Posted on 06/17/2004 11:16:30 PM PDT by AdmSmith
What the heck?
http://www.dawn.com/2004/09/14/top7.htm
Waziristan clashes leave eight dead
By Dawn Report
WANA/MIRAMSHAH, Sept 13: Clashes between security forces and armed Mahsud tribesmen in the South Waziristan tribal region have claimed eight more lives,
independent sources said on Monday.
Tension is high in the North Waziristan region where terrified tribesmen were leaving their homes in the Razmak sub- division for safe places elsewhere. Eyewitnesses
said that a large number of families, mostly women and children, were seen heading towards Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan districts. Meanwhile, fresh enforcements
have been sent from Miramshah to Razmak close to the Makin bazaar.
Reports said that three houses came under artillery shelling in the Makin area and the eight people, including a woman and three children, were killed. There are no
figures about the wounded.
Sources said that fresh clashes between the security forces and militants had been reported from Kani Guram, Makin bazaar and Karwan Mainza on the fifth day.
They added that volunteers of the Mahsud tribe had also taken up arms.
Reports reaching from the troubled zone suggested that both sides were targeting each other's positions with mortar shells, artillery, missiles and rockets. The
exchange of heavy fire continued all Sunday night and on Monday.
The sources said that security forces were firing artillery from the Luddah base camp and Kani Guram to destroy positions of the insurgents in the Makin area.
However, despite the massive shelling, the Makin bazaar remained under the control of the supporters of two influential tribesmen, Abdullah Mahsud and Baitullah
Mahsud.
The authorities have disconnected telephone connections and power supply to the area and encircled the hostile zone. All roads and other access routes have been
blocked. As a result, people are finding it difficult to take wounded tribesmen to hospitals in other areas.
Militants fired four missiles on Sunday night on a high school building housing security forces in Kani Guram. No casualty was reported. However, there are conflicting
reports about losses suffered by the army side in the clashes.
Sources in Wana said that 25 security personnel had been brought to the military hospital in the brigade headquarters in Zari Noor colony on Sunday and Monday.
No army spokesman was available for comments.
Our Peshawar bureau adds: Tribal militant Abdullah Mahsud has claimed that his supporters had captured 43 troops and a number of security personnel had been
killed in the Karwan Mainza area where security forces had fought pitched battle with militants last week.
He invited media and other organisations to visit the agency and see the captured troops and bodies of those killed. Tribesmen held a protest meeting in Spinkai
Raghzai on Monday.
Speaking at the meeting, local cleric Maulana Niaz Mohammad said that it was not a war against foreign militants but against tribesmen who, he alleged, had suffered
immense casualties.
He called upon the Mahsud tribesmen to prepare themselves to defend innocent tribesmen. Sources said that NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah had
cancelled his Wana visit on Monday due to the security situation in the region. The governor was scheduled to meet tribal elders in Wana to discuss the situation."
From other open sources, engagements continue over a wide area, including Ladha, Kaniguram, Tauda China, and Marobi. Marobi is on the north bank of the Tank Zam river, and forms the eastern vertex of an equilateral triangle with Ladha and Makin.
The enemy still holds Makin, while the Pak Army reports having isolated that area by closing the roads to form a perimeter. Further reports indicate Pak reinforcements moving from Miram Shah to Razmak.
http://www.dawn.com/2004/09/15/top5.htm
Fighting intensifies in S. Waziristan
By Dawn Report
WANA/MIRAMSHAH, Sept 14: Fighting between army troops and militants in several parts of the South Waziristan region intensified on Tuesday and there are
reports of massive casualties on both sides.
Jet planes and helicopter gunships carried out strikes in the Makin, Tauda China, Sher Koat and Shobikhel areas where, sources said, militants were offering
resistance to security forces.
Large-scale evacuation of families has been reported from the areas, with people heading towards Razmak in the North Waziristan region. According to unofficial
reports, about 500 families have left the area.
