Operation Rah-e-Nijat (South Waziristan)

[fatman17]

Pakistani General: 'Indiscriminate' Against Terrorists

by NPR Staff

June 7, 2011
June 7, 2011


A Pakistani general being urged to clear out a strategic area along his country's border with Afghanistan says his troops are engaged in active operations in the region, and Pakistan alone shouldn't be blamed for cross-border militancy.

Lt. Gen. Asif Yasin Malik, who commands Pakistan's Eleventh Corps, tells NPR's Steve Inskeep that perceptions his troops can't enter North Waziristan are incorrect.

"We're already there," he says. "I have five brigades over there — about 20,000-25,000 troops."

Malik says he is losing men in the area, killing insurgents and terrorists.

But the U.S. is impatient for Pakistan to strike the Haqqani network, a militant organization named after its leaders that finds sanctuary in North Waziristan. The network is suspected of kidnapping journalists, bombing a hotel in the Afghan capital, Kabul, and attacking the Indian Embassy there.

Malik insists he has no orders to go easy on the network.

"As a military commander, let me assure you, I have no orders to spare anybody and I don't spare anybody," he said.
But when asked if his troops are specifically targeting the Haqqani network, Malik said: "We don't specifically target anybody. You see, there's no such thing as a good terrorist and a bad terrorist.

"Anybody who challenges the writ of the state, or who is working against the interest of Pakistan, we target them."
Malik never quite says he is or is not targeting the Haqqani network.

"I don't give names to the terrorists, you know," he said. "I don't differentiate. My issue is I ask questions later, I shoot first. ... We target them very, very indiscriminate, if I may say so."

The U.S. military speaks highly of Malik, whose troops have coordinated with the U.S. on many missions. But when reporters asked last week if Malik planned a full-scale offensive in North Waziristan soon, he said no. A U.S. official believes Pakistan has a "tacit agreement" not to attack the Haqqanis, at least for now.

Malik also says the issue of movement across the porous Afghan-Pakistan border has to be understood historically.

"This crossing has always been there for centuries, you know," he says. "Now imagine a person who is not carrying a weapon. He just walks across the border. How would you or anybody know that he's a terrorist?
"He goes behind a bush and picks up a Kalashnikov and he becomes a terrorist. And to add to it, Kalashnikov is part of the body here. It is the third arm of the people."

He says the blame for such cross-border crossings shouldn't lie with Pakistan alone.

"We have suggested number of measures to the Afghan government and to the coalition," he says. "We have suggested mining. We have suggested fencing. We have suggested biometrically controlled crossing points. All have been denied by the Afghan government."

Why?

 

[fatman17]

A Dangerous Mix:

Militant Groups in North Waziristan

By Jeffrey Dressler
June 1, 2011



North Waziristan hosts a blend of insurgents and terrorists operating against Pakistan and Afghanistan, with some also targeting the American homeland. Enemy groups based there include the Haqqani Network, powerful tribal enablers, foreign extremists, and Pakistani Taliban who have been at war with the Pakistani state for much of the past decade. Recent press reports indicate that the Pakistani military may be poised to launch an offensive in North Waziristan of undetermined size and scope. Below is a primer on the main militant groupings in North Waziristan, their respective areas of influence, and their relationship with the Pakistani state and each other.



The Haqqani Network

The Haqqani Network is headquartered in Miram Shah, the capital of North Waziristan. The network’s senior leadership maintains influence throughout Pakistan’s tribal region and often plays a central role in mediating disputes between militant groups and the Pakistani state. The Haqqanis use Miram Shah and the surrounding villages and towns to shelter, plan, train, and equip insurgents fighting ISAF and Afghan forces in Afghanistan’s southeast.[1] The Haqqanis are supported by elements of the Pakistani security establishment (Army and intelligence services) which rely on such “proxy” groups for influence in Afghanistan’s Pashtun-dominated south and east.[2] Despite years of intense international pressure to cease their support for the Haqqanis and actively target the network, the support for the Haqqanis continues.



