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Operation Rah-e-Rast (Swat)

While the government has intimated a Waziristan campaign is imminent, it has given no time frame. The government has few facilities in the high-altitude regions of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, and troops fighting there are "far beyond their supply lines," said an administration official, also speaking on the condition of anonymity.

and that is exactly why a "physical presence" of the army is the need of the day!
 
According to some member on PAKDEF
Pakistan army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Kiyani, just flew a combat mision in an F-16 (co-piloted of course) and attacked insurgents' positions in Swat.
 
US intel chief cites Pakistan army gains in Swat

Tue Jun 9, 2009

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Reuters) - The Pakistani army is gaining in its offensive against Islamic extremists in the Swat valley because public support for the operation is solidifying, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair said in a speech.

"For the first time, the Pakistan army operations in that part of the world have support of the government and the public. This is really different from the past, when the army went up and there was little backing," Blair told an audience of intelligence professionals Monday night.

Pakistan launched an offensive to expel Taliban militants from Swat last month in a move welcomed by Western allies worried that the nuclear-armed country was sliding into chaos.

Just back from Pakistan and Afghanistan, Blair said support for the military operation solidified after a recent wave of retaliatory bombings by the Taliban.

"I think these are having the effect of driving home to the public the seriousness of the threat that's coming from that part of the country," Blair said.

Another difference, Blair said, is that Pakistani leaders he spoke to last week were realizing the key to stability was security and development after the fighting ends.

Pakistan has set up camps in the Mardan district for some of the 2.5 million people who fled the conflict zone northwest of the capital, Islamabad.

"We can see the plans they're making for bringing displaced persons back home and providing basic security and governance when they're there," Blair said.

"The Pakistanis I talked to were optimistic about their ability to handle the situation and were willing to work with the United States in ways that had not been previously possible, so I think there are signs that things are moving in a positive direction," Blair said.

(Reporting by Joanne Allen; Editing by Doina Chiacu)
 
I think sufi ,baitullah and fazullah will surrender or ran away from Pakistan to india or Afghanistan .
 
According to some member on PAKDEF
Pakistan army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Kiyani, just flew a combat mision in an F-16 (co-piloted of course) and attacked insurgents' positions in Swat.

no the F-16 had no munitions attached to the hard-points - it was just a survey of the battle area!

lets not get excited!
 
Any details on what exactly are we looking for with the Chinese? Also apparently it seems evident that the US has refused to sell us related equipment and we now are forced to look elsewhere (China).

scanners, jammers - stuff like that!
 
Editorial: Attacking Baitullah’s den

The Governor of the NWFP, Mr Owais Ahmad Ghani, says: “The government has launched a full-fledged operation in the tribal areas including Waziristan. Operations will continue till the elimination of the militants.” The objective is to rout the Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud and his fighters in South Waziristan Agency. But apparently the decision made at the political level has not seeped down to the military hierarchy, or perhaps the governor has spoken too soon. The army’s spokesman, Major General Athar Abbas, says: “The government has made the announcement. We will give a comment after evaluating the orders.”

The military operation in Swat is going well and the Taliban are on the run with more and more local citizens now arrayed against them in the form of jirgas and fighting groups. In the rest of the country, the opinion is in favour of the operation despite attacks by the TTP in Peshawar and elsewhere in the country. While the operation proceeded, rumours were persistent that the army planned to attack South Waziristan, the headquarters of the leader of the TTP, Baitullah Mehsud. After the assassination by him of the famous Lahore religious scholar Mufti Naeemi, the Pakistan Air Force has softened the South Waziristan stronghold with targeted sorties. Is it time to go for a full-fledged operation, obviously of a scale larger than the one in Swat, or should it come after Swat has been fully pacified?

