Operation Rah-e-Rast (Swat)

[Xeric]

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Clinton on Pakistan's terror commitment

Clinton on Pakistan's terror commitment

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says that Pakistan has shown "a real commitment" to taking on extremists in the last six months.

Speaking to an audience of university students in Delhi, Mrs Clinton said the commitment had been on the part of the Pakistani government and the Pakistani people.

During her visit to India, Mrs Clinton has also met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other top leaders.

 

[fatman17]

Forces kill 114 Taliban in Dir, Swat

* Troops seize vehicle prepared for suicide attack, ammunition

LAHORE/ISLAMABAD: Security forces have killed at least 100 Taliban in an operation in Lower Dir area of Maidan, reported a private TV channel on Monday as the ISPR said troops had killed 14 Taliban in Swat and Malakand.

According to channel, troops also destroyed Taliban bunkers and hideouts in Lower Dir, and targeted the headquarters of the group in the area during the operation. The channel said three security officials were also killed.

In Swat and Malakand, the ISPR said two wanted Taliban – Fazal-e-Haq and Khairul Ghafoor – had also been arrested.

“Search-and-clearance operations were conducted in ... Talgai near Madyan in Swat and made the arrests there,” said an ISPR press release.

Elsewhere, security forces conducted a search operation in Mano Derai near Peochar, and confiscated 17 boxes of ammunition “In Matta, troops seized a vehicle fully prepared for a suicide attack, two ... improvised explosive devices and one suicide jacket,” said the statement.

An army major died in a clash with the Taliban in Kamyrai near Dardial.

daily times monitor/staff report

 

[fatman17]

Pakistan’s role in terror war matchless: Solana

PESHAWAR: After a trip to the Jalozai refugee camp in Nowshera, EU Security and Foreign Policy chief Javier Solana has praised Pakistan’s role in the war on terror, calling its efforts ‘matchless’. The EU has provided 150 million euros in relief for those displaced by the military operation. Talking to reporters after his visit, the envoy said the world wanted an honourable and dignified return for the displaced of Malakand division. During his visit, he met with the displaced persons and inquired about their health and the facilities available to them at the camp. To a question, Solana said he would seek more funds for IDPs at the next Friends of Democratic Pakistan conference at Istanbul. “The EU, UN and Islamic countries should rise to the occasion and help out Pakistan in the reconstruction process and the rehabilitation of IDPs,” he said.

agencies

 

[fatman17]

Solana calls for rethink of war on terror strategy

* EU foreign policy chief says Islamabad very important to European Union

ISLAMABAD: The EU’s Javier Solana has called for a change of strategy in the war on terror, stressing that it could not be won by military means alone.

“Military actions are just... part of the instruments to fight terrorism. This battle is more comprehensive, it is a superimposition of different strategies and tactics,” he told a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

Solana said the EU was working with Pakistan to stabilise Afghanistan and pave the way for peaceful elections there. He said he had been briefed on last week’s meeting of Indian and Pakistani prime ministers in Egypt. “It is very important [the meeting] took place and I hope very much that the dialogue can consolidate. This is a bilateral issue, but whatever the EU can do to support we will do it. We look forward to the composite dialogue being restarted,” he said.

Addressing the press conference, Qureshi said the EU was Pakistan’s largest trading partner, adding that greater trade with the EU will contribute towards the economic and political stability of Pakistan and help poverty alleviation efforts, which are important to win the war against terror. He demanded greater access for Pakistani products in EU markets and said that countries like Pakistan, which had suffered heavily in the war on terror, should be given more trade opportunities. He also thanked the EU for its continued support to Pakistan.

Solana said he was aware how important greater EU market access was for Pakistan. He said the EU was committed to finding a solution, in particular to the issue of the generalised system of preferences (GSP), and hoped that by the next summit in 2010, both sides could be “more specific” on the issues.