Hafiz Gul Bahadur

Perhaps the most influential tribal leader in North Waziristan, Gul Bahadur maintains influence in the territory west of Miram Shah, abutting Afghanistan’s southeastern provinces. Commanders loyal to Bahadur also hold sway as far east as Mir Ali, North Waziristan’s second most-populated town. Bahadur is a close ally of the Haqqanis and is rumored to provide resources, shelter, and facilitation for Haqqani Network operations in Afghanistan. Although Bahadur has been allied with militants against the Pakistani state, most notably, Baitullah Mehsud, he has avoided direct confrontation with the Pakistani military since Baitullah’s death.[3]



Pakistani Taliban (Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan or TTP)

The TTP is an alliance of militant groups from Pakistan’s tribal areas that formed in 2007 under the leadership of Baitullah Mehsud. The TTP was the target of several large-scale Pakistani military offensives, most notably, in South Waziristan in late 2007.[4] Following the Pakistani Army’s offensive in South Waziristan, much of the TTP’s leadership fled north to neighboring North Waziristan and re-established itself in and around the town of Mir Ali. The TTP remains the most virulent group inside Pakistan and is responsible for most of the violence against the Pakistani state. It maintains close linkages with other militant groups including the Haqqani Network, al Qaeda, and Punjab-based sectarian outfits like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. The TTP has also targeted U.S. forces in Afghanistan and has launched attacks on the U.S. homeland. It will likely be the main target of Pakistani military operations in North Waziristan.



Uzbek Militants

The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and the Islamic Jihad Union are two predominately Uzbek militant groups with a presence in North Waziristan. After basing in Afghanistan in the late 1990s, the IMU fled to the Waziristans in 2002 after taking heavy casualties during the U.S.-led invasion in 2001. Both the IMU and IJU relocated to Mir Ali, North Waziristan by 2009, although the IJU had reportedly been operating there since 2006.[5] Both groups have close ties to al-Qaeda, the TTP, and the Haqqani Network. Both groups have been linked to terror plots in Europe. The planning and training for the execution of these plots are believed to have originated in Mir Ali.[6] Both groups are believed to be enemies of the Pakistani security establishment.



Foreign Fighters

Foreign fighters operating from North Waziristan include, but are not limited to Arabs, Chechens, Uighurs, and Turks affiliated with al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e Taiba, Lashkar-e Jhangvi, Sipah-e Sahaba, and Jaish-e Mohammed.[7] The majority of these individuals operate out of Mir Ali, North Waziristan under the protective umbrella of the Haqqanis, Gul Bahadur, and other influential local militant leaders. Foreign fighters operating in Mir Ali are typically focused on attacks in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Europe, and the United States.



Jeffrey Dressler is a Senior Analyst at the Institute for the Study of War.


[1] Jeffrey Dressler, “The Haqqani Network: from Pakistan to Afghanistan,” Institute for the Study of War, October 2010
[2] Jeffrey Dressler, “Haqqani Network influence in Kurram and its implications for Afghanistan,” CTC Sentinel, 4(3), March 2011
[3] Charlie Szrom, “The Survivalist of North Waziristan: Hafiz Gul Bahadur Biography and Analysis,” AEI Critical Threats, August 6, 2009; Gopal et al., “The battle for Pakistan: militancy and conflict in North Waziristan,” New America Foundation, April 2010
[4] Frederick Kagan, Reza Jan & Charlie Szrom, “The War in Waziristan: Operation Rah-e-Nijat – Phase 1 Analysis,” CriticalThreats.org, November 18, 2009
[5] David Witter, “Uzbek Militancy in Pakistan’s Tribal Region,” Institute for the Study of War, January 2011
[6] David Witter, “Uzbek Militancy in Pakistan’s Tribal Region,” Institute for the Study of War, January 2011
[7] Jeffrey Dressler, “The Haqqani Network: from Pakistan to Afghanistan,” Institute for the Study of War, October 2010

 

[fatman17]

Pakistan, Militants In Deadly Border Fight

by Steve Inskeep

June 6, 2011
June 6, 2011

There is worry that violent militants inside Pakistan could destabilize the country.

American officials want Pakistan to intensify its fight against those militants because they complicate the U.S. war in Afghanistan. Pakistan's army has repeatedly driven out the Taliban from tribal zones near its border with Afghanistan. But the militants won't stay beaten.