There can be two views on this. Those who, like the NWFP governor, prefer an attack on South Waziristan now convincingly argue that the heart of the terror network is in South Waziristan and any Taliban who come under pressure tend to escape to Waziristan. The argument goes: as long as Baitullah’s fastness remains intact or is not brought under pressure, the pressure on Peshawar and other strategic locations will not abate. The opposed view is that an attack on South Waziristan will require more force and that force is not available just yet as the Swat operation continues and more troops can’t be spared from the Indian border as New Delhi is in a hostile posture towards Pakistan. This hostility is assessed on the basis of India’s interference in Balochistan and also, according to rumours, in the tribal areas. The point that more refugees will flow from any such operation is another negative factor.

South Waziristan is a stronghold on many counts. Baitullah and his friends have set up a chain of local commanders who control almost all the agencies of the FATA region in varying degrees of strength. The recent attack on the Pearl Continental hotel in Peshawar was owned by the Abdullah Azzam Brigade based on Orakzai. Abdullah Azzam was the founder-philosopher of Al Qaeda who convinced many Pakistani jihadi leaders to join his cause. An outfit named after him sends this message: “Al Qaeda is very much engaged in the war against Pakistan and the TTP of Baitullah Mehsud forms a part of its over-all strategic map.” Therefore we know that Orakzai is being run by a deputy of Baitullah Mehsud.

On the other hand, this is the high water mark of Pakistan’s military success against the terrorists. The Taliban are on the run in Swat and elsewhere while their casualties are the highest known since the war of terrorism started. There are reports not only that the Taliban are cornered but that Al Qaeda too is squeezed for resources and is appealing internationally for funds. This could be the time to strike. But with one strong qualification: not before sorting out some foreign policy complications.

One big complication is with India. After pressure from the United States, New Delhi seems to be agreeable to “thinning” its troops’ strength in Kashmir, thus allowing the Pakistan Army to mobilise more effectively in South Waziristan. President Asif Ali Zardari’s meeting in Moscow with the Indian Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, during the sessions of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) could clinch the matter in addition to coordinating with the other states that neighbour Afghanistan and are perturbed by Al Qaeda’s foot soldiers ensconced in FATA.

There is no doubt that the operation in South Waziristan, if it materialises, will have to be well-coordinated at the international level. As for inside Pakistan, the national consensus against the Taliban is intact and will favour the war being taken to the enemy instead of waiting for the enemy to continue to strike at will.

http://www.thedailytimes.com.pk
 
US lawmaker urges Senate to quickly pass ROZs bill

WASHINGTON: Congressman Chris Van Hollen, a supporter of the recently-passed Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZs) programme in the US House of Representatives, has called on the Senate to approve the bill urgently to help Pakistan secure its restive northwestern region.

The Karachi-born Democrat said, “With this bill, we are taking steps to forge a true strategic partnership with Pakistan and its people, strengthen its democratic government and help Pakistan to be a force for stability in this volatile region.”

Appreciating Islamabad’s military offensive against the Taliban, he said, “The important thing after military engagement will be the focus on the rule of law and local police.”

The lawmaker from Maryland said he was open to expanding the list of textile exports from Pakistan in consultation with American stakeholders.

“There are not major differences in the two versions. I urge the Senate to move quickly so this important bill can be signed into law.”

app
 
scanners, jammers - stuff like that!

yes, dear sir!
it could be the , best of the times, in which PAKISTAN can get , high value gadgets from every where, with opreation RAHE-e RAST in effect, PAKISTAN' s global standing is growing day by day.:):smokin:

i certnly , hope that, if not from our "SO CALLED ALLAY in the war of terror" ,surly we can get a lot of toys from our ever best friend "CHINA":tup::agree::china::pakistan:
Its really disappointing , to see very cold support from US of A.:tsk:
 
i think we still need to wait for sometime before operation starts in wazristan. there is still a lot of ground work to do if this is the main plan.

