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Posted on 04/02/2004 1:01:03 PM PST by Cap Huff
The Pakistani government has stepped up its campaign to drive out al-Qaeda fighters and their supporters in South Waziristan on the Afghan border.
Helicopters have dropped leaflets urging tribesmen to convince the supporters to leave the area.
The government has also renewed an amnesty offer to foreigners associated with al-Qaeda who give themselves up.
A two-week army offensive against al-Qaeda that ended on Sunday left around 100 dead, the military says.
One ambush of an army convoy on 22 March near Saroki left 19 soldiers dead, eight of whom were shot after being taken hostage.
The hunt for their killers has also been stepped up with thousands of armed Mahsud tribesmen searching homes and asking for information.
Deadline
The Urdu-language leaflets dropped over Wana, South Waziristan's main town, and surrounding areas on Friday said foreigners had been misusing the hospitality of the tribesmen.
They said the army had come to the area to carry out development activities.
An intelligence official told Reuters that another 3,500 troops had been sent to reinforce the 13,000 military and paramilitary soldiers already deployed in the Afghan border region.
Government representatives told a tribal council meeting (jirga) on Thursday in Wana that new force might be used if five chief harbourers of al-Qaeda fighters were not handed over.
Rehmatullah Wazir, an administrator from South Waziristan, told the AFP news agency tribesmen would react positively to the request.
"The tribesmen have assured us that they will hunt and hand over the people who sheltered al-Qaeda fighters," he said.
The government has renewed its amnesty offer to foreigners associated with al-Qaeda.
Governor of North West Frontier Province, retired Lieutenant-General Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah, said if the foreigners surrendered and the tribe harbouring them gave an undertaking not to commit violence, they could be allowed to leave with their families.
The army says 46 soldiers and 63 opposition fighters died in the two-week South Waziristan offensive against "terrorist structures" that ended on Sunday.
Another 163 fighters were arrested, it says. Story from BBC NEWS:
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Dear Brother Tribesman.
Can you ask your visiting friends to leave.
Thank You.
President Mushy......with love.
Xoxoxox!
Yeah except the mulla says a muslim never informs on another muslim. The whole thing is a scam, Pakistan is a fake friend.
Here we go again.
In that part of the world, it's all BullSquato.
None should be trusted, or believed..
Judge them ONLY on results.......and accomplishments.
Semper Fi
If only that were really the case, we'd see a lot more recognition of what Pakistan has accomplished in the war against Al Qaeda. Instead we have a constant barrage of rhetoric...
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