Posted on 06/17/2004 11:16:30 PM PDT by AdmSmith
"You may add your own idea what will be announced at the press-conference with Bush and
Musharraf September 22"
50% likelihood: We applaud Pakistan's efforts as a great ally in the War on Terror and will continue to blah blah blah...
25% likelihood: We are pleased to announce the formation of a cooperative military alliance between Pakistan and the United States and will be conducting joint operations in many areas over the next few....
25% likelihood: We are pleased to announce the capture of top-level Al Qaeda leader Abu Abdullah....
From the front:
http://www.dawn.com/2004/09/07/top7.htm
"2 soldiers, tribesman killed in mine blast
By Our Correspondent
WANA, Sept 6: Two soldiers and a tribesman were killed and two others wounded in a landmine explosion in the South Waziristan tribal region on Sunday night.
Officials said here on Monday that a device exploded when the personnel of the 25 Engineering Corps were trying to defuse it in the Jag Zawar area, some 25
kilometres north of Wana.
Two soldiers and one tribesman, identified as Amir Aman, died on the spot, while one soldier and political Muharar Aslam Khan sustained injuries. They were taken
to the local hospital.
Residents said that some passersby had seen some explosive devices near the road and informed the military authorities in the area. "
http://www.observerindia.com/cps/from_pak/news.htm#5
Rocket attack on Wana installations
After relative calm over the past few days, violence returned to South
Waziristan on September 5 when unidentified men launched a rocket
attack on government installations. According to the government officials in
Wana, the attack did not cause any loss of life or property. Officials said
four missiles were fired on Scout Fort, but missed their target and landed
in the nearby desert. Rockets were also fired at military and paramilitary
officials at other locations, but these attacks also went without causing any
damage to life or property, officials said.
(Source: Daily Times)
BTW, if memory serves, the new FB ought to be fully operational by now. My board shows nothing but green lights.
Why in the world were four different people in the vicinity of a bomb that somebody was trying to defuse?
http://www.geo.tv/main_files/pakistan.aspx?id=39690
Eight militants killed in Wana crossfire
WANA: The death toll of militants in the firing exchange between insurgents and security forces in a Wana market has reached eight.
According to I.S.P.R all the dead were insurgents. According to eyewitnesses and government sources a car of a military convoy crashed with explosive material near a Wana market resulting in the injury of three soldiers who were admitted to the Wana military hospital.
Security forces surrounded the market after which an exchange of fire between the security forces and militants ensued in which six were killed and 13 were injured.
Two militants who were seriously injured breathed their last in the hospital. Assistant political agent of Wana Khan Buksh has confirmed the casualties.
He said that after the incident several people were detained who are being interrogated.
Army and tribes launch massive search operation in Shawal area
By Hayatullah Khan & Rehmatullah Darpakhel
MIRANSHAH: The army and tribesmen together carried out a massive search in North Wazirstan Agency for the first time after the United States provided information about the presence of militants in the area.
Military and tribal sources told Daily Times that the operation was launched in the Shawal area, but no arrests were made or weapons seized. Brig Qadoos Khattak led the operation that started on Tuesday and continued on Wednesday. “More than 300 armed tribal chieftains and hundreds of army jawans searched suspected homes at 10 locations in the Shawal area,” a military source said.
“The army did not meet with any resistance,” the source said. A US drone reportedly snapped photos of the area after which the US passed on information to the army, sources said. Both local and foreign militants were believed to be hiding in the area, which is close to the Santoi and Mantoi mountains in South Waziristan Agency. The army combed thick forest and rugged terrain for two days but found no clues. “We consider it our duty to help the army,” tribal elder Malik Shahdaraz Khan told Daily Times.
Last month, the army and Shawal tribes reached an agreement to flush out militants from the area. Any tribe violating the agreement will pay Rs 10 million as a fine.
“The agreement is yielding positive results and the search operation is a result of that agreement,” the military source said.
“The US had given maps to the army to help reach suspected targets,” said one tribal elder who took part in the operation. “One army officer told me that a US spy plane that flew over north and south Waziristan had spotted some areas where the Americans thought militants might be hiding,” the tribal elder said.
Meanwhile, official sources told Daily Times that joint efforts by Pakistani and US intelligence agencies led to the destruction of a foreign militants’ hideout in Afghanistan last month.
“Two Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) camps were set up, one each in Miranshah and Wana in South Waziristan Agency. Seven FBI agents operated at each camp. They traced militants and their hideouts with the help of a satellite and drones and passed on information to the Pakistan Army,” sources said.
The August 23 operation by army commandos was a result of US intelligence about a compound where militants had taken shelter and stored weapons, sources said.