Mehsuds hedge bets as game on to isolate Baitullah
By Ismail Khan
Tuesday, 16 Jun, 2009 | 04:55 AM PST |

PESHAWAR: When jets of the Pakistan Air Force struck Makeen - a key trade centre of Mehsud tribe in South Waziristan - last week, ostensibly to avenge the suicide bombing in Lahore that killed religious scholar Dr Sarfaraz Naeemi, it was the culmination of a two-month long in-house debate within the military establishment on how to deal with Baitullah Mehsud.

It was, perhaps, the first significant indication that the military establishment - long derided for avoiding taking the chief of Pakistani Taliban head-on - had had enough.

‘He has a hand in virtually every terrorist attack in Pakistan,’ Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani had said recently.

‘We wanted to deliver a message to Baitullah. If he carries out a suicide bombing, then there will be a response and that he can’t get away with these attacks. There will be a quid pro quo,’ a senior military officer said.

To be sure, the government had the message delivered to the Taliban supreme personally through tribal intermediaries.


Battle lines have been drawn in South Waziristan. Although several new emerging factors may help the military action, the mother of all battles against Pakistani militants in South Waziristan, in all likelihood, will be tough and bloody.

The major factor, in this fast-changing scenario, is an anti-Baitullah Mehsud alliance between Turkistan - a 40-year-old veteran of the Afghan war, and Qari Zainuddin, a young lad in his mid-twenties leading a group once commanded by the late Abdullah Mehsud.

Many Mehsud tribesmen and government officials overseeing tribal affairs agree that more than any military operation, it is Qari Zainuddin who seems to have unruffled the seemingly invincible Baitullah Mehsud.


‘The environment that made Baitulllah is no more,’ a senior government official said. ‘For the first time he has a challenger from within his Mehsud clan. Baitullah Mehsud is in trouble,’ he added.

A Mehsud tribesman concurred. ‘Baitullah told a jirga member recently he was not too much worried about military action against him.’ It’s Zainuddin who has caused him anxiety, the Mehsud tribesman said.

Like Baitullah, Zainuddin is a native Mehsud and has been leading his own militant group once led by Abdullah Mehsud - a one-legged fiery fighter and former Guantanamo detainee, who was killed in a commando action in Zhob, Balochistan, in July 2006.

Zainuddin and Abdullah’s other comrades blamed Baitullah for orchestrating the death. And they had their reasons.

Long before Baitullah burst on to the scene, Abdullah was the undisputed leader of Mehsud tribal militants. All that changed with the kidnapping of two Chinese engineers in Oct 2004 that ended days later with the death of one of the hostages.

Power play

Baitullah was not amused. Thus began a systematic push to dethrone Abdullah and cut him down to size. A formula brokered by the Taliban from Afghanistan meant Abdullah’s position was further weakened.

Soon he would have to leave his native Waziristan to fight in Afghanistan, leaving his fighters to fend for themselves. Many of them didn’t live long enough to fight.

Zainuddin and his small band of fighters took refuge in Shakai, in the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe territory of South Waziristan.

Turkistan, who had retired as a sepoy from South Waziristan Scouts of the paramilitary Frontier Corps in 1998 to fight for the Taliban in Afghanistan, was once friends with Baitullah Mehsud. ‘We fought together in Afghanistan,’ he once said.

The slaughter of some FC jawans and Baitullah’s other actions, he added, made him leave the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan chief. ‘Don’t poke your nose in this,’ he quoted Baitullah as telling him.


He has paid dearly for his desertion and has since lost 73 relatives in a war of attrition, including eight members of his family.

Revenge appears to be their sole motivation but this, government officials believe, would also prompt score others who have lost their near and dear ones in years of targeted killings. Sentiments are such that were Baitullah to be eliminated, no one would weep for him, the official said.

Already Turkistan, a Bhittani by tribe, and Zainuddin have made it difficult for Baitullah’s men to operate freely in neighbouring Tank and Dera Ismail Khan districts.

‘The remaining few would be taken care of soon,’ Turkistan boasts.

