Operation Rah-e-Nijat (South Waziristan)

[Javed3]

S-2:

"Just can't seem to break the need to enslave the afghans to your ambitions?"

You are now resorting to the propaganda Techniques of Erik Honneckers East Germany! After all the Berlin Wall was erected to protect the peaceful east Germans from "Western Imperialist attacks".

AGE, IEDs, VBIEDs, BBIEDs all sound very "professional". How about CHSO4?

 

[fatman17]

Lessons we must learn

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Rahimullah Yusufzai

There are lessons to be learnt from the recent suicide bombing at the secret CIA station in Afghanistan's Khost province bordering Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region. A Jordanian medical doctor of Palestinian origin with a Turkish wife teamed up with other Arab nationals from Al Qaeda and sought the help of Pakistani, and possibly Afghan, Taliban to carry out this attack and inflict the heaviest loss to the premier US spy agency in 26 years. It showed how widespread the animosity is among Muslims against the US given its policies and explained the way Islamic militants transcending borders are increasingly joining hands to fight what they perceive as a common enemy.

One is sure no lessons will be learnt from this event. In the manner of the 9/11 attacks, the US would embark on another costly mission to hunt down the attackers. The CIA has pledged to avenge the loss of its seven agents who were killed in Khost, and the six others injured and apparently out of action for a long time. There would be more missile strikes by the CIA-operated drones in Pakistan's tribal areas and greater pressure on the Pakistan military to launch action against the militants in North Waziristan. Already, influential US Senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman after recent meetings with top Pakistan government officials are saying that Pakistani security forces are preparing to undertake some action in North Waziristan. In the heat of the moment, no thought would be given to the consequences of such a militaristic approach to the already volatile situation.

Dr Humam Khalil Abu Mulal al-Balawi, the Jordanian suicide bomber came all the way from Zarqa to Waziristan to attack CIA's Khost base. It isn't clear if he came via Afghanistan or Pakistan, but the way he gained unchecked access to the CIA station was evidence enough that he already knew his Jordanian handler, Captain Ali bin Zeid, an operative of his country's intelligence agency and member of the royal family who was also killed in the suicide attack, and through him the CIA agents. It is possible he had already paid visits to the CIA base in Khost and earned the trust of his handlers. The Jordanian and American spies thought they had someone in their control who could lead them to Al Qaeda leaders, particularly Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri who has figured as the real or imagined target in most US missile strikes in Bajaur and Waziristan in recent years. The more plausible explanation is that he had been infiltrated from Afghanistan into North Waziristan, and from there to South Waziristan where his farewell video tape, while seated beside the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) head Hakimullah Mehsud, was recorded.

It was a properly done tape with Balawi first holding a weapon outside and then shown sitting in a room with Hakimullah and making his statement in Arabic and English. The young bearded man in military fatigues is seen describing the CIA and Jordanian intelligence as enemies of the Muslim nation and arguing that "God's combatant never exposes his religion to blackmail and never renounces it, even if he is offered the sun in one hand and the moon in the other." And then he describes late TTP leader Baitullah Mehsud as his amir (head) and tells him that he won't be forgotten, and his blood would be avenged in and outside America. Balawi then says that Baitullah paid with his life for offering to protect Osama bin Laden if he came to South Waziristan.

From Balawi's statement, it seems as if he was being offered money to spy on the militants and assist the CIA and Jordanian intelligence in tracking down important Al Qaeda and Taliban figures. Taliban sources are claiming that Abu Dujana al-Khorasani, the name Balawi used as a fighter, rejected Jordanian and American intelligence offers of millions of dollars for spying on the 'mujahideen.' They also insist that he shared US and Jordanian state secrets with the militants. Both the CIA and the Jordanian spy agency suffered embarrassment due to the intelligence failures and security lapses in this incident. As if trying to cover up, the CIA Director Leon Panetta claimed in a recent article that Balawi was about to be searched when he detonated his explosives.

By trying to lure or manipulate Balawi and use him to track down Al Qaeda figures, the CIA and its allied spy agencies also revealed their desperation. They haven't made any major breakthrough despite years of efforts to infiltrate the militant organisations such as Al Qaeda and Taliban. Offers of record rewards for capturing the wanted men are also not making any headway. It was thus a desperate move to trust someone like Balawi with a history of sympathising with Al Qaeda and start believing that he had changed and could be used to get the world's most wanted man bin Laden, his deputy Dr Zawahiri and others. It shows that all talk of Bin Laden or Zawahiri hiding in this or that place in the Pak-Afghan border areas is mere speculation as there has been no confirmed sighting of these individuals since December 2001 when they reportedly escaped to Tora Bora in eastern Afghanistan and then vanished.

