FATA Situation

[fatman17]

Fierce Combat Continues in Tribal Pakistan

At Least 35 Militants Killed in Past 24 Hours

By NICK SCHIFRIN and HABIBULLAH KHAN

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN Aug. 27, 2008

Pakistani frontier corpsmen, backed by helicopter gunships, killed at least 35 militants in the last 24 hours as some of the year's fiercest combat in the Northwest Frontier continued into its fourth week.

Among the 25 killed in the Bajour agency, where the local Taliban have strong links with al Qaeda, were "top level" Taliban commanders and foreign fighters from Uzbekistan and Chechnya, according to military sources.

Frontier corpsmen engaged a militant "hideout" using helicopters and artillery on Wednesday morning, said Maj. Murad, a spokesman for Pakistan's army.

The fighting in Bajour came just hours after militants tried to storm the Tiarza checkpoint in South Waziristan, where the Taliban also has a close relationship with al Qaeda. Security forces repelled the attack and killed 11 militants, Murad said.

But in the last month the Frontier Corps, the underfunded front-line troops based in the northwest, began an operation against militants in both Bajour and Swat that has not stopped. And the government has increased its rhetorical fight against the militants.

On Monday the de facto interior minister "banned" the Taliban. The move, a largely ceremonial one, freezes the Taliban's bank accounts and imposes a 10-year jail sentence on anyone who supports them financially.

The day before, the government brushed aside an offer by the Taliban to surrender in order to hold peace talks. Rehman Malik, the prime minister's advisor on interior affairs, told reporters the government wouldn't talk with the Taliban until it gave up its weapons and renounced a campaign that killed almost 100 people in 4 suicide bombings last week.

"The war on terror cannot be won on defensive. We have to take the battle to the doorsteps of the extremists," Pakistan's Prime Minister, Yusuf Gilani, said last week. "We are not being attacked by any outside military or a known army. Our enemy lurks silently within our society. This is our own war."

It is a battle that the U.S. wants the Pakistani military and government to continue. The Pakistani public has not been convinced that the fight was in their best interests. Former President Pervez Musharraf became unpopular in part because he was seen as fighting the U.S.' war in the tribal areas.

Many Pakistanis interviewed last week after an attack on a hospital and the country's largest ammunition factory - a double suicide attack that killed 70 workers – expressed anger at the Taliban instead of at the government's policies.

"What kind of Islam is this?" asked one man in Dera Ismail Khan as he stood in the rubble of an emergency room there, blown to bits by a suicide bomber.

"There is a very strong wave and sentiment against the militants," says retired Gen. Talat Masood, a former defense secretary. "So I hope there will be a mass mobilization, and it is the function of the present political leadership to really harness the sentiment against the militants."

The military needs the politicians to back a military campaign if it will successfully dislodge the militants from the Northwest. That is not easy when the 5-month old ruling coalition collapses over allegations of broken promises, as it did this week.

"What the military is seeking is a national consensus on what to do, and what role the civilian and the military will play in this war against the militants," says Shuja Nawaz, author of "Crossed Swords: Pakistan, Its Army, and the Wars Within."

"Without that concept and without widespread support for it, anything that the military does is not going to be very useful," said Nawaz.

And the military is also struggling to create a viable fighting force in the northwest. Pictures of frontier corpsmen in Bajour show young men wearing old helmets, carrying old guns with sandals on their feet. They are often outgunned, outmanned, and out motivated when they fight the militants. They need a vast overhaul that will cost them tens of million of dollars.

"They will obviously need to get much more assistance from the United States -- not just economically, but militarily, and they therefore need to work with the military to identify its needs and to set very clear targets with the military to retrain and re-equip itself and to improve its capacity for the fight against the militants," Nawaz says.

"If it is left to business as usual,if this issue is not tackled, the militants will gain the upper hand," Nawaz said, "and then it will be a much longer, and a much more expensive fight."

