OP-ED: Reconsidering a Military Solution in Waziristan

There is little doubt that the issue of foreign militants using Pakistani territory for launching operations against a neighbouring country has to be addressed

Serious differences between the United States and Pakistan seem to be emerging over the ‘hammer and anvil’ strategy that had been elaborated by the US recently to confront, capture or eliminate Al Qaeda and allied Taliban elements in the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The US and the Karzai government sought military action from Pakistan to flush out militants in the area so that they would be pushed into Afghanistan where the US military would take over the operation. The ultimate prize, on the eve of US elections, would be Osama Bin Laden.

For Pakistan, it seemed more a matter of going along while taking care of a destabilising element within its borders. The estimate of foreign militants who had taken refuge in the area was close to 400 including Uzbeks and Chechens. After days of bloody fighting in which more than 150 persons are estimated to have died on both sides no militants of note could be captured. If there were indeed high-value targets in the area, they made their escape fairly early either because of better intelligence or greater familiarity with the terrain or possibly both.

Under a deal between the military and the wanted tribesmen led by Nek Muhammad the militants would surrender, register with the authorities, give an assurance that they would not use the area as a springboard for operations inside Afghanistan and the tribes would stand surety for their good conduct. After the surrender ceremony near Wana on Saturday involving Nek Muhammad and his men on the one hand and the Peshawar Corps Commander Lt.-General Safdar Hussain on the other, the initial deadline of April 30th was extended by a week and the second one is due to expire today. No surrenders by the militants had taken place at the time of writing but even if this comes to pass, making the agreement stick will take some doing.

Nek Muhammad has already said that he surrendered to no one. He was at the meeting with his armed guards and the military commander came to his area, not the other way round. The government seems to have re-thought its earlier strategy in light of the high loss of lives on both sides coupled with the little headway made in terms of the objectives of the operation.

For the United States, however, the re-think is problematic. Lt.-General David Barno, commander of the American forces in Afghanistan, has made clear that the US is unhappy with the truce: ‘There are foreign fighters in those tribal areas who will have to be killed or captured,’ he declared, emphasising that a ‘significant’ number were using the area as a base. He went on to express concern that things could ‘go in the wrong direction’.

A similar statement had been made not too far back by the US ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad about Pakistan not doing enough to support the US in its ‘war on terrorism’. Meanwhile, the president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, has also pointed out that Pakistan’s approach to the militants is counterproductive and would encourage the militants. Karzai has to worry about the elections in Afghanistan, once postponed, scheduled for later this year.

The scenario is further complicated by the Bush administration’s insistence that elections in Afghanistan be held prior to the US presidential elections due in November. The problem is obvious. The occupation of Iraq has gone badly wrong for the US. The number of US troops killed in Iraq has risen steadily after President Bush flew to an aircraft carrier to declare ‘mission accomplished’. Iraq is simply not going to add up to the foreign policy success that the White House had chalked up in those heady days. So, Afghanistan has become important again and regained US attention.

More recently, matters in Iraq have become even worse as images of prisoners being tortured by US and British troops have been flashed around the world. This exposes most starkly the vile underside of US occupation and all the claims of introducing democracy to Iraq begin to sound even less credible. The opposition is likely to intensify.

All of which pushes Afghanistan centre-stage for the Bush administration as it moves towards the November elections. It may not be a coincidence that on the same day that General Barno expressed his displeasure at the deal in South Waziristan, there was an incursion by US soldiers across the Pakistan border. The government has lodged a protest with the US while claiming that the incursion was inadvertent. But it could well be a thinly veiled warning to Pakistan that if it does not move against the militants the US forces based in Afghanistan could come across the border in ‘hot pursuit’ to do the job themselves. Either way, if the fighting begins again and casualties run high, the repercussions for Pakistan could be serious. It is imperative, therefore, that the deal having been made is now seen to work.

In a curious decision, more reliance seems to have been placed on the MMA in putting the deal together while bypassing in large measure the political administration of the area. Given the situation on the ground they may need to be brought back into the loop. There is little doubt that the issue of foreign militants using Pakistani territory for launching operations against a neighbouring country has to be addressed. Among other things, it renders Pakistan vulnerable. But there is little doubt that miscalculations have been made in the timing and conduct of the operation. Now that the government has opted for a negotiation track it should give it time to work and not be pushed into resuming military action unless it is clear that the other side is not sticking to the deal.

