Missile kills Pakistan tribal head

CNN ^ | Friday, June 18 | Syed Mohsin Naqvi

[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.

[Coop]

The hammer is being drawn back and readied for the big swing.

I certainly hope so. I wouldn't mind seeing the scalps of OBL, Ayman, Mullah Omar, Saif Adel, and a few others baking in the Afghan/Pakistan summer sun.

[nuconvert]

Hope it's a BIG hammer

[jeffers]

This is a big job. Will you settle for the early fall sun, if need be?

[jeffers]

Seven, maybe eight divisions, plus at least one and probably elements of another two of the Afghan side. Call it 70k Pak troops.

That's a lot, but I have to tell you, that country is pretty crinkled, an almost mind boggling number of nooks and crannies.

It's a big hammer, I just hope it's big enough.

[nuconvert]

"It is very clear. We want to eradicate the US-installed puppet governments in
Pakistan and Afghanistan. Once we overthrow them, then there will be peace
and no-one will be able to harm Muslims."

And then there was a big BANG !

[Coop]

This is a big job. Will you settle for the early fall sun, if need be?

Oh, I suppose. The cooler weather may let the scalps last a bit longer, for additional impact. :-)

[Boot Hill]

• “I expect the Shawal Valley region to be back in the headlines...”

If I'm not mistaken, Lwara, the American base in Afghanistan, is on the border of the Shawal Valley region. The Shawal valley is within the red circle in the center of the map below.

multimap.com

|

The above map came from MultiMap.com. Click the logo on the left to visit the best site on the internet for accurate and detailed maps of the entire world.

 
To orient yourself, find the city of Sargodha in the center of the map below. The Shawal valley area is just NW of the letter "S" of Sargodha, along the Afghani border.

--Boot Hill

[AdmSmith]

Mushie now seems to have the blessing by the opposition. They only opposed on the ban of lodspeakers (Sic!)
http://www.dawn.com/2004/07/07/top5.htm



MMA agrees to Wana registration

By Our Staff Reporter


ISLAMABAD, July 6: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal on Tuesday agreed to revise its policy on Wana by consenting to the proposed registration of foreigners living in tribal areas.

Secretary interior and secretary Fata gave a four-hour briefing to MMA leaders and government teams. The briefing was attended also by Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain. Both sides unanimously condemned all forms and manifestations of terrorism.

The MMA was invited to the briefing by the prime minister. From the MMA's side, the briefing was attended by its acting president, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, secretary-general and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Maulana Fazlur Rahman, NWFP chief minister Akram Khan Durrani, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, Liaquat Baloch and tribal MNA Maulana Abdul Malik.

The prime minister was assisted by PML's secretary-general Mushahid Hussain Syed, NWFP Governor Lt-Gen (retd) Iftikhar Hussain, acting chairman of senate Khalilur Rahman, federal ministers Shaukat Aziz, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Ijazul Haq, Aftab Sherpao, Dr Ghazi Gulab Jamal and Senator Ajmal Khan. Former president Sardar Farooq Leghari and MQM's parliamentary leader Dr Farooq Sattar also attended the briefing.

Chaudhry Shujaat described the MMA's participation in consultations on security issues as highly commendable and encouraging and expressed the hope that it would continue in the future as well.

The government partially agreed to the six-party alliance's call for lifting the economic blockade of the South Waziristan Agency and assured that the relaxation period would be extended.

The MMA disagreed with the imposition of a ban on the use of loudspeakers in Sindh, and demanded that the use of loudspeakers be allowed for Friday sermons, and agreed to punish anyone violating the code of conduct or being involved in spreading sectarian disharmony.

Later, MMA's deputy parliamentary leader Hafiz Hussain Ahmed told journalists: "The government attentively listened to our proposals for improving the law and order situation and both sides agreed that foreigners living in tribal areas will be persuaded to register themselves and that the relaxation in economic blockade would further be extended."

He said that some tribal elders had recently helped the process of normalisation by handing over some wanted elements. Mr Mushahid Hussain termed the briefing 'very positive' and result-oriented, especially in connection with removal of some misunderstandings.

MMA's leadership, he said, had assured its cooperation. He said the points on which both sides had agreed included an agreement on foreigners' registration in tribal areas and elimination of all forms of terrorism.

He said it was decided that a delegation of parliamentarians and elders would meet the NWFP governor to resolve the issue of economic sanctions on Wana.

[jeffers]

Yes, Lwara is, I believe, the newest of three forward firebases in the area, l/t 3km from the border. There's Shkin which I believe is aka FB Purgatory, and a third one roughly where the Khost-Miram Shah road crosses the border upvalley from Wuzghai. Can't remember the name of that one.

The main FOB is obviously Orgun, and we have a large SOF base east of there, (Orgun-E) and numerous LP/OP's that change from day to day.

There are a few others, but these are the only one's I've seen referred to in open sopurce media, so they're the only one's I feel comfortable talking about in public.