And the government is helping, if not directly, then by turning a blind eye to the duo’s activities. During the past one month or so, Baitullah has lost more than thirty men in target killings in the twin districts.


This may have helped shape the ‘environment’, as one official put it. The government’s recognition matters. In Feb 2007 the government had recognised Baitullah Mehsud as the Mehsud chieftain by signing a peace deal with him. Now it is backing a different horse and the Mehsuds appear willing to bet on it.

A jirga of Mehsud tribal elders at Qari Zainuddin’s invitation met in Tank to deliver a message to that most feared man in Sourh Waziristan, something that would have been unthinkable a year ago. Another jirga has been planned for Wednesday.

This in itself has created a damn-if-you-do and damn-if-you-don’t situation for these tribal chiefs, who are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Some of the influential figures who had been leading negotiations in the past have opted for ‘medical treatment’ in Islamabad.

The tribal dynamics and punitive action, government officials believe, should tilt the balance against the man who carries $ 5 million reward for information leading to his capture or death.

Governor Owais Ahmad Ghani on Sunday evening ordered military action – a constitutional requirement to authorise the use of force, but it was also a cue to his administration to go tough on the Mehsud tribe.

A notification has since been issued under the Frontier Crimes Regulation to authorise the arrest of Mehsud tribesmen and seizure of their properties.

Efforts are under way to neutralise Maulvi Nazeer and Hafiz Gul Bahadar, the two top militant commanders from South and North Waziristan. The two had forged an alliance with Baitullah Mehsud last year.

They had pledged to stand by Baitullah in the event of any military action and there is no indication that they will renege on their word, although some Wazir tribesmen believe tribal pragmatism will take care of this.


Economic blockade

As a quid pro quo and reward to the Ahmadzai Wazirs, the government has opened the Gomal Zam Road that links Wana, South Waziristan’s regional headquarters, with Tank district, bypassing Mehsud territory. The move ended Wazirs’ dependence on supplies to the Ahmadzai Wazir heartland.

This, say some security analysts, will help the military impose an effective economic blockade on the Mehsud tribe.

‘It’s fairly easy. All that we need to do is to block the three main roads that go into Mehsud territory and you will have choked them up effectively,’ a senior military officer said.

And this may well be the strategy. Perhaps military strategists hope that the Zainuddin-Bhittani partnership and a suffocating economic blockade would force Mehsud tribesmen to desert Baitullah in droves, making things easy for the army.

But, warn some analysts, that this is far easier said than done. Baitullah is no ordinary man. He is the chief of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan and enjoys the support of thousands of committed fighting men operating in one of the toughest terrains in the entire tribal region.

Having lost in Swat, Bajaur and Mohmand, militants are reported to be heading in that direction for one last stand.


Two previous military operations failed to cause a dent in Baitullah’s ranks. On the contrary, it turned the militant commander into a mythical figure who has at his disposal an arsenal of, what a former Mehsud parliamentarian once described, walking, talking and breathing bombs - a weapon he has used with telling effect.

‘It’s like sitting in the front row and watching a horror movie,’ a security official said. ‘I get nightmares when I think of the potential destruction and bloodshed this man can cause,’ said another official.

But the news is out already: families living in Mehsud territory are making a beeline to Tank, Dera Ismail Khan and other nearby places. This is the third displacement from the region.

On the previous occasion the military launched what it called a three-star operation, but stopped short of achieving its objective. The Mehsuds are worldly wise. They will take their time, wait and see which side is winning before making their own bets.
DAWN.COM | Pakistan | Mehsuds hedge bets as game on to isolate Baitullah
 
Taleban Militants could come under fire from all sides
Jeremy Page: Analysis

No sooner had Pakistan announced its plans to attack South Waziristan than some pundits began to hail the operation as the Waterloo of the Taleban and al-Qaeda militants in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

The proposed offensive does indeed appear to be a victory for President Obama’s new AfPak strategy, which tries to take a more cohesive approach to the region. If the assault, as expected, coincides with a surge of US troops in southern Afghanistan, the militants will soon be under fire from all sides and robbed of the safe havens they have enjoyed since late 2001.

