US deploys troops along Pak border

[OrionHunter]

We??? umm aren't you in india? second don't troll when you have no clue what you are talking about the story is much more complex then you can even imagine both sides are playing each other its poltics.

Not to worry on that score because what I've said is far from trolling! And I'm from India! So? Are you from the ISI's 'S' Wing, that only you know what's going on? You get your info from a biased media. I don't...... Nuff said!

And since you don't know me and who I am, jumping to conclusions that being an Indian I have no clue about what's going on out there is pretty lame. I know exactly what's going on there after following this duplicitous war that Pakistan has been involved in, since 9/11 and earlier. I know my beans and what the heck I'm talking about. Do YOU know what EXACTLY is going on including those subtle and not so subtle 'palace intrigues' that's part of geopolitical strategy?

So be sure where and how you throw your boomerangs next time. Thanks for a patient hearing.

 

[OrionHunter]

Coming back to the news, my best estimate is a battalion size deployment of troops that can call in air strikes that have light to medium mortars with them and have dug in some positions on the hill tops but its not sustainable because of the remoteness of the area they need constant supplies and relief to last up to next few months and as we speak some hill tops will be already covered with snow or bone piercing wind, and when I say bone piercing I mean every single word of it literally.

NATO will conduct some searches in the villages, make some arrests, their kill teams will murder some locals while there are no witnesses make some videos and then they will leave the place afterwards. The best outcome out of this is that there will be less cross border movements on either sides of Pak Afghan border.

Spot on! Considering the terrain obtaining in the region in question, it is but near impossible to get tanks and heavy arty there. With lack of deployment areas and maneuverability for tanks, it is clear that the report is totally exaggerated. There is no 'heavy' deployment as the news papers say. Probably a brigade minus with some light howitzers and APCs in support. Occupying hill tops with arty observation posts would help the Americans to some extent to bring down prophylactic fire. But then considering the length of the AFPAK border which is like a sieve, this deployment won't count for much. However, it can lend support to their spec ops dets operating within Pakistan territory helping them in deeper forays.

But keep in mind that this forward deployment could be used as a firm base from where pro-American Afghans (who've been bought over), can be launched to attack Pakistan's forward posts manned by their paramilitary, with American artillery and mortar support.

Whatever, it would be interesting to see how American strategy unfolds.

 

[Irfan Baloch]

I see where you are going, but I will put that aside for now

you see, when fighting insurgencies and gorillas, conventional war tactics don’t apply so all these mountain artillery guns including mortars, howitzers etc are useless against an enemy that doesn’t fight with dug in positions or en masse in a full frontal attack with a mix of infantry and armour for which artillery support will be needed to repel it.

The other possibility is that they are securing the escape routes or choke points when the nearby villages are assaulted by their ground troops. But it’s a monumental task for few hundred soldiers to block all routes and lets not forget how the Al Qaeda and Taliban HQ was able to escape from the NATO’s noose during tis assault on Tora Bora the number of men and machinery deployed then was many fold but still it didn’t prevent OBL & Mullah Omar to escape and fade into the badlands.

Now presence of artillery might appear overkill but then again Americans are known to call in air strikes for virtually every militant engagement no matter how small or big. When firepower is plenty and resources are plentiful then why shy away from using them specially when the battle fiend is not in the home ground but in a place thousands of miles away from home and there is no emotional or moral consideration. A vengeful hatred and dismissive attitude prevails among the American soldiers who are known to say “two in the heart and one in the mind” thus the possibility of the “kill team” copy cats cant be dismissed because the place is too far away from any neutral observer to report what they will be up to.

The villagers on the Pakistani side have already started moving out due to the reports from across the border because they expect indiscriminate use of firepower from the Americans. A fall out from this operation can be more displaced and disgruntled people on both sides of the border.

Now coming to your could part.
I am not sure what will such adventure achieve unless if it is going to be backed up with open declaration of hostilities and war with Pakistan. As far as buying pro-American Afghans is concerned I think they are not that many left and most of them you only see in the Red zone addressing the foreign reporters in Kabul. Considering the constant demonstrations in Kabul by Afghans from all ethnicities against the American atrocities and collateral damage means that there wont be many “bought” and willing Afghans to fight the war. The kind of pro-American Afghans that are left are only ones that are interested in how quietly and quickly move the US Dollar aid to their foreign accounts.

Also I must share with you the reality of that place, people of that part of the region are extremely xenophobes, nationalist and suspicious of the foreigners and specially they despise the ones that try to buy their loyalties. Tho who do so are conmdened forever and even their tribes and clans become a pariah and an outcaste if the stories of their betrayal (towards their fellow people) spread out and they go on for centuries. Don’t take my word for it and look up the number of incidents where the soldiers of ANA and Afghan police belonging to almost all ethnicities have been involved in turning their guns against the foreign occupation forces you can forget about hired guns from the tribes for sure.

Now lets say for argument sake, Americans muster up a force that is a mix of NATO and Afghan soldiers that are meant to spearhead the assault on the villages on the Pakistani side and get support from the hit lop artillery and air strikes to take out or suppress any Pakistani military positions (although I am not aware of anyone in that part so it pretty much voids the possibility). But if such drastic action is carried out it has to be sustained and Americans prepare for an all out war. But in that case I am forced to say that the choice of the front by the Americans is very poor. There are far more easier and closer routes to encroach into Pakistan if the object is to seek and destroy Pakistani military presence in Waziristan.

