Pakistan Prepares Final Push In South Waziristan

Radio Free Europe ^ | 11/14/04

[TexKat]

14 November 2004 -- A top general in Pakistan's army says his troops will cleanse Al-Qaeda linked militants from a district near the Afghan border by year's end. But the general says there is still no sign of the top target of the U.S.-led war on terrorism, Al-Qaeda head Osama bin Laden.

The announcement was made today by Major General Niaz Khattak, the field commander of Pakistani troops who are hunting the remnants of Al-Qaeda in South Waziristan.

"We have made substantial spatial gains in South Waziristan. We have caused considerable attrition on [the part of] the militants. We have busted their main bases.... We have broken their [spirit]. And we have instilled a little confidence in the people to come back and take care of their soil against the militants," Khattak said.

General Khattak spoke from the windy escarpment of Karwana Manzai -- a strategic position in South Waziristan that was seized from militants in September. The position has since come under repeated assault by militants that Khattak describes as the "lowest tier" of Al-Qaeda fighters -- mainly Uzbeks, Chechens, Tajiks, and Afghans who are supported by renegade local tribesmen.

Khattak says his troops now control three-fourths of South Waziristan and are preparing operations aimed at flushing out militants from the remainder of the region.

The northern quadrant of South Waziristan is the only area where Pakistan's military has yet to extend its control.

In recent days, Khattak says his troops have recovered a huge cache of weapons and ammunition from a position that was being used by former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Abdullah Mahsud -- a tribal leader who is high on Pakistan's list of wanted Islamic militants."We have busted their main bases.... We have broken their [spirit]." -- General Khattak

There is no immediate information confirming Mahsud's whereabouts. But Khattak says he probably has fled to the northern part of South Waziristan. Mahsud is accused of planning the kidnapping of two Chinese engineers in Pakistan last month.

Pakistani military officials say they have killed up to 40 suspected militants this month and destroyed several militant hide-outs in South Waziristan.

That death toll marks a dramatic acceleration in the campaign against Al-Qaeda on Pakistan's side of the border. Altogether, nearly 300 militants are thought to have been killed since Pakistan launched the offensive in March.

U.S. and Afghan officials estimate that hundreds of Al-Qaeda and Taliban fugitives poured from Afghanistan into Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal regions in late 2001 after a U.S.-led invasion toppled Afghanistan's hard-line Islamic Taliban regime.

[TexKat]

Pakistan's military says it will remove remaining Al-Qaeda fighters and other Islamic militants from the mountainous region along the country's border with Afghanistan within the next six weeks. The pledge was made by the top field commander in a Pakistani offensive against militants in the semi-autonomous tribal agency of South Waziristan -- an area where Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is thought to have passed through after fleeing Afghanistan in late 2001.

[TexKat]

Pakistan campaign fruitful, but no bin Laden

[TexKat]

Pakistan claims as many as 40 militants killed near Afghanistan

WANA, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan's army has demolished several terrorist hideouts and killed 30 to 40 militants but failed to capture a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner accused of targeting security forces in a tense tribal region, officials said Saturday.

The troops took control of some militant strongholds and seized a weapons cache during the assault, launched this week in South Waziristan to capture foreign fighters and Pakistani militant leader Abdullah Mehsud, said Maj. Gen. Niaz Khatak, the army's field commander.

"Our forces this week killed an estimated 30 to 40 militants in the areas of Mehsud," Khatak told reporters.

However, he said forces had so far recovered only six bodies and that the operation was continuing in the areas where Mehsud is believed to be on the run. Thousands of soldiers are taking part.

Islamabad is a key ally of the United States in its war on terror, and officials say hundreds of Central Asian, Afghan and Arab militants are in hiding in South Waziristan — possibly including Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri.

Khatak said Pakistani forces haven't uncovered any information about bin Laden's whereabouts.

Pakistan, with about 70,000 troops along the Afghan border, has carried out a series of military operations this year that have left scores of soldiers, militants and civilians dead.

Mehsud is accused of organizing the kidnapping last month of two Chinese engineers in the tribal region near Afghanistan, where they had been building a dam. One of the Chinese men was killed and one was rescued when commandos raided a home in South Waziristan. All five hostage-takers were killed.

