Posted on 06/17/2004 11:16:30 PM PDT by AdmSmith
ISLAMABAD (CNN) -- A tribal leader accused of harboring Al Qaeda militants in Pakistan's western border region was killed Thursday night in a targeted missile strike, according to Pakistan intelligence sources. The Associated Press quoted an army spokesman Friday as identifying the tribal leader as Nek Mohammed, a former Taliban fighter.
He was killed late Thursday at the home of another tribal chief, the spokesman said.
"We were tracking him down and he was killed last night by our hand," Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan told The Associated Press.
(Excerpt) Read more at edition.cnn.com ...
This article is from June 25, but is included as it gives some names and places:
http://www.hipakistan.com/en/detail.php?newsId=en68750&F_catID=&f_type=source
Security beefed up in Khyber Agency
JAMRUD: Amid rumours of Wana fallout, security has been beefed up in the Khyber tribal agency, bordering Afghanistan, on the directives of the Federal Government where local security forces constituted mobile teams for day-night checking on various routes.
Official sources told The News that the federal government felt the need for strengthening security in the strategically important tribal agency after recent terrorist acts in different parts of the country by so far unidentified terrorists.
Officials said there were special instructions from the government for enhancing security in the remote Tirah valley of the agency bordering Afghanistan?s Nangarhar province.
Special security measures could be seen in the form of several mobile squads at many places in three tehsils of Khyber agency including, Jamrud, Bara and Landi Kotal.
"There have been special security measures on direct routes between Pakistan and Afghanistan in the agency," said an official who declined to be named.
Local security forces, Khasadar Force and militia have been mobilized to keep vigil and ensure law and order.
AP adds: Tribal elders in Wana vowed Friday to hunt al-Qaeda suspects, an official said.
About 500 Mahsud tribesmen made the pledge in a meeting in Sarwakai, a small town in South Waziristan region, where hundreds of Arab, Central Asian and Afghan Islamic militants are believed to be hiding.
Brig (retd) Mahmood Shah, the chief of security for the tribal region, said Mahsud tribesmen pledged to track down foreigners and their local supporters in their territory, which lies easat of Wana, to stop them from hiding there.
A bearded Saudi is "assisting" ISI in the investigations:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_26-6-2004_pg1_5
Saudi and Pakistani arrested in Chitral
Mi
PESHAWAR: Security agencies have arrested a Saudi national and a Pakistani in northern NWFP as artillery pounded a suspected militant hideout in Shakai, South Waziristan.
The two men were arrested in Chitral, some 230 kilometres north of Peshawar, on Thursday. The arrested Saudi national told a civilian secret agency that his name was Abdur Rehman, intelligence sources told Daily Times on Friday.
The sources said it was not yet confirmed whether the Saudi was an Al Qaeda member and that the arrested Pakistani was his local contact. The bearded Saudi is believed to be in his 20s and was given into Inter-Services Intelligence custody.
The two men were arrested from the Bamborete area in Kalash, which lies close to the border with Afghanistan. Western intelligence agencies suspect Chitral to be a haven for Al Qaeda militants, but the two arrests were the first of their kind in the area, sources said. Police in Chitral said a case had been lodged against the Saudi. ?We can only confirm his link with Al Qaeda after we complete investigations,? the intelligence sources said.
In South Waziristan, troops used artillery to shell the Bush Ghar mountain in Shakai, where a recent five-day military operation left 70 foreign and 30 tribal militants and 17 security forces dead.
?We heard loud artillery fire all night,? a resident in Wana, 24 km west of Shakai, told Daily Times. He said the artillery fire came from the Zarinoor army base.
?We had reports that there were foreigners in the area. There was heavy use of artillery,? a military source said. He said the military were now following a ?pro-active approach? and would show no leniency to foreigners. ?House-to-house searches in Shakai continued for the third day but we found no foreigners or weapons,? the source said, adding that local tribesmen were cooperating.
The political administration, meanwhile, arranged a meeting of Ahmedzai Wazir elders with NWFP Governor Iftikhar Hussain Shah for Saturday or Sunday, said Malik Ajmal Khan, a Zalikhel sub-tribe elder. Mr Khan said the tribal delegation would press the governor to lift the weeks-old economic sanctions against the Ahmedzai Wazirs because 90 percent of the people affected were innocent. Most tribesmen in Waziristan called the sanctions ?unjustified? and feared that the ?90 percent silent support? for the government would dwindle if the governor did not lift the ?barbaric? sanctions.
AP adds: About 500 Mahsud tribesmen pledged to hunt foreign militants in their territory at a meeting in Sarwakai, South Waziristan, on Friday. Brig Mahmood Shah, the chief of security for the tribal region, said the tribesmen pledged to track down foreigners and their local supporters in their territory, which lies east of Wana.
Keep pinging us Adam we are all reading them.
Second that!
I saw in one Adams posts there is a new spelling of the Arab nabbed in Chitral..Abdur Rehman. One wonder we can't find info on these guys .....the media is butchering their names.
These guys interchange their alias..
Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) 'commander' Nazir Ahmad Sheikh
Now what is this fella doing so far from home...
"Western intelligence agencies suspect Chitral to be a haven for Al Qaeda militants"
Then we should be hearing more from Chitral very soon.
hey, Boot :
would you post the link to your page with all the maps and list of cities again?
Unless the terrorists were receiving the active cooperation of the PRC. That possibility can't be ignored.