An official source said that paramilitary forces had entered the troubled Makin bazaar on Tuesday and flushed out militants. The report could not be confirmed from
independent sources.
"Air strikes have caused huge destruction in residential areas in Makin," said Maulana Mohammad Tahir, claiming to be an eyewitness. Unofficial reports said that 12
soldiers were killed when a military truck was blown up by a remote-controlled device between Luddah and Makin bazaar. But, an army spokesman denied that any
such incident had taken place.
According to another report, four troops were killed and 11 wounded when an army convoy was ambushed near Jandola. The convoy was moving towards the
brigade headquarters in Zari Noor when it was attacked at about 7 pm.
Two soldiers were confirmed dead and seven others were wounded when militants fired rockets at the Wana Scouts camp and ambushed a military convoy in the
Sarwekai area. Residents said that one paramilitary soldier was killed and three other were injured.
Sources said that one soldier was killed and a captain and two other soldiers were wounded and three vehicles were damaged in a hit-and-run attack on a military
convoy. The troops called in air support and jet planes pounded suspected positions to dislodge the attackers. ISPR spokesman Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan confirmed
the attack on the convoy in the Sarwekai area, but said that only two soldiers had suffered injuries.
The military convoy was on its way from Wana to Bannu district, he told Dawn by phone from Islamabad. "Military has definitely suffered casualties, but these are
minimal," Maj-Gen Sultan said.
He said that an exchange of firing had taken place between troops and militants near Karwan Narai in the area. The sources said that the convoy was ambushed by
supporters of tribal militant Noor Alam alias Abdullah Mahsud, who had been recently released from America's Guantanamo Bay detention centre in Cuba.
Independent sources said that army and paramilitary forces had pounded Makin bazaar from four sides and forced the insurgents to vacate their positions. Reports
said that security forces also targeted a seminary and the residence of a local cleric, Maulana Mohammad Shafiq, in Makin bazaar.
The seminary was believed to have been used as a shelter by foreign militants. Maj-Gen Sultan denied that the forces had attached the seminary, but said that the
Maulana's fortress- like house had been fired upon.
He said that the house was used by militants for attacks on forces and civilians. In Makin bazaar, one soldier, Sajid, was killed, while another sepoy, Rajab, suffered
injuries.
Reports of clashes have also been received from three other areas, Karwan Minza, Asman Minza and Della, largely inhabited by Mahsuds. Army officials said that
insurgents had been wiped out from the entire South Waziristan region, except a seven-kilometre area, including Makin, where the military was carrying out the
operation.
REUTER ADDS: At least four civilians were killed and 15 wounded in clashes between troops and militants, relatives said on Tuesday. Imran Khan Shabikhel told
Reuters his relatives came under fire on Monday afternoon while trying to escape from Makin.
"Yesterday, we left Makin and came under fire while crossing a dry ravine," he said. "The fire came from the ground and the air," said Shabikhel, a student who lives
in Makin. His relative, Mohammad Fazal, was being treated in hospital in Dera Ismail Khan for leg wounds caused by shrapnel in the same incident.
He said he was in a group of about 30 people who were fleeing the region when government forces opened fire. "The injured and the dead lay there for some time.
We asked the security forces to allow us to bury the dead and then they allowed us to go," he said.
Shabikhel said four of his relatives were killed and about 15 people were wounded in the Monday afternoon incident. No military official was available for immediate
comment on civilian casualties.
Does the following table help, complicate matters, or is it redundant? If it would be useful, I can also provide the positions of the following towns relative to another known place.