Foreign Minister Qureshi said Pakistan had suffered massively in the on going war on terror and so far it had cost Pakistan more than 35 billion dollars while the cost in human lives was immeasurable. The two also spoke about a proposed free trade agreement both countries agreed to at their last summit in Brussels. However, no timeframe was given.

The two sides also discussed poppy cultivation and illicit weapons in Afghanistan that are contributing to insurgency in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Solana said, “The EU wants to upgrade its relations with Pakistan as the country is engaged in the war against terror, which is not only in [Pakistan’s] interest but also... the world’s.”

sajjad malik/agencies

 

[fatman17]

Pakistan, France to set up joint task force on terror

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and France have agreed to set up a joint task force for sharing information regarding terrorists across the world, said a fax message received on Monday. The agreement emerged during a meeting between Interior Minister Rehman Malik and his French counterpart Brice Hortefeux in Paris. While commending Pakistan’s efforts for the elimination of terrorism, the French minister said France would provide technical assistance, police training, exchange of information and coordination to counterterrorism. Malik informed Hortefeux of the steps being taken by Pakistan for counteringterrorism and sacrifices rendered by the Pakistan Army in the war against terrorism. He also appreciated the French government’s support for the internally displaced persons and cooperation in civilian nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

app

 

[fatman17]

Pakistan edging towards ‘Path to Salvation’ in Waziristan?

PESHAWAR: More than a month has elapsed since the government announced plans for an offensive against the Taliban in Waziristan, but security analysts doubt whether an all-out assault is as imminent as many people think.

Code-named Rah-e-Nejat, or ‘Path to Salvation’, optimists hope the operation would demonstrate Pakistan’s determination to push back the spread of militancy across the northwest and beyond by eliminating Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud.

The head of the TTP is holed up in his tribal lands in South Waziristan with an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 followers. Baitullah’s stronghold is a maze of serrated ridges, dried out riverbeds and gullies ideal for guerrilla warfare.

The army has gone in before with limited success.

A campaign in 2005 was dubbed ‘Operation Enduring Failure’ by a Pakistani magazine, as the iron-fisted tactics further alienated the recalcitrant tribes, the army suffered heavy casualties and ended up signing peace deals with militants.

Waziristan will be more difficult to clear than Swat, a broader alpine valley far to the east, where the army has been fighting since late April against the Taliban estimated at no more than 2,000 hardcore fighters.

For now, the army has moved up some troops to more advanced positions and sought to seal off the roads, while warplanes carry out occasional strikes, and sometimes medium-range artillery pounds Taliban positions over the hills.

“Right now, I don’t see any large-scale preparations which suggest that an operation is imminent,” said Mahmood Shah, a retired army brigadier and a former security chief of the tribal areas.

A serving senior security officer said any full-scale operation would have to wait. “The basic strategy is to choke them off and keep pounding their positions as and when intelligence is available,” he said.

Still finishing the operation in Swat, where some 20,000 troops are tied up, the army doesn’t want to be overstretched, or risk stirring up a hornets’ nest in the tribal belt.

“The government does not want to open too many fronts with the Taliban and that might be the reason for delay in the Waziristan operation,” said Rahimullah Yousufzai, a respected analyst on tribal areas.

The army’s other constraints include a reluctance to take troops away from the eastern border facing India, and a compulsion to help a US campaign in the southern Afghan province of Helmand, by deploying more troops in Balochistan.

A good many Mehsud families have quit their tribal lands in anticipation of worse to come. Tribesman Noor Alam Mehsud has taken his family to Dera Ismail Khan, the nearest city where the army is garrisoned.

“Military planes have frequently hit our lands. That’s why I fled here because if they launch an operation, all roads will be blocked and I won’t be able to get my family out,” he said.

But another man, Rauf Mehsud, saw chances of an offensive petering out the longer the army waited. “I don’t see any operation being conducted. If they were serious they would have done it by now.”

One factor staying the army’s hand could be fear that other Taliban factions in Waziristan could erupt in open revolt if there is a full-fledged military campaign against Baitullah.