A meeting between the leaders of India and Pakistan in Russia today could also pave the way for India to reduce troop levels in Kashmir, allowing Pakistan to deploy more soldiers against the Taleban.

Anyone who has observed Pakistan since 2001 has to be acutely aware of the army’s technical limitations, of South Waziristan’s deeply inhospitable terrain and of the militants’ resilience. They will also be mindful that Pakistan has long drawn a distinction between good and bad militants, helping the US to kill or capture foreigners, while shielding locals it considers to be potential future assets.

There is no doubt that Pakistan now considers Baitullah Mehsud, the Pakistani Taleban leader, to be a bad militant as he has boasted of his responsibility for a spate of suicide bombings in the past few weeks. The worry for the US is that once the Pakistani Army kills or captures him it will withdraw from South Waziristan, as it does not see the other militants in the region to be a threat to Pakistan.

That would waste an opportunity not just to stamp out Taleban incursions into Afghanistan, but also to establish central government control over South Waziristan for the first time since Pakistan’s independence in 1947
Taleban Militants could come under fire from all sides - Times Online
 
Operation Rah-e-Nijat against Baitullah soon: ISPR
ISLAMABAD June 16 (APP): The security forces are in the preliminary phase to launch Rah-e-Nijat operation against militant commander Baitullah Mehsud and his network in South Waziristan Agency, Director General ISPR Major General Athar Abbas said Tuesday. “The Army has received requisite orders from the government. Necessary steps and measures are being taken by the Military to launch the operation,” he told a media briefing.

The operation called Rah-e-Nijat is meant to deal with the scourge of terrorism.

The ISPR head told a questioner that according to a press statement of Baitullah he has a force of around 10,000 militants.

He said all the necessary arrangements were being made by the security forces to block escape of militants from the area, where the operation is to be launched.

Major General Abbas said further details about Rah-e-Nijat could be divulged to the press only after the launch of the operation.

He said that almost all the settled areas in Swat and Mingora had been cleared of the terrorists and steps were being taken to prevent return of militants.

A four-tier strategy was being evolved for the purpose which included presence of security forces in the area till the people were fully satisfied about safe and secure environment.

Other aspects of the strategy, he said were the restoration of the civil administration in the areaa, besides beefing up of the police forces by inducting fresh blood.

Lastly, he said notables of the areas would involved in pinpointing problems and suggesting remedies.

He said people of these areas could return only after the restoration of basic amenities and facilities.

Curfew from areas like Kalam and Bahrain had been lifted and Civil Administration and police had become fully functional in Shnagla District, he said.

He said during last 24 hours, 13 terrorists were killed and 3 were apprehended in Malakand and Dir while Peochar valley had been completely secured and link up operation from Chaprial to Peochar had been completed.

Security forces captured and destroyed complete training facility at Balasar-Chaprial having 120 feet long tunnels, firing range and training area, he said, adding that a terrorist Shah Sultan who was expert in making suicidal jackets had been killed in Charbagh area.

The ISPR chief said during search operation three terrorists were apprehended at Salhand near Fizaghat and on a tip off two vehicles prepared for suicide mission had been recovered and destroyed at Dangram.

Two tunnels had been discovered and destroyed at Loi Numal in Peochar Valley and 2 at Rampatai. During search operation in Gokand Banda, Sarsanai, Khairabad and Ghodanbanda caches of arms and ammunition were recovered from all four areas.

During operations upto Aligrama seven IEDs and one Anti Tank Mine were recovered and destroyed by security forces which in Nawakili and Watakai recovered cache of arms, ammunition and communication equipment.