Last month, militant violence struck a district along the edge of Pakistan's tribal region. The target was Shabqadar Fort, a 19th-century structure that serves as the headquarters for Frontier Constabulary troops, a paramilitary force recruited from among the local ethnic Pashtun tribes. They're supposed to keep order when a situation grows too violent for the police.

Several hundred recruits were going on leave, and they crowded around the fort's front gate. As they were boarding buses, a motorcycle rider rolled toward them down the street. The motorcyclist blew himself up, killing nearly a dozen people. More were wounded.

For Pakistan's Frontier Constabulary, Tribe Matters

Above Irshad Alam's desk is a wooden plaque that lists all of the officers who previously held his post.

Alam commands the Frontier Constabulary troops at the Shabqadar Fort in Pakistan's northwest tribal region. His men are paramilitary troops whose duties fall somewhere between the role of the police and the role of the army. Their ranks are drawn from local tribes to help keep the peace among them.

As constables rushed to the gate to help, a second attacker was watching.

Law enforcement official Usman Ijaz says that second attacker blew himself up inside the mob that was trying to help the wounded. The attacker had filled the bomb with ball bearings to kill more people.
After the second explosion, 79 lay dead.

Base commander Irshad Alam said the recruits "were lying there just like sheep and goats. I was picking them up with my own hands."

He said "the image kept replaying in front of my eyes."

The experience left Alam demoralized for more than two weeks. "Why are our children being killed?" he asks. "Maybe it's a punishment from God because our behavior hasn't been very good."

'There's No Such Thing As Victory'

Shabqadar Fort has stood against tribal uprisings throughout its history. Peacocks and other birds stroll around the grounds. It's a peaceful place in the middle of a war.

"Things may look normal," Ijaz says. "But they're not that normal."

In recent years, the area has become more secure after Pakistan's regular army deployed in the province. But militants keep filtering back.

Since the bombings, the frontier constables aren't even sure about the people in the bazaar right outside their gate.

Ijaz says it's hard for the army to find the manpower to be everywhere at once.
"They clear one area," he says, "they go to another area."
"We have to do a whole lot of operations at a time."

About 140,000 troops are deployed in the tribal zones and in the adjacent province. Gen. Asif Yasin Malik, the region's regular army commander, claims his troops are able to hold the ground they win from militants, but that those efforts limit their ability to strike elsewhere.

Frontier Constabulary troops return to Shabqadar Fort regularly for refresher courses on weapons and tactics. This man is assembling and disassembling a rifle under the watchful eye of his instructor.

"There's no such thing as victory," he says. "It's always relative."

His goal is to establish enough security that civilian officials can work to build infrastructure and encourage development.
Tribal Loyalty

After the bombing at the Frontier Constabulary base, the surviving recruits were sent out to their new units across the district. More recruits arrived for their six-month training course, along with experienced paramilitary troops.

They're all preparing for the next phase of a conflict among their tribes.

Ijaz knows it's a region where tribal loyalty is extremely strong.
"Yes, they are facing this problem" of divided loyalties, he says. "In some cases, it helps them." If a family has a son in the security services, it helps to have another with the militants.

Anayatullah is a member of the Mehsud tribe, whose leaders have been at the heart of the rebellion. He's been a member of the constabulary forces for 24 years.

"We are very worried about this," he says. His family in the tribal zone of South Waziristan faced so many threats they had to move.

Pakistan has seen conflict before, but rarely anything like this. The war could take years to resolve.

 

[macho ki macho]

Eight soldiers killed in North Waziristan clash​

MIRANSHAH: Around 150 militants armed with rockets attacked a security checkpost in Pakistan’s Waziristan on Thursday, killing eight soldiers, intelligence officials said, as tensions rise in the border region.

Twelve militants were killed in retaliatory firing by security forces.

The attack came on the heels of stepped-up missile strikes by U.S. drone aircraft in the tribal region along the Afghan border regarded as a hub of militants from around the world.

“The militants were carrying rockets and heavy weapons and attacked the checkpost shortly after midnight,” an intelligence official in the region told Reuters.

“Eight soldiers were killed and twelve were wounded,” he added.

