|
|
|
Red agencies/ districts controlled by the Taliban; purple is defacto control; yellow is under threat |
The Taliban continues to target military and police forces in the Northwest Frontier Province. The latest suicide bombing in Pakistan occurred in the settled district of Swat. A Taliban suicide bomber drove his explosives-laden car into a military convoy near the town of Mingora.
Nine soldiers were killed and 15 wounded. Fourteen civilians were also wounded in the attack.
The Pakistani military launched an offensive in November to drive out Maulana Fazlullah’s local Taliban forces, who took control of the district and neighboring Shangla by force in mid-October. The government signed a peace accord with Fazlullah in May, but he failed to abide by the terms of the agreement. Despite committing tens of thousands of troops to the fight, the military has yet to advance far north of Mingora in central Swat.
Fazlullah has yet to be captured. Fazlullah, along with 20 local Taliban groups, was able to send a representative to attend the initial meeting of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan — the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan — on December 14. South Waziristan’s powerful commander Baitullah Mehsud was appointed the leader of the movement.
Since December 13, Taliban and al Qaeda suicide bombings and conventional attacks have claimed the lives of 52 soldiers, paramilitary soldiers, and policemen, and wounded scores more. The Pakistani security forces are taking casualties at a rate far higher than US and Iraqi forces in Iraq.
Twelve soldiers were killed in a suicide bombing that targeted trainees at a soccer match in Kohat on December 17. Also, the Taliban beheaded a soldier in Khar, Bajaur. Four soldiers were killed during a suicide attack at a military base in Nowshera on December 16. A suicide bomber killed 11 security personnel at a checkpoint in Quetta on December 13. Fifteen soldiers were killed and 38 wounded in a series of Taliban ambushes on military convoys in North Waziristan.
The suicide bombing in Swat is the third such attack in the Northwest Frontier Province this past week. In addition to the Kohat suicide attack, a Taliban suicide bomber struck at a mosque in Charsadda while worshippers offered Eid prayers on December 21. The target of the strike was former Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao. Over 50 were killed and 200 wounded in the blast, but Sherpao survived the attack.
11 Comments
I would certainly like to know the facts associated with the disappearance of Rashid Rauf.
———————————–
Their description of his getaway has been met with disbelief throughout Pakistan, with diplomats and commentators asking how a prisoner described by the country’s interior minister as a leading Al-Qaeda operative and held in Pakistan’s highest-security detention unit could be allowed to walk away in broad daylight. Rauf’s lawyer and a close family friend both said last week that they believed he had not escaped but had been taken into secret security-service custody and they feared for his life.
Times Online: Pakistan agents ‘staged escape’ of terror suspect
Marlin,
Thanks for the story. I find it hard to believe they stopped at a McDonalds for lunch and lost him at a local Mosque. I know this is Pakistan not the US, but the total lack of security protocol strikes me as a little strange. I have the feeling either Rashid Rauf is free as a bird or taking the big sleep, one or the other. Judging by past events, I would tend to think he was free. On the other hand, getting a quick meal and a prayer in before you disappear does sound strangely ominous, not to mention very low budget. In that case, I hope his fries hadn’t sat under the lights too long.
The Pakistani Army at least appears to be making a continuing effort against the Taliban in Swat.
———————————————–
Several trenches were destroyed as several gunship helicopters pounded Taliban positions in the Bamakhela area of Matta tehsil in Swat on Monday evening.
[…]
Mingora Media Centre In-charge Colonel Nadeem told Daily Times that the helicopters had targeted Taliban positions at Bamakhela this (Monday) evening. He, however, did not disclose the number of militant casualties.
The troops had earlier targeted militant positions using artillery on Sunday night. However, no casualties were reported.
Daily Times: Troops destroy militants’ trenches in Swat
Things aren’t going so well in the Kurram Agency, although it is hard to tell from the article whether or not the ‘armed men’ are Taliban.
———————————————
Nine people were killed and several others wounded in fresh clashes between security forces and tribesmen in the Kurram Agency on Sunday after a group of armed men set on fire houses and shops in Parachinar city on Saturday night.
Officials said that clashes broke out between residents of Balishkhel and Sadda in Lower Kurram Agency after armed men attacked the Frontier Corps’ fort. Security forces fired back, killing five assailants and injuring several others, an official said.
[…]
Local people said that riots broke out in Parachinar, the administrative headquarters of the agency, after armed men entered the city on Saturday and ransacked shops and abandoned houses belonging to people of the rival sect.
Despite curfew, troublemakers took away household items from the houses.
They said that a sudden withdrawal of security forces from the city provided an opportunity to the armed men to ransack and rob private businesses and homes.
The area has remained cut of from the rest of the country since rival factions blocked the main road about a month ago.
Dawn: Nine killed in clashes in Kurram Agency
Marlin, Neo,
Remember that the McD’s / Mosque Rauf report is based on the policemen’s word, and they’ve already been implicated in cutting him loose. Just a poor cover story.
The Pak army has advanced as far as Bahrain in Swat. That’s half way up the district, not a good showing for two months of combat operations in your own territory which is about the size of New Jersey.
http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/dec-2007/24/index2.php
On the other hand, the security forces after establishing its control on Fatehpur and Madayan towns now have arrived in Bahrain.
On Kurram, that is largely Sunni-Shia fighting. Bit the Taliban / AQ back the Sunni side. A group called the Sipah-e-Yazid, aka Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), Army of the Companions, targets Shia in Kurram. This group has long been established in Pakistan and is virulently anti-Shia. The Lashkar-e-Jhangavi is essentially the murder squad of Sipah-e-Sahaba. Sipah-e-Sahaba is a Deobandi group funded by Saudi Wahabis. Lashkar-e-Jhangavi and other groups like Jaish-e-Mohammned, Lashkar-e-Taiba, etc. essentially serve as muscle for al Qaeda in Pakistan.
And Merry Christmas.
Bill –
Thanks for the edification.
Merry Christmas to you as well!
“Just a poor cover story.”
“The Pak army has advanced as far as Bahrain in Swat. That’s half way up the district, not a good showing for two months of combat operations in your own territory which is about the size of New Jersey.”
Fair enough, I’ll concede some there. We must also take the weather into account as well.
If you haven’t read “A Prayer for the Assassin” do so. After reading the book, I couldn’t but help to think of Pakistan.
Are the coalition forces seeing alot of the Iranian Qods group in afghanistan in the war on terrorism.Sir your coverage of the war on terrorism has been outstanding,I would like to extend a Merry Christmas and Happy New year to you and the troops.Take care and stay safe.Thank you..
referman,
Thank you & a Merry Christmas to you & yours.
As far as I can tell from the open source side, the Iranian activity in Afghanistan is not as extensive as in Iraq. They are arming, funding and training Taliban forces but don’t appear to be taking as direct a role as in Iraq.