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Operation Rah-e-Rast (Swat)

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MINGORA (Laeequr Rehman/Shahzad Mehmood): Security forces have landed troops at Taliban stronghold Peochar through helicopters, which have taken positions at the mountains.

In Imam Dherri area of Swat four militants have been killed in the clashes with security forces. The forces have also arrested 10 militants from Charsadda and transferred to some undisclosed place.

Three dead bodies have been found in Mingora.

Jet fighters have targeted the positions of militants in Namal and Peochar.

According to ISPR forces have landed troops at Taliban stronghold Peochar through helicopters.

According to OneWorld correspondent, Peochar is a stronghold of Taliban supremo Moulvi Fazlullah. The forces have taken the area after operation ‘Rah-e-Haq’ that lost for few hours. Now the region’s link with other parts of Swat will be restored.

The forces campaign against the militants continued in tehsil Matta of Swat. The forces have landed troops by helicopters at the mountains, which have taken positions at the mountains of Fanchar.

The militants are training recruits in the depth of forests beyond the mountains, reports said. The troops will march towards the valleys from the mountains.

The militants are also using local population as human shield, reports said.Swat: Troops land at Taliban stronghold Peochar,5/12/2009 4:24:38 PM
 
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* Maj Gen Athar says army will avoid confrontation if Taliban leave Mingora
* Says elite commandos dropped for advance combat

Daily Times Monitor

LAHORE: The military is prepared for house-to-house combat to flush out the Taliban from their urban strongholds in Swat.

“We have prepared for house-to-house fighting but if the militants leave Mingora, then we will avoid it,” Maj Gen Athar Abbas said.

Prepared to FISH? Then go FISH.
 
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751 militants killed, 29 troops martyred in operation: ISPR
Updated at: 1715 PST, Tuesday, May 12, 2009

RAWALPINDI: Director General Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj. General Athar Abbas Tuesday said 751 militants have so far been killed while 29 security men martyred and 77 others injured in operation Raah-e-Haq underway in Swat and other parts of Malakand.

Giving updates of the ongoing operation, DG ISPR said the security forces have accomplished significant achievements, adding the images and videos of the dead militants will be released tomorrow.

He said today Pakistan army’s heliborne troops landed in Peochar, a key Taliban stronghold in the northwest district of Swat. Militants’ hideouts were destroyed in Baba Ziarat area and some arrests were also made, he told the reports.

Four security personnel lost their lives in militants’ attack on Kanju Police Station and Kilay while 4 militants were killed in Imam Dheri.

Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said the army is setting up hospitals and camps for the IDPs coming from the battle zones and so far 1.3 million people have migrated. In this connection, services of NADRA are being used, he added.

He said Ibn-e-Aql, brother of Ibn-e-Umer, has been killed in the ongoing operation and added that no information has been received of any significant foreign militant’s presence.

The ISPR Chief said efforts are on to drive out the militants from the area. Operation has been conducted from Chakdarra to Gulabad and the militants are swiftly losing ground.

He said the military is abstaining from using helicopters for carrying out offensives to avoid collateral damage and main focus is on ground operation.

Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said the militants have planted land mines on roads and ground in Mingora and Swat.

Government spokesman on the occasion announced that a special fund has been set up for the families affected by terrorist activities.

DG ISPR replying to a question said action is being taken after receiving report from the intelligence agencies but stopped short of giving any details.
751 militants killed, 29 troops martyred in operation: ISPR
 
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very positive development the SSG once again being used to clear their hideouts i think alot of the senoir leadership have escaped though
 
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Pakistan's Swat offensive risks wider backlash
Tue May 12, 2009 1:46pm BST Email | Print | Share| Single Page[-] Text [+] By Luke Baker - Analysis

LONDON (Reuters) - Pakistan's heavy-handed offensive against the Taliban in northwest Pakistan is misguided and risks further destabilizing the country, western military and intelligence experts argue.

By throwing up to 15,000 troops and heavy weaponry against an estimated 5,000 Taliban in Swat, a valley northwest of Islamabad, the Pakistan army may make short-term gains, but it increases the likelihood of terror-style attacks on targets in more stable areas of eastern Pakistan in the longer-term.

While the army essentially had no choice but to go on the offensive after the Taliban broke a peace accord and the U.S. administration piled on pressure for action, the broader strategy needs overhauling, the analysts say.

"On this occasion, the Pakistan army has accepted that the breach of the Swat agreement by the Taliban did in fact represent a threat which it couldn't overlook or fail to respond to," said Nigel Inkster, an expert on transnational threats at London's International Institute for Strategic Studies and a former director in Britain's secret intelligence service.

"That said, the techniques that are being deployed go against all accepted best-practice in dealing with a counter-insurgency, particularly the use of heavy fire power.

"There are times when you are fighting an insurgency when you do employ serious war fighting. But despite that, there's a general view that the very indiscriminate nature of the military response may well be storing up resentment elsewhere," he said.

Of particular concern is the ability of Taliban-allied groups to carry out attacks in more stable parts of the country, including the capital Islamabad, when the Taliban are squeezed in other areas -- the balloon analogy of the insurgency: when it is squashed in one spot it quickly inflates in another.

Such a response has been seen before when Pakistani troops have gone on the offensive, and a similar reaction is expected this time around, even if the Taliban do end up taking a severe hit in Swat and other parts of the northwest frontier province.