Though Baitullah’s lands are not contiguous with the Afghan border, his fighters have a corridor through the territory held by the other main tribe of the region – the Wazirs – whenever they want to go to fight Western and Afghan government forces.

Unlike many of the Wazir Taliban factions that support the Afghan insurgency, the focus of Baitullah’s activity has been against the Pakistani state.

The authorities have been trying to drive a wedge between Baitullah and other militants.

Wazir factions, led by Maulvi Nazir Wazir in South Waziristan and Hafiz Gul Bahadur in North Waziristan, have around 5,000 men apiece, according to a diplomat following military affairs, and until recently had avoided attacking Pakistani forces.

But they are angry that the government has not done more to stop US drones launching missile strikes, and fear the army could come after them after Baitullah.

reuters

 

[fatman17]

French, German defence envoys call on COAS, CJCSC

Staff Report

RAWALPINDI: International Development of France Armament Procurement Agency Director Jacques de Lajugie and German State Secretary for Defence Rudiger Wolf called on the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Kayani in separate visits to the General Headquarters (GHQ) on Monday.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement that the visiting dignitaries remained with the COAS for some time and discussed matters of mutual interest. Wolf also called on Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) General Tariq Majid and exchanged views on regional development and measures to enhance defence and security cooperation between the two countries.

Expressing the desire to reshape the existing bilateral ties into a meaningful, multidimensional and enduring relationship, the CJCSC stressed the need for an institutionalised mechanism to promote mutually beneficial cooperation, including training exchanges and defence production.

Gen Tariq appreciated the German government’s contribution of 14 million euros emergency assistance to the displaced people of Swat and Malakand and proactive support during the Pak-EU summit held at Brussels in June for promoting Pak-EU strategic partnership. Wolf appreciated Pakistan’s comprehensive efforts and commitment to eradicate terrorism and extremism.

 

[fatman17]

No let-up in US drone attacks in Pakistan

* Drones, US weapon of choice against Al Qaeda
* New CIA director says drone attacks ‘very effective’

WASHINGTON: The expanding US drone attacks against Al Qaeda may be disrupting the terror network’s operations but the lethal bombing raids carry risks for Washington and its ally Pakistan. The head of the CIA has defended the attacks in Pakistan by unmanned aircraft as “the only game in town” when it comes to targeting Al Qaeda and its allies. US officials credit the bombing raids with knocking off key figures in the terror network. Yet, an unknown number of civilians in have died in the bombing war, possibly as many as 700, according to the Pakistani press.

The strikes are deeply unpopular in Pakistan, with skeptics warning the tactic could backfire by sowing public anger while failing to defeat resilient extremist networks. “The more there are unilateral targeted strikes in Pakistan, the higher political costs for the US, and for Pakistan for allowing them to happen,” Seth Jones, an analyst at the RAND Corporation, said.

Islamabad publicly criticises the targeted assassinations but quietly cooperates with the US, Jones said, with the government allowing the use of an air base on Pakistani soil — a detail US Senator Dianne Feinstein accidentally let slip at a hearing..

Best option: The drones, armed with lethal missiles and controlled by a “pilot” using a joystick at bases in Nevada and elsewhere, have become America’s weapon of choice in the fight against Al Qaeda. With virtually no public debate in the United States, the pace of the bombing raids has steadily increased, starting last summer during ex-president George W Bush’s final months in office and now under President Barack Obama.

Equipped with infrared cameras, precision-guided bombs and Hellfire missiles, Predator and Reaper aircraft have carried out strikes in Pakistan at a rate of about once a week since Obama took office in January, experts and the media say. The spike in drone attacks in Pakistan has come even as US military officers pursue new tactics in the war in neighbouring Afghanistan to try to minimise civilian casualties and scale back air power where possible. Concerned about Al Qaeda regrouping in Pakistan’s northwest, the US began relying more on the drones after covert operations by US Special Forces triggered an angry reaction among Pakistanis, analysts said. And ever since the former Bush administration reportedly stopped notifying Pakistani officials before each attack, a process that could take hours, the strikes can be carried out quickly.