Balawi had to say what he said in his farewell video-taped message, but the statements made by his Turkish wife, Dafne Bayrak, are instructive. The young woman who married Balawi while studying in Istanbul in 2001 holds a degree in journalism and has written articles for Islamic publications and also a book entitled Osama bin Laden: Che Guevara of the East. She expressed pride in her husband's mission and recalled that he regarded the US as an enemy. Denying that Balawi was an American agent, she argued that he only could have used America and Jordan to reach his goal. However, she declined to call Balawi a martyr and instead prayed to Allah to accept his martyrdom. This is how a highly educated, scarf-wearing woman from secular and westernised Turkey, which is the only Muslim country to be a member of NATO, thinks about the US and admiringly looks at the fight being waged by militants against America and it's allies.

Balawi's father Khalil al-Balawi also said he was proud of his son even though his death broke his heart. He appeared satisfied that his son killed some of those in the intelligence agencies who manipulated him. Balawi, he reminded, was a doctor who saved lives, but was sucked into the whirlpool of the intelligence agencies instead of being able to serve his people. This was not only the anguish of a father, but also a strong indictment of the working of intelligence agencies that manipulate and blackmail people into doing unwanted spying work.

Reports in the Arab press explain how Balawi was radicalised by the US occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. His wife said that in particular he was disturbed by the US treatment of Iraqi prisoners in Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison and the destruction of Fallujah city in November 2004. The Israeli war on Palestinian territory of Gaza, often described as the biggest open air jail in the world, also upset him. He reportedly tried to go to Gaza to offer medical care to the Palestinians but was stopped by the Jordanian authorities. This is believable since his family originally belonged to Beershaba in Palestine, from where Israel under its ethnic and religious cleansing policy since 1948 has been uprooting Palestinians and annexing territory with backing from Western countries. It isn't surprising that Palestinians have been radicalised to no end and many of them have been active in hard-line organisations ranging from Fatah to Hamas and even Al Qaeda.

The Pakistani Taliban as one of their commanders Qari Hussain claimed may have facilitated Balawi in carrying out the suicide bombing at the CIA's Khost base and the video in which the bomber and Hakimullah are seated together is evidence of their close ties, but it is difficult to believe that they could have accomplished the mission without the support of Afghan Taliban, particularly the powerful Haqqani network dominant in Khost. It could have been a joint operation with Balawi having links to Al Qaeda receiving explosives and some training from the Taliban and then embarking on a mission that was primarily facilitated by the unwary Jordanian and CIA intelligence agents.

It should worry the US and its allies that Muslims the world over find it difficult to trust western nations. This is benefiting the militants and providing justification to their cause. The CIA agents were attacked because they were directing US drone attacks that kill some Al Qaeda and Taliban members and many more civilians in Pakistan's tribal areas. The fact that Islamic militants from different countries and cultures have been planning and conducting joint operations against western targets should be a matter of concern for the US and its friends. There should be some soul-searching on the part of all sides to the conflict to think of other and preferably peaceful options instead of embarking on revenge and continuing this vicious circle of death and destruction.



The writer is resident editor of The News in Peshawar. Email: rahimyusufzai ***********

 

[fatman17]

TTP Swat commander held



Tuesday, January 12, 2010
By our correspondent

Karachi

The Special Investigation Unit (SIU) has claimed to have arrested a commander of the banned Tehrikh-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Swat chapter and recovered a pistol from his possession.

An officer of SIU said that on a tip-off, the SIU team conducted a raid at a hideout in Baloch Goth, Orangi Town and arrested Hiyatullah alias Hamayun.

According to an SIU officer, the suspect carried out subversive activities in the Matta area under the command of Khan Khattab who was killed during the Army operation in the area. The suspect is also stated to be a close aide of Qari Fazalullah and Abn-i-Ameen. He was a former employee of the Pakistan Telecommunication Communication Limited.

The accused was wanted by the police in a number of cases registered against him at the Matta police station in Swat and his name was placed at 180 in the terrorists’ list.