However, minutes before the operation, Egyptian national Abu Muhammad al Misri escaped along with several comrades. Al Misri carries a bounty of one million dollars on his head. Commandos arrested one Arab fighter and a local tribesman. The US employed 32 tribesmen from the Madakhel, Hasankhel, Toorikhel and Dawar tribes as well as Afghan refugees living in camps in North Waziristan to spy on militants. “Our duty was to look out for militants and inform Americans by satellite phones,” one spy told Daily Times. He refused to comment on where US troops had set up their camp.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_9-9-2004_pg7_50 What have we here?
Hmmm....."a massive search" and nothing to show for it........
FYI previous post.
Oops. FYI post 948 link.
30 feared dead in air raids in South Waziristan: ISLAMABAD, Sept 09: At least thirty people were feared dead in air raids on hideouts of suspected local and foreign militants
by Pakistani aircraft in South Waziristan region, witnesses and reports said. A military official, requesting anonymity, confirmed the air attack to Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa but had no
further details. Two fighter jets, supported by at least 10 gunship helicopters, pounded Ladah, Shinke, Qamarkale and Ragzai villages, witnesses said. "The attack occurred at around 6
a.m. and continued for about two hours in which at least 30 people were killed and the figure may increase," local resident Allah Noor told dpa. (DPA) (Updated @ 12:10 PST)
http://www.dawn.com/2004/09/09/welcome.htm
No joy on Qamarkale, not surprising since that isn't a familiar spelling, probably Qamar Khel, but Ladha is well known and previously located on several maps, Raghzai returns several possibilities, and Shinke, either Shinkai or Shinki also returns several possibilities.
I'm about 95% of the way through a defrag on the main mapping system and will have some sort of graphical analysis up in the next hour or two.
Results are inconclusive so far. Note that the "massive search" took place in North Waziristan, while the airstrikes took place in South Waziristan. Two seperate operations. The dividing line between the two runs east and west roughly a mile north of Razmak.
There's a couple of Shin Kai's on the ridge west of Chinal Algad near Ezhgai, a Raghzai Killi 3 miles SE of Torwam, and Ladha is south of Tauda China Algad.
Most likely conclusion is reporter or spelling errors.
Second most likely conclusion is multiple operations spread out over a large area.
More as it becomes available.
I woke up to the this news....could it be they have spotted the holy grail....Bin Laden or Zawahiri.......Hmmm.
Interesting...
An AFP report via Yahoo:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040909/wl_afp/pakistan_afghanistan_040909114642
indicates the attack took place "16 miles northeast of Wana", which puts it somewhere between the Raghzai Killi mentioned in my previous post, 3 miles SE of Torwam and Ladha.
Too early to be certain, but it does begin to look like the general region around Ladha, down past kaniguram to the Shakai Valley seems to be the area under scrutiny.
Fresh, though similar attack in North Waziristan, successfully targeted a terrorist training camp, according to Dawn's Breaking News section. Death toll from the South Waziristan air raid now up to 50.
http://www.dawn.com/2004/09/10/top2.htm
Meanwhile, according to reports reaching here a military convoy on its way to the west of Ludda sub-division was attacked by local militants near Karwan Manza, a
mountainous area about 72km to the west of Wana.
Troops called for air cover and according to reports reaching here late in the evening, fierce fighting was continuing and heavy weapons were being used. There were
no immediate reports of casualties on either side.
Fighter jets were also pressed into action but official sources said air strikes were called off as the evening set in. "But the fighting is still going on," said a source.
The bombings have come in the wake of a recent spurt in attacks on security forces. At least eight civilians were killed and 10 others wounded in what the military
said was an exchange of fire between security forces and militants on Wednesday.
Officials acknowledge that the Waziristan region remained a bastion of militants despite the recent military operation in Shakai and adjoining Khamrang, Santoi and
Mantoi areas."
Regarding the recent airstrike on the AQ training camp:
Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan said at least 50 people were killed — a number he said could rise — and that 90
percent were foreigners. He said the camp was believed to be linked to Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network.
“The foreign elements operating in these tribal areas have links with Al-Qaeda,” Sultan said. He said he had no information on
whether any high-value Al-Qaeda targets were present at the site.
Sultan said the camp near the village of Dila Khula, 25 km northeast of Wana — the main town of the South Waziristan tribal
region — was totally destroyed in the assault and all the people inside were believed killed. He described the site as being
composed of two mud-brick buildings, with an explosives training facility in the middle.
“I don’t think they put up a fight. They were taken by surprise,” he said."
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=51276&d=10&m=9&y=2004
Dila Khula is located coincident with the "a" at the end of "Tauda China" on this map:
http://users.in-motion.net/~jefft/tech/Mapping/afghanistan/wana.jpg
Another brief by Syed
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/FI11Ag01.html
Osama adds weight to Afghan resistance
By Syed Saleem Shahzad
CHAMAN, near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border - Since the disintegration of the Taliban regime at the end of 2001, the Afghan resistance has endured, managing, if nothing else, to keep US-led occupying forces and the Afghan National Army engaged in small pockets.