Security forces hit back at the militants, killing at least 12 of them and wounding five, another official said.

The attack took place in Makeen, an area on the border between North and Waziristan, which was once a stronghold of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the main alliance of Pakistan’s homegrown militant groups involved in suicide and bomb attacks across the country.

Pakistan army launched a major offensive in South Waziristan in 2009, driving TTP fighters out of their bases in the restive region.

Many TTP leaders, including its chief Hakimullah Mehsud, were believed to have fled into North Waziristan.

The United States has been urging the Pakistani military to launch a ground offensive in North Waziristan, which is also the main of the Haqqani network that leads the insurgency just over the border in eastern Afghanistan.

 

[majesticpankaj]

Rest In peace

 

[monitor]

20 Killed In Taliban Attack On Pak Security Post

6/9/2011 1:52 AM ET
(RTTNews) - Twenty people, eight of them Army troops, were killed when the Taliban attacked a security post in Pakistan's volatile north-western tribal region on Thursday, reports said.

A large gang of militants armed with assault rifles and rocket propeled grenades targeted the outpost in South Waziristan's Makeen area. South Waziristan is one of the seven districts in Pakistan's semi-autonomous federally administered tribal region plagued by Islamist insurgency.

An unnamed security official told media that the firefight between troops and militants lasted several hours resulting in casualties on both sides.

Boasting on a major operation carried out by the military in South Waziristan last year, Islamabad had claimed that the region had been cleared of insurgents led by al-Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

The military push had forced many militants based in the region to shift base to the mountainous regions in neighboring districts from where they continue to launch attacks against troops.

by RTT Staff Writer

For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com

 

[Varad]

Militants, bomb attacks kill 24 in Pakistan

The Associated Press: Militants, bomb attacks kill 24 in Pakistan

RIP to the dead.

 

[53fd]

Militants, bomb attacks kill 24 in Pakistan

The Associated Press: Militants, bomb attacks kill 24 in Pakistan

RIP to the dead.

8 soldiers & 12 militants were killed.

 

[Bond]

By Reuters
Published: June 9, 2011
Around 150 heavily armed militants attack security checkpost in Miranshah, 12 militants killed in retaliatory firing. PHOTO: FILE
MIRANSHAH: Around 150 militants armed with rockets attacked a security checkpost in North Waziristan on Thursday, killing eight soldiers, intelligence officials said, as tensions rise in the border region.

Twelve militants were killed in retaliatory firing by security forces.

The attack came on the heels of stepped-up missile strikes by US drone aircraft in the tribal region along the Afghan border regarded as a hub of militants from around the world.

“The militants were carrying rockets and heavy weapons and attacked the checkpost shortly after midnight,” an intelligence official in the region told Reuters.

“Eight soldiers were killed and twelve were wounded,” he added.

Security forces hit back at the militants, killing at least 12 of them and wounding five, another official said.

Earlier, a militant group based in North Waziristan threatened to step up against the American troops after a US drone strike killed 23 militants on Thursday.
.

---------- Post added at 07:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:05 PM ----------

RIP.....

 

[air marshal]

 

[Xeric]

http://www.radio.gov.pk/newsdetail-47105

Posted Date: 20th June, 2013 Last updated at 12:06 PST

3rd trade corridor on Pak-Afghan border completed

The 50-Kilometer road from Wana to Angoor Adda has been completed at a cost of about 40 million dollars with financial assistance of UAE.
radio
Pakistan Army has completed third trade corridor on Pak-Afghan border in South Waziristan Agency in tribal areas to improve communication network and facilitate the people.

The 50-Kilometer road from Wana to Angoor Adda has been completed at a cost of about forty million dollars with the financial assistance of UAE.

Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani along with UAE ambassador in Pakistan inaugurated this facility Thursday morning.

Speaking on the occasion Army Chief said the army is engaged in the area to bring peace and provide protection to the people so that they could live peaceful life.

He said due to the efforts of the army operation against terrorists was completed in a month. He appealed to the people of the area who have left to return to their homes and resume their normal life. He said army will stay in the area till complete peace is restored.

General Kayani said the government is working on a plan to ensure development of the area by providing civic amenities to the people and construction of roads to link the area with the rest of the country.