Pakistan's New Military Offensive in Kurram and Khyber

[RPK]

Six soldiers, over 12 militants killed in central Kurram skirmish – The Express Tribune

KURRAM AGENCY: Bodies of the six soldiers who went missing during a clash with security personnel were found Wednesday morning. Security forces claimed to have killed over a dozen militants and taken control of the Jogi area of central Kurram Agency.
The ambush between the security forces and militants intensified on January 24, when security personnel were advancing in the agency during routine patrolling.
Three soldiers were said to be injured yesterday and reports about the six missing security personnel remained unclear. However, earlier today, sources confirmed that the bodies of the six soldiers were found and later shifted to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Thall.
It was not clear whether the men were killed in a battle or were kidnapped.
Security forces claim to have taken control of the Jogi area, where soldiers had been battling with the militants.
Helicopter gunships also bombarded militant hideouts throughout the night.
The onslaught was against the militant factions which intended to sabotage a “peace truce” as a result of which the Thall-Parachinar-Sada Highway was reopened after a span of almost three years.

 

[AbhimanyuShrivastav]

Looks like both PA and NATO are being given a run for their money by the Taliban brothers (afghan and pakistan)

 

[joekrish]

RIP to the dead.

 

[haywards]

Hundreds of militants storm checkpoints in northwest Pakistan, killing at least eight soldiers and injuring 10 others.

CNN.com International - Breaking, World, Business, Sports, Entertainment and Video News

 

[Filmmaker]

Hundreds of militants stormed military checkpoints in northwest Pakistan early Tuesday, killing at least eight soldiers and injuring 10 others, military and government officials said -- the latest in a string of attacks against security forces.
Twenty-five militants died in the clash, according to the officials.
The predawn attack took place over several hours in Kurram, one of seven mostly ungoverned districts in Pakistan's tribal region along the Afghan border.
The district has seen a sharp increase in militant activity with insurgents who have fled military operations in neighboring South and North Waziristan.
Kurram has become the front line in the fight between Pakistani militants and security forces.
The Pakistani army has launched several operations in Kurram to flush out militants, but parts of the district remain strongholds of the Pakistan Taliban.
Last week, six soldiers and 10 militants died in another battle in the same area.
More than 3,000 Pakistani soldiers have been in killed in the fight against Islamist militants over the past decade, the Pakistani Army says.
The number of soldiers killed this month -- more than 50 -- is very high, but doesn't approach figures in 2009 and 2010, when up to 150 troops at a time were killed in one month at the height of military operations in Pakistan's tribal region, a senior Pakistani military official said.


Very sad news indeed that 8 soldiers have died in attack but good news is society has got rid of 25 moron terrorists
RIP

 

[Windjammer]

Seven soldiers, 25 militants killed in Kurram clashes



PESHAWAR: Dozens of heavily armed Taliban militants attacked a Pakistani military post on Tuesday, sparking clashes that killed seven soldiers and wounded another 10, the military said.

Helicopter gunships were mobilised when the fighting broke out in the same Jogi area as clashes that killed six soldiers on Jan 25 in the Kurram tribal region.

At the time, security forces claimed to have taken control of Jogi, which is strategically located near the Orakzai tribal region, birthplace of Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud.

A senior military official told AFP that “more than 300 Taliban militants attacked” the checkpost at around midnight in central Kurram, which is on the Taliban route into North Waziristan and onto the Afghan border.

Security forces retaliated and killed around 25 militants, but seven soldiers were also killed and 10 others wounded, the official said.

Independent confirmation of death tolls is largely impossible in the tribal belt, a Taliban and Al-Qaeda stronghold barred to journalists and aid workers.

“Heavy fighting continued until this morning,” the military official said.

Local administration official Sher Bahadur confirmed the military deaths but put the number of wounded paramilitary at 12.

Last July, Pakistan launched an offensive to evict militants from Kurram, mirroring operations that it has carried out — with limited success — across much of the rest of the tribal belt, only for militants to regroup and return.

http://www.dawn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/pakistani-soldiers.jpg

 

[saiyan0321]

i salute the soldiers who gave their lives rip

they did good holding their position against 300 taliban attackers..... attack the damn region and kill every last one of them kurram may be the final stronghold lets put and end to it

 

[AbhimanyuShrivastav]

This is not a good score.. It takes months and years to train and deploy a soldier. On the other hand, it just takes a small amount of money, an AK 47 and a few magazines to add a cannon fodder foot soldier to the rank of the militants. In a war of attrition, the military will always lose. PA needs to take this battle to the enemy and crush them decisively.

