Pakistan Army, Taliban trade fire in war-torn northwest

Army, Taliban trade fire in war-torn northwest
Agencies
Published: September 28, 2009, 23:02


Dera Ismail Khan: Pakistan's army and militants traded rocket and mortar fire on Monday as hundreds of civilians fled the Taliban and Al Qaida's main stronghold in the northwest.

A suicide car bomber killed five people including a prominent tribal elder.

Pakistan's civilian government has vowed to root out militants in the northwest, many of whom allegedly use the mountainous tribal areas along the border as a base for attacks on American and Nato troops in Afghanistan.

Pakistan jets have bombed targets in Waziristan in recent months, but the military has said it would launch full-scale ground operations at the "appropriate" time.

Residents said the military and the Taliban had urged them to flee South Waziristan in recent days.


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Sumsam Bukhari, the junior information minister, told reporters the launch of a major military operation in Waziristan was not discussed at a Cabinet meeting yesterday. "This is all speculative and there is no such thing planned yet," he said.

Residents said recent days have shown an increase in the number of people leaving the Makeen and Ladha areas of South Waziristan, though many have been fleeing to the relative safety of nearby towns for months.

"There is bombing everywhere," said Iqbal Mehsud, a resident of Ladha. "There is a shortage of rations. Most of our people have left. It is now like a ghost area," said Mehsud, who was in a pickup truck loaded with luggage, two goats, a cow and a dog.

Tribal elder Maulana Hassamuddin said locals had been "asked by security people and the political administration" to leave. Resident Amir Ullah said the Taliban had also urged locals to flee. He said he and his friends rented a vehicle to take them to the town of Bannu for more than double the normal price.

Western countries were cheered by a military offensive in the nearby Swat Valley earlier this year. Pakistan's army has moved into the Waziristan region before, however, only to be beaten into a stalemate.

Analysts have questioned whether the army has enough troops, or the will, to take on the militants in Waziristan, where they are well established and heavily armed.

Two intelligence officials said the army had been firing artillery shells at militant positions in the region since last night. They said the army took the action after the Taliban fired around 60 rockets and mortar shells at army posts and a main base in Razmak. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

It was unclear if there were any casualties in the exchanges.

Meanwhile, a suicide car bomber attacked a vehicle in Baka Khel, which lies close to Waziristan.

Five people were killed, including Maulvi Abdul Hakim, a tribal leader who was instrumental in allowing security forces to pass through the area and gain access to the North Waziristan tribal region, a paramilitary official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to media. Police officer Iqbal Marwat put the death toll at four.

Also yesterday, one Pakistani soldier was killed and seven others critically wounded in a militant rocket attack on an army camp in the northwest, two intelligence officials said on condition of anonymity, citing policy. The military responded by firing heavy artillery on the Razmak, Ladha and Makeen areas, killing 18 insurgents, they said.

Media access to region is severely restricted, making it nearly impossible to independently verify official accounts.

Pakistan's efforts to fight the insurgency have met with Taliban retaliation. On Saturday, 22 people were killed in the northwest not far from the tribal belt, including 11 in Peshawar, the region's main city.

The two attacks came just days after the Taliban warned of increasing suicide attacks.

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Pakistan Airforce: The largest distributor of Indian airforce parts in Asia



Pathankot Strike
8 F-86Fs of No 19 Squadron led by Squadron Leader Sajjad Haider struck Pathankot airfield. With carefully positioned dives and selecting each individual aircraft in their protected pens for their strafing attacks, the strike elements completed a textbook operation against Pathankot. Wing Commander M G Tawab, flying one of the two Sabres as tied escorts overhead, counted 14 wrecks burning on the airfield. Among the aircraft destroyed on the ground were nearly all of the IAFs Soviet-supplied Mig-21s till then received, none of which were seen again during the War.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFHlzP69n9c

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