They will follow your advice ;-)
http://www.dawn.com/2004/06/11/top6.htm

Wana amnesty for militants revoked: 'Capture or kill' order issued

By Ismail Khan

PESHAWAR, June 10: The government has ordered security forces operating in the volatile South Waziristan tribal region to 'capture or kill' five tribal militants who were granted amnesty some time ago.

Highly-placed sources in the federal government told Dawn that the government decided to rescind the amnesty after the five militants had reneged on their word to get foreign militants under their protection registered with the authorities. Meanwhile, rockets were fired on the paramilitary Scouts Camp in Wana, the region's headquarters, on Thursday, but did not cause any injury.

The five militants, Nek Muhammad, Haji Sharif, Noor Islam, Maulavai Abbas and Maulavi Abdul Aziz, were pardoned on April 24 when Corps Commander, Peshawar, Lt-Gen Safdar Hussain, flew into Shakai to announce the amnesty in return for their pledge to remain peaceful and not to use Pakistan's soil against any other country.

However, the 'rapprochement' as it was called at that time, collapsed soon after over interpretation of the terms of the agreement reached between the government and the militants.

The government insists that the militants must get the foreigners harboured by them registered in order to avail themselves of the amnesty. But Nek Muhammad, the 27-year-old former Taliban commander, says that registration of foreign militants was not part of the agreement.

These sources said the decision to withdraw the amnesty had been taken at a high-level meeting held in Islamabad last month. It was presided over by President Musharraf.

The meeting, said the sources, had been called to review the situation in Wana with particular reference to the Shakai agreement, and was attended by senior military and civil administration officials. The meeting authorized the civil administration to handle the situation in Wana, but with clear-cut instructions to get the issue of foreign militants resolved.

The president ordered withdrawal of the amnesty and accordingly, said these sources, security forces operating in the tribal region were ordered to 'capture or kill' the militants.

As part of a plan worked out at the meeting, the government decided to first work through the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe and let them decide the fate of the five militants. It was under these circumstances, the sources said, that the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe decided to exclude the Abidkhel-Yargulkhel sub-tribe to which the five militants belonged from any tribal action against militants.

Finally on Tuesday, the administration in Wana issued notices to the Wazir tribe to 'present the wanted' tribal militants. It was made clear that a failure by the tribe to produce the wanted people would invoke the Frontier Crimes Regulations under which the authorities had the power to hold any person in detention for any length of time.

"The amnesty was conditional, that they would get their foreign guests registered with the authorities. It was never meant to be a blanket one-way offer. They had been pardoned in return for a pledge and in the end these people did not honour their word", the sources said.

Nek Muhammad, it may be mentioned, has warned of reprisal attacks in Peshawar, Islamabad and Karachi if the government did not stop what he called excesses against his people in South Waziristan.

In an interview with the BBC Pushto broadcast on Wednesday night he accused the government of going back on its pledge and warned against any military operation against his people.

Our Correspondent in Wana adds: Suspected militants fired two rockets into the Scouts Camp at around 4 am on Thursday. The rockets hit an empty building in the southern part of the camp and partially damaged it but did not cause any injury.

The Scouts responded by firing medium-range artillery that continued for about an hour. Kakakhel tribesmen to the east of the Scouts Camp spotted a missile that was aimed at the Scouts Camp later in the day and informed the military authorities who immediately rushed to the spot and recovered it.

Meanwhile, tribesmen in Azam Warsak and Karikot were forming small lashkars to keep out foreign militants from their areas for fear of inviting a military operation.

The government has claimed to have retrieved four more bodies of foreign militants, taking their overall death toll to 22. The deceased were in camouflaged battle fatigues. A notebook in Uzbek language and a wireless set is also claimed to have been recovered from the area.

the government will not use silk gloves:

http://www.dawn.com/2004/06/12/top4.htm
Govt vows to crush 'extremists' as NA debates violence

By Raja Asghar

ISLAMABAD, June 11: Stung by a new wave of militant violence, the government told the National Assembly on Friday that it would not relent its campaign to crush extremists, rejecting opposition charges of following a disastrous path.

While Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan declared that his government would make no compromise on the country's stability and integrity, Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat said no 'Talibanization' of Pakistan would be allowed at any cost.

Both were speaking during a debate on an opposition adjournment motion on Thursday's ambush of an army convoy in Karachi. But the long debate degenerated into allegations and counter-allegations between the opposition and treasury benches.

Members of both the ARD and the MMA also staged separate token walkouts to protest against the speaker's refusal to allow them to move resolutions against a new military operation in South Waziristan.

Mr Jamali intervened in the debate to complain about 'unthoughtful' observations by opposition members that he said could give a wrong message about the country.

"What message are you giving inside and outside Pakistan?" he asked the members. "Is it not necessary that you demonstrate unity? Are you here only to condemn and impose your own desire?"

Referring to fears voiced about the safety of the country's western border with Afghanistan following military operations in the tribal region, he said Pakistani people and military would defend every inch of the country.

He rejected charges that the government was carrying out military operations in the tribal area at the behest of the United States. "If they so confidently say that we are acting for outsiders, then I am compelled to wonder whether they are doing so on foreign advice," he said about the opposition.

"Pakistan's integrity and defence is above every thing and we can do anything for this," he declared. The premier also seemed piqued by remarks by some opposition members about what they called his helplessness in the present set-up with President Pervez Musharraf enjoying more powers.

"I also pity their helplessness," he said about his critics, and added: "If I go into detail, where their helplessness will take them?" The interior minister linked Karachi ambush and other recent major incidents of violence to South Waziristan where he said the authorities had launched a new operation on Friday.

He said these acts of terrorism seemed to be the work of the 'same elements' seeking to destabilize Pakistan and divide its people. "This is part of an organized conspiracy to destabilize Pakistan and create chaos," he said about the Karachi ambush. "The previous violent incidents and the assassination attempts on the president are links of the same chain."

"The government is determined not to let Talibanization to be established in Pakistan, whatever the sacrifice," he said. "They want to push Pakistan to darkness," he said about the activities of militant elements who, he added, had set up a big network in South Waziristan's Shakai area with training and practice-shooting facilities.

Most of about 20 opposition speakers held the government policies responsible for the wave of violence. They said the country would face a disaster if it did not mend its ways. Heated exchanges, particularly between the MMA and the MQM members, created tension in the house with both sides accusing each other of the violence.

The adjournment motion was moved by PPP secretary-general Raja Parvez Ashraf in the morning sitting when Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain set two hours in the evening for the debate, which continued for more than four hours.

The interior minister said the elements who carried out 'unprovoked' attacks on military posts near Wana seemed to have a 'direct role' in the Karachi ambush. He said security forces in South Waziristan had on Friday begun 'an appropriate response' to militant attacks and added: "This response will continue until Wana area is cleared of such sinister elements."

He said the government policy was to 'crush these extremists' and told critics from the MMA that the latest militant attacks should have 'opened their eyes'. "Don't we know who are these people who seek to create discord not only between people and the army but in the whole of Pakistan sometime on linguistic basis and sometime on religious basis?"

He accused militants of violating an accord reached between them and the authorities to restore peace in the area. MMA parliamentary leader Qazi Hussain Ahmed complained of what he called an organized terrorist group in Karachi giving shelter to perpetrators of violent acts. He said the Karachi ambush could not have been carried out by tribals from South Waziristan.

But MQM parliamentary leader Farooq Sattar said the Karachi attack could be the work of the same elements whose 'terrorist' designs had failed in Afghanistan and Kashmir.

PPP's Raja Pervez Ashraf said the violence gave the impression of the absence of any authority in the country. He blamed the situation on what he called the government's preoccupation with efforts to force opposition politicians to change loyalties.

PML-N parliamentary leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan accused the government of involving the country in "others' war" and said the president's uniform was the cause of all failures.