ABC News: Online news, breaking news, feature stories and more

 

[ejaz007]

26 more killed in Bajaur bombings
Thursday, August 28, 2008
By Mushtaq Yusufzai & Hasbanullah Khan

KHAR/PESHAWAR: In the most severe bombings on Taliban positions by the PAF jetfighters and military gunship helicopters since the start of military operation in Bajaur Agency, the security forces Wednesday killed 26 suspected militants in different areas of the troubled tribal region.

Other reports quoting security officials said 37 militants were killed in the daylong bombings. Military authorities said four among the dead were foreigners while three others belonged to the Mahsud-inhabited areas of restive South Waziristan Agency.

Almost after five days of calm, two warplanes and three gunship choppers appeared in the air all of a sudden and started pounding the suspected hideouts of militants in their strongholds of Salarzai and Loisam.

"It was the heaviest bombings since the operation launched on August 6. It shook even the surrounding towns near Loisam town, causing heavy losses to Taliban," tribal sources told The News by telephone from Bajaur's main town of Khar.

Military officials said jetfighters targeted militant locations in Loisam, Inzari, Loisam Khas and Rashakai village. The sources said the planes bombarded suspected positions of the militants four times during the day.

The officials said three gunship choppers also hit militant positions in various places of Salarzai tehsil, including Raghgan, Dherakai and Chopatra. Tribal sources from Salarzai said the choppers attacked a madrassa where militants were hiding.

According to sources, the tribespeople of Salarzai tehsil earlier in the day convened a jirga of local people at Pashat village, hometown of former MNA Shahabuddin Khan, in which they wanted to raise a tribal Lashkar to take action against militants and their guest fighters.

However, they postponed the jirga when they learnt that dozens of Taliban militants, already aware of the development, had taken positions on their roadside checkpoints for taking action against the anti-Taliban elders.

Local people informed the officials of security forces in Khar about the hideouts of militants in the town and requested them to send military choppers to take action against them. There were reports that the law-enforcement agencies reportedly provided wireless sets to some of the anti-Taliban elders to inform them about militants' movement and their positions in the area.

According to sources, three gunship choppers reached there within no time and started pounding militant positions, reportedly inflicting heavy losses on Taliban fighters. Officials of the paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC), while quoting their local sources, said four among the dead militants were foreigners and three belonged to the Mahsud-inhabited areas of South Waziristan Agency.

Earlier on Tuesday, the official said a militant killed by the Salarzai tribespeople belonged to Mansehra district. In Salarzai, local residents said non-local militants, who were earlier visible everywhere, had started disappearing now, especially after the people formed tribal Lashkar against Taliban, accusing them of destroying peace of the region and damaging public properties.

Local people reported from the restive region that tribesmen, who had started returning homes from relief camps in Dir, Mardan, Nowshera, Peshawar and Charsadda, were seen again fleeing to safer places due to the heavy bombing.

Militant spokesman Maulvi Omar, who is famous for blindly claiming responsibilities for each and every terrorist act in the country, as usual denied loss of fighters in the Wednesday's bombings.

26 more killed in Bajaur bombings

 

[IceCold]

26 more killed in Bajaur bombings
Thursday, August 28, 2008
By Mushtaq Yusufzai & Hasbanullah Khan

KHAR/PESHAWAR: In the most severe bombings on Taliban positions by the PAF jetfighters and military gunship helicopters since the start of military operation in Bajaur Agency, the security forces Wednesday killed 26 suspected militants in different areas of the troubled tribal region.

Other reports quoting security officials said 37 militants were killed in the daylong bombings. Military authorities said four among the dead were foreigners while three others belonged to the Mahsud-inhabited areas of restive South Waziristan Agency.

Almost after five days of calm, two warplanes and three gunship choppers appeared in the air all of a sudden and started pounding the suspected hideouts of militants in their strongholds of Salarzai and Loisam.

"It was the heaviest bombings since the operation launched on August 6. It shook even the surrounding towns near Loisam town, causing heavy losses to Taliban," tribal sources told The News by telephone from Bajaur's main town of Khar.

Military officials said jetfighters targeted militant locations in Loisam, Inzari, Loisam Khas and Rashakai village. The sources said the planes bombarded suspected positions of the militants four times during the day.