Confession: In a rare public admission of the drone war, Leon Panetta, the new director of the Central Intelligence Agency, recently called the bombing “very effective”. “It is very precise, it’s very limited in terms of collateral damage and very frankly, it’s the only game in town in terms of confronting and trying to disrupt the Al Qaeda leadership,” Panetta said in May.

afp

 

[courageneverdies]

Rawalpindi - July 18, 2009:

Daily Update 18th July 2009

1. During last 24 hours, search and clearance operations were conducted in Swat and Malakand.

2. Swat

a. During search operation at Shangla and Shakardara, Security Forces recovered 3 rockets of RPG-7, one 81 mortar, IEDs and ammunition.

b. Security forces carried out search operation at Chamtalai and killed 2 terrorists including terrorist commander Abu Bakar.

c. Security forces conducted search operation in area around Kanju Township and killed 1 terrorist and apprehended 4 suspects.

3. Buner.

Security forces conducted search operation at Bajkata near Daggar and destroyed 7 terrorists hide outs.

4. Bannu.

a. Terrorists fire raided at Jandola, resultantly 1 soldier embraced shahadat.

b. An IED exploded during routine search near Jani khel Fort, resultantly 3 soldiers were injured.

5. Relief Activities.

a. 10,104 cash cards were distributed on 16 July amongst the IDPs of Malakand.

b. So far 84,952 families of IDPs have been repatriated.

c. Rs 220 millions have been deposited by various Army Formations and establishments so far in the Army Relief Fund. This money is being spent for procurement of relief items i.e ration, medicines and cooler/fans for IDPs.

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KIT Over n Out

 

[courageneverdies]

Rawalpindi - July 19, 2009:

Daily Update 19th July 2009

1. During last 24 hours, search and clearance operations were conducted in Swat and Malakand.

2. Swat.

a. Security forces conducted a search operation in village Goal near Sakhra and destroyed 4 houses of terrorists.

b. Security forces conducted search operation at Kanju township and recovered 8 rifles and 2 pistols along with ammunition.

c. Security forces conducted search operation at Chaprai Banda and destroyed 2 terrorists training centers, house of terrorists commander Ismail, 25 meter long tunnel and recovered IED material.

d. During exchange of fire between security forces and terrorists at Mauja Kandao, 3 terrorists were killed and 1 was apprehended.

3. Relief Activities.

a. 181,214 cash cards were distributed on 18 July amongst the IDPs of Malakand.

b. Army field hospitals have provided medical treatment to 61,639 IDPs patients.

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KIT Over n Out

 

[courageneverdies]

Rawalpindi - July 20, 2009:

Update Operation (Rah e Rast) 20th July 2009

1. During last 24 hours, search and clearance operations were conducted in Swat and Malakand.

2. Swat

a. Security forces conducted search and clearance operation at Talgai near Madyan and apprehended 2 wanted terrorists Fazal -e- Haq and Khair ul Ghafoor.

b. Security forces conducted search operation at Mano Derai near Piochar and recovered 17 boxes of ammunition of various calibres and 2 walkie talkie sets.

c. Security forces carried out clearance operation at Matta and confiscated 1 Potohar jeep fully prepared for suicidal attack, 2 prepared cylinder IEDs, 1 suicide jacket.

d. Security forces carried out search operation at village Gul Shah near Bar Durshkhela, Tatal and Mria Mai. During fire exchange with terrorists 2 terrorists commanders Taj alias Zarqavi and Commander Zulqarnain were killed. Security forces also recovered 1 machine gun alongwith 3 magazines, one 30 bore Pistol, and a bandolier.

e. Security forces conducted search and clearance operation at Mira Banda, Dakku Banda, Kund Banda, Pir Patai Banda and Kamyari Banda, Pinorai Banda and Chur Banda and destroyed commander Akbar’s house while terrorists commander Hamood was apprehended at Dardial alongwith 2 Parados.

f. Security forces conducted search and clearance operation at Kamyrai near Dardial. During exchange of fire with terrorists, Major Zahid embraced Shahadat. Reportedly 12 terrorists were killed in exchange of fire with Security Forces.

