Swat residents 'flee their homes' ( Pakistan Army battles the Taliban)

BBC ^ | Tuesday, 5 May 2009 17:56 UK 16:56 GMT, | BBC Staff

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Residents of Pakistan's Swat Valley are reported to be fleeing their homes despite authorities rescinding an earlier order for them to leave.

A peace deal between the government and Taleban militants in the region appears close to collapse after the army said militants attacked police checkpoints.

There has also been heavy fighting to the west and east of Swat.

A major army operation against the Taleban appears likely within a few days, says the BBC's Syed Shoaib Hasan.

Our Islamabad correspondent says the army seems in an uncompromising mood, with the renewed violence apparently the death knell for the peace deal, which has held since February.

In other violence, a suicide bomber killed four security personnel near Peshawar, North West Frontier Province.

Police said the attacker rammed an explosive-laden car into a military vehicle.

It is not yet known who is behind the attack, but Taleban militants are known to be active in the province.

Patrols

Pakistani Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said the government was preparing six camps to cater for up to 500,000 people fleeing fighting in the region, AP news agency reported.

The town of Dargai, near the Swat border, is reported to be where at least one camp is being built.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

fyi

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

From the blogosphere....LWJ:

Taliban on the offensive in Swat

********************************EXCERPT**************************

By Bill RoggioMay 4, 2009 3:12 PM

The Taliban have begun to attack security forces in earnest in the lawless district of Swat less than one day after declaring that the peace agreement with the government “practically stands dissolved.”

A Taliban force ambushed a military convoy in Swat and killed one soldier after a firefight. The Taliban took credit for the ambush, claiming it was in retaliation for military operations in the region.

"Why do you think we should remain silent if they come heavy on us?” Muslim Khan, the spokesman for radical Swat Taliban leader Mullah Fazlullah, told The Associated Press. “We will attack them too.”

A Taliban force has also laid siege to the electrical grid station in Mingora. Two security personnel were wounded and 46 more are said to be surrounded as the Taliban surround the utility, Geo News reported. An explosion was also reported near the main police station in Mingora.

[G8 Diplomat]

Pakistan ۋﮧ۱م

FReepmail if you want on or off

[BOBTHENAILER]

HOPEFULLY THEY WILL PRESS THIS ATTACK UNTIL FINISHED.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

From LWJ:

Analysis: US outlines new Afghanistan strategy

*******************************EXCERPT*********************************

By The LWJ EditorsMarch 27, 2009 4:10 PM

By Thomas Joscelyn & Bill Roggio

The long-awaited new US strategy for Afghanistan was released this morning. In a press conference, President Barack Obama outlined the US goals in the region and the plan to stabilize Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan.

The goal, Obama said, is "to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to prevent their return to either country in the future."

To achieve this goal, Obama laid out seven major points: tackling the Taliban and al Qaeda sanctuaries in Pakistan while promoting governance and democracy; a surge in military and civilian forces in Afghanistan; bolstering the Afghan security forces; reconciliation; Afghan governance; and international support.

These seven major points are outlined below, along with a brief analysis of the prescriptions and any associated problems.

1. Pakistan: Resolving the deteriorating security situation inside Pakistan was the first item mentioned by President Obama. The US will seek to bolster aid and support to Pakistan to improve Pakistan's capabilities in fighting the Taliban and al Qaeda as well as promoting good governance and strengthening democratic institutions.

The military support took precedence. "[W]e must focus our military assistance on the tools, training and support that Pakistan needs to root out the terrorists," Obama said, while noting that these efforts have largely failed over the past eight years. "And after years of mixed results, we will not, and cannot, provide a blank check."

Obama intimated that the US Predator campaign would continue. "Pakistan must demonstrate its commitment to rooting out al Qaeda and the violent extremists within its borders," Obama said. "And we will insist that action be taken -- one way or another -- when we have intelligence about high-level terrorist targets."

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Well,....that is the question...see the LWJ analysis just above.

[NormsRevenge]

MOAB and Puff time?

[mojito]

So, the Pakistan civil war has officially commenced.

Does anyone who does not work for the BBC really believe that the Pakistani army will fight a guerrilla-style civil war against the Taliban?

Half the army will desert, and the other half will aid the Taliban secretly.

And the Pakistani public won't support it, especially if it gets bloody, which it would have to if it were to be fought successfully.

Pakistan's central government will collapse in three months.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Not yet...

[Sir Gawain]

For a second I thought we had begun an offensive against jack booted thugs. Darn.

[Tallguy]

Is this what Obama paid $1.5 billion for? I guess we’ll see how long Islamabad wants to keep up the fight, and with what units. So far they’ve had no stomach for a fight with the Taliban.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Related thread:

Losing Pakistan

[BOBTHENAILER]

Yep---first he says we "cannot and will not provide a blank check to Pahkeestahn", then he says the following:

Obama also advocated a major boost in aid to Pakistan. He called for Congress to pass the Kerry-Lugar bill "that authorizes $1.5 billion in direct support to the Pakistani people every year over the next five years --

I mean, we are living in the most "Alice in Wonderland" world nowadays. And nobody in the press to call 'em on it.

[NormsRevenge]

Damn! Standing By.. out.

US Air Force (USAF) Airman (AMN) Vanessa Dobos, assigned to the 58th Training Squadron (TRS), Kirkland Air Force Base (AFB) New Mexico (MN), look out the crew door of a USAF HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter, equipped with a 7.62mm M134 Minigun machine gun. AMN Dobos will be the first female aerial gunner in the USAF when she graduates from the technical school in a few weeks. As gunner and member of a search and rescue crew, she will perform a combat duty that was formerly closed to women in the Air Force. Dobbs said she follows the philosophy an instructor told her, "A gunner's a gunner, don't think youre special because you're a female." Her first duty station will be Nellis AFB, Nevada (NV). DoD photo by: DENNIS CARLSON, CIV Date Shot: 23 Aug 2002

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

I’ve seen her before....she gets around...LOL!

[NormsRevenge]

She’s a cutie.. the airman is too. ;-)

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thread with a more direct headline:

Pakistan melting down in Swat