During search operation on a tip off regarding presence of terrorists in an area between Hayasarai and Lal Qila, the security force launched on operation and during the encounter 12 terrorists were killed including important commander Abdullah.

Answering a question, he said that a number of master minds and other terrorists had been arrested from various cities of the country and all this success was due to efficient and prompt information provided by the intelligence agencies.

He said Operation Rah-e-Raast was also initiated on the information of intelligence agencies and all the success achieved was due to them. “The people working in the intelligence agencies of the country are unsung heroes and their good work is not visible directly to the public,” he told a questioner.

In reply to another question he said that the fall out of the operation was obvious as the terrorists can make desperate attempts in retaliation to the operation. However, he said the operation would continue till the achievement of goals.

“We will Inshallah over come the situation and take the Operation to its logical end,” he firmly said.

When his comment was sought on the setting up of Cantonment in Swat, he said that the ground work in this behalf was being finalized while the selection of location would only be taken after completion of the Operation.

He said 21 trucks of ICRC carrying food items and medicines had reached Mingora where electricity to a large portion had been restored. Wapda staff had moved to Mingora and PTCL staff was also moving to Mingora to restore communication facility. Around 80 % work for restoration of Sui Gas in Mingora had already been restored.

Engineer elements for reconstruction of road and bridges had completed their survey and would start the work in next 3 to 4 days, he added.


Projects and Updates - SkyscraperCity
 
PS: Check out the slide show by following the link for this story:

Pakistan troops battle Taliban in the Sakhra Valley - Los Angeles Times

Pakistan troops battle Taliban in the Sakhra Valley

Heavy fighting in Swat Valley towns have forced militants into more remote valleys such as Sakhra, whose landscape favors the Islamic fighters.

Photography by Carolyn Cole

By Carolyn Cole
June 16, 2009

Reporting from Sakhra Valley, Pakistan--

At a remote base camp in the heart of the Swat Valley, Pakistani army troops are hunkered down in a temporary compound, a large private home whose owner recently fled the advancing warfare.

It is the third day of a nine-day operation to clear an area known as the Sakhra Valley, and the soldiers remain under attack by Taliban fighters who had made it one of their strongholds.

Bullet holes riddle the living room windows and shattered glass covers the floors. From the balcony, soldiers fire back, using binoculars to spot enemy positions. In the courtyard, sandbags are filled to fortify broken walls and build sniper posts.

Battles such as the one last Thursday — of which a Times photographer traveling with Pakistani troops received a rare firsthand glimpse — can prove costly. More than 40 Pakistani soldiers have been killed in recent fighting to retake control of central and upper Swat from Islamic militants who had terrorized residents unwilling to accept their harsh Islamic justice system. Authorities say about 500 militants also have died in the fighting in this onetime tourist haven just 100 miles from the nation’s capital, Islamabad.

In February, the Pakistani government had agreed to allow the Taliban here to enforce Sharia, or Islamic law, if the militants would stop such acts of violence as beheading local officials and paramilitary troops who spoke out against them. Within weeks, however, the Taliban expanded into neighboring Buner district, setting up checkpoints and ordering the strict enforcement of Sharia.

More than 20,000 Pakistani troops have since been committed to rooting out the Taliban.

In the Swat Valley, the army’s game plan is to enter small villages and valleys off the main north-south road and attempt to rid them of militants before moving on to the next community.

Weeks of heavy fighting in towns such as Mingora and Matta have forced the Taliban into more remote valleys such as Sakhra, surrounded by snowcapped mountains.

Because of the lush green terrain and deep canyons, some call the area the Switzerland of Pakistan, where farmers grow wheat and where apple and peach trees are plentiful. But the picturesque landscape favors the guerrillas, many of them Swat Valley residents. The fighters are knowledgeable about the battleground, light on their feet and can often outrun the more cumbersome government forces.