| type | name | desigation | latitude | longitude | area |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Native | Ragzai | populated locality | 32° 44' 21" N | 069° 51' 44" E | PK01 |
| Native | Raghzai | populated place | 32° 49' 21" N | 070° 06' 51" E | PK01 |
| Native | Raghzai | locality | 32° 36' 05" N | 070° 28' 35" E | PK01 |
| Native | Raghzai | populated place | 32° 28' 33" N | 069° 53' 09" E | PK01 |
| Native | Raghzai | locality | 32° 14' 45" N | 069° 44' 30" E | PK01 |
| Native | Raghzai Kili | populated place | 32° 59' 40" N | 069° 38' 30" E | PK01 |
| Native | Raghzai Kili | populated place | 32° 58' 35" N | 069° 56' 45" E | PK01 |
| Native | Raghzai Kili | abandoned populated place | 32° 23' 35" N | 069° 42' 20" E | PK01 |
| Native | Raghzai Kili | populated place | 32° 23' 21" N | 069° 56' 12" E | PK01 |
| Native | Raghzai Shahidan | populated place | 33° 13' 09" N | 070° 30' 16" E | PK01 |
| Native | Raghzai Shahidan | populated place | 33° 12' 42" N | 070° 30' 48" E | PK01 |
| Native | Raghzi | abandoned populated place | 34° 14' 45" N | 071° 28' 36" E | PK01 |
| Native | Raghzi Kili | populated place | 32° 47' 00" N | 069° 52' 25" E | PK01 |
| Native | Raghzi Sar | populated place | 32° 39' 25" N | 070° 21' 35" E | PK01 |
--Boot Hill
Since Raghzai seems to be incidental to current events, I'm not going much deeper with that unless something pivotal is reported there.
If you have even scraps of data on Karwan Manza, that would help immensely. So far, I have zip.
A little buried here, keeping an eye on this while providing analysis and support for Ivan victims, but I will be in and out through the day.
Might see US "support" for the idea too, depending on how hard Mush bargains.
Eyes open for Mush to seek a political solution to Makin as well, he is under immense pressure.
Most recent update:
Militants maintain pressure on troops
By Our Correspondent
WANA, Sept 15: Tribal militants maintained pressure on security forces in different parts of South Waziristan for the seventh day on Wednesday.
Reports reaching here from the region quoted informed sources as saying that bodies of six soldiers and 11 wounded troops had been airlifted from Luddah Fort near
the Makin bazaar, which has been under a security siege for several days.
Official sources here said the soldiers belonged to the 44 Baloch Regiment and were taken to Peshawar in two helicopters. It was not clear when and where the
casualties occurred, but there are suggestions that these were linked to the Tuesday evening's ambush of a military convoy near Jandola.
An official of the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) in Peshawar denied the casualty report. Local sources said that four civilian tribesmen died in the Makin
bazaar area as a result of shelling by troops.
Heavy exchanges of fire have been reported in the area and security forces and militants backed by volunteers of the Mahsud tribe were attacking each others'
positions in Makin, Karwan Minza and Asman Minza.
The sources said that paramilitary forces had secured hill-tops around Makin and pounded suspected locations with heavy artillery. They said that several fortress-like
mud-houses also came under attack.
Helicopter gunships were seen hovering over Wana, the regional headquarters of the agency, throughout the day. Meanwhile, tribal militant Abdullah Mahsud has
claimed that his 'supporters' killed 15 troops and destroyed three vehicles during an assault on a military convoy in the Sarwekai area on Tuesday.
Talking to this correspondent on phone from an undisclosed place in the region on Wednesday, he said that a Punjab Regiment personnel had been captured during
clashes in the Sarwekai area.
He identified the captured man as Mohammad Shaban. "The life of Mohammad Shaban is under threat if the government does not stop the military action in
Waziristan," he warned.
Abdullah Mahsud, who was recently released from the US detention camp in Guantanamo Bay, earlier claimed that his supporters had captured 43 soldiers. This
claim has been refuted by the ISPR.
http://www.dawn.com/2004/09/16/top5.htm
PPPP warns of civil war if Wana operation not stopped: PESHAWAR, Sept 16: Provincial president of the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarian (PPPP), Rahimdad Khan, today
warned federal government of a civil war in the country if army operation in South Waziristan Agency was not stopped. "Every time dictators have created turbulent situation to extend
their rule over the country and Gen Musharraf is no exception to it," he told. (PPI) (Posted @ 16:35 PST)
http://www.dawn.com/2004/09/16/welcome.htm
bttt
The Paks have been pressuring us to give up their people. Some in the hopes that exactly what's happening will happen, and the rest to try and get the first group to shut up.