The house offered fateha for those killed in Karachi and the Wana incident. It unanimously adopted an MQM resolution condemning the Karachi killings and calling upon the government to immediately arrest and punish the 'extremists' involve

http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=3C5DB04F-207A-4132-80A59C79BC56B487

Pakistani Military Targets Suspected Al-Qaida Hideouts Near Afghan Border
Ayaz Gul
Islamabad
12 Jun 2004, 14:42 UTC
Pakistan's air and ground forces intensified an offensive against suspected al-Qaida hideouts in a mountainous region near the border with Afghanistan. At least 61 people, including 18 government soldiers, have died as the fighting enters its fourth day.

Pakistani military officials say their offensive is focusing on a suspected al-Qaida terrorist training facility and two safe houses in the Shakai valley of the South Waziristan tribal region.

They say that around 50 local and foreign suspected al-Qaida terrorists are entrenched there, and are putting up strong resistance.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan told reporters in Islamabad Saturday that Pakistan is determined to flush these militants from the area, not far from the Afghan border.

"These intruders, who have come from somewhere, they have made these local tribesmen and tribes hostage to their designs. This is not an ideological war," he noted. "This is just that you are using somebody else's soil for your own operations, and that has to come to an end."

He dismissed suggestions that the anti-terror activity is meant to please the United States, or that American troops are also involved in the operation. The spokesman reiterated that Pakistan is an ally in the U.S. led war on terror, and this is part of that policy.

"If there is a coalition, they are jointly moving against terrorism, and they are strategizing to eliminate terrorism," he said. "To that extent, of course, there is a commonality [between Pakistan and the U.S- led coalition]. But beyond that, of course, we have our own pace. We make our own decisions, and we are not taking them to please anybody."

On the Afghan side of the border, a U.S. military spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Tucker Mansager told reporters in Kabul Saturday, that the coalition forces are keeping strict vigil to intercept anyone fleeing the Pakistani operation.

"We continue to maintain very close contacts with the Pakistani military, sharing information on both sides of the border," he said. "We maintain a very robust presence on that portion of the border, in the anticipation that any anti-coalition militants that might try to escape the Pakistani army, cross the border, we are more than prepared for them."

Pakistan military officials say an alleged financier of al-Qaida's terrorist activities, identified as Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi, used to frequently visit the houses under attack in the border region.

In a similar anti-terror operation in the tribal region in March, more than 60 suspected terrorists and 48 government soldiers were killed.

http://www.dawn.com/2004/06/13/top11.htm

Precision bombs hit Shakai hide-outs

By Our Correspondent

WANA, June 12: Air force jets and military helicopters bombed suspected hide-outs of foreign militants in the remote tribal region for the second day on Saturday.

Official sources said the jets and helicopters fired precision bombs on suspected targets to soften resistance in the Shakai valley, about 17km north of here.

"Every effort is being made to minimise collateral damage and so far there has been none," said one source.

He said that the army infantry had started moving into the embattledvalley and had reached the centre of the region. It also conducted search for foreign militants in Mantoi and Mandata areas.

He also said that the army had seized a number of suspects and werenow screening them to find out if there were any foreign and local militants amongst them. The army faced light resistance and sporadic gunfire. No real battle took place anywhere, he said.

Meanwhile, political authorities in South Waziristan have issued notices to Afghan refugees asking them to vacate 10 refugee camps and leave the Wana subdivision 'within 72 hours'.

"They may go anywhere but they will have to leave Wana," said oneofficial. The step, he added, was needed due to security perception.

The UNHCR confirmed that the authorities had issued orders to refugeesto leave the area and said it was assessing the situation to see what could be done to help them.

An Afghan refugee told Dawn that the time given to them was too short to leave the area.

"Where will we go? We have our homes here and own business here. Already, we have our shops sealed by the authorities under the economic blockade. We have been farming here. It would need time to wind up the whole thing," Badshah Khan, who lives in one of the refugee camps, said.

The authorities have also imposed a defacto night curfew in Wana.Notices issued to local residents warned that anyone moving about or driving around after sunset would be doing so at his own risk.

It said that people in distress or those carrying patients would have to hoist a white flag on their vehicles in the evening and stop at least 30 yards from a security checkpoint and identify themselves and relate the situation.

"Anybody violating the orders would be risking his own life and would be responsible consequences of his action," the notice warned.

A third notice issued on behalf of the military authorities warnedlocal journalists not to go anywhere near the operation area and said that any reporter trying to go to the area would be doing so at his own risk.

