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Sunday, October 18, 2009

Taliban fighters resist Pakistani assault


Pakistan's army said Sunday it has killed 60 "terrorists" as it battles to wrest control of part of the country from the Taliban. Five soldiers were killed in the last 24 hours of the assault, the military said. But the Taliban claimed they had killed 68 Pakistani security forces in the last day. Pakistani Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq told CNN by phone that only one Taliban fighter had been killed and three injured in that time. He said the Taliban had killed the Pakistani troops with roadside bombs and in combat. He said the anti-government forces had "huge quantities" of weapons "which we got during the war against Russia and it is sufficient for us for many years," he said, presumably referring to the Soviet Union's 1979-1989 occupation of Afghanistan. Pakistani troops launched the massive ground offensive backed by air power this weekend in South Waziristan, a refuge and a power base for insurgents operating in Pakistan and along the Pakistani-Afghan border. The highly anticipated offensive comes after a wave of suicide attacks in Pakistan. It has prompted the exodus of tens of thousands of civilians, the U.N. refugee agency said. Pakistan said it was not targeting civilians. "In some areas, people (including women) raised white flags; they were left off after search," Pakistan said in a statement.

Revolutionary Guard commanders killed in Iran bomb


A suicide bomber blew himself up at a meeting of the elite Revolutionary Guards in southeastern Iran Sunday, killing at least 30 people including top commanders and tribal leaders, a senior official said. The attack took place in the city of Pisheen near the border with Pakistan in Sistan-Baluchestan province, which hosts a substantial Sunni population, local news agencies said. Iran's parliament speaker said the United States was behind the attack while the Guards accused Western powers of carrying out the assault, the deadliest against them since a bombing in February 2007 in the same province killed 13 people. "Based on the latest information... between 30 to 35 people, including military officers, tribal leaders and local citizens, have been martyred in the attack," Mohammad Marziah, chief prosecutor in the Sistan-Baluchestan provincial capital Zahedan, was quoted as saying by ISNA news agency. Marziah said Abdolmalek Rigi, leader of the shadowy Jundallah (Soldiers of God) Sunni group, had claimed responsibility for the attack. Fars news agency said the bomber struck when Guard officers were meeting local leaders of the Shiite and Sunni communities. Some local tribal chiefs were among the dead, media reports said. "In this terrorist act, General Nur-Ali Shushtari, deputy commander of the Revolutionary Guards ground forces, General Mohammad-Zadeh, commander of the Revolutionary Guards in Sistan-Baluchestan province, the Guards' commander for the town of Iranshahr and the commander of the Amir al-Momenin unit died," Fars said.

The Dangers of Pakistan’s Defeat



The ongoing war between the Pakistani army and the Taliban movement is no ordinary war, and the army’s victory there will not be easy. It is a complex war in which elements of internal fragmentation in Pakistan’s political makeup intertwine with the Taliban resuming their activity in a bloodier and bolder manner, whether in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province or in Pakistan’s Punjab region, this after their leader Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a US raid last August. It is a war in which Pakistani security forces estimate 28 thousand of their soldiers are participating, at a time when reports indicate that the Taliban force in Pakistan reaches up to ten thousand men. In addition, there is the interpenetration and impact of this war on US strategy, which considers any blow against the security situation in Pakistan tantamount to the complete obliteration of its efforts to confront the Taliban in Afghanistan. This explains President Barack Obama ratifying a law that allows spending seven and a half billion dollars on aid to Pakistan over the next five years, to be added to the enormous amounts which the Afghan adventure now costs Washington, which is estimated to be spending 65 billion dollars on this war in the coming year 2010. Following up on the attacks waged by the Taliban movement in the past two weeks against highly fortified army and police locations in Pakistan does not only indicate the movement’s desire to prove its capability and the fact that it remains effective under its new young leader Hakimullah Meshud (31 years old). It also indicates something more dangerous: the possibility that this extremist movement, which enjoys strong ties with Pashtun clans, has infiltrated the Pakistani army, which in the view of observers would explain how members of the movements managed to enter major strongholds, such as for instance army command headquarters in Rawalpindi a week ago, holding two members of the military prisoner inside. The rising intensity of these attacks comes at a time when the leadership of the Pakistani army is announcing that it plans to wage a campaign against Pakistani Taliban sites in the region of Southern Waziristan. All of this is taking place before the very eyes of the US Administration, which is looking for a solution to its Afghan predicament. Indeed, the collapse of the security situation within its closest ally, Islamabad, is of no help to the internal battle waged by Obama against his military commanders, his Republican opponents, and some of the leaders of his own Democratic party as well, over increasing the US’s military involvement in Afghanistan. Added to this of course is the issue of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons and the extent to which the authorities in this country can guarantee that none of them will fall into the hands of a terrorist organization the likes of Al-Qaeda or of extremist Islamist groups in Pakistan, who consider these weapons to be an asset that can be used in the conflict with their Indian adversaries. Perhaps these weapons are the object of dire concern for the Obama Administration, in addition to concerns over Afghanistan, and thus it does not tire of repeating that it requires assurances that these weapons are out of the reach of those capable of misusing them. The most recent of such assertions is what Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the media a few days ago, which is that Washington is confident that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons are in safe hands. Asif Zardari’s government would be unable to bear any defeat in the face of the extremism spreading within Pakistan, whether it is the political extremism represented by his rivals in the Jamaat-e-Islami party on the inside, or the extremism of the Taliban, expressed through their open war against the state’s security and political apparatus, accused of allying itself with Washington against the movement. It is true that Pakistani intelligence played a significant role in supporting the Taliban after they took power on the other side of the border, but the movement’s violent and mounting activity today within Pakistan no longer threatens a particular government, but represents a threat to the survival of the country and to the protection of its institutions and its regional and foreign relations. This reveals the dangerous nature of the ongoing war between the Taliban and Pakistan.

