartland there and forced to sign peace deals.

But the army may have been emboldened by a reasonably successful military campaign in the Swat Valley and adjoining Buner district and by the killing in a U.S. missile strike of Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud. The military also appears committed to destroying Mehsud's group, as opposed to its often ambivalent position toward other insurgents in the past.

With files from The Associated Press