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Pakistan troops 'lose faith in war on terror' By Isambard Wilkinson in Islamabad Last Updated: 2:33am BST 19/09/2007 Eighteen Pakistani soldiers have been killed by pro-Taliban militants, bringing to more than 1,000 the number who have died fighting their own countrymen in the US-led war on terror. The troops were ambushed at a security post in the country's North Waziristan tribal region, near the Afghan border, on Sunday night. An official said some had had their throats cut. The morale of Pakistani troops fighting terrorism on their own soil is coming under intense scrutiny. President Pervez Musharraf has repeatedly claimed...

Fighters 'seize Pakistan troops' Scores of Pakistani soldiers are missing near the Afghanistan border amid claims from pro-Taleban militants that they have captured 300 men. More than 100 army personnel are unaccounted for, according to officials in the South Waziristan region. A Muslim militant group said it had taken the troops because the government was not honouring a recent peace deal. There has been rising violence in the region in recent months, with at least 60 soldiers and 250 militants killed. Several peace deals between the government and rebels have collapsed. US officials have described the tribal areas near the...

Pakistan -- A month of fierce fighting near the Afghan border has killed about 250 militants and 60 Pakistani troops, the army said Friday, hours after the deaths of six soldiers in a suicide attack and roadside bombing. Violence has surged in the region since July, when militants scrapped a September 2006 peace deal after accusing the government of violating the agreement by deploying more troops and targeting their hideouts. "In the past one month, we lost about 60 soldiers in suicide and other attacks," Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad told The Associated Press. "We security forces also killed about 250...

Pakistan: 310 killed in militant fight By BASHIRULLAH KHAN, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 22 minutes ago A month of fierce fighting near the Afghan border has killed about 250 militants and 60 Pakistani troops, the army said Friday, hours after the deaths of six soldiers in a suicide attack and roadside bombing. Pakistan, a key ally of the United States in fighting terrorism, has deployed about 90,000 troops in the border region to try to contain al-Qaida and Taliban militants and their local supporters, who often target security forces. President Gen. Pervez Musharraf is under growing pressure from Washington...

Text of report by Mushtaq Yusufzai headlined "More Pakistan troops deployed along Tora Bora" published by Pakistani newspaper The News website on 16 August Peshawar [North-West Frontier Province]: Pakistan deployed thousands of security forces on the border areas of Kurram tribal agency with Afghanistan's Tora Bora where a major operation has reportedly been launched by the US and NATO forces against Taleban and Al-Qa'idah. Tribal sources told The News from the border villages that heavy contingents of the Pakistan army and the paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) reached there and strengthened security on the border with Afghanistan. This new and rather...

MIRAN SHAH, Pakistan - Government forces attacked two militant bases with helicopter gunships and artillery Tuesday in some of the army's toughest action in the lawless Afghan border region since militant attacks began surging last month. Spokesman Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad said troops targeted a pair of compounds in Daygan, a village 10 miles west of North Waziristan's main town of Miran Shah, after they received credible intelligence that militants were there. President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, a key ally of the United States in its war on terror, is under rising pressure from Washington to crack down on militants in...

Artillery, helicopters assault two camps near the Afghan border As the security situation in North Waziristan and the greater Northwest Frontier Province, the Pakistani military launched an assault on two "militant" bases near the Afghan border. The military struck two Taliban and al Qaeda bases in the village of Daygan with artillery and Cobra gunship helicopters. "No ground forces were used in the assault," the Associated Press reported. The attack, which occurred 10 miles west of Miramshah, lasted four hours. Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad, the chief spokesman for the Pakistani military, has said the attacks in North Waziristan are not...

Pakistan struggles to contain Red Mosque fury By Isambard Wilkinson in Islamabad Last Updated: 2:05am BST 14/07/2007 Hardline protesters burned effigies of Gen Musharraf shouting 'Long live the martyrs' President Pervez Musharraf's regime sought to reassure Pakistan's Muslim clergy yesterday as the authorities tried to contain public anger over the siege of the Red Mosque. Minor protests took place in cities across the country. The regime is braced for an Islamist backlash after commandos stormed the mosque and killed about 100 people. Protesters burned effigies of Gen Musharraf and President George W Bush, shouting "Long live the martyrs" and "Musharraf...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Islamic militants launched a deadly suicide attack, detonated a roadside bomb and fired rockets on Saturday as thousands of Pakistani troops deployed to the northwestern frontier to thwart the launch of a holy war, officials said. At least 24 soldiers were killed in the suicide attack on a military convoy, an army spokesman said. The escalating violence along the rugged Afghanistan border, a haven for local and foreign extremists, follows the government's bloody attack on Islamabad's Red Mosque which sparked calls for revenge from radical groups. "With help from local tribal elders, we are trying to ensure...

Excerpt - ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Thousands of troops were deployed to Pakistan's northwestern frontier to try to dissuade outlawed Islamic militants from launching a holy war against the government for its bloody attack on a radical mosque, military officials said Saturday. Troops were sent Friday to at least five areas of North West Frontier Province, which borders Afghanistan and where militant groups are increasingly active, a military officer said. "With help from local tribal elders, we are trying to ensure that militants lay down their arms, and stop issuing calls for jihad against the government," said a senior military official who...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Thousands of soldiers rolled across northwestern Pakistan on Friday, a day after President Gen. Pervez Musharraf vowed to follow the storming of Islamabad's Red Mosque by eliminating extremism from "every corner" of the country. Anti-Musharraf protesters took to the streets of every major city to blame the U.S.-backed leader for the violence at the mosque, some chanting slogans in favor of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. But the rallies were smaller than expected, and there was a lull in the violent backlash from militant groups that had staged suicide bombings and attacks on foreign aid groups in...

Text of Report by Alamgier Bhittani and Zulfiqar Ali headlined "Operation likely in tribal areas" published by Pakistani newspaper Dawn website on 13 July Tank/Peshawar, 12 July: The army started deploying troops in NWFP's [North West Frontier Province] southern districts, adjoining the Waziristan region, amid reports that an operation to curb militancy and extremism was imminent. Sources told Dawn on Thursday [12 July] that 12,000 troops, backed by artillery units, were moved to Tank and Dera Ismail Khan districts from Okara. Troops took over the building of a vocational college in Tank city and were stationed in paramilitary forts in...

UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has indicated interest in contributing troops to protect the world body's personnel and facilities in Iraq provided the interim government requests for them and other Islamic countries also have troops on the ground. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said there were about three or four countries that had indicated some interest and that he himself had spoken to some leaders "who seemed interested but had certain conditions," including Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf. Annan indicated that Pakistan "would be prepared to contribute if the request were to come from the Iraqi interim government, and if there were other...