30 militants killed so far in South Waziristan operation


More than 30,000 soldiers launched a ground offensive last night against the militants in South Waziristan in which security forces killed 30 militants on Saturday, Dunya News reported. Army spokesman has said that this operation will also be successful like Swat. According to sources, 11 militants were killed and 8 injured in Gundsar area while jet planes hit the hideouts of militants in Makeen, Sarokai, Tayarzah, Nawazkot and Barond in which militants faced heavy losses of lives. During a media briefing in Islamabad, Pak Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said that entry and exit routs of South Waziristan were closed before the start of ground offensive. He said that militants from Mehsud tribes are involved in more than 80 percent attacks in the country. They said that South Warizistan operation will continue till the eradication all militants. He said that there are 1,200 to 1,500 foreign militants in South Waziristan. Most of the militants are Uzbeks, he revealed. He said that Malakand-like strategy would be used against the militants in Waziristan. Almost 30,000 families have fled the South Waziristan so far due to operation.

‘Pentagon closely monitoring Pakistan situation’



The Defense Department is closely monitoring the situation in Pakistan, following a series of terrorist attacks there that have killed or injured scores of innocent people, a senior Pentagon spokesman said. Responding to a reporter’s query, Bryan Whitman said he could not provide an analysis of the attacks in Pakistan at this time. However, he said, senior US officials are alert to the recent violence in Pakistan and ‘are watching the situation closely.’ Such terrorist violence is troublesome and tragic because innocent civilians are dying, he said, according to Pentagon Press service. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s government remains resolved to fight and defeat the terrorists, Whitman said, adding that Pentagon officials are ‘encouraged by their efforts.’ The latest attack occurred Friday when a suicide car bomber attacked a police station in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, according to news reports. The explosion reportedly killed 13 people, including three police, a woman and a child, and injured 10 other people. On Thursday, militants attacked three Pakistani security agency buildings, including the Federal Investigation Agency headquarters and two police training centers, in Lahore. A suicide car bomber also struck in the northwestern city of Kohat, and there was a reported bombing in Quetta in the southwest of the country. News reports cited at least 30 Pakistani police and civilian deaths as a result of the attacks. The Pakistani Taliban reportedly took responsibility for Thursday’s attacks on the Federal Investigation Agency and police training centers in Lahore. The US State Department expressed solidarity with Pakistan on Thursday, pledged continued support for the country. The US Embassy in Islamabad also issued the condemnation of the attacks An Oct 11 attack on Pakistan’s army headquarters in Rawalpindi outside Islamabad reportedly killed 11 Pakistani troops and three civilians. Nine terrorists were reportedly killed. Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called Pakistan Army Chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani following the Rawalpindi attack to express personal condolences for those killed, while emphasizing continued US support, according to Pentagon Press service.

London denies UK Muslim spy charge



The British government has denied that a programme for tackling religious extremism is used by its security agencies to spy on Muslim communities. In a statement released on Saturday, the Home Office said its $230m Preventing Violent Extremism strategy did not engage in covert intelligence-gathering on potential terrorists. "Any suggestion that Prevent is about spying is simply wrong," the Home Office said. "Prevent is about working with communities to protect vulnerable individuals and address the root causes of radicalisation." Launched in 2006, the programme's mission was to fund projects aimed at rejecting extremist ideology and employing youth workers and teachers to help young Muslims deemed vulnerable to radical organisations. But in a critical report, the Institute of Race Relations claimed the programme has, in effect, established "one of the most elaborate systems of surveillance ever seen in Britain".