Posted on 09/09/2004 6:58:22 AM PDT by dead
WANA - Pakistani forces have destroyed a suspected Al-Qaeda training camp in a remote tribal area near the Afghan border, killing some 50 militant fighters, the military said.
"Around 50 people, 90% of them foreigners, were killed in the strike on the terrorist training camp," military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan told the private ARYOne television channel.
Most of the victims were Uzbeks and Chechens with some Arabs among them, Sultan said.
The camp was in the tribal district of South Waziristan, where hundreds of Al-Qaeda fighters have been taking refuge and running training camps since US-led forces ousted Afghanistan's Taliban rulers in late 2001.
South Waziristan, the remotest and most conservative of Pakistan's seven tribal districts, hugs Afghanistan's insurgency-hit southeast province of Paktika, where Taliban and allied fighters have been killing aid workers, troops and officials for over a year.
Fighter planes dropped bombs on the camp in an operation that began around 6:30 am (0130 GMT) and lasted around two hours, residents and security officials said.
"It was precision bombing on militants' training camp," a military official who spoke on condition of anonymity told AFP.
Ground troops moved in after the camp was destroyed and were combing the area, he added.
A military statement said troops launched "a precise strike on a foreign terrorist training camp ... and successfully knocked it out."
The camp was in Dila Khula district, some 60 kilometres from the border and 25 kilometres northeast of Wana, South Waziristan's main city.
Pakistani forces launched the raid following reports of training activity by "foreign elements" including Uzbeks, Chechens and some Arabs, the military said.
Some residents said bombs and missiles were dropped on a morning prayer gathering.
"People had gathered for morning prayers when a missile struck their compound at around 6:30 am," resident Azizullah told AFP.
"It was followed by aerial bombardment resulting in the killing of more than 50 people."
The area is a stronghold of the rebellious Mehsud clan, a sub-tribe of the hardline Waziri tribe which has been one of the most sympathetic towards Al-Qaeda extremists.
A day earlier a shoot-out between militants and security forces in Wana bazaar left eight people dead.
South Waziristan was the focus of major air and ground offensives by Pakistani forces in June, when they targetted and destroyed several Al-Qaeda hideouts and training camps.
The camps were in the Shakai valley, close to the scene of Thursday's offensive.
The June raids left at least 65 militants and 18 soldiers dead.
Vast numbers of Al-Qaeda fugitives slipped into the region after the US-led offensive ousted their former Taliban hosts in Afghanistan.
President Pervez Musharraf estimated earlier this year that up to 600 "foreign militants" were still at large in the mainly self-ruled tribal belt.
Pakistan is under pressure from its close war on terror ally Washington and Afghanistan to stamp out Al-Qaeda and Taliban sanctuaries along the porous frontier.
Kabul in particular has been upping the pressure as October 9 presidential elections approach, alleging that Taliban fighters trying to disrupt the polls are operating out of the Pakistani border areas.
Pakistan has captured some 600 Al-Qaeda suspects since late 2001 and handed the majority over to US custody, but it has been accused of going soft on Taliban fighters hiding in its territory.
AFP
Only 50... :-(
I would like the number to be 1000!
I hope Osama's ears are ringing.
Good going! The only good terrorist is a dead one and the more the merrier.
Great news. Your name is curiously appropriate for the article as well.
Just got done arguing with a lib who thinks Sept. 11 was a police issue and we should be arresting, not killing, the bad guys. I think this is a far more effective way of solving the problem of international terrorism. Hooray for Pakistan.
Keep it going....
"I hope Osama's ears are ringing."
I hope they are vaporised.
The world smells a little bit cleaner this morning.
Allah must be running short on virgins...
(But I suspect an error in the translation, and martyrs get to go to the big hospital in the sky... and they are met with 72 surgeons.)
Nice shooting, Pervez.
Good!
Bttt
What do you call 50 dead terrorists in Pakistan?
A good start.
I'm reminded of an old song....oh yeah!
It's good news week
Someone dropped a bomb somewhere
Contaminating atmosphere
And blackening the skies
Lost another 50 to Die Tech.
I'm beginning to see a pattern here
This reminds me of Eliyahu and the propehts of Baal.
I really don't think that coward is anywhere around large gatherings of terrorists. He's hiding in a closet or cave somewhere.
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