Lwara, at least the one we are interested in, is, I believe, Lwara Mandi or a variant there-of, and if you have coordinates, it would be helpful. Not trying to get out of doing the work, I've searched and the phonetic spellings always seem to get the best of me, no joy to date, though I believe it is at the northern end of the Gangikhel Valley, the large flat alpine watershed just west of the border and of the Shawal Valley.

[AdmSmith]

I am sorry to post this, I could not resist:

http://www.religionnewsblog.com/6999-Islamic_call_to_prayer_over_loudspeaker_closer_to_approval.html


HAMTRAMCK, Mich. (AP) ? Only an mayoral veto could stand between a mosque and its bid to issue a five-times-daily call to prayer over a loudspeaker.

The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to amend the Detroit enclave's noise ordinance to allow the Bangladeshi al-Islah mosque to carry the call to prayer between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.

The amendment will take effect 20 days after it is officially published unless vetoed by Mayor Thomas Jankowski, who has indicated he will not do so, WJBK-TV reported.

The loudspeaker-borne prayers have caused ethnic and religious friction in Hamtramck, a blue-collar city of 23,000 that once was overwhelmingly Polish. In recent years, it has become much more diverse; only 23 percent of the city's residents specified Polish ancestry in the 2000 census.

Some Muslims say the call is the equivalent of church bells. Opponents argue that church bells have no religious significance and that allowing the Islamic call, which lasts less than two minutes, unfairly elevates that religion above others.

[nuconvert]

These loudspeakers are the source of a lot of conflict.
Why can't everyone just have a watch with an alarm?

[muleskinner]

"We were tracking him down and he was killed last night by our hand," Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan

I thought Gen. Shaukat was Klingon.

[Boot Hill]

I'm taking my system off-line for up to two days. I'll ping you all when I return.

--Boot Hill

[happygrl]

from the link:

Yet his ability to roam free in the Wana region is not due to al-Qaeda support alone. Observers are baffled over the army's lack of intelligence concerning matters that are common knowledge in Wana. "Everyone knows that Taliban commanders Jalaluddin Haqqani and Mullah Dadullah were in Wana in April to hold a meeting with Nek and other groups," comments one observer in Wana. "It is also common knowledge that Tahir Yuldashev was asked to appoint a new commander for South Waziristan in order to forestall infighting between the mujahideen groups. But ask the authorities and they know nothing."

Credible sources believe the intelligence failure that led to military casualties during the Kalosha operation was also a ruse. "Nek is a great fighter but he is not bigger than Islamabad or even the camp office in Wana. If he is standing tall against the receding shadow of the corps commander Peshawar, there has to be something more than al-Qaeda behind him." -

So much double dealing in Pakistan's army.

[AdmSmith]

Can we expect another missile to this phone. (unfortunately I do not think that they (Afghan intel) handled this satphone correctly to improve the probability of catching the person at the other end of the link):

http://www.jihadunspun.com/intheatre_internal.php?article=9192&list=/home.php&

Fighting Resumes In South Waziristan, Omar's Top Aid Captured

Jul 08, 2004

By Zafir Jamaal, JUS

Fighting has erupted again in South Waziristan again as tribes and Afghanis mujhadeens attacked the Pakistani security forces in Wana. Both sides have suffered heavy damages and heavy artillery was said to be used,rumours are an army helicopter was shot down too. Fighting between the security forces and the Afghani mujhadeens started on Tuesday night and went on till Wednesday afternoon due to which both sides suffered heavy losses.

Security forces attacked Ahmed Zai Wazir Tribes four district areas Sadiya Gay, Spair Kay,Khoni Khel and Ozal Khel. Heavy shelling and fighting was reported. There are also rumors of an army chopper being shot down in Shakai and Gardonah though as of press time this report can not be confirmed.

Meanwhile, the Afghan government said Wednesday that a military aide to Taliban supreme leader Mohammed Omar has been arrested during a raid in Dara-i-Noor, some 70km north of southern Kandahar city according to a report from Afghan Islamic Press. The Pakistan-based news agency quoted Kandahar intelligence chief Abdullah Noaman as saying that Sakhi Dad Mujahid was arrested with a colleague two days ago on the border between Kandahar Province and neighboring Urzgon Province in southwestern Afghanistan.

Afghan intelligence agents say that they have spoken with fugitive Taliban founder Mullah Mohammed Omar after commandeering a satellite phone being used by Mujahid after he was arrested. "We contacted Mullah Omar by Mullah Mujahid's phone," he said. "But when he (Omar) realised it was not his man, he cut off the phone."

[Cap Huff]

Whoa! How do you say "incoming" in Taliban-speak?

Seriously, if this is true we've got to have a real good idea where he is right now. It also raises the question, Why put this out to the press?

[nuconvert]

Why put this out to the press?

Make me wonder too...........

[nuconvert]

"We contacted Mullah Omar by Mullah Mujahid's phone," he said. "But when he (Omar) realised it was not his man, he cut off the phone."

Damn!

[AdmSmith]

How do you say "incoming" in Taliban-speak?

My pashto is a little but rusty, but try "alwatal wajal". The grammar is probably wrong but they probably understands that it means a flying kill...

[tractorman]

Nek Mohammed is now No-Nek Mohammed according to spokesman Sosad Ansorry.