Pak, US forces move against al-Qaeda

WASHINGTON: The Pakistani military is moving toward "hammer-and-anvil" operations with US forces across the border in Afghanistan for the first time to crush al-Qaeda fighters hiding in the tribal areas, the top US commander in Afghanistan said on Tuesday.

"There’s unfinished business in this part of the world and we’re making every effort here during the coming months to close those efforts out," said Lt-Gen David Barno, commander of the US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan.

"And as I tell people for all of the terrorist organisations, it’s very clear in my mind, as I look to the future, that the sands in their hourglass is running out," he said in a video conference from Afghanistan with Pentagon reporters.

Barno, who recently predicted that US forces will capture al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden this year, said his entire force was "energised" with the mission of bringing the man behind the September 11 attacks and others to justice.

Pakistani military forces have moved into the tribal areas that lie along the Afghan border over the past few months for the first time in the country’s history amid dramatically improved cooperation with US forces, the general said. "We’re moving in the direction of cooperative operations on both sides of the border - a hammer and anvil approach if you will," Barno said. "Where al-Qaeda may be driven from the Pakistani side, we’re ready to receive them on the Afghan side, and use our forces in concert with Afghan forces on this side of the border to be able to crush the al-Qaeda elements between the Pakistani and coalition forces," he said.

Over the past six-to-eight weeks, Pakistani military and paramilitary forces have leaned on tribal leaders to root out al-Qaeda and other foreign fighters that have taken refuge in the region, he said. They are using "enforcement mechanisms" such as home demolitions to ensure that tribal leaders and others comply, he said. "The fact they are now there, the fact they are confronting the tribal elders and they are holding them accountable for activities in their area, which is a major step forward, is something we’re watching with great interest, and there is some cautious optimism that it will have a positive effect," he said.

Barno, who assumed command in Afghanistan in October, also has embarked on what he described as a classic counter-insurgency strategy to smother Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgencies in the violent southern and south-eastern parts of the country. Rather than mount periodic military sweeps in different regions of the country from bases as has been the pattern in the past, Barno said he is basing units in areas of operation in the belief that a continuous presence will yield better intelligence and relations with locals. "And the units ultimately get great depth of knowledge, understanding and much better intelligence access to the people of those areas by owning, as it were, those chunks of territory," he said.

Behroz Khan adds from Peshawar: A new coalition military base has been established at Char Goti area of Khost province, which shares borders with Pakistan’s Kurram Agency and both ground and air surveillance, has been increased for the last three days.

Eyewitnesses and some government officials from the political administration in Kurram Agency said to have reports that the movement of US and allied forces across the border has been increased and the new base has been set up just five kilometres from Pakistan border.

This is the first time that US forces have established the base in the area. Naeem Kochey, a prominent Afghan figure and former minister for Frontiers and Tribes, belongs to this area. He is now in the custody of the US forces. Taliban and al-Qaeda presence cannot be ruled out in the area, the sources said.

Sources claimed that about 350 coalition troops have been sent to the area amid day-night aerial and ground search. It is still not clear to the local population on both sides of the border that whether arrival of the troops was part of the disarmament drive to collect lethal weapons or was meant to hunt for Osama bin Laden or suspect terrorists from al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

But a general impression among the people and the Pakistani officials serving in the border areas is that the presence of such a huge force would only mean to hunt for Osama and his top lieutenants. Osama is believed to be hiding in the border areas between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

A sizeable number of Pak troops were also reported to have arrived in Alizai area of Kurram Agency, which is on the border with Khost. The officials from the military as well as political administration of the tribal agency, however, said it was a routine matter and nothing special was taking place. "As many as 20 military vehicles of Pak army have arrived in Alizai," said an eyewitness.

Dog: "Boot Hill can you link a map to this thread of the Char Goti area of Afghanistan."

Houston, we have a problem...

Many of the areas identified in the article are either non-existent, mis-identified or are such obscure features that they are not even listed on the authoritative Geographic Names Database (5.5 million entries) or The Times Atlas of the World (85,000 entries).

But I can piece together for you, where the action is occurring. For reference while reading along, click on both of the following map links (they'll open in new windows).

MAP OF AFGHANISTAN Map scale is about 62 miles to the inch.
MAP OF PAKISTAN Map scale is about 62 miles to the inch.

Hi Pakistan reports: "A new coalition military base has been established at Char Goti area of Khost province..."

SIDEBAR:
For purposes of the following discussion, [Alt][Tab] your screen between the Afghanistan map and this thread. Note in particular, the parrot's beak of Paki land (and the town of Parachinar) extending into Afghanistan that points towards the capitol of Kabul. Along the southern extent of that parrot's beak is the area sometimes referred to as the Khowst area. This, and the Paki side of the same border area, is where the operations described in the article are taking place.

There are three problems with the above quote from the article...
First, According to the references sources identified above, there is no town, place or geophysical feature named "Char Goti" nor any variant of that name. Even worse (!), a Google search gives zero results for that name. (What the heck is this world coming too?)

But all is not lost, because the article also states that "the new base has been set up just five kilometres from Pakistan border" and that the base is in the Khowst area. The only militarily important feature in the Khowst area that is located anywhere near that described in the article, is the Batai mountain pass, a place of much terrorist traffic into and out of Pakistan. The Batai pass is located on the tip of that point of land near Khowst, jutting into Pakistan and pointing towards the town of Thal.

If this guess is correct, it would sound like a strategic place to locate the base, because from there, they can deny terrorist access to an important travel, communications and supply route, while at the same time, occupy the high ground overlooking the Khowst area.

Second, there is no Khost Province, nor even a Khowst Province in Afghanistan. At the most, the area surrounding the town of Khowst, is sometimes referred to as the Khowst area. Khowst is, in fact, located in Paktia Province (not to be confused with Paktika Province, located immediately to the south of Paktia Province). Note, however the Afghanistan map purports to show a Khowst Province. That map is in error on that point.

Third, the place name isn't Khost, it is Khowst. The spelling Hi Pakistan uses in this article is an incorrect variant of the officially recognized spelling (see references above). Since there is a real town of Khost located nearby in Pakistan, the difference in spelling is important if you wish to avoid confusion.

Hi Pakistan reports: "...which shares borders with Pakistan’s Kurram Agency..."

Pakistan has four special districts that are not true provinces. One of them is the so-called "Federally Administered Tribal Areas" that is located along Pakistan's western frontier with Afghanistan (see Pakistan map). Administrative districts within the Tribal Areas are known as "Agencies". The Kurram Agency comprises the area I've been calling the parrot's beak and includes the town of Alizai (mentioned in the article as an area).

In other words, when al Qaida terrorists transit the mountains, either along the southern extent of the parrot's beak associated with the Khowst area, or the northern area of the beak associated with the infamous Tora Bora mountains, those terrorists must pass through the Kurram Agency or even the North Waziristan Agency. Pakistan becomes the "anvil" in this hammer and anvil strategy, by forcing the tribal leaders in those agencies to take responsibility for harboring those terrorists.

Dog, I hope these verbal descriptions that located features mentioned in the article, to places on the low res maps (above), was a passable substitute for the high res map of the entire parrot's beak area, that I don't have.

--Boot Hill

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