But much bigger things are planned.
The Taliban are commanded from within Afghanistan by the likes of Taliban leader Mullah Omar, Jalaluddin Haqqani, Mullah Dadullah and Saifullah Mansoor. And significantly, according to Asia Times Online research, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri, along with other senior al-Qaeda figures, are no longer in Pakistan but orchestrating the Afghan resistance from within Afghanistan, remote from Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.
It was not exactly "politicking" when Pakistani officials claimed recently that they were close to finding "high-value targets" in the country. Under US pressure, efforts have intensified over the past few months to reel in such people. The most recent operation took place near Shawal, in an area called the Bush Mountains. (This is technically Pakistani territory, although the border is fluid at best. And "Bush" has no US connotations, the mountains have been named so for many years.)
Last Sunday a Pakistan army convoy, along with several gunship helicopters, besieged the residence of the chief of the Shawal tribes, Zarma Jan, who assured the officers of his full cooperation. Contingents of the Pakistani military and paramilitary troops combed the areas of Mangaroti, Darey Nishtar and the Bush Mountains, on land and from the air. After 11 hours, though, they could not find a single foreign militant.
According to sources in the Taliban who spoke to Asia Times Online, the operation came too late - foreign militants and high-value targets had already left for Afghanistan.
Enter one Mullah Mehmood Haq Yar. He was sent by Mullah Omar to northern Iraq to train Ansarul Islam fighters before the US-led invasion of Afghanistan. Ansarul Islam is a Pakistani militant group. Mehmood returned to Afghanistan only a few months ago and was inducted into a special council of commanders formed by Mullah Omar and assigned the task of shepherding all foreign fighters and high-value targets from Pakistani territory into Afghanistan.
The Taliban sources obviously would not disclose where Mehmood's charges have been taken, but reading between the lines they could be in Paktia province in the care of legendary mujahideen commanders Mansoor and Haqqani.
Mansoor is the son of Nasrullah Mansoor, one of the most respected Afghan guerrilla leaders from the time of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s, who terrorized Soviet troops around Gardez. Saifullah Mansoor's reputation as a chip off the old block was cemented when in April 2002 he led a raid in which 18 US soldiers were killed in a guerrilla attack at Shahi Kot in the Zarmat area.
Haqqani also earned his reputation fighting the Soviets, and defeated Afghan communist forces in 1991 in Khost, the first Afghan city to fall to the mujahideen after the withdrawal of the Soviets in 1989.
Neither Mansoor nor Haqqani left Afghanistan - unlike other commanders who sought exile in the chaotic period leading up to and after the Taliban takeover in 1996 - and maintained their field forces. Haqqani's "playground" is Khost and Paktia, but Mullah
Omar has empowered him to help devise a military strategy for the whole of Afghanistan.
The latest strategy
Since his return from Iraq, Mehmood has convinced the Taliban leaders that they need to adapt their strategy to take into account limited human and material resources. At present, the Taliban face manifold problems. In particular, they cannot conduct a widespread, coordinated guerrilla movement as their communications have been crippled - all telecommunications are closely monitored by the US.
Mehmood's blueprint includes:
Recruit highly trained Arab fighters and give them a lead role, as in the jihad against the Soviets.
Arab fighters are particularly adept at developing improvised weapons. During the US invasion, for example, Arab fighters were able to turn unexploded cluster bombs into effective improvised weapons. Such tactics will be adopted to the full.
Arab fighters, especially those fluent in Pashtu, will be spread in key Afghan cities, such as Jalalabad, Khost, Kunar, Logar, Herat and Kabul, where they will infiltrate the population and administrations and spread the Taliban word.
Once these few hundred Arab fighters, along with Afghan counterparts, establish themselves, they will target US forces in their region.
The movement of US forces is already restricted because of their commitment to providing security for the October 9 presidential elections. But if they do conduct operations, two things will happen: the election process will become vulnerable as resources will be stretched, and the militants will carry out limited retaliation against US-led forces that venture out against them.
In addition to this, Haqqani and Dadullah will keep up the heat from the outskirts of major cities.
Mehmood's strategy is aimed specifically at destroying administrative systems in key cities and disrupting routine life. As this tactic takes hold, the Taliban will step into the vacuum and expand the war front.
At present, Afghan and Arab fighters fully committed to the resistance number only a few thousand. It is believed, though, that once the spade work is completed, the vast silent majority of the Taliban will rise up, especially from the madrassas (seminaries) of Quetta and Chaman in Pakistan, to join hands with the Taliban in Afghanistan, as they have done in the past,.
