Heavy casualties have taken place in a severe armed clash between the security forces and suspected militants in the areas of Mantoi and Santoi at Shakai in the volatile region of South Waziristan.
PESHAWAR: As situation in North Waziristan remained fluid on Sunday amid
air strikes for the third consecutive day and advance by thousands of Pakistan Army
soldiers on the positions of militants from three directions in Shakai area of the
agency, the army declared the operation near completion.
Local tribesmen reaching Wana and other parts of the agency from Shakai and
Mandata informed journalists that the resisting foreign militants and their local
supporters had moved out of the populated areas and were holding positions at the
nearby hilltops. They claimed heavy casualties on both sides, but no exact figures
on either side were available. Three fighter jets were used during the one-hour air
strikes in Mandata Raghzai, Wayee and Miami hitting selected targets. Due to
restriction on entry of journalists, it was almost impossible to check facts with
fiction about loss to human lives and damage to property on both sides.
More than 3,000 soldiers are advancing from Mahsud territory in Mantoi, Badar,
Tarey Jhawar, Sra Wangai, Sholam, Torwam Tiyaza, to the north-west and Wana,
Inzar Narai, Sholam Raghzai, Wana Sar and Azam Warsak, south of Shakai. The
army has also established check-posts and pickets on all the important entry-exit
points in Angoor Adda, the border town situated on the Pak-Afghan border.
Thousands of troops have been facing stiff resistance from foreign militants in
Shakai for the last four days, locals said.
Fighting was reported in Shakai and the surrounding areas on Saturday night. It
was also reported that personnel of the armed forces were moving from east
towards the west in Shakai to lay siege to the militants not only to block their
supply routes, but also to corner them.
The Ahmadzai Wazir, locals said, have been made virtual prisoners in their houses
and no one is allowed to go out, which has created shortage of food and daily use
items as well as denied healthcare services to the population.
Meanwhile, sources in Pakistan intelligence agencies said eight attackers were
killed, a military jeep was destroyed and five suspected terrorists were arrested
when an army picket came under attack in Angoor Adda on Saturday night. The
sources said that the attackers were loyal to Northern Alliance and managed to
carry the attack against the post from the Afghan side of the border in Paktika
province of Afghanistan. It was also reported that the attackers were militants and
affiliated with the resisting force led by Nek Muhammad and others in South
Waziristan.
The paramilitary force, sources said, arrested as many as 15 suspected foreign
terrorists in Shakai on Saturday along with the vehicle, which they intended to use
as a getaway car. Tribal people have hoisted white flags on their houses and
buildings in Mantoi and other areas, a sign of peace aimed at sending signals to
avoid air strikes against non-combatants.
ISPR adds from Rawalpindi: The response initiated by the security forces to
unprovoked firing by miscreants in Shakai area is nearing completion. As many as
20 foreign miscreants have been killed by security forces during the last two days
and huge cache of arms, including heavy weapons and ammunition, have also been
recovered along with a Pinjo van under the use of miscreants. Two soldiers of
security forces also embraced martyrdom during the action.
An ISPR spokesman, giving details about the activity, said the security forces were
in control of the Shakai valley and were presently consolidating their positions.
Hideouts of the miscreants north-east of Shakai valley, selected as targets have
been completely destroyed, he said.
The spokesman said that bodies of five miscreants killed during the action by
security forces were recovered on Friday while there are reports of burial of 12
other bodies in Shakai area. Bodies of few more miscreants killed during the action
are believed to be still lying under the debris of destroyed sanctuaries.
Giving more details about other incidents which took place in the area, the
spokesman said three suspected vehicles tried to enter Pakistan on Pak-Afghan
border in the area of Angoor Adha in South Waziristan Agency. Security forces
manning the border outposts promptly responded and challenged the intruders
after which an exchange of fire took place. The intruders fled away to Afghanistan
leaving behind two damaged vehicles. Radio intercepts indicate that eight intruders
have been killed in this incident.
The spokesman, while strongly rejecting few news items appearing in a section of
the press about trapping of army commandos or security forces personnel in Wana,
said neither security forces personnel were trapped nor taken hostage in Wana.
This is totally ludicrous and a figment of the reporter’s imagination. "
That many sandbags on the roof of a building, with a shade tarp overhead, says CP to me. So do the beanies, the clean uniforms, the amount of head and shoulders sticking up above the sandbags, the amount of photographer sticking up above that, the absence of dust and smoke in the town below, and the absence of spent brass on top of the sandbags. This position may have been taking fire before the picture was taken, and it may have taken more fire afterwards, but I don't think they're taking rounds right now. That's a good sized town and I can't match the terrain from Wana, Torwam, Tiarza, Sholam, or anywhere in the Shakai. That knob sticking up just right of the far end of main street doesn't have a counterpart that I can find in all of the 32-69 grid square, in fact it looks a lot like K2. The distant ridgeline is reminiscent of the main east-west ridge southeast of the Shawal and northeast of the Shakai, but Photoshop can only do so much with the overexposure, so who knows?
Prime question now is what we have here. The militants appear to have kicked this round off, in more than one place, (so far I only have multi-source corroboration for Mantoi and Khan Khel), though it is starting to look like something went down at Angoor Adda, roughly two miles SE of Shkin.
One of two probable scenarios...either the bad guys got the drop on the Paks as they were consolidating the perimeter and struck some tender spots where the bad guys really didn't want them, or else this is the big one. I'm inclined to think the former, because the bad guys started it, and because the reports of contact are not widespread enough or in the right places for the fat lady to be tuning up. Not going to rule anything out though, the bad guys started the last round which resulted in the Pak Advance into the Shakai.
Stay tuned, either way there's more to come.