Something tells me that in the future, one group will be hollering even louder, but the other will be strangely silent.
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/001200409191014.htm
Terrorists in Pak's security forces: Report
New Delhi, Sept. 19 (PTI): Investigations into recent suicide attacks on Shiite mosques in Pakistan have revealed that terrorist groups have infiltrated into the military, police and intelligence agencies, ringing an alarm bell for the Government.
"Of even more serious concern to the authorities is that some of these new terrorist groups have penetrated into the ranks of the military, police and intelligence agencies," the Karachi-based journal 'Newsline' reported, adding that the "growing influence of militant groups within the police force has got the alarm bells ringing".
It said at least three policemen acted as suicide bombers in the attacks on Shiite mosques in Karachi and Quetta and a security officer posted at the Punjab Chief Minister's house was arrested for his links with Al Qaeda.
Pakistani officials felt that the recent rise in terrorist activities in Karachi and other cities was "a direct result of the latest campaign against Al Qaeda" and the recent "botched military operation" in Waziristan could lead to an escalation in terrorist activities in the country, it said.
Pakistan's Home Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat, has said the upsurge in terrorist activities was a sign of desperation and the terrorists "are on the run".
The journal quoted several instances of a new breed of educated middle-class youths joining terrorist ranks, saying "this new cadre boasts highly qualified professionals and university graduates".
Among the recent arrests was key Al Qaeda man Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan alias Abu Talha, a computer whiz kid who allegedly set up Al Qaeda communication base in Lahore from where he relayed coded messages on the internet from the outfit's leaders to operatives abroad.
Another Karachi University graduate, Attaur Rahman, allegedly masterminded several blasts in the port city and formed his own group - 'Jundullah' or Army of God. Two highly- qualified doctors were also arrested on charges of providing medical assistance to and protection to local and foreign militants, the 'Newsline' said.
The magazine said "a botched up operation (in Waziristan tribal belt) and mishandling by the military leadership has further exacerbated the situation and alienated even those tribesmen opposed to the militants.
"What has infuriated the tribesmen most is the closure of their business and the demolition of their houses as part of the army's collective punishment for the defiance of some of their fellow tribesmen," it said.
"The growing anti-government sentiments among the tribesmen has made the situation much more explosive ... the situation may lead to an armed rebellion," it quoted a local political leader, Nisar Lala, as saying.
http://www.dawn.com/2004/09/19/top6.htm
Troops, militants exchange fire
By Our Correspondent
WANA, Sept 18: Fighting renewed in South Waziristan on Saturday amid reports of heavy exchange of fire between security forces and militants, officials said.
Reports coming from the embattled zone suggested that the security forces, backed by helicopter gunships and heavy artillery, were targeting suspected positions in
Asman Manza, Karwan Manza and Mir Kalam Ser of the Laddah sub-division to counter militants' attacks.
Sources said that clashes erupted in the troubled region after militants carried out an afternoon attack against the security forces and targeted their positions with
rockets.
A soldier of the Northern Light Infantry, identified as Ghulam Mohammad, had died in the fresh wave of violence, according to the sources. His body was brought to
the Brigade Headquarters at Zari Noor Colony.
Witnesses said that militants, armed with rocket launchers, light and heavy machin-guns, attacked the security forces in three troubled spots.
The troops called in support of helicopter gunships from Wana to counter the offensive.
The troops have started massive artillery shelling from the Laddah Fort and Kaniguram to repulse the attackers.
Reports said that security forces had secured positions in the Makin bazaar, about 65km north of Wana.
The bazaar area was believed to be a stronghold of tribal militant Abdullah Mahsud, who had been released from Guntanamo Bay, Cuba, a few months back.
AFP adds: Pakistani troops have hemmed in Al Qaeda-linked foreign fighters and their local allies hiding in the tribal regions, a top general said on Saturday.