The officials said three gunship choppers also hit militant positions in various places of Salarzai tehsil, including Raghgan, Dherakai and Chopatra. Tribal sources from Salarzai said the choppers attacked a madrassa where militants were hiding.

According to sources, the tribespeople of Salarzai tehsil earlier in the day convened a jirga of local people at Pashat village, hometown of former MNA Shahabuddin Khan, in which they wanted to raise a tribal Lashkar to take action against militants and their guest fighters.

However, they postponed the jirga when they learnt that dozens of Taliban militants, already aware of the development, had taken positions on their roadside checkpoints for taking action against the anti-Taliban elders.

Local people informed the officials of security forces in Khar about the hideouts of militants in the town and requested them to send military choppers to take action against them. There were reports that the law-enforcement agencies reportedly provided wireless sets to some of the anti-Taliban elders to inform them about militants' movement and their positions in the area.

According to sources, three gunship choppers reached there within no time and started pounding militant positions, reportedly inflicting heavy losses on Taliban fighters. Officials of the paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC), while quoting their local sources, said four among the dead militants were foreigners and three belonged to the Mahsud-inhabited areas of South Waziristan Agency.

Earlier on Tuesday, the official said a militant killed by the Salarzai tribespeople belonged to Mansehra district. In Salarzai, local residents said non-local militants, who were earlier visible everywhere, had started disappearing now, especially after the people formed tribal Lashkar against Taliban, accusing them of destroying peace of the region and damaging public properties.

Local people reported from the restive region that tribesmen, who had started returning homes from relief camps in Dir, Mardan, Nowshera, Peshawar and Charsadda, were seen again fleeing to safer places due to the heavy bombing.

Militant spokesman Maulvi Omar, who is famous for blindly claiming responsibilities for each and every terrorist act in the country, as usual denied loss of fighters in the Wednesday's bombings.

26 more killed in Bajaur bombings

This is really excellent as locals have started to rise against these so called champions of Islam. It is also good to see PAF finally getting into action against these terrorists.

 

[Neo]

Source: U.S., Pakistan officers meet amid Taliban upsurge​

From Barbara Starr
CNN Pentagon Correspondent

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Senior U.S. and Pakistani military commanders held a secret meeting this week to discuss the growing Taliban and al Qaeda threat in Pakistan and Afghanistan, a senior U.S. military official said Thursday.

Word of the secret talks came as the Pakistani military said Thursday it had killed 23 militants in two attacks on Taliban fighters in the Swat valley of northwestern Pakistan.

Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, a military spokesman, said one of the attacks involved an airstrike and artillery while the second involved ground troops. He provided no additional details.

This week's secret meeting "focused on ways to better work together to defeat extremists on the border and to help Pakistan deal with its own internal threats from extremism," the official said.

Those participating in the meeting included the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Michael Mullen, and Pakistani Army chief of staff Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.

The meeting, which took place Tuesday aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Indian Ocean, was confirmed to CNN by the senior U.S. military official after details were first reported in the New York Times.

The talks also come amid a growing acknowledgment by U.S. officials that the Taliban has shifted tactics and is now conducting military-style attacks against U.S. troops.

The U.S. military, led by Mullen, has been pressing Kayani for months to crack down on militants in the border region in part because of the growing number crossing into Afghanistan to attack American troops. So far, there has been no reportable lessening of the flow of militants, according to several U.S. commanders.

"There is no diminishing of their ability to operate" in the border region, the official said.

And in recent weeks, the Taliban tactics have shifted.

For months, U.S. commanders had been saying the insurgents in Afghanistan were reduced to using terrorist hit-and-run and suicide-style tactics because they had no other capabilities. But now, the official said, that is changing.

"They are coordinating complex, infantry-like attacks against fixed targets," the official noted. "We are seeing a different type of militancy."

The official noted the August 19 attack in which an estimated 100 insurgents ambushed a NATO patrol near Kabul, killing 10 French soldiers, as well as recent attacks on U.S. bases and positions, as examples of the use of infantry-style military tactics. These attacks feature the simultaneous use of mortars, rockets and small arms on fixed targets.