Mehsud, 28, was freed in March after about two years of detention at the U.S. prison for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

After returning to Pakistan, he emerged as a rebel leader, opposing Pakistan's army as it hunts foreign militants and their supporters in the country's semiautonomous tribal regions.

[TexKat]

Pakistan army soldiers take position in Karvan Manza in Pakistan's tribal belt along Afghanistan (news - web sites) border on Saturday, Nov. 13, 2004. Pakistan's army has demolished several 'terrorist hideouts' and killed up to 40 militants in a major operation, but found no clue of Osama bin Laden's presence and failed to capture a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Abdullah Mehsud, accused of targeting security forces, officials said. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed, POOL)

A Pakistani army officer comes out of a cave used by militants as their hideout in Nano village in Pakistan's tribal belt along Afghanistan border on Saturday, Nov. 13, 2004. Pakistan's army has demolished several 'terrorist hideouts' and killed up to 40 militants in a major operation, but found no clue of Osama bin Laden's presence and failed to capture a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Abdullah Mehsud, accused of targeting security forces, officials said. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed, POOL)

Pakistan army displays ammunitions confiscated from militants at Karvan Manza in Pakistan's tribal belt along Afghanistan (news - web sites) border on Saturday, Nov. 13, 2004. Pakistan's army has demolished several 'terrorist hideouts' and killed up to 40 militants in a major operation, but found no clue of Osama bin Laden's presence and failed to capture a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Abdullah Mehsud, accused of targeting security forces, officials said. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed, POOL)

A Pakistani soldier walks past, confiscated ammunition from militants, at Karvan Manza in Pakistan's tribal belt along Afghanistan (news - web sites) border, November 13, 2004. Pakistan's army has demolished several 'terrorist hideouts' and killed up to 40 militants in a major operation, but found no clue of Osama bin Laden's presence and failed to capture a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Abdullah Mehsud, accused of targeting security forces, officials said. REUTERS/Anjum Naveed/POOL

[TexKat]

Pakistan military aims to wipe out Al-Qaeda militants soon

Sun Nov 14, 5:33 AM ET South Asia - AFP

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Pakistani forces plan to "cleanse" Al-Qaeda linked militants from a district near the Afghan border by the year's end after the biggest offensive yet launched this month, state media reported.

"Pakistan Army troops are all set to cleanse the South Waziristan Agency of terrorists by the advent of new year," the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) quoted major general Niaz Khattak as saying on Sunday.

"We hope, the new year will arrive with news of peace and normalcy," said Khattak who is the field commander of troops hunting Al-Qaeda linked militants in South Waziristan tribal zone.

"The troops have ensured their presence in three-fourth area of Waziristan by removing the terrorist elements and the remaining would be flushed out by the end of this year," APP quoted Khattak as saying.

Khattak said troops recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition from the "den" of a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Abdullah Mahsud, who is also said to have masterminded the kidnapping of two Chinese engineers in Pakistan last month.

Mahsud is one of Pakistan's top targets since the kidnapping incident, in which one of the two hostages died.

Troops discovered a training camp nearby and found some caves used as hideouts, Khattak said.

Military officials have said up to 40 suspected militants have been killed by Pakistani troops and several militant hide-outs had been destroyed in the ongoing offensive.

The death toll marks a dramatic acceleration in the campaign which Pakistan, a major ally in the United States' "war on terror", has been waging for the past eight months.

Pakistan's military said early this month that about 250 militants had been killed since the operation began in March.

Officials estimate hundreds of Al-Qaeda and Taliban fugitives poured into the Pakistani tribal region from Afghanistan in late 2001, when a US-led invasion toppled the hardline Islamic Taliban regime.

Pakistan has since killed and arrested hundreds of Al-Qaeda suspects and witnessed a string of extremist attacks and bombings on Western and government targets.

Pakistan has since killed and arrested hundreds of Al-Qaeda suspects and witnessed a string of extremist attacks and bombings on Western and government targets.

[FormerACLUmember]

The weather is getting very, very cold up in the Pakistani mountains for this sort of thing.

[Dog Gone]

Musharraf's biggest challenge is to conquer his own country.

[Threepwood]

I'll believe it when I see it.