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Pakistan kills 80 in assault on Taliban
Story Highlights
Pakistani security forces kill at least 80 militants in country's tribal region

Pakistani army has been waging a week-long crackdown on Taliban

Three soldiers killed, eight wounded in crackdown in northwest of country
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistani armed forces have killed 80 militants since launching an assault on a region recently held by the Taliban, the military announced Sunday.

Three soldiers have been killed and eight wounded in the crackdown in the Buner district in the northwest of the country, the military statement said.

The Pakistani offensive started in the province last Sunday, after Taliban militants moved into Buner, a move that alarmed U.S. and Pakistani officials.

Pakistani security forces also killed at least 16 militants late Friday and early Saturday in the Mohmand district, in the country's volatile tribal region, the country's military said on Saturday.

The incident appears to be separate from the hostilities in Buner.

However, it reflects the tensions in the region and could signal a spread of fighting resulting from the crackdown.

In the incident, about 100 militants attacked a Frontier Corps post in the Mohmand Agency, or district, an area where militants hold great sway. Troops returned fire and killed the 16 militants, the military said.

Mohmand is in the country's Federally Administered Tribal Areas that border a volatile region in war-torn Afghanistan and Pakistan's North West Frontier Province.

Earlier this year, Pakistan had entered into an agreement with militants, allowing them to enforce Islamic law, or sharia, in parts of Swat Valley in exchange for ceasing violence. The Swat Valley is a broader area that includes several provincial districts, including Chitral, Swat, Shangla, Malakand, Upper Dir, and Lower Dir.

But Pakistani officials say the armed militants' advance into Buner district violated the agreement and briefly halted peace talks between the two sides in North West Frontier Province...

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Originally posted by popsiq:
How long has the tribal regions 'war' been going on now, 10-12 years?

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The Taliban Tightens Hold In Pakistan's Swat Region

++http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/04/AR2009050400189.html

By Pamela ConstableWashington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, May 4 -- Taliban forces tightened their grip on Pakistan's Swat region Monday and continued resisting the military's efforts to dislodge them from neighboring Buner, bringing a fragile peace accord closer to collapse and the volatile northwest region nearer to full-fledged conflict.
Yet even as the Taliban continued its rampage and rejected the government's latest concession to its demands -- the appointment of Islamic-law judges in Swat -- Pakistan's military leaders clung to hopes for a nonviolent solution, saying that security forces were "still exercising restraint to honor the peace agreement."

Behind this strained hope for a peaceful solution lie an array of factors -- competing military priorities, reluctance to fight fellow Muslims, lack of strong executive leadership and some internal sympathy for the insurgents -- that analysts say have long prevented the Pakistani army from making a full-fledged assault on violent Islamist groups.
Over the past two days, extremists in the northwest have attacked a military convoy, beheaded two soldiers, imposed a curfew and blown up a boys' high school and a police station. Troop reinforcements were sent into Buner on Monday after heavy fighting, and there were reports that the army would imminently launch an attack on Swat, an action that could coincide with a crucial aid-seeking visit to Washington this week by President Asif Ali Zardari, whose government has been criticized by U.S. officials for capitulating to the insurgents...

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Originally posted by Bladensburg:

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Originally posted by popsiq:
How long has the tribal regions 'war' been going on now, 10-12 years?

Ha, you could just as easily say 100 -120 or 1000 - 1200 years. The NW Frontier has never been stable no matter who has run what is now called Pakistan.

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Originally posted by popsiq:

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Originally posted by Bladensburg:

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Originally posted by popsiq:
How long has the tribal regions 'war' been going on now, 10-12 years?

Ha, you could just as easily say 100 -120 or 1000 - 1200 years. The NW Frontier has never been stable no matter who has run what is now called Pakistan.

Genghiz Khan and the Moghuls managed to keep a lid on the place for 3 or 4 centuries.

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Originally posted by popsiq:
How long has the tribal regions 'war' been going on now, 10-12 years? The Paks have been up and down the punitive expedition route many times, to date without a permanent result.

They've 'taken and held' territory, but as soon as the main forces are posted elsewhere, the locals start destroying the 'infrastructure'. What, thus far, has caused the main force to be posted elsewhere has been a degenerating security situation in urban centres.

Let's see if that's what happens again this round.