Meanwhile, it is learnt, Shakai's political moharrar Allaudin, and a khasadar have been missing since the launch of the military operation.

According to eyewitnesses, six bodies were brought to Wana on Saturday, four of them were of militants and two of soldiers killed in action.

In the morning on Saturday, suspected militants fired three rockets at the Scouts Camp in Wana. The rockets overflew the camp and one of them hit the room of Dr Izatullah, a child specialist at the Agency Headquarters Hospital, damaging the room.

The two other rockets landed near the Degree College. No-one was hurt in the attack.

Officials said that the operation would continue for some time and might take from one week to 10 days to complete. "The militants have only two options. They will either have to surrender or leave the area. The military is making use of full force at its command and is determined to flush out foreign militants from the region," said one official.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ISL13868.htm

Pakistani forces battle al Qaeda-linked militants
13 Jun 2004 09:11:42 GMT
By Hafiz Wazir

WANA, Pakistan, June 13 (Reuters) - Pakistani forces battled al Qaeda-linked militants on Sunday in a fifth day of fighting in a remote tribal region bordering Afghanistan, where several army posts came under rocket attack, witnesses said.

Artillery fire boomed in the Shakai area of South Waziristan, 400 km (250 miles) southwest of Islamabad, where Pakistani forces were trying to flush-out foreign and local militants from their mountain hideouts, witnesses said.

"Our houses shook because of the artillery fire all night," said one resident in Wana, the main town of South Waziristan. The army was hitting targets in the Shakai area.

Militants fired rockets at two remote Pakistani posts near the Afghan border on Saturday night, but there was no reports of casualties, residents said. The posts are some distance away from the battle-zone.

More than 50 combatants -- 35 militants and 15 soldiers -- were killed in the first two days of fighting, the army said. Since then, the army has not updated the figure but official sources said the number of casualties in the five days of fighting was much higher. Pakistan says up to 600 foreign militants, including Arabs, Chechens and Uzbeks linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, have been hiding out in the semi-autonomous tribal areas, protected by Pakistani tribesmen.

Pakistani forces sent air force jets to bomb militant hideouts on Friday for the first time -- raising the stakes in the war against al Qaeda in the country.

In March, Pakistan used helicopter gunships in heavy clashes against the militants in which more than 120 people, including at least 46 soldiers, 63 militants, and some civilians were killed.

No fresh air-strikes were carried out overnight and early on Sunday, residents said.

Pakistani forces are targeting suspected training camps and safe-houses of militants. The houses of residents thought to be supporting militants are also being destroyed.

Top al Qaeda leaders -- including possibly bin Laden -- are believed to be hiding out in Pakistan's mountainous tribal region.

The U.S. military in Afghanistan has said it has employed a "hammer and anvil" approach in coordination with the Pakistani military to prevent militants escaping across the border.

The Pakistani operation near Wana was launched amid a broad operation by U.S. and Afghan forces across several provinces of southern Afghanistan aimed at improving security for Afghan elections due in September.

The U.S. military said on Saturday more than 80 militants had been killed in that operation over the past three weeks.

In Pakistan, the army said it launched the latest offensive in the tribal regions after attempts to negotiate an amnesty with tribesmen protecting foreign militants failed.

"We want them to surrender or they will be wiped out," said a security official speaking on condition of anonymity.

"We have identified 16 more compounds and places in the Shakai area that are being used by militants," he said. "They are also being targeted," he added, declining to give details.

Authorities fear that shadowy Islamic militant groups could launch attacks in other parts of the country in response to the operation in the tribal region.

On Thursday, a Pakistan army commander narrowly escaped assassination when a gun and bomb attack on his convoy killed 10 people in the port city of Karachi.

Security has been heightened at Western establishments, sensitive government installations and places of worship in major cities because of fears of more such assaults by militants sympathetic to al Qaeda, officials said.

Pakistan has already witnessed a spate of assaults on religious minorities, top government officials and Westerners. Six months ago, President General Pervez Musharraf survived two assassination attempts that were blamed on al Qaeda-linked militants. Later Musharraf revealed several low-ranking military personnel were also involved.

Hardline Pakistani Islamic groups are furious over their government's decision to back the United States in a war against terror after the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington

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