The new tactics suggest a growing ability by the Taliban to organize, train, fund and coordinate attacks.

Several U.S. commanders and senior officers have told CNN they believe the Taliban's intelligence capability also has improved in some areas, simply by its ability to watch when and where U.S. and coalition forces move around Afghanistan.

Tuesday's meeting, the fifth between the Mullen and Kayani, also included Army Gen. David Petraeus, who will take over as the senior U.S. officer in the Middle East next month; Army Gen. David McKiernan, the top NATO commander in Afghanistan; Adm. Eric Olson, head of the U.S. Special Operations command; and Army Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey, the acting commander of U.S. forces in the region.

The official also said that the tone of the meeting was more cordial than one last month, when Mullen took a "more firm" tone with Kayani.

When asked if Mullen has achieved any results from his meetings to pressure Pakistan, the official said Mullen "is comfortable General Kayani understands the threat, and he and his forces are working to deal with that."

Asked directly whether there was any progress due to the recent meetings, the official said, "Yes, but I will not discuss that." He declined to say whether there were any new agreements for U.S. troops to operate inside Pakistani airspace or on the ground to attack militant positions.

U.S. commanders have been pressing for more leeway on that for months. However, the issue of U.S. military action on Pakistani soil is extremely sensitive for the Pakistani government due to concerns over national sovereignty.

 

[Neo]

FATA operation suspended​

* Rehman Malik says step taken in honour of Ramazan
* Military will respond ‘with full force’ if attacked
* Displaced people should ‘return home and fast’
* Govt using satellites to monitor militant activities​

LAHORE: The military operation in the Tribal Areas will be suspended on August 31 in the honour of the holy month of Ramazan, Interior Adviser Rehman Malik said on Saturday.

But he said the military would respond ‘with full force’ if it were attacked.

“It is not a ceasefire,” he said while talking to reporters after a seminar titled ‘Secure Pakistan’ organised by the Federal Investigation Agency. “If they fire a single bullet we will respond with 10 bullets.”

Return home and fast: The people who had to leave their homes because of violence should return home and fast, Malik said, assuring them that the security forces would look after their lives and property.

To a question, he said 23,000 of the displaced people had already returned to their homes.

He said locals had started playing a role against militants, stopping them from entering their areas and fighting them if they resisted.

He said 77 of the 811 ‘missing persons’ had been recovered and the government had formed a committee to probe the remaining cases.

To a question, he said the government would give full support to Dr Aafia Siddiqui.

Satellites: Malik said the government was using satellites to monitor militant activities and had arrested 562 people belonging to militant organisations ‘in the recent past’.

He said the government was pursuing a ‘no-leniency policy’ towards militants and would not hold talks with them.

He asked the media to help the government counter militancy and asked reporters not to portray militants as heroes.

Earlier, addressing the seminar, Malik said the government would set up courts ‘in a few months’ to deal with cyber crime.

He also said the Balochistan Assembly would pass a resolution in support of Asif Zardari as a presidential candidate after legislators returned from a foreign tour.

 

[batmannow]

GEO Pakistan
41 killed, 95 wounded in fresh Kurram clashes
Updated at: 1138 PST, Sunday, August 31, 2008
PARACHINAR: At least 41 people have been killed while 95 others injured in fresh clashes between warring tribes in Kurram Agency here on Sunday.

According to sources, weeks-long fierce clashes continued on Monday between Turi and Bangash tribes in Kurram Agency.

Bangash tribe has the support of local militants, sources say, adding fresh fighting has killed at least 41 militants including 30 militants.

Injured persons have been shifted to hospitals of Kotal, Hangu, Sadda and Parachinar.
Turi tribes are reported to have occupied Bugzai headquarter of their opponents. On the other hand, area residents were facing shortage of food items and medicine due to closure of central highway.

 

[RabzonKhan]

Two Canadians killed in Wana missile attack

By Our Correspondent
WANA, Aug 30: Four people, including two Canadians of Arab origin, were killed and two other people injured when a missile reportedly fired from Afghanistan hit a house in the Korzai area of South Waziristan on Saturday.