 

[fatman17]

Troops kill eight Taliban in South Waziristan

Staff Report

RAWALPINDI: Security forces on Monday killed eight Taliban while a soldier was martyred in clashes with terrorists in the ongoing operation in South Waziristan.

According to the Inter-Services Public Relations, eight Taliban were killed during a clearance operation in the area around Katori Sar and Jangwam. Separately, the Taliban fired on a checkpost at Pash Zairat in Razmak sector, martyring a solider and injuring another three.

In another clearance operation at Shiekh Yousaf Adda, two Taliban were apprehended, and forces defused three improvised explosive devices. They also conducted clearance operations at Maiol, Sukai and Laghar Sar, and recovered a cache of arms and ammunition.

 

[fatman17]

‘Pak political stability raises US hopes’

WASHINGTON: Recent signs of political stability and the enhanced anti-terror commitment from Pakistan have raised hopes of closer US-Pakistan cooperation, Trudy Rubin, an expert wrote in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

She lauded President Asif Ali Zardari’s success in dealing with the recent political developments and Pakistan’s military leadership’s growing consciousness about the violent extremists’ threat. “President Zardari seems to have weathered a campaign by opponents to force him out of office,” she said. Rubin also praised the Pakistani Ambassador Husain Haqqani’s effective diplomatic efforts vis-à-vis US-Pakistan cooperation. She remarked that the Pakistani president’s exit would have hampered efforts in the fight against the terrorists. The writer also notes that President Zardari recognises the existential threat that terrorists pose to Pakistan and has been urging the need to confront the jihadis.I would disagree

In her widely read column, Worldview, Rubin says “the second piece of good news: Pakistan ‘s military leadership now seems to recognize the need to battle jihadis” and cites successful campaigns in the Swat valley and South Waziristan to back up her claim. In this context, the expert also refers to the US military leadership’s optimism about future cooperation with its Pakistani counterparts. US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen lauded Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani, and his operations against the Taliban. Mullen said he saw a shift in the way Pakistan was looking its the future security needs, a shift that “would be influenced by whether a more stable situation emerges in Afghanistan.”[B] app[/B]
agree

 

[fatman17]

Orakzai sealed ahead of operation

Dawn Report

Tuesday, 12 Jan, 2010

Troops have been deployed in the villages where tribesmen have extended support to the government against the militants.

KOHAT: A military operation in Orakzai Agency appeared imminent as authorities sealed off the region on Monday and moved security forces to key positions.


Official sources said that all routes to Orakzai Agency had been closed by establishing 18 checkposts manned by Frontier Corps.





Similarly, troops had been deployed in the villages, both in upper and lower areas of Orakzai, where tribesmen have extended support to the government against the militants.


According to sources, the decision to launch a military operation was taken after the government got information that 90 per cent of suicide bombers sent to strike Peshawar, Hangu, Darra Adamkhel, Lahore and Islamabad were trained in Orakzai Agency.


Access to Orakzai Agency from the adjoining Kohat, Hangu, Kurram and Khyber agencies has been cut off and security forces have taken control of its administrative headquarters Kalaya where most of the government offices are situated.





Artillery and tanks have been moved meanwhile to the border areas in Khyber and Kurram agencies.


The government had been mulling over a plan to launch operation in Orakzai Agency, former headquarters of the present chief of Tehrik-i- Taliban Pakistan, Hakeemullah Mehsud, and a group headed by Tariq Afridi of Darra Adamkhel for more than a year.

More than 30 pro-government tribesmen and Taliban had been killed in clashes during the past fortnight in the tribal region. Sources said that troops had made discreet movement into Orakzai Agency over the last several months.

Security forces had gained much ground through intense shelling and bombardment in the difficult terrain and paved the way for military operation by destroying major hideouts, ammunition depots and training camps of Taliban.


Sources said that thousands of militants had taken positions along the borders with Hangu, Kurram and Khyber agencies.





They were primarily strengthening their positions in Shahu Khel, Anjani, Stori Khel, Chappri Feroze Khel and areas near central Kurram Agency, sources added.


About 400,000 tribal families had migrated to Hangu, Kohat and other parts of the province from Orakzai Agency following air strikes in February 2009.

