Pakistan Finds Bodies of 8 Missing Soldiers(Wana Operation)

VOA ^ | 26 Mar 2004 | NA

[Dog]

Pakistan Finds Bodies of 8 Missing Soldiers VOA News 26 Mar 2004, 19:39 UTC

AP Pakistani soldiers near Wana, Pakistan Pakistan's army has recovered the bodies of eight soldiers missing since an ambush late Monday in a remote tribal area along the Afghan border. Army spokesman, Major General Shaukat Sultan told the media in Islamabad Friday, the soldiers were killed in cold blood. He said their bodies were found near the town of Wana in the South Waziristan semi-autonomous region, where government troops have been searching for suspected al-Qaida militants since March 16. The military operation continues despite nationwide rallies organized by an alliance of Islamic parties. Protesters accused President Pervez Musharraf of pandering to American interests at the expense of Pakistani Muslims. Meanwhile, Pakistan has condemned a taped message said to be from al-Qaida's number two leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, calling it malicious and baseless.

The tape, aired Thursday by the Arab satellite channel al-Jazeera, denounces President Pervez Musharraf as a traitor and calls on Pakistani Muslims to overthrow the government. Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan said authorities are still checking the authenticity of the voice on the tape. He said the people who released it have no constituency or legitimacy, adding what he called their distorted and twisted ideology has nothing to do with Islam. The spokesman said the Pakistani government and army will not be deterred or intimidated by such cowardly threats.

An official of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency said Friday that after conducting a technical analysis of the tape, the agency has concluded that the voice is very likely that of Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Some information for this report provided by AFP.

[Dog]

Looks like AQ killed some of the hostages.

[Dog]

fyi.

[Tallguy]

You know the Pak Army isn't going to be taking any Al Qaeda prisoners in the near future after this little incident.

[swarthyguy]

Even tho the jihadis are basically tribal members now thru ties of marriage and jihad over the past two decades, this sounds like nutcase jihadis rather than the tribespeople or their chiefs, for whom, IMO, this would go against the tribal code "pashtunwali", their own accretion of laws and customs.

However, Arab/Chechens jihadis would have no such scruples and seeking to worsen the situation, would seek to provoke the Paki Army (mainly punjabis) into an ethnic war against the Pathan Tribals, seeking to break off Pashtun commanders and Punjabi jihadi sympathisers from the official Paki Position.

OTH, the jihadi influence among the tribals may be deeper and more profound than understood by the experts, the Paki Army and regional analysts. If so, and the tribals themselves have done this, could signal the start of a pattern of something very nasty, with conditions approaching those of the Soviet Jihad, where death was preferable to being taken prisoner.

[b4its2late]

I think Musharraf should produce a tape for Al Jezzera to broadcast condeming AQ for these killings and tell the perps that they will be hunted down to all 4 corners of the earth.

[Dog]

You know what this means don't you .....they are a cornered animal...and you are correct ....this is going to get very nasty. They know we are coming for them....and no border is going to keep us out of Pakistan.

[tkathy]

The Pak army is not hindered by political correctness and rules of engagement.

[swarthyguy]

.....Twelve members of the jirga have gone to meet the abductors. We are waiting for them to return with good news,” he said,....

....Earlier, a jirga of the Zalikhel sub-tribe returned from the encircled areas in early morning from what some administration officials called a “failed mission”. However, it was reported later that the captors of 12 paramilitaries and two administration officials since March 16 wanted to meet members of an all-tribes jirga from other zones.

.....The political administration had given the Zalikhel sub-tribe till 10am on Thursday morning to rescue the missing paramilitaries and officials. They failed to meet the deadline but authorities agreed to give them more time, citing tribal traditions of slow negotiations and rising anger over the operation among the local population. “They [the tribesmen] are talking about the conditions. These are tribesmen, they have traditions we must respect. We are waiting for the result of the jirga,” said Brigadier (r) Mehmood Shah, chief of security for the Tribal Areas....

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_26-3-2004_pg1_2

---

Looks like something went horribly wrong; the tribals violated their own codes, looks like... now who would violate their codes.....arab.paki fanatical jihadis, IMO.

[Dog]

When is the Pakistani army going to say enough is enough....and crush them....the world is watching them get pushed around by these thugs.

[Calpernia]

AP Pakistani soldiers near Wana, Pakistan Pakistan's army has recovered the bodies of eight soldiers missing since an ambush late Monday in a remote tribal area along the Afghan border. Army spokesman, Major General Shaukat Sultan told the media in Islamabad Friday, the soldiers were killed in cold blood.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Getting serious!

AZ trying to get a Civil War going!

[onehipdad]

Sounds like Tell Sackett should mount up with his brothers Orrin and Tyrell, and round up a bunch of those cousins and head over there...wouldn't take long for them to clean this mess up.

[BushisTheMan]

AQ kills Muslims.

Where is the outrage from moderate Muslims?

My respect for these soldiers.

[adam_az]

"The Pak army is not hindered by political correctness and rules of engagement."

IIRC, they've also yet to win a single war.

[Stultis]

As usual the AP is delicate about revealing the barbarism, nihilism, and sheer love of playing with bloody body parts of the Islamofascists. Dime to a dollar those bodies were headless.

[Stultis]

When is the Pakistani army going to say enough is enough....and crush them....the world is watching them get pushed around by these thugs.

I dunno, but I suspect they are taking the right approach; that it's worth taking the time and patience to play the game of tribal politics. It might be possible to make this region permanently inhospitable to al-Qaeda. I suspect many of the tribals are already longing to return to their normal lives of petty feuding and smuggling. The tribal leaders are probably getting worried about escalating strife and instability that cuts into their profits and threatens their power. It should be possible to turn many of them against the troublesome "Arabs".

[Stultis]

AZ trying to get a Civil War going!

Sure he is, but it's a Jihadist wet dream, IMHO. The fact is, loud and troublesome as they may be, the jihadists are a minority in Pakistan. The general population may be anti-American, given to conspiratorial paranoia, etc, but they are overwhelming against the jihadis (except wrt to Kashmir, which is an emotional issue with the vast majority of Pakis, but even here they don't want the jihadis screwing up the possibility of peace with India). Even those who are highly critical of the military government will stand behind it when it comes to protecting them from an islamist takeover. That just isn't going to happen. The army won't let it. Even if Mushy is assassinated the army will still rule, and will only crack down on the jihadis harder. The longer this goes on the less political support the islamists will have.

[Capt. Tom]

The Pak army is not hindered by political correctness and rules of engagement

What they are hindered by, is hunting down fellow muslims to turn over to the infidels. -Tom

[Boot Hill]

"When is the Pakistani army going to say enough is enough....and crush them...."

"Crush them"? Are you sure this is what you want?

The reason I ask is that history shows that the only real way to actually "crush" a people is to do it the same way that Genghis Kahn did it 800 years ago. You surround the area so that nothing can leave nor enter. Then you send in your army and methodically kill every living thing; every man, woman, child and beast, no exceptions. You bury nothing, you leave the carrion for the vultures. You destroy every vestige of any civilization there, every road, bridge, building, reservoir, canal, terrace, or orchard; anything that bespeaks of mans presence in the area. Then for good measure, as you leave, salt the earth.

Is this what you meant by "crush them"?

--Boot Hill