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SSG in the den...video of the Operation

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MINGORA / TIMERGARA: The military operation in Swat entered a crucial stage on Tuesday when commando units were dropped by helicopters on mountains around the Taliban headquarters in Peochar, said to be the hideout of the chieftain of militants in the region, Maulana Fazlullah.

Official sources said that a fleet of at least 13 helicopters flew over the Peochar valley and dropped commandos on mountains as the army intensified its offensive in the region.

People in adjoining Dir also reported seeing several helicopters hovering over the area and dropping commandos on hills in Niag Darra, Karo Darra and Turmang Darra areas.

According to sources, around 1,200 troops backed by tanks and artillery reached Turmang Darra in Upper Dir. Planes and helicopters flew over the area.

About the Peochar action, the military’s Swat Media Centre said: ‘Jetfighters and helicopter gunships shelled the region before dropping special services group (SSG) personnel in the region.’

Local people said ground forces moved towards the area which is considered to be ‘rear base’ of militants. Besides Maulana Fazlullah, his close lieutenants Muslim Khan, Shah Dawran, Mehmood Khan and Ibne Amin are also said to be based there.

Peochar, surrounded by dense forests, is a strategic location with several training camps, centres for suicide bombers, arms depots, torture cells, private jails where kidnapped people and ‘prisoners’ are kept, ‘courts’ and offices.

Taliban’s shura held its meetings in Peochar and issued directives to militants in the district and other parts of Malakand region.

Officials said four militants were killed when helicopters gunships shelled their positions in Imamdheri. Militant hideouts in Malam Jabba were also attacked.

The district headquarters of Mingora is still under the control of Taliban. They are patrolling the streets and holding positions on rooftops.

Power, water, and gas supply to the whole district remained disconnected, adding to the misery of local people. Government employees are yet to receive salary for March because all banks are closed.

In Shangla, a child and another non-combatant were killed and five other people were injured in Jabbar area adjacent to Malam Jabba. About 250 displaced families arrived in Lelonai area of Shangla which has been under curfew for 48 hours.

At least 11 militants were killed and nine others injured during a search operation and troops cleared the area from Chakdara to Gaddar. Four suspected militants were arrested.

Troops took positions on rooftops along the Timergara-Peshawar road. A security man was killed and another injured in Osakai area.

Sources said 40 to 45 bodies were lying in the premises of the Government Degree College in Gulabad which had been occupied by militants and shelled by security forces.A soldier was killed and a lieutenant injured in a clash near Gulabad.

Troops advanced to Tendodag, a stronghold of the Taliban, after taking control of the GT Road.

Two paramilitary soldiers — Amjad of Mohamand Riffles and Javed of Dir Scouts — were shot dead in Chakdara for violating curfew. They were going to Peshawar and Swat to resume duty. Another man was injured.

Security forces also took control of Hayaseri and set up a military camp there.
 
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Using cammandos, thats may not b a good idea. PA should remember, what happened in lal masjib. Now they want to try ssg's luck in swat where militants r much more trained and even USMCs' or their cammandos couldn't completely destroy them then could Pak ssgs sucessfuly knock them off.
 
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SSG has been sent in to find the ammunition stocks and destroy them. army wants to cut the supply line before they start sending troops in the main towns. i think if this operation is a success, it will become easy to fight these ppl when urban warfare starts
 
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SSG needs to take out the weapons .. they seem to be doing it correctly..
 
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One of my friend who is in SSG once told me that after an exercise with US commandos...US commandos asked our boys which drug they use... on telling them that they dont use any thing the americans replied with shock that it was impossible for any one to be tough like SSG boys without drugs

Our ssg boys are our pride

InshaAllah soon we will get news of killing or captureing of fazalullah and muslim khan from our boys
InshaAllah
 
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i think the main objective should be to kill en leadership

by doing it taliban of swat will fall within weeks

remember leaders are important center of gravity
leaders ensure coordination between different talibani groups/units.
kill fazullah and top leaders taliban will fall
 
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do u think he escaped or is in a very very remote area

may be i was wrong. read this following article



May 13, 2009

Pakistan drops hundreds of commandos in Taleban's Swat strongholds

Zahid Hussain in Islamabad
Hundreds of Pakistani commandos were dropped by helicopter into a mountainous Taleban stronghold in the Swat district yesterday as the Army stepped up its campaign to root out the militants’ top commanders.

Members of the counter-insurgency force landed behind the front line in the Piochar region, about 40 miles from Mingora, the main city in the Swat Valley.

