Politicians Try To Contain Frontier Violence (Pakistan)

Pakistan's politicians in the country's wild tribal lands have called a council meeting today in an attempt to contain the violence and protect civilians.

The attempt at talks suggests that the government offensive against tribal fighters and al-Qa'eda militants is placing the tribes under huge pressure after four days of large-scale military operations.

In Peshawar, the provincial capital of the North-West Frontier Province, tribal politicians yesterday demanded that the government troops call a halt to the offensive.

In Wana, the main town in South Waziristan where Pakistan government artillery was yesterday bombarding at least five villages, anger intensified as thousands of people fled the area.

"Wana and surrounding areas have become a battlefield and there is firing from all sides with heavy weaponry and mortars," said Dilawar Khan Wazir, a journalist based in Wana. He said Pakistani troops were using helicopter gunships to fire on houses and villages where the militants are suspected of hiding.

"The fear of the military operation has caused a mass exodus from the area and thousands of local tribesmen have fled. The whole area seems like a desert. All the markets are closed and no one is in the streets," he said.

Pakistan's military authorities yesterday denied reports of civilian casualities. However, local sources were disputing this, saying that there were "many" civilian casualties.

Pakistani officers yesterday gave their fullest account of how the biggest battle yet to affect the border areas had begun.

Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan said paramilitary forces, who began searching the wild tribal regions bordering Afghanistan on Tuesday, were merely looking for "two or three miscreants". But they then came under fire with mortars and small arms at Kalosha, a village about six miles west of Wana.

Some militants tried to break out of the area in two pick-up trucks, but failed, as one vehicle overturned and another hit a wall as they came under rocket-propelled grenade fire. At least 26 militants, mostly believed to be foreigners, and 15 Pakistani forces were killed.

Maj-Gen Sultan was careful to hedge over speculation that the "high-value target" was al-Qa'eda's number two, Ayman al-Zawahri.

Local officials complained that the government had launched its offensive without giving the tribes sufficient time to negotiate the surrender of the militant elements.(They didn't have time to tip off the terrorists)

Ten days ago, elders from the Masood and Ahmedzai tribes agreed to form militia brigades to assist the government in rooting out Taliban remnants.

"The tribes are very angry," Imtiaz Ali, a reporter, told the Telegraph from Peshawar. "They feel that after offering to help, the government didn't give them time to resolve the problem. Now the people are fleeing."

Yesterday representatives from both tribes came to Wana to try to re-open talks but no progress was made.

The tribesmen of Waziristan find themselves squeezed between the demands of militant elements wanting shelter and government forces requesting their betrayal.

One elder, Malik Zardullah, 60, said he was bitter that his people were paying the price for President Musharraf's desire to please America. "The Government has received millions of dollars, and this at the expense of innocent and peace-loving people," he said.

SAS Joins Hunt For Osama

"Defence chiefs are considering the request to send paratroops or commandos to reinforce the American and British special forces hunting bin Laden, the head of al-Qa'eda, and his lieutenants, the defence sources said."

4 posted on 03/19/2004 7:05:05 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach (The terrorists and their supporters declared war on the United States - and war is what they got!!!!)

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