On the three-and-a-half-hour journey from Quetta to Chaman in Balochistan province on the Afghan border, one can see dozens of new madrassas built in the past few years, in
addition to others that have been expanded to take more students.
And if graffiti are any indication, support for the Taliban and bin Laden is widespread. Many walls sport fresh markings, such as "Amirul Momeneen" (leader of the faithful - Mullah Omar), "Ameerul Mujahideen Osama bin Laden" (commander of the faithful), "Long live the Taliban movement" and "Long live al-Qaeda". This type of graffiti never existed when this correspondent traveled on the same route about a year ago.
Most roadside shops play pro-Taliban Afghan national "songs" (without the music) on tape recorders. Some even have music - songs by Abdullah Makai, a famous Afghan singer, are available, such as "O Kabul, your princes are now beggars in Karachi", and a co-singer (female) adds a curse on those who cut their long beards for US dollars.
From Chaman to Kandahar in Afghanistan, products bearing bin Laden's face are guaranteed to sell well.
"The situation is going from bad to worse," says Malik Nabi, district president, Chaman, of the anti-Taliban Pashtunkho Mili Awami
Party. "The numbers of Taliban and their supporters are increasing with every passing day. You take a ride to Chaman and you will find black and white turbans everywhere, a sort of propaganda tactic to show their strength. Just go to a football stadium in the evening and you will find hundreds of black turbans, a hallmark of the Taliban," Malik Nabi adds.
Nowadays, as far as the Taliban are concerned, there are two types of Taliban: those who are on the frontline battlefields, and those who are waiting for a call to become cannon fodder once the word goes out for a mass mobilization.
As far as al-Qaeda is concerned, a new, dispersed, generation of cells are involved in plotting attacks worldwide.
The "old" brigade, meanwhile, including bin Laden and Zawahiri, are concentrating their efforts on the battlefields of Afghanistan.
Syed Saleem Shahzadis bureau chief, Pakistan, Asia Times Online. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com.
"Last Sunday a Pakistan army convoy, along with several gunship helicopters, besieged the residence of the chief of the Shawal tribes, Zarma Jan, who assured the officers of his full cooperation. Contingents
of the Pakistani military and paramilitary troops combed the areas of Mangaroti, Darey Nishtar and the Bush Mountains, on land and from the air. After 11 hours, though, they could not find a single foreign
militant."
Interesting.
Mangrotai and Bosh Ghar are mapped locations, no joy on Darey Nishtar, or "Darai" or "Nishtar" in two datavases. Closest match is Darra Narai, in the same region.
Still....interesting.
Someone tipped them off, maybe they escaped to Afghanistan.
News about the South African connection:
http://iafrica.com/news/sa/346697.htm
PRETORIA
SA men in Pakistan: Still no access
Posted Fri, 10 Sep 2004
Two South Africans held on terrorism accusations in Pakistan for nearly seven weeks have not yet received a consular visit, the Foreign Affairs department in Pretoria said on Friday.
For its part, the Pakistani High Commission said a visit had taken place, although it was unable to clarify the exact nature thereof.
"Officials sent by the South African government already met them some time ago," first secretary Javed Khattak said.
"I don't know the number of times they met. But as far as we are concerned, we have granted a visit by South African officials."
Asked if the visit had constituted consular access, Khattak said: "You may call it whatever kind of access you want to. Consular access is access given to the government of the country from where the people originate."
Khattak was apparently referring to a visit paid to the two men a few weeks ago by South African intelligence officials investigating claims that they were involved in plans to attack targets in their home country.
Intelligence ministry spokesperson Lorna Daniels said the officials were given limited access to the two, and were unable to establish much about their well-being.
A consular visit, explained Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa, entailed investigating and looking after the general welfare of citizens held in prisons abroad.
In terms of the Geneva Convention, which governs the treatment of detainees, consular officials visit prisoners to establish the conditions in which they were being held and their state of health. They keep their families informed of their welfare, and could make arrangements for prisoners to obtain legal assistance.
None of this had been allowed in this case, Mamoepa said.
Asked whether visits would be allowed in future, Khattak said: "This is not something we would call a regular feature. I don't know if there is any pending request for a further visit."
The men have not yet been charged with a crime.
"Unless the investigation comes to a certain conclusion, I don't know how you can charge a person," said Khattak.
Asked how long a person could be held without being charged, he replied: "I don't know the specifics of the law pertaining to their arrest."
Feroze Ganchi, a doctor from Fordsburg, Johannesburg, and 20-year-old student Zubair Ismail from Laudium in Pretoria, have been held in Pakistan since July 25.
They were among about a dozen people detained, allegedly after a 12-hour shootout with security forces at a house in Gujrat, south-east of Islamabad.
Tanzanian al-Qaeda suspect, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, was reportedly among those arrested. He is wanted by the United States for the 1998 bombings of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
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