Posted on 02/20/2004 3:00:52 PM PST by Dog
Afghan, Pakistani, US forces set for spring offensive
* Authorities tighten noose around ‘foreign terrorists’ in Wana
By Amir Rana and Iqbal Khattak
LAHORE: Pakistani, US and Afghan forces are planning a major military operation inside Pakistan along its border with Afghanistan, against Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters by the end of the spring. Military officials from all three countries will meet in Islamabad late April to finalize the plan, sources told Daily Times on Friday.
“The Pakistani military is carrying small operations in tandem with US forces to apprehend or neutralize Qaeda operatives hiding in Pakistan’s tribal areas”, sources said. Lieutenant General David Barno, commander of the US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan, arrived in Rawalpindi on Wednesday and met top Pakistani military officials at the military’s General Headquarters (GHQ), reportedly to discuss the operational situation in tribal areas. Both sides are said to have agreed on military operations in Pakistan’s tribal areas as well as across the border into Afghanistan.
Sources said that though the spring operation against Al Qaeda and Taliban was almost certain, the exact time was all that was left to be decided.
“General Barno’s visit was routine, part of his leadership duties and to discuss a closer relationship with the Pakistani military”, said official sources confirming the visit and April meeting.
Sources said Gen Barno, who recently predicted that US forces would capture Osama bin Laden this year, would lead the operation and Pakistani and Afghan forces - along with US troops - would operate on their own sides of their common border but either could cross into the other’s side if necessary.
“We will wait in Afghanistan to grab Al Qaeda driven from the Pakistani side and vice versa,” a US military official with General Barno said. Sources also said that the US is expanding the reconstruction teams in the tribal areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan from 11 to 16 by this summer. The teams, which range in size from 80 to 200 members each, combine military, intelligence and humantarian reconstructions skills.
In a related development, the political administration in South Waziristan Agency on Friday ordered tribesmen to remove tinted windows from their vehicles, as part of an imminent crackdown on ‘terrorists’, especially ‘foreigners.’ The move, aimed to tighten a noose around foreign terrorists and their supporters, came as a surprise to many drivers. Official sources said that vehicles were also barred from using Wana Road, that leads to the airport.
The administration warned that all vehicles with tinted glass would be impounded and their drivers fined. Sources said the decision would restrict the movement of terrorists because they hide behind the tinted glass of the vehicles they travel in. No vehicle will be allowed into Azam Warsak market, the scene of an army solder’s murder on February 11. Wana airport was closed to routine flights, a move which signals that gunship helicopters might use the airport for a military operation in the area.
Rumours of an imminent military operation were widespread in Wana. “It can happen at any time and I am uncertain about the future,” Meersalam Khan, a shopkeeper in Wana market told Daily Times by phone. “I think innocent people will fall victim and criminals will escape as usual,” he said. A government official said secret meetings were held in Wana and Islamabad to work out final details of the operation.
South Waziristan Agency chief administrator Muhammad Azam Khan said the army would assist the administration in the operation against terrorists, but he would not say when it would begin. Mr Khan said talks with tribal elders were still in progress.
“We will move to strike at hideouts of terrorists and their hosts,” he said. Azam Warsak bazaar was sealed after the soldier’s murder under the Collective Responsibility Act of the Frontier Crimes Regulations.
‘Operation being sensationalised’
LAHORE: Pakistan Army spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan said on Friday that the Wana operation was being sensationalised. Mr Sultan told a news channel that the Pakistan Army had taken positions in trenches and cliffs in Wana, the headquarters of Waziristan Agency, adding that 800-kilometre-long Chaman border with Afghanistan was also completely sealed. Mr Sultan ruled out that possibility of a joint operation with the US troops in Wana, saying, “Only the Pakistan Army will conduct operation in the Pakistani territory”. He also dispelled rumours that a US fighter plane had flown over South Waziristan. —Daily Times Monitor
Tenet paid Mush a visit about a week or 10 days ago on the hush hush...we still don't know why he was there.
There has to be some intelligence to lead us to that one small area. This is area is near Tora Bora....and the Shai Kot mountain range where other battles have taken place.
Look in the lowest south-central portion of the above map and find Gul Kach. Right above it is Wana, where much of the Waziristan action is taking place. Not shown on this map, is another route over the mountains from the Afghani village of Shakin to the Paki village of Angor Adda. They can be located by looking northwest of Wana at a small tit of Paki land sticking into Afghanistan. That is where Shakin and Angor Adda are located, as well as the back-door route into Pakistan.
As far as I can make out, there are three principle battle fronts in this offensive (that we should be keeping an eye on). First is the Khowst-Kurram front to the north. The second is the Waziristan front, in the center, and to the south, the smaller Zabol front. Zabol is where we've been hearing stories about the Taliban "massing" a hundred, or so, troops in the mountains for a drive against American and Afghani forces in Kandahar, a la, "The Mouse that Roared".
--Boot Hill
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