Meanwhile, police and Frontier Constabulary arrested 30 suspected militants including 10 foreigners while two terrorists surrendered to security forces during a search operation in Hangu on Monday.

The operation was carried out in Samana, Bagato, Doaba, Serozai, Thall, Mardo Khel Banda and Shahu Khel areas of Hangu district.

During the operation two militants identified as Naseeb Shah and Sakhi Islam surrendered voluntarily.

Ten Afghans were also arrested for their illegal stay in the district illegally.


Similarly 20 other criminals were also nabbed from different parts of the district along with weapons and ammunition.





The seizure included four Kalashnikovs, five shotguns, three rifles, eight pistols, 425 cartridges of different bores and three kilograms of hashish.

 

[S-2]

"You conveniently forget that the US fields an Army of occupation in Afghanistan. It is the legitimate right of the Afghans to resist the occupation."

The U.S. Army is in Afghanistan along with the forces of over forty other nations by mandate of the U.N. That's something you seem to forget- 1.) Americans aren't alone in this nor our perceptions about you, 2.) we've a VERY LEGITIMATE U.N. mandate to be there and the invite of the afghan government, and 3.) when discussing legitimacy, let's not forget that Pakistan possesses no right to surreptiously support such a resistance in the face of a legitimate basis for the presence of such forces.

The taliban have NO basis for legitimacy and their sole power extends from the barrel of a gun and the protection afforded by Pakistan. They won't stand for election because they're quite aware that the taliban political platform would be rejected by an outright majority of the nation to include the near unanimous rejection by tajiks, uzbeks, hazara, and turkomen.

This is a country that would be facing the most serious developmental issues in the world WITHOUT an externally-directed insurgency. The issues stemming from their traditional poverty alone were overwhelming. Then pile on the product of two decades of war.

NOW pile on your more-than-modest contribution to the general mayhem.

Afghans have been there, done that, and can't stand it. Quit foisting upon them that which you won't accept for yourselves.

Thanks.

 

[S-2]

K,

I think that the "Lessons We Must Learn" opinion column is posted as a thread already in the U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS section.

Thanks.

 

[SekrutYakhni]

If terrorism is finished say in 5 years...U.S. Army goes happily where they came from..India and Pakistan have better relations...

I know it is impossible but lets imagine..

What will happen next?

Will this world be a better place or we will see many operations like Operation Rah-e-Haq against foreign forces....

 

[SMC]

Finally Orakzai operation. I have been waiting for that since SW operation. A successful operating in Orakzai and surrounding agencies will mean the death of TTP.

 

[fatman17]

K,

I think that the "Lessons We Must Learn" opinion column is posted as a thread already in the U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS section.

Thanks.

oops! my bad!

 

[waraich66]

The taliban have NO basis for legitimacy and their sole power extends from the barrel of a gun

look who's talking , White man captured American land from Red Indians from barrel of gun is part of history .It means American have NO basis for legitimacy also

 

[Xeric]

You dont seem to have gone through the Murder-board? You need to work harder!

Because your brave taliban retreated faster to Pakistan in the midst of war than 100 SF operators on horseback could attack.

Not exactly!

This is not how it works!

Well if you would screw around with Tomahawks without boots on ground, this is how it would end.

You knew it, dont you, you just played nuts.

Ok, let's for an intanse believe in your 'excuse'; what did you do when when you horsemen found out that the enemy has been trained in Formula 1?

They were still fleeing when you had boots there, what did you do to stop that?

They are still moving to and fro (read fleeing) across the border currently, what are you doing now? Allowing it to happen, i guess?

Allowing them a 'leveled' playing field? Are you really so dumb?

What's the world's seventh largest army's excuse since then?

Well that's simple.

We dont spend $ 607 Billion (which makes 41.5 % of the world share) out of a total of $ 1464.0 Billion, that all of the Earthlings spend on defence when combined together!

They didn't surrender in Afghanistan and we didn't count on an "ally" harboring an enemy insurgent leadership on its lands.

The same 'ol RANT!

So should we imply that the mighty US went into Afg with a failed strategy? With doing its homework? Dont tell me that you didnt know that the 'ally' would 'harbor an enemy insurgent leadership on its lands'?

You still could prove it! Still extrapolating whatever info you have to your own benefit. Almost, all of your accusations have been proven wrong, but you still dont learn!

Silly us.

Yes!

Or may be not; just another way of earning points, support and sympathies!

