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Counting dead militants in Pakistan

AVinayKumar

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Circling the Lion's Den: Counting dead militants in Pakistan

While the debate on the accuracy of figures detailing the number of militants and civilians killed in drone strikes in Pakistan continues, it is worth taking a look at the reported figures for militants killed in clashes with the Pakistani Army. After all, most of these figures originate with the same ISI officers who brief local journalists on drone casualty figures.
I have been perplexed for some time by the figures for militants killed in clashes with the Pakistani Army and Airforce. If accurate, then given the massive attrition these figures suggest, it is surprising that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan can still find anyone willing to fight for it. True, there are tensions within the TTP at present, with deputy emir Maulvi Faqir Mohammad from Bajaur being sacked from his job this week because he had been engaged in peace talks with the military. However, the number of deaths as reported in the Pakistani press beggar belief.
Newspaper reports for December 2011 indicate that at least 161 militants were killed by Pakistani forces in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). There were no drone strikes during this period. For January this year, the figures suggest at least 119 militants were killed and dozens more injured. Most of the reports suggest that numerous ‘hideouts’ were also destroyed. For February, the figures, excluding drone strikes, suggest at least 216 militants were killed. An army officer was quoted as saying that more than 700 militants have been killed and 500 sustained injuries in the ongoing military action in Orakzai Agency alone. The same source said 71 soldiers had been killed and 150 injured in the fighting.

Thus in the last three months - and accepting that these figures are not complete - a reported 496 militants, mostly members of the TTP or Lashkar-e-Islam, have been killed in military action in the FATA region of Pakistan. A similar number have been injured. Can this be possible? If so, it certainly confirms FATA as more of a battlefield than southern Afghanistan, for example, where reported deaths of militants are much lower. Either that, or the official figures are suspect. You decide.
 
Friend, how does it matter to you how many militants have been killed in FATA? You are a gazillion miles away. So just relax and go see a movie or something. Or have a 'foot long' Subway sandwich!
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Cheers!
 
What is the problem here?

That FATA is a battleground more than Afghanistan or the casualty rates are wrong?
 
What is the problem here?

That FATA is a battleground more than Afghanistan or the casualty rates are wrong?

The author contends that one of the 2 is true.. Either FATA has not been cleared of militants/insurgents as claimed by PA or PA is fudging up numbers when it comes to militant casualties
 
Taliban is constantly recruiting new people, and the cross border movement does not help either.

So you kill some, and then more pop up.

Some areas have been cleared, some have not, the effort is still going on.

Swat is safe, some areas are not.

It would be wrong to generalize FATA just like that. Fata is too broad area , so have to be more specific.

The killings are taking place in areas where the militants are still holed up, while Swat is now safe and the militants have been flushed out.
 
Haha. nice article. ISI/ISPR doesn't know how many it killed. And ALL dead (men, women, children) are counted as suspected militants.

They throw one bomb, and count the figures in the head. Ok, 2 militants died in this one, hideout wiped. Even it fell in the open with nothing in it
 
The interesting thing is, whenever the Army kills militants somewhere in the FATA, the report says that "the claims/figures could not be verified, as the area is cut-off for access to journalists".

However, when militants killed Army soldiers in the same location in the FATA, this sentence is never used in that situation.
 
The interesting thing is, whenever the Army kills militants somewhere in the FATA, the report says that "the claims/figures could not be verified, as the area is cut-off for access to journalists".

However, when militants killed Army soldiers in the same location in the FATA, this sentence is never used in that situation.

And thats logical too.. Military reporting its own casualties does not need any verification.. But Military reporting casualties of the insurgents does need verification..
 
And thats logical too.. Military reporting its own casualties does not need any verification.. But Military reporting casualties of the insurgents does need verification..

What's so logical about that? They could be underestimating their death counts & overestimating the death counts of the militants.

The military is not the one that reports its casualties (not most of the time anyways), it is the militant groups that give those statistics.
 
i bet those 400 are not militants but common people,but this pakistani military has to fight 'war' to satisfy american egos devoid of feeling of loss of life and people, and loss of pakistan, they are happy to be freelance mercenaries and destroying their own country, worst example of master slave

i dont understand on one hand pakistan deplore drone attacks and admit, innocents are dying while quietly supporting military killings in FATA as our military being holy organisation, same thing FATA is enduring what balochistan is enduring
 
Militants killed are replaced easily by those from Across Afghanistan..
It is stupid to think that they are limited to just FATA.
Deaths of Men are called as militants as well.
 
i bet those 400 are not militants but common people,but this pakistani military has to fight 'war' to satisfy american egos devoid of feeling of loss of life and people, and loss of pakistan, they are happy to be freelance mercenaries and destroying their own country, worst example of master slave

i dont understand on one hand pakistan deplore drone attacks and admit, innocents are dying while quietly supporting military killings in FATA as our military being holy organisation, same thing FATA is enduring what balochistan is enduring

If those 400 people were civilians we would be facing a revolt in fata and a seperatist insurgency in whole of NWFP... we have people from FATA on the forum who openly support military ops... no army likes to kill their own people... do you think PAK ARMY with 40% pashtuns and entirely pashtun FC will kill their own people? if you do... ud be he most retarded person id ever come by...
 
If those 400 people were civilians we would be facing a revolt in fata and a seperatist insurgency in whole of NWFP... we have people from FATA on the forum who openly support military ops... no army likes to kill their own people... do you think PAK ARMY with 40% pashtuns and entirely pashtun FC will kill their own people? if you do... ud be he most retarded person id ever come by...

stop using idiotic words like retard etc, what if the pashtuns are carrying the orders,its the generals who are giving the orders in their comfortable chairs not a ground soldier

you say people are not revolting then its obvious that they are being patriotic but army is still punishing them on american interests, army should resolve the situation peacefully and not blood shedding our own people, even if he is taliban, because i think that americans have made enemies by drone attacks and these people are not happy about their children being killed.

im against any military operation and esp this long, army shouldnt have taken long to do any operation but its like years have past since we are continuously hearing about armyoperations

if army/military has any pain for pakistan then it must stop drone attacks and defend our country which comes first before any thing

army operations have resulted in suicide bomb blasts and disrupted peace in our country
 
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