Posted on 05/23/2009 12:10:29 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
ISLAMABAD (AFP) – Pakistani troops on Saturday stormed into the main town in the Swat valley and fought street battles in a bid to wrest the capital of the northwest from Taliban control, the military said.
Chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said parts of Mingora had already been cleared and that 17 militants, including an important commander, had been killed.
The ground assault on Mingora, a city with an estimated population of around 300,000 -- most of whom have fled -- marks the most crucial phase of the military's blistering offensive against the Taliban in the scenic valley.
Although the military has bases inside Mingora, the town has been under effective Taliban control. As the administrative and business hub of the district, its capture is essential for the army to declare victory in Swat.
Pakistan says 15,000 troops in Swat are now fighting 1,500-2,000 "hardcore militants", nearly a month after ordering a battle to eradicate fighters who advanced to within 100 kilometres (60 miles) of the national capital.
"Today the most important phase of operation Rah-e-Rast, the clearance of Mingora, has commenced," said Abbas.
"In the last 24 hours, security forces have entered Mingora; 17 miscreant-terrorists, including an important miscreant commander were killed," the spokesman told a news conference in Islamabad.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Map of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province. Pakistani troops have stormed into the main town in the Swat valley and fought street battles in a bid to wrest the capital of the northwest district from Taliban control, the military has said. (AFP Graphic)
A Pakistani soldier in Asapur, a village in the southerwestern province of Baluchistan. Gunmen in the lawless province have kidnapped a French tourist, snatching him from a group of compatriots, who included women and children, police have said. (AFP/File/Rizwan Tabassum)
Local farmers carry wheat crops on their camels in the troubled Buner district on April 30, 2009. Farmers in Pakistan's northwest were preparing for a bumper harvest when a punishing military assault against Taliban fighters sent them fleeing their homes. (AFP/Tariq Mahmood)
A Pakistani child is seen on a truck loaded with wheat at Chota Lahore camp in Swabi district, some 150 kms northwest of Islamabad, on May 21. Farmers in Pakistan's northwest were preparing for a bumper harvest when a punishing military assault against Taliban fighters sent them fleeing their homes. (AFP/Pedro Ugarte)
You know they are not serious when they want no intel from us or drone support. The pattern repeats, big announcements, "heavy fighting going on", "miscreants captured and killed", the PakMil soap opera. No reporters allowed in to see the noisy charade.
Here is the reality, they cut a deal to let Maulana Fazlullah escape to Paktia, Afghanistan. He is gone with all of his key commanders. About 1,500 Talibs remain out of 4,000 and are bailing out in small groups to regroup later. Most went north to Upper Dir or to Afghanistan.
Several hundred, remain in MIngora and are dug in ready to fight to the death. About 15,000 residents remain there. Lots of Uzbeks and Tajik and Chechen fighters in Mingora, they have been sold out by Fazlalluh as the price for his escape. He has ordered them to make a useless last stand, that will take weeks, and make the Pakis look good, that they are ridding Swat of "foreign elements". All while the Pahktun fighters slip away to fight another day.
The Paki habit is to bring up a lot of armor and aircraft, bomb a lot of empty hillsides, show off prisoners, do the minimum of fighting, claim huge body counts that no one has seen, set up road blocks all over, garrison all the key bridges and crossroads. Then after enough pressure, negotiate with the Talibs to let them slip away. Then the triumphant march through town and claims that the writ of law is re-established.
We also "laid down the law" that they have to "invade" Waziristan. Baitullah is still hiding out there but has cut a deal with Maulvi Nazir for safe passage through N Waziristan to Afghanistan also, with most of his fighters. The Mehsud jirga went to meet with Baitullah yesterday to make preparations for his temporary departure should the Pakis "invade".
This buys the Pakis about 6 months and we write checks to our "brave partners" fighting AQ. The Pakis will bail out before winter, leaving behind garrisons and checkpoints and claiming control. Obama will wake up to the "Great Game", as the Pakis call it, after the hustle plays out and the Talibs come back to Lower Dir.
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