End your sanctuaries. Until then we'll defend ourselves with PREDATOR or anything else we construe as necessary for our defense.

Is that a threat?

 

[S-2]

"So should we imply that the mighty US went into Afg with a failed strategy?"

Seen a battleplan that survives contact with the enemy? Improvise, adapt, overcome...

"We dont spend $ 607 Billion (which makes 41.5 % of the world share) out of a total of $ 1464.0 Billion, that all of the Earthlings spend on defence when combined together!"

Wouldn't stop everyone of you from grabbing a pitchfork and running east if it were the Indians. Nope. Six months...a year, maybe to get it together and oust those scumoids.

Eight years later tells me you WANT it this way. Tells the rest of the world the same thing.

"Dont tell me that you didnt know that the 'ally' would 'harbor an enemy insurgent leadership on its lands'?"

I recall that sanctuary was discussed by a lot of folks...and dismissed. Nobody in their right mind thought that Pakistan would turn on America for the sake of the Afghan taliban...

...but you clearly have done exactly that.

I'm still hopeful that might change.

"Is that a threat?"

It's a manifest fact. Look in the skies of FATA every single day. I DIDN'T say skies of Afghanistan, mind you. Now-you tell me...does the presence of our UCAVs over your head read like a "threat" or a "fact"?

Thanks.

 

[Xeric]

"...expect more violence, terrorist attacks on innocents in Pakistan."

But your afghan taliban killing civilians in Afghanistan is perfectly acceptable to Pakistanis? Too bad Pakistan hasn't forthrightly told its citizens that these are bad men and won't be tolerated ruling Pakistanis nor Afghans.

You do KNOW that the taliban have been responsible for the vast majority of those killed in Afghanistan according to UNAMA, correct? If not, let me help educate you-

Afghanistan Mid-Year Bulletin On The Protection Of Civilians In Armed Conflict-July 2009

4...."UNAMA Human Right figures indicate that more civilians are being killed by AGEs [Anti-Government Elements] than by PGF [Pro-Government Forces]. In the first six months of 2009, 59% of civilians were killed by AGEs and 30.5% by PGF.

9. A continuing trend seen through 2008 and into the first six months of 2009 is that AGE [Anti-Government Elements] tactics have shifted, from frontal or ambush attacks on PGF [Pro-Government Forces], to insurgent or guerrilla type activities, including asymmetric attacks such as IEDs, VBIEDs, BBIEDs, (that remain responsible for the largest number of civilian deaths), and targeted assassinations.

10. Between January and June 2009, 595 civilian deaths were attributed to AGE activities; 400 of those deaths were the result of indiscriminate IED and suicide attacks. This represents 67% of all deaths attributable to AGEs, or 39.5% of the total 1013 civilians killed in the first half of 2009. AGE operations are frequently undertaken regardless of the impact on civilians in terms of deaths and injuries or destruction of civilian infrastructure. Based on investigation of specific incidents conducted by UNAMA Human Rights, information suggests that AGEs are basing themselves in civilian areas so as to deliberately blur the distinction between combatants and civilians, and as part of what appears to be an active policy aimed at drawing a military response to areas where there is a high likelihood that civilians will be killed or injured. Also of great concern to UNAMA Human Rights, is the frequency by which AGEs conduct attacks in, or against, civilian locations. UNAMA Human Rights continues to document IED attacks carried out on roads used by civilian traffic, residential compounds, and market places. In some areas, UNAMA Human Rights has also noted targeted assassinations of civilians through the use of IEDs, particularly in the South-East.

So afghan civilians die at a rate of 2:1 at the hands of their protectors-the Afghan taliban. Worse, they do so as intentional targets all too often. When that isn't happening, the afghan taliban are documented as using afghan civilians as human shields.

There's no functional difference in the intent of the afghan taliban from the Pakistani taliban. Both intend to rule by fiat and muslim sharia law in a manifestly cruel and onerous fashion. We've PLENTY of evidence already of what that means for Afghanistan and Pakistan has had its own taste in SWAT and Buner.

Oddly enough, that which you decisively reject for yourselves would be happily foisted onto the Afghans if Pakistanis were to have your way.

Just can't seem to break the need to enslave the afghans to your ambitions?

Thanks.

Then what the heck are your GIs (at the rate of USD 1 million/annum) doing there??