According to local people, a plane was seen flying over the area shortly before the missile hit the house of one Noor Khan Gangikhel near a scout camp in Wana at around 4.30pm.

The injured, who reportedly belong to Punjab, were taken to a local hospital.

AFP adds: A local intelligence official said the owner of the house had recently rented it out to some “foreigners”.

 

[Imran Khan]

Pakistan halts strikes on insurgents for Ramadan
By ZARAR KHAN Associated Press Writer
Published: Sunday, August 31, 2008 at 11:16 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, August 31, 2008 at 11:16 a.m.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -
Pakistan said Sunday it was suspending a military operation against insurgents in a tribal region for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan but warned any provocations in the area would bring immediate retaliation.


, Pakistan, on Sunday, Aug. 31, 2008. Pakistan said Sunday it was suspending a military operation against insurgents in a tribal region in honor of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The operation in Bajur has killed at least 562 Islamist insurgents and displaced more than 300,000 people. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)A Taliban spokesman welcomed the decision to halt the strikes in the Bajur tribal region, a rumored hide-out of Osama bin Laden near the border with Afghanistan.

In another part of the northwest, a blast blamed on a missile reportedly killed four suspected foreign militants. Residents said they saw a drone in the air shortly before the explosion, raising suspicion the U.S. was behind the strike.

Pakistan's five-month-old government at first tried peace talks with militants, but those efforts bore little fruit. It has turned to force in recent weeks, including using helicopter gunships and jets to strike suspected insurgent hide-outs.

The operation in Bajur began in early August. Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik said Sunday the operation has killed more than 560 people the government says were Islamist insurgents and has displaced more than 300,000 people. Malik did not commit to a formal end to the operation but said people displaced from Bajur could return to the region "without any fear."

American officials have pressed Pakistan to crack down on militants in its tribal regions, fearing Taliban and al-Qaida-linked fighters involved in attacks on U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan use those border areas as safe zones. The U.S. is suspected of launching a series of missile strikes targeting alleged militant compounds in Pakistan's rugged and lawless tribal region along the border.

Malik said the suspension of operations in Bajur would take effect by early Monday and army spokesman Maj. Murad Khan said by late Sunday, the military had halted its activities.

Bajur has been the primary focus of military operations against insurgents, though there have also been clashes in the northwestern Swat Valley.

The numbers and scope of the operations have been almost impossible to confirm because of the remote, dangerous nature of the regions. The Pakistani Taliban have claimed responsibility for a string of recent suicide attacks, calling them revenge for the offensives.

As the crackdown has proceeded, Pakistan's government has become increasingly embroiled in political turbulence.

A short-lived ruling coalition forced Pervez Musharraf - the longtime U.S. ally in the war on terror - to quit the presidency on Aug. 18. The coalition then rapidly fell apart over disputes about Musharraf's successor and how to reinstate judges he fired last year.

Asif Ali Zardari, the head of the main ruling Pakistan People's Party and the widower of slain ex-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, is considered the favorite to win lawmakers' votes for the presidency on Sept. 6.

The PPP is considered generally in line with U.S. goals in fighting extremists, but because of deep anti-American sentiment in Pakistan, it has to tread carefully. Many Pakistanis blame the violence in their country on Musharraf's decision to support the U.S.

Malik insisted Pakistan was not taking American orders on how to fight extremists in its midst.

"We are fighting this war. This is our war. There is no question of America's dictation," Malik said.

Pakistani Taliban spokesman Maulvi Umar said the suspension of the operation in Bajur was welcome, and he reiterated an offer to negotiate with the government. However, he said militants would not lay down their arms as the government has demanded.

Umar also said that, as a gesture of goodwill, the militants would release six paramilitary troops out of 30 they claim to have in captivity.

It was not immediately clear whether authorities were also suspending military operations in Swat.

Muslim Khan, a Taliban spokesman in Swat, said militants would not halt their activities during Ramadan despite any suspension of an army operation.