It was the first time that such forces had been involved in fighting since the military offensive began in the valley more than a week ago. “It signifies a major shift in the fighting,” Major-General Athar Abbas, the chief military spokesman, said.

Previous military action has tended to peter out without the capture or deaths of leading insurgents. Past stalemates brought criticism, particularly from the country’s American allies, that the Army was not pursuing the Taleban hard enough. This time, Pakistani leaders say, the Army will not rest until it has wiped out all militants.

The offensive has won praise even from the US. According to the Pakistani officials, there are about 5,000 Taleban militants fighting 15,000 regular government troops in what is being described as the biggest counter-insurgency operation that Pakistan has undertaken since 2001.

Piochar, 10,000ft (3,050m) above sea level, is regarded as the main base for the militants. “The troops have surrounded the terrorist camps and are closing in on the militants’ command centre,” General Abbas said. Among them, the general said, was Mullah Fazalullah, the leader of the Swat insurgency, and some of his top commanders. “Our main strategy is to block the free movement of the militants and eliminate the entire leadership.”

The army claims that 751 militants have been killed in Swat and neighbouring districts so far, with 29 soldiers dead. But the figures could not be verified independently.

Government forces have been using heavy artillery, helicopter gunships and fighter jets to pound Taleban positions but this has forced hundreds of thousands of residents to flee the area.

The Army launched a full-scale assault on the Swat Valley and the surrounding districts last week after Taleban militants tried to extend their influence to areas only 65 miles from the capital, Islamabad, on the back of a peace deal that handed them control of the region.

Government ground and air forces are also operating in the neighbouring districts of Buner and Lower Dir, turning a large swath of the northwestern region into a battle zone.

Mullah Fazalullah, the long-haired, 34-year-old cleric also known as Mullah Radio for his fiery broadcasts from a pirate station, had declared holy war against the Pakistani Government, calling it un-Islamic.

His hardline brand of Sharia, briefly established in Swat, banned music and education for girls, and his followers destroyed hundreds of girls’ schools.

Although Swat does not border Afghanistan, Mullah Fazalullah has pledged allegiance to Mullah Omar, the spiritual leader of Afghanistan’s Taleban movement. Pakistan says that he has close links to al-Qaeda, and many foreign fighters are believed to have joined the battle for Swat.

The commandos sent to Piochar have been trained under a new programme for fighting in the region’s tough mountainous terrain. They have joined the Frontier Corps, a once neglected Interior Ministry force that now has millions of dollars in American funding and training with some British assistance.

It is believed to have been very effective in recent assaults on the Taleban in Buner and the tribal region of Bajaur. However, Government forces have yet to start the bloody business of “hardcore” urban warfare to retake towns seized by the militants.

“This is going to be a difficult battle because hundreds of thousands of people are still trapped inside \ and militants are using them as shields,” General Abbas said. In Mingora the Taleban are said to have taken up positions in residential areas and to have mined the main roads.

General Abbas indicated that the fighting could last for months, adding that the army was heading towards Mingora from two directions. Military spokesmen said yesterday that the number displaced in the region had risen to 1.3 million, including half a million who fled fighting in Bajaur last year. Aid workers have expressed concerns at the poor levels of water, food and medical supplies.

President Zardari called on the international community last night to help refugees driven from their homes by the fighting. “They are losing their crops, they’re losing their earnings, their livelihood and their homes, so we want the world to help us,” he said.

The UN’s World Food Programme said that it was doubling its shipments of emergency food to the new refugees but warned that more funds were needed. “We need the international donor community to quickly step forward with donations to avoid any interruptions in food distributions,” said Wolfgang Herbinger, WFP’s representative in Pakistan.

Most-wanted leaders

Shah Doran A firebrand orator, he would read out the names of people to be killed on Taleban-run FM radio. He has been blamed for murdering Pakistani soldiers

Muslim Khan The chief spokesman of the Taleban in Swat, returned to Pakistan in 2002 after spending four years in the US as a construction worker. He was blamed for ordering the deaths of people accused of being informants for the military

Bin Yamin One of the fiercest Taleban commanders, is blamed for attacks on Pakistan’s Army. His brother was also a militant commander

Pakistan drops hundreds of commandos in Taleban's Swat strongholds - Times Online
 
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i think the main objective should be to kill en leadership

by doing it taliban of swat will fall within weeks

remember leaders are important center of gravity
leaders ensure coordination between different talibani groups/units.
kill fazullah and top leaders taliban will fall

u r definately rit
 
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