“It is very difficult to control their movements in this terrain,” says Brig. (cq) Suba Khan, in command of the Sakhra Valley operation. “When you enter these valleys, you need more boots on the ground. Our people have to go out on foot, to physically walk up these mountains.”

The army, while seemingly strong in number and organization, is also hampered by a dearth of armored vehicles, night-vision goggles and sufficient air support.

Lt. Col Ashraf Adil Naveed commands the four units here, including the 50 troops inside the house and the 100 men positioned in the surrounding woods, who will remain there throughout the night.

“This area is very difficult from a military point of view,” he says. “We don’t have night vision, so this operation will take twice as long. There is a hard fight going on. This is the first time any armed forces have been in this area. We have been fighting 72 hours straight, and three of our men have been killed.”

During a lull, Naveed explains that the Taliban is “using very expensive weapons, which are not available for sale in Pakistan. The question is, who is paying for these weapons? They are surely being supported by foreigners.”

Militants also make use of everyday household items: pressure cookers, like those for making stew, with holes drilled in the top so they can be wired for manual detonation. Troops have found a carefully handwritten notebook containing the simple recipe for improvised explosive devices, or IEDs. Booby-traps awaited Naveed’s men on the narrow, winding road through the Sakhra Valley. Two large craters have been created by IEDs and a bridge has been blown up. A few yards beyond, in the village of Shamay, stands a house that was filled with explosive materials — a literal IED factory — including open sacks of explosives powder.

The Pakistani army rides in light, open jeeps, fully exposed to fire and fragments from any blast. As the convoy moves, a loud whistle is blown to warn civilians to move from the road as they pass.

“We have very soft vehicles,” says Khan, the brigadier. “This is one of our weaknesses. Any attack can cause casualties.” Two days later, seven soldiers were killed in an IED explosion nearby.

Soldiers standing guard at the house, which serves as the forward operating base, halt two civilians, checking their bundles at gunpoint. After reloading the cargo on a donkey, the civilians walk on with their hands held high in the air.

“The people from this region are uneducated and poor. They [the Taliban] offer them a lot of money, some 10,000 rupees per month, for help,” Naveed says. “It’s difficult to identify our enemy because they are wearing civilian clothes.”

At daybreak, foot soldiers who have gotten little sleep gather in the courtyard, resting against walls before the day’s mission begins. Orders are given to push on to the next village and clear out more militants. Before leaving, the men stand in formation to be led in prayer.

During 19 months of serving in Swat operations, Lt. Col. Abdul Rehman, 41, has seen success and failure. Back at headquarters in the town of Khwazakhela, he commands his men with relaxed confidence from a large tent set up in the front yard of what was once a college. Phones, maps and charts line the inside wall. Wandering the grounds are two large turkeys and a dozen white rabbits, along with sheep that feed on the grassy helicopter pad when it’s not in use.

“The battlefield has changed. It’s modern warfare now. As a nation, we should fight it out. If there is no stabilizing force, these people [the terrorists] are like rabid dogs. We are to be blamed for leaving a vacuum here. I don’t blame the West. We failed to look after our own interests. It took eight years for us to realize that the Taliban is our enemy.”

Not 20 feet away, more than 30 militants, blindfolded, are being held in a second-floor classroom. The sound of clanking chains can be heard as they are led from room to room.

Some are young fighters, others old men. All are accused of providing aid to or harboring terrorists. Some have long white beards; others, short hair. A few have shaved in an effort to blend into the general population, something soldiers look for at checkpoints. Dark clouds roll into the area. The sound of thunder is hard to distinguish from that of artillery fired nearby, aimed at positions higher up the Sakhra Valley, softening the way for the army’s advance.

“This valley is filled with people who want to stay on their land,” says Naveed, the lieutenant colonel. “They are living under terror. We hope to eliminate these bad people. We are people of peace, and we don’t like what is happening to our country.” carolyn.cole@latimes.com
 
Pakistan Army will defeat these Taliban militants.Insha Allah
 
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