"This is not a war, but jihad, and this is our faith that rewards for good deeds and that is multiplied during the holy month," Khan said.

In the North Waziristan tribal region, witnesses and a local intelligence official said a blast Sunday destroyed a house and a missile strike was suspected.

At least four people were reported killed and two injured in the blast in Tapi village, said the intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of his job. He said all six were believed to be foreigners.

Local militants immediately surrounded the site, said area residents Mohammad Ayaz and Noor Rehman. Both said they saw a drone in the air before the explosion at about 3 p.m.

Capt. Christian Patterson, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan, said its troops had not fired any missiles into Pakistan on Sunday. Past missile strikes are believed to have been conducted by the CIA using Predator drones.

If confirmed, it would be the second missile strike in two days in a tribal region.

Also Sunday, a tribal council in the Salarzai area of Bajur warned Taliban militants they would be shot on sight and told residents not to shelter insurgents or risk loss of money and property, two elders told The Associated Press.

Tribal leaders oversaw the burning and destruction of about a dozen homes and centers of suspected militants, said the elders, Malik Manasib Khan and Malik Bakhtawar Khan.

--

 

[ejaz007]

95 killed in Kurram Agency clashes

* More than 200 injured as Taliban-backed Bangash tribesmen attack Toori tribe
* Tooris retaliate with support of local tribal militia, capture opponent headquarters in Bugzai
* Taliban launch suicide attacks on tribal militia

PARACHINAR: At least 95 people were killed and more than 200 injured in fresh clashes between the warring Toori and Bangash tribes in Kurram Agency on Sunday.

According to sources familiar with the developments in the area, the Bangash tribe was supported by local Taliban militants.

Bangash tribe attacks: Despite a unilateral truce announced by the Toori tribe, militants of the Bangash tribe and the local Taliban launched an attack on their opponents from their Bugzai headquarters late on Saturday.

Toori tribe retaliates: Supporters of the Toori tribe and a local tribal militia retaliated and besieged the Bugzai area, trigging a fierce battle. The tribal militia attacked positions of the Bangash tribe with heavy weapons to force them to stop fighting.

Suicide attacks: The Taliban also launched suicide attacks on the tribal militia, killing 12 tribesmen.

Eight other tribesmen and 77 Taliban were also killed during the fighting, locals said.

After the hours-long battle, Toori tribesmen were reported to have occupied Bugzai - the headquarters of their opponents.

The local tribal militia also seized a large cache of weapons including suicide attack jackets from the positions abandoned by the Bangash tribe and the local Taliban.

According to local sources, at least 70 tribesmen and more than 129 Taliban were wounded in Sunday’s fighting.

The injured have been shifted to hospitals in Kotal, Hangu, Sadda and Parachinar.

The Toori tribe had earlier announced a unilateral ceasefire on the appeal of a jirga. Recent reports from the area had said the rival groups had intensified attacks on each other’s positions in several parts of the area.

Fresh sectarian clashes that began in Parachinar several days ago have left scores of people dead and wounded. Residents of the area said they had been suffering because of a shortage of food and medicine, as the government closed down the central highway leading to the area. agencies

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Go Toori's!

Anyone getting rid of the Taliban/Taliban supporters should be supported whole heartedly!

 

[ejaz007]

Mangal Bagh flees Landi Kotal ahead of operation

LANDI KOTAL/JAMRUD: A joint operation by the Frontier Corps (FC) and the Khasadars forced Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) chief Mangal Bagh to leave Landi Kotal on Sunday. The political administration had given a deadline to the LI to vacate the area by 11am on Sunday. The authorities closed the road leading to Torkham and imposed a curfew in Jamrud. Bagh fled for Gagrina in Bazaar Zakhakhel an hour before the operation. The FC fired at the mountains around a mosque that had been captured by the LI in Khyber. The forces took over the mosque after the LI vacated it. Meanwhile, in a clash between the LI and FC at Jamrud, an LI gunman and one security personnel were killed. Online quoted Political Agent Khyber Agency Tariq Hayat telling a private news channel that 10 LI activists were arrested from the Peshawar-Torkham road. sudhir afridi /online