ALLIED GROUP THREAT

David Kilcullen, an Australian counter-insurgency expert and a former adviser to U.S. General David Petraeus, argues the Pakistani military has lost the counter-insurgency battle in the northwest frontier and Pakistan's tribal areas known as FATA.

"FATA is now yesterday's problem," he told an audience in London at the launch of his new book on guerrilla conflict.

"The real problem for Pakistan now is in Punjab and Sindh," he said, referring to two more stable provinces in the east. "We need to focus on building up Pakistan's police forces and making sure they are the frontline force in those provinces."

Others argue Pakistan's military has no alternative but to go full-throttle after the Taliban now, even if it does lead to attacks elsewhere. Western criticism is only going to further unsettle a Pakistani leadership that is already put-upon.

"It's not pretty, but if you want to win the war, there are not too many other ways of doing things," said Anatole Lieven, a professor in war studies at King's College London.

"The Taliban and its allies will resort to increased terrorist attacks elsewhere in Pakistan and then there will be two questions. One is whether the army and police can hold the territory that they have conquered in Swat," he said.

"And connected to that, is will they go on to reconquer other areas on the Afghan frontier as the Americans would like? That is much more questionable."

He predicted the Taliban and its allies would target Punjab, where very poor communities are susceptible to Islamist ideology even if they do not share any Pashtun ethnic affiliation.

"But I don't see it growing into a full insurgency," he said. "It will be local extremist groups allied to the Taliban."

Longer-term stability depends not just on bolstering Pakistan's military and police, and pumping money for jobs and development into poor or remote areas to undercut insurgency, but on U.S. forces getting out of Afghanistan, he said.

"The U.S. presence in Afghanistan is what's really feeding the insurgency in Pakistan. That can't be overlooked and it's the big issue for militants in Pakistan.

"The fundamental thing to do is get out of Afghanistan as quickly as we reasonably can. I'm not talking tomorrow, but there's got to be a strategy to do it and soon."

(Editing by Kate Kelland and Jon Hemming)

Pakistan's Swat offensive risks wider backlash | Reuters



wat do u guys think about this....... was their any other way of handling the situation???? to avoid backlash in other parts
 
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very positive development the SSG once again being used to clear their hideouts i think alot of the senoir leadership have escaped though

ya i dont know where they have gone. normally they really lik to contact media but recently havent heard anything from anyone. do u really think they have escaped and left their fighters alone??

this is the first time SSG has been called in. good way to save some time
 
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The "balloon effect" occurs when attacking forces are satisfied with making the enemy retreat - thus allowing the enemy to go somewhere else - rather than destroying them.
 
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that means it will be very important to kill them all rather lettin flee...
 
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What Pakistan Army has done so far in troubled areas is above and beyond any Army I know of, if it was our neighborly Army , it would rape, kill old folks and children, But Hooray and my salute to Pak-Army, it has shown fantastic discipline and have given sacrifices above and beyond the call of duty when they did not be come revengeful after many of their colleagues were killed by these unscrupulous anti Islamic type of people.

And now that we are at War, we as Pakistanis should be supporting our troops and here is my part.

 
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Tuesday, May 12, 2009

RAWALPINDI: Director General Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj. General Athar Abbas Tuesday said 751 militants have so far been killed while 29 security men martyred and 77 others injured in operation Raah-e-Haq underway in Swat and other parts of Malakand.

Giving updates of the ongoing operation, DG ISPR said the security forces have accomplished significant achievements, adding the images and videos of the dead militants will be released tomorrow.

He said today Pakistan army’s heliborne troops landed in Peochar, a key Taliban stronghold in the northwest district of Swat. Militants’ hideouts were destroyed in Baba Ziarat area and some arrests were also made, he told the reports.

Four security personnel lost their lives in militants’ attack on Kanju Police Station and Kilay while 4 militants were killed in Imam Dheri.

Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said the army is setting up hospitals and camps for the IDPs coming from the battle zones and so far 1.3 million people have migrated. In this connection, services of NADRA are being used, he added.

He said Ibn-e-Aql, brother of Ibn-e-Umer, has been killed in the ongoing operation and added that no information has been received of any significant foreign militant’s presence.

The ISPR Chief said efforts are on to drive out the militants from the area. Operation has been conducted from Chakdarra to Gulabad and the militants are swiftly losing ground.

He said the military is abstaining from using helicopters for carrying out offensives to avoid collateral damage and main focus is on ground operation.

Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said the militants have planted land mines on roads and ground in Mingora and Swat.

Government spokesman on the occasion announced that a special fund has been set up for the families affected by terrorist activities.

DG ISPR replying to a question said action is being taken after receiving report from the intelligence agencies but stopped short of giving any details.
 
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ya i dont know where they have gone. normally they really lik to contact media but recently havent heard anything from anyone. do u really think they have escaped and left their fighters alone??

this is the first time SSG has been called in. good way to save some time

they showed their true colors shavin their heads and beards and running. i am a news junkie and alot of reporters are saying that the senoir leadership would of escaped so they can regroup later but they have left behind some fighters but whats good is that the SSG were dropped in to destroy the hideouts where they would of regrouped and capture militants i think if InshAllah the operation is a success and reconstruction takes place then there will be no problem and people will not allow any taliban infiltration again hopefully this can allow them to clear all of waziristan next but i think it is going very well and all people are behind the army i dont think senoir leadership matters tho because army will be staying in swat after it is cleared
 
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They shaved their beards, yes, but are they running back home or advancing forward to infiltrate the refugee camps and terrorize the DPs?
 
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