At this point the news information is very fragmented and there is too much “noise” and speculation (mixed with actual facts) to draw up a picture. If the story doesn’t die out in the pile of the new other unrelated development then we might be able to understand the motive and theorise a bit more.

 

[Jango]

Some M-777 light Howitzers and a battalion there most probably, not to seal the border or anything, but just to get a stranglehold in a limited area, and as you people have already said, logistics is a major problem in that terrain. So, no mass movement.

 

[my name is arya]

Yes let them clean their own dirt.
but we gotta see if realli they are going to clean it or messing it up more over there.

you must be aware one fact usa is still no1 power in the world ,

do you really think usa will face any difficulty in Pakistan , pls dont live in dream , only thing is obama dont want action against
paksitan

 

[my name is arya]

Some M-777 light Howitzers and a battalion there most probably, not to seal the border or anything, but just to get a stranglehold in a limited area, and as you people have already said, logistics is a major problem in that terrain. So, no mass movement.

is your current deployment is capable to give any fight for usa

 

[Jango]

is your current deployment is capable to give any fight for usa

And have I said that it is against us? You should stop this poor mentality.

It could be for the militants can't it?

 

[hatyogi]

Well said there. If we study the recent histroy of tactics used by Us forces and to that extent any mordern Army, it is easy to note that no army deploy their ground units at the start. The best strategy is stepwise to recce the targets, force the enemy to mobilise, soften the enemy strongholds and then lauch the ground troops. This way the invading army faces the best chances of advancing with the minimal losses.

 

[53fd]

High time the US troops stationed their troops at the border, the cross border infiltration from Afghan terrorists into Pakistan is totally unchecked & getting out of control.

 

[karan.1970]

High time the US troops stationed their troops at the border, the cross border infiltration from Afghan terrorists into Pakistan is totally unchecked & getting out of control.

I think these will be facing the other side.. i.e. targeting Taliban moving from Pakistan to Afg

 

[Irfan Baloch]

is your current deployment is capable to give any fight for usa

there is no Pakistani deployment in the immediate area where Amerians are reported to have established some positions.
let us know if you know better.

secondly check out this post in case you chose to miss it out last time.
let me know if you still need any clarification
http://www.defence.pk/forums/pakist...ys-troops-along-pak-border-3.html#post2199913

I think these will be facing the other side.. i.e. targeting Taliban moving from Pakistan to Afg

that is good news. because Pakistan can stop the infiltration of the millitants from Afghanisan to Pakistan in the areas where its forces are deployed.

even better if there are any over lapping areas but none to my knowledge.
Millitants must be prevented from using the soil on either side of the border against the both states.

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

Damn. More terrorist attack and smuggling expected now.
Pakistan should deploy extra troops too. I just hope we haven't sent back the extra forces that were for the war scare.

apparently, you and I aren't the only ones who agree



Troops increased at check posts with Afghan border: DG ISPR

ISLAMABAD: DG Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major Gen. Athar Abbas has said regular army and FC have been sent to border areas with Afghanistan to stop militants’ attacks.

Talking to Radio Pakistan, he said Pakistan will not allow militants to carry out attacks on our check-posts, border villages and kill our civilians.

The DG ISPR said about 100 personnel of police; levies and paramilitary forces have so far been martyred in militants’ attacks from across the border during last 3-4 months.

ISAF was informed about these attacks, besides pointing out the location of hideouts of militants, but no action has so far been taken which may prove that safe havens and bunkers have been destroyed or militants have fled from there, he added.

He said apparently it seems that there is no presence of Afghan army or ISAF in the vast area from where militants are operating against Pakistan, about 37 security personnel were martyred in Chitral attack, which was first such attack and is a matter of great concern for us.

Replying to a question, he said there is a report that the militants have attacked in Bajaur, but no casualty has so far been reported.

He said Dir is the most affected area of militants’ attacks and terrorist group fled from Swat is involved in these attacks so that they can come to Swat via Dir. We strengthened all border check-posts and increased their numbers in Dir.

He said militants have safe havens in Kunar, Nooristan and Nangarhar and there are no security forces in most of these areas of Afghanistan.

It seems the militants are being supported locally and operating freely, he added.

He said Pakistan took up the issue with the Afghan Army personnel and ISAF, but we did not see any effective operation in that area.

Troops increased at check posts with Afghan border: DG ISPR | Pakistan | DAWN.COM

 

[Oldman1]

They will avoid a close range battle at all costs.
Decorating coffins is not some thing any one can afford, most of all USA.
Thus the long range doctrine.

“The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.”- General George Patton

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

actually, for some time GHQ (and the establishment as a whole) has been asking for increased patrols along the porous border, especially in light of cross border terrorist attacks emanating from Afghan soil

several years down the line, we've made it clear that we don't want Afghan soil to be used for terrorism against Pakistan....when our concerns are heeded to then we have no reason to ignore pleas from across the border

incidentally, PA has the ''luxury'' of not being viewed as an occupation force; whereas in Afghanistan, it's hard to ''market'' to Afghans that NATO/ISAF (foreign forces) hold the key to their sustainable security and well-being

 

[regular]

you must be aware one fact usa is still no1 power in the world ,

do you really think usa will face any difficulty in Pakistan , pls dont live in dream , only thing is obama dont want action against
paksitan

I know US is No1 power...but I also know that if India join with us against US then we are no 1 Super power. SoI guess I'm not living in the dream world. I'm living within the real world. I know India is our heart favorite nation/neighbor and will fight for us.....???