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[araz]

Mangal Bagh flees Landi Kotal ahead of operation

LANDI KOTAL/JAMRUD: A joint operation by the Frontier Corps (FC) and the Khasadars forced Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) chief Mangal Bagh to leave Landi Kotal on Sunday. The political administration had given a deadline to the LI to vacate the area by 11am on Sunday. The authorities closed the road leading to Torkham and imposed a curfew in Jamrud. Bagh fled for Gagrina in Bazaar Zakhakhel an hour before the operation. The FC fired at the mountains around a mosque that had been captured by the LI in Khyber. The forces took over the mosque after the LI vacated it. Meanwhile, in a clash between the LI and FC at Jamrud, an LI gunman and one security personnel were killed. Online quoted Political Agent Khyber Agency Tariq Hayat telling a private news channel that 10 LI activists were arrested from the Peshawar-Torkham road. sudhir afridi /online

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

did the authorities know he was in the area. If they knew why did they not take him out? It is interesting that crminals like these have roamed the area without any fear even in the presence of security forces, without any action being taken against them.
Araz

 

[IceCold]

FATA operation suspended​

* Rehman Malik says step taken in honour of Ramazan
* Military will respond ‘with full force’ if attacked
* Displaced people should ‘return home and fast’
* Govt using satellites to monitor militant activities​

LAHORE: The military operation in the Tribal Areas will be suspended on August 31 in the honour of the holy month of Ramazan, Interior Adviser Rehman Malik said on Saturday.

But he said the military would respond ‘with full force’ if it were attacked.

“It is not a ceasefire,” he said while talking to reporters after a seminar titled ‘Secure Pakistan’ organised by the Federal Investigation Agency. “If they fire a single bullet we will respond with 10 bullets.”

Return home and fast: The people who had to leave their homes because of violence should return home and fast, Malik said, assuring them that the security forces would look after their lives and property.

To a question, he said 23,000 of the displaced people had already returned to their homes.

He said locals had started playing a role against militants, stopping them from entering their areas and fighting them if they resisted.

He said 77 of the 811 ‘missing persons’ had been recovered and the government had formed a committee to probe the remaining cases.

To a question, he said the government would give full support to Dr Aafia Siddiqui.

Satellites: Malik said the government was using satellites to monitor militant activities and had arrested 562 people belonging to militant organisations ‘in the recent past’.

He said the government was pursuing a ‘no-leniency policy’ towards militants and would not hold talks with them.

He asked the media to help the government counter militancy and asked reporters not to portray militants as heroes.

Earlier, addressing the seminar, Malik said the government would set up courts ‘in a few months’ to deal with cyber crime.

He also said the Balochistan Assembly would pass a resolution in support of Asif Zardari as a presidential candidate after legislators returned from a foreign tour.

Terrorists have no religion, then why to stop in the holy month of Ramadan? I wonder what is the government up too this time or are they silly enough to expect that these so called champions of Islam will actually honour anything. All we are giving them is a whole month to regroup, what are we stupids? Lets say if we were at war with India, would we have skiped this month, this is utter nonsense, religion in this matter should be put aside and operation should continue irrespective of days, months and years.

 

[Shoaib_Sham]

Terrorists have no religion, then why to stop in the holy month of Ramadan? I wonder what is the government up too this time or are they silly enough to expect that these so called champions of Islam will actually honour anything. All we are giving them is a whole month to regroup, what are we stupids? Lets say if we were at war with India, would we have skiped this month, this is utter nonsense, religion in this matter should be put aside and operation should continue irrespective of days, months and years.

I agree with u that these terrorists have no religion but I think this halt is for the affected people who have taken refuge.

 

[IceCold]

I agree with u that these terrorists have no religion but I think this halt is for the affected people who have taken refuge.

There are other ways to help facilitate the affected people by giving them proper food and shelter while they are being forced to leave their homes by the people like Mehsud and his ilks and operation should continue. This way people will gain nothing out of it while militants will gain time to regroup.