 

[notorious_eagle]

This is not a good score.. It takes months and years to train and deploy a soldier. On the other hand, it just takes a small amount of money, an AK 47 and a few magazines to add a cannon fodder foot soldier to the rank of the militants. In a war of attrition, the military will always lose. PA needs to take this battle to the enemy and crush them decisively.

Unfortunately the enemy has taken shelter in Afghanistan, crossing of PA troops in pursuit of these militants will be a declaration of war against the State of Afghanistan. We are stuck between a rock and a hard place; the only solution would be a joint one in coordination with the ISAF and ANA to eliminate the terrorists.

 

[VCheng]

Unfortunately the enemy has taken shelter in Afghanistan, crossing of PA troops in pursuit of these militants will be a declaration of war against the State of Afghanistan. We are stuck between a rock and a hard place; the only solution would be a joint one in coordination with the ISAF and ANA to eliminate the terrorists.

What about the expectation that Pakistan will call the shots to its own liking once ISAF leaves Afghanistan? Potentially, it could be a bigger headache rather than a solution for Pakistan if Afghanistan continues to be used as a staging area for attacks after that departure.

 

[nalandapride]

I read somewhere that FATA and FANA still have too much autonomy and Pakistani government's little interference and some people even advocate provincial status for FATA. Can any Pakistani member tell me if too much autonomy is also responsible for the insurgency in the region.

 

[Zarvan]

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Hundreds of militants stormed military checkpoints in northwest Pakistan early Tuesday, killing at least eight soldiers and injuring 10 others, military and government officials said -- the latest in a string of attacks against security forces.

Twenty-five militants died in the clash, according to the officials.

The predawn attack took place over several hours in Kurram, one of seven mostly ungoverned districts in Pakistan's tribal region along the Afghan border.
Pakistan blast kills dozens

The district has seen a sharp increase in militant activity with insurgents who have fled military operations in neighboring South and North Waziristan.

Kurram has become the front line in the fight between Pakistani militants and security forces.

The Pakistani army has launched several operations in Kurram to flush out militants, but parts of the district remain strongholds of the Pakistan Taliban.

Last week, six soldiers and 10 militants died in another battle in the same area.

More than 3,000 Pakistani soldiers have been in killed in the fight against Islamist militants over the past decade, the Pakistani Army says.

The number of soldiers killed this month -- more than 50 -- is very high, but doesn't approach figures in 2009 and 2010, when up to 150 troops at a time were killed in one month at the height of military operations in Pakistan's tribal region, a senior Pakistani military official said.

 

[Hutchroy]

Fighting over Pakistani mountaintop kills over 60 - Boston.com

Fighting over Pakistani mountaintop kills over 60

PARACHINAR, Pakistan—Fighting between soldiers and Taliban militants over a strategic mountaintop in northwestern Pakistan has killed more than 60 people, a government official said Tuesday.

The battle first started a week ago when government troops seized the top of Jogi mountain in the Kurram tribal area from militants, sparking clashes that killed six soldiers and 20 insurgents, said Wajid Khan, a local government administrator.

The militants retaliated Tuesday by attacking the soldiers who were trying to hold the location, touching off another round of fighting that killed 10 troops and more than 30 insurgents, said Khan. The area is home to militants loyal to Pakistani Taliban commander Hakimullah Mehsud.

The military launched an offensive in Kurram in July 2011 and declared victory about a month later, but violence has continued.

A similar process has taken place throughout Pakistan's semiautonomous tribal region along the Afghan border. The military has launched a series of operations against the Pakistani Taliban in the past few years, and has often declared victory only to see fighting flare up again.

The Pakistani Taliban have killed thousands of people throughout the country in suicide bombings and other attacks. The group aims to topple the Pakistani government, partly because of its alliance with the United States.

The militants are allied with the Afghan Taliban, but the latter group has focused its attacks on NATO and Afghan forces inside Afghanistan.

Elsewhere in Pakistan, at least 10 people were gunned down in the past 24 hours in the southern city of Karachi, said Sharfuddin Memon, a security adviser for the government of Sindh province, where Karachi is the capital.

Karachi is Pakistan's largest city and has a long history of political, ethnic and sectarian violence.

The most recent deaths included two granddaughters of Akbar Bugti, a nationalist leader in southwestern Baluchistan province who was killed during a military operation in 2006 ordered by former President Pervez Musharraf. His death has helped fuel a violent insurgency in Baluchistan against the government.

 

[Yeti]

Pakistan is in dire need for more attack helicopters.

RIP to the dead

 

[Imran Khan]

still better they fight well and send 25 to hell