--Boot Hill
"The Wana Campaign -- Maps, Place Names and Participants An FReference Thread"
--Boot Hill
Just trying to see if they were in the north (Kodoz) or more towards the South (in Khowst).
At the same time I'm sure we have SOF in both, but just wondering nonetheless -
Reading jeffers posts....are very interesting....but also get me thinking that the possibility of catching UBL or Al Zawahiri in those type elevations is going to be darn near impossible....if they are willing to just ekk out a survival up there....
Yes. That's it. Thanks.
Southern Afghanistan
"Zabul province, about 240 miles southwest of the capital, Kabul,"
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5093520/
Interesting that it was in the South. We are chasing bad-guys all over that border range -
Curious, if UBL is alive - what do others think? - him and Al Zawahiri staying together.....or moving seperatly? - my guess would be together - (for one reason, neither have been confirmed sighted.....or obviously caught).
Thinking more and more about those elevation levels in Chitral - as to where UBL and Zawahiri could be - I just wonder if they are there....if their demise will come at the hand of a SOF sniper unit - it is fathomable that a small team (2 or 4 man) could operate there for short to mid-short terms....no? - supply wise that is -
And with the ability of UBL/Zawahiri to be notified of any larger scale U.S (or Pak) units moving in - (and thus moving to higher elevations or even toward the China border...and getting away for short time periods)
It makes me think, the only way to hit them....is possibly to get lucky... by UBL or Zawahiri just happening across the view of an inserted SOF sniper team?....This alone could take years for such a lucky occurrence to happen.
Frustrating.
The only other option being...a larger scale U.S insertion...making Al Qeade fight and move - and flushing them out that way - Put is that possible...considering the PAK Government and how the people of PAK would look at it...
"Curious, if UBL is alive - what do others think?"
Not sure. But I think he's the reason for the intense search going on.
"him and Al Zawahiri staying together.....or moving seperatly?"
Guess ?....separately. Not smart, especially now, if we're on their tails, for them travelling together.
We're putting the squeeze on. Let's wait and see how this plan works.
Thanks Dog and Cap Huff for your kind words.
According to this article the targets have moved from Shakai to Waraynishtar area. It seems that the Pakistani Army is determined to finish this before the Summer is over. ;-)
http://www.hipakistan.com/en/detail.php?newsId=en68836&F_catID=&f_type=source
Economic blockade of S Waziristan lifted
PESHAWAR: The authorities on Sunday lifted an economic blockade of South Waziristan, which was imposed last month to punish local tribesmen sheltering al-Qaeda suspects, NWFP Governor Iftikhar Hussain Shah said.
The blockade has been lifted initially for 10 days, the governor said in a statement. "The period can be extended if the tribesmen extend solid and meaningful cooperation to the government in the hunt and arrest of foreign terrorists," he said, adding that the restrictions have been suspended to allow people to bring their produce to market, he said.
Authorities shut down thousands of shops of the Yargulkhel clan in Wana in late May after tribesmen ignored repeated calls for the surrender of hundreds of suspected al-Qaeda-linked foreigners hiding in the area.
"If the tribal elders furnish guarantees of the foreigners' good conduct and convince them to register with the authorities the government would allow them to stay in the area," governor Shah said.
The decision follows a massive air and ground offensive earlier this month against militants in Shakai valley near the Afghan border and a missile strike which killed militant leader Nek Mohammad near Wana on June 18.
Nek Mohammad was accused of sheltering hundreds of Chechen and Uzbek fighters in the area when they fled the US-led offensive to oust the Taliban. Officials said the process of persuading militants to surrender and get amnesty would continue. President Pervez Musharraf earlier this year estimated 500 to 600 foreign fighters were hiding in the remote tribal belt.
Our Wana correspondent adds: Suspected al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters, hiding in South Waziristan tribal agency, have moved from Shakai to Waraynishtar area and army and paramilitary forces have blocked all routes leading to the new base of terrorists, reports claimed.
The Army personnel targeted Waraynishtar with heavy weapons from Wana and Tiarzara. Shelling on hideouts of the militants continued for about an hour. Meanwhile, the agency administration did not end the economic blockade of Ahamdzai tribesmen despite directives of the NWFP governor. The administration has erected more barricades in Rustam Bazaar that has been closed for the last several days and the law-enforcing agencies asked common people not to cross the area.
"The Army personnel targeted Waraynishtar with heavy weapons from Wana and Tiarzara. Shelling on
hideouts of the militants continued for about an hour."
http://host1.in-motion.net/~jefft/tech/Mapping/afghanistan/artillerywanatiarza.jpg
Boot, I'm always open to possibilities. Do you have information in support of some kind of PRC-AQ ties?
Maybe we need another map:
http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=69006
3 terrorists killed in clash with levies
Monday June 28, 2004 (0440 PST)
QUETTA, June 28 (Online): A clash between Levies and terrorists in Kohlu left three terrorist dead while two levies personnel were also killed in the fighting .
Air Commodore Shaukat Haider Monday talking to a private TV network said that the operation was continuation of ongoing crackdown on terrorists in Kohlu and nearby areas. He said large number of terrorists are hiding in Mandra where fighting has continued for last two days .
Shaukat also said that few days ago Levies intercepted these terrorists near Jabran mountainous range but no loss of life was reported in that specific clash .
"However, these terrorists continued their retaliation and last night we besieged them in the area, we are expecting a group of twenty to thirty terrorists hiding in the area," he added .
He also said that these terrorists belong to Qazail tribe and are setting up their camps in these mountains .
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