"We have eliminated a number of terrorists' hideouts in the region and...their operational space has been reduced to a considerable degree," Major General Niaz
Khatak told reporters in Wana.
http://www.dawn.com/2004/09/19/welcome.htm
Undercover Pakistani had messages from Qaeda No3: LONDON, Sep 19: A Pakistani al Qaeda member who helped the authorities until his cover was blown by U.S. terrorism
alerts last month had access to e-mails of the network's operations chief, a British newspaper said today. The Sunday Telegraph report directly links the undercover operation involving al
Qaeda computer expert Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan with top members of bin Laden's inner circle. Khan was arrested in Lahore, Pakistan in July but then cooperated with the authorities
to track down other al Qaeda operatives. The undercover operation triggered a global crackdown on al Qaeda suspects, including eight arrests in Britain. Among a trove of coded al
Qaeda communications turned over by Khan were messages from Abu Faraj al-Liby to Islamic militants in Britain, the Telegraph said. It described Liby as al Qaeda's number three man, a
former personal assistant to bin Laden who took over as al Qaeda's operations chief after the arrest of suspected Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Liby is "one of the
handful of al Qaeda operatives who may know the whereabouts of bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al Zawahri," it said. Pakistani officials have told Reuters that Khan, the computer
expert, was cooperating with them, communicating with al Qaeda contacts abroad until the day after the United States announced security alerts at suspected financial targets in New
York, New Jersey and Washington. When they announced the alert, U.S. officials said their information came from someone arrested in secret by Pakistan. Khan's name appeared in print
the next day, scuppering the sting operation. The following day, Britain swooped in haste on eight suspects who have since been charged with plotting mass murder. (Reuters) (Posted
@ 08:00 PST)
http://www.observerindia.com/cps/from_pak/news.htm#3
Huge cache of arms seized near Wana
Troops have recovered bodies of four foreign militants and also seized a
large quantity of arms from a fortress-like house in the rugged tribal belt
near the Afghan border, the military said on September 17. The suspected
al-Qaeda-linked militants were killed on September 14 in a clash with
security forces in Khanigurram area near Wana, the main town in the
troubled South Waziristan region, military spokesman Major General
Shaukat Sultan said. Sultan said they were all foreigners. Sultan said
troops engaged in siege and search operations in the area seized an arms
dump from a house owned by a local cleric who claimed it was a
madrassa (Islamic seminary) in Makin area, 60 kilometres north of Wana.
He said the building belonging to cleric Maulawi Shafiq was wrongly
termed as a madrassa. He said they had seized hundreds of rockets and
Kalashnikov assault rifles. He said the fortress, targeted by security forces
in Makin area, was being used as miscreants’ hideout.
(Source: The News)
Amplifying Adm Smith's article, the Pak Times reports thata diary belonging to Zarqawi and containing names was also seized in the raid.
Also, per a photograph posted at:
http://www.southasianmedia.net/News_today.cfm?category=frontend&country=Pakistan
The seizures included at least 3 or 4 desktop computers, 2 laptop computers, 7 DLT type backup tapes, approximately 70 DC 2120 type backup tapes, 50+ CD's in flip style wallets, 110+ CDs in jewel cases, 800 CD's in bulk cylinders, 3 headphone sets, 4 cell phone sets, and numerous other items.
So much for the catch and release program.
Thanks. Hope they get them all.
Where exactly is this in Afghanistan? Is it on the border region? Have we heard what part of the military these soldiers were from (Army, Marines, SOF)?.
Thanks.
Abdullah al-Haj.......Is he dead or not?
In the public domain: Abdullah al-Haj from Jordan is still on the run.
No joy on where in Paktika, but that is a border province, south of Paktia, which is south of the Khost province, where a third American was also killed Monday. Per various sources, these were 2 of 8 different skirmishes taking place across Afghanistan that day, apparantly part of a surge related to the October 10 elections.
There are people looking for more details, if I hear anything, I'll post it here.
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