3. Relief / Repatriation Activities.

Over 45000 families have been repatriated to Malakand since 13 July 2009.

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KIT Over n Out

 

[Xeric]

Pakistan army: 56 militants killed in clashes - Pakistan - msnbc.com

Pakistan army: 56 militants killed in clashes
Five fighters disguised in burqas are also arrested in Swat Valley

updated 10:06 a.m. ET July 21, 2009

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Three days of clashes between security forces and militants in northwest Pakistan near the Afghan border left more than 56 militants and six soldiers dead, the military said Tuesday.

There was no way to independently confirm the casualty figures because access to the affected regions was restricted for journalists.

The vast majority of the deaths occurred during a two-day operation Sunday and Monday in the Maidan area of Lower Dir, a region bordering the Swat Valley where the army has been wrapping up an offensive against Taliban militants.
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More than 50 militants died in the clashes, said Maj. Fazlur Rahman, spokesman for the paramilitary Frontier Corps. The army also confirmed the toll.

Rahman said the operation was aimed at clearing pockets of resistance in Maidan, and those killed included militants who fled the Swat area during the army's offensive.

Fragile security
In a statement, the army also said it arrested five militants disguised in burqas who tried to flee a search operation conducted in the previous 24 hours in Swat. Five other militants and three soldiers were killed in the latest clashes in the valley.

Another military search operation found the bodies of 10 suspected militants in a cave in Swat, the army said in Tuesday's statement.

The violence shows security remains fragile in the northwest, even as thousands of refugees head back to Swat as part of a government repatriation program for the roughly 2 million people uprooted by the military campaign that started in late April.

The military has said it killed more than 1,700 suspected militants in Swat and surrounding districts, but the toll has been impossible to verify independently. Pakistani authorities have not given any figures for civilian casualties.

Pakistan's military is also preparing a similar campaign in the South Waziristan tribal region targeting the Pakistani Taliban chief, Baitullah Mehsud.

The U.S. supports the operations, saying Islamabad must eliminate militant safe havens for its own stability's sake as well as to lessen the threat those fighters pose to the U.S.-led war in neighboring Afghanistan.

Camps closed
The Swat campaign drove some 2 million people from their homes, according to the United Nations. The military recently declared the region largely cleared of militants, and thousands have been returning home.

On Monday, the government officially closed two camps near the city of Mardan that had housed about 20,000 people, said Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the information minister for North West Frontier Province.

 

[Xeric]

:: ISPR :: Inter Services Public Relations - PAKISTAN

H.E Mr. Jacques de Lajugie, Director International Development Division; who is visiting Pakistan as a prelude to French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s visit to Pakistan in November this year, called on General Tariq Majid, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) at Joint Staff Headquarters and exchanged views on the measures to bolster defence and security ties between the two countries.

Lauding Pakistan’s counter terrorism efforts, H.E Mr. Jacques de Lajugie acknowledged huge contribution and sacrifices made by the people and Armed Forces of Pakistan, reiterated firm commitment of French Government to support Pakistan in dealing with its diverse challenges.

Chairman JCSC while discussing the defence hardware requirements of the Armed Forces of Pakistan thanked, France for its affirmation of support to meet the prioritised needs for counter terrorism capacity building of its three services.

 

[ajpirzada]

^^ so we are playin french against germans for our submarine requirenments. germans who are makin us wait for of their domestic politics might now start thinkin once again

 

[Xeric]

Must watch.

(The presentation sucks though.)