All they're really accomplishing is a spreading mass of refugees, well-salted with fighters. Short-term gain ,for long term pain.

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Originally posted by Ol_Doc:

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Originally posted by popsiq:
How long has the tribal regions 'war' been going on now, 10-12 years? The Paks have been up and down the punitive expedition route many times, to date without a permanent result.

They've 'taken and held' territory, but as soon as the main forces are posted elsewhere, the locals start destroying the 'infrastructure'. What, thus far, has caused the main force to be posted elsewhere has been a degenerating security situation in urban centres.

Let's see if that's what happens again this round.

All they're really accomplishing is a spreading mass of refugees, well-salted with fighters. Short-term gain ,for long term pain.

Admittedly it is an unstable region, has been for a very long time. The problem is the world can't just ignore P-stan anymore. What do you suppose would "be accomplished" should the Taliban gain control of the Government and it's nuclear weapons?

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Pakistan moves against Swat militants, civilians flee
Reuters

By Junaid Khan Junaid Khan – Fri May 8, 11:22 am ET
MINGORA, Pakistan (Reuters) – Pakistani forces attacked Taliban militants in the Swat valley on Friday as concern grew about the fate of nearly a million people displaced by an upsurge in violence.

The military said 143 militants had been killed in the Islamist bastion of Swat over the past 24 hours. There was no independent confirmation. Seven soldiers had been killed, an army spokesman said.

The struggle in the scenic northwestern valley 130 km (80 miles) from Islamabad and a former center for tourism has become a test of Pakistan's resolve to fight a growing Taliban insurgency that has alarmed the United States.

Civilians have poured out of the valley since fighting intensified on Wednesday and aid groups have warned of an intensifying humanitarian crisis. The U.N. refugee agency said a "massive displacement" was underway. Citing provincial government estimates, it said up to 200,000 people had left their homes over recent days with another 300,000 on the move or about to move.

They are joining another 555,000 people displaced in other areas because of fighting since August, it said.

The government has ordered the army to strike at "militants and terrorists" it said were trying to hold the country hostage at gunpoint.

(...)

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Agence France-Presse - 5/9/2009 3:45 PM GMT
Taliban 'on the run' after Pakistan offensive
Pakistan's military said on Saturday that a full-scale offensive in the northwest has put militants on the back foot following a pledge from President Asif Ali Zardari to eliminate the Taliban.

Warplanes pounded rebel hideouts in the Swat valley, an ex-ski resort where up to 15,000 security forces have been deployed under orders to crush extremists in an escalating conflict that has displaced hundreds of thousands.

(...)


But the statement added that Taliban fighters were "trying to block the exodus of innocent civilians by preventing their departure through coercion, IEDs (improvised explosive devices), road blocks with trees and even (making them) hostages".

Meanwhile a suspected US drone fired missiles at a compound used by militants in South Waziristan tribal district bordering Afghanistan, killing six militants and injuring 10 others, officials said.

The military said Friday an air and ground offensive to crush the Taliban in the northwest killed more than 140 militants.

It was impossible to confirm the death tolls independently, given ongoing operations across three districts which began late last month when the hardline insurgents advanced to within 100 kilometres (60 miles) of Islamabad.

Meanwhile, fresh troops were entering the Malakand district which neighbours Swat valley, a local military official told AFP.

(...)

The offensive was launched after Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani late Thursday appealed for unity against extremists whom he said were risking the sovereignty of the nuclear-armed nation and violated the peace deal.

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By ZARAR KHAN, Associated Press Writer Zarar Khan, Associated Press Writer – 21 mins ago
ISLAMABAD – Pakistani troops killed 80 militants and drove the Taliban from a major urban stronghold on Wednesday, the army said, as U.S. military planes brought aid for refugees fleeing fierce fighting across the northwest.
One soldier was killed and nine seriously wounded as troops battled insurgents still holding several other towns in the neighboring Swat Valley, a military spokesman said.

Pakistani troops launched an offensive last month after Taliban militants based in Swat pushed into Buner, bringing them within 60 miles (100 kilometers) of the capital of Islamabad and prompting intense U.S. pressure for a stiff response.

(...)

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced Tuesday that Washington would provide $110 million in immediate humanitarian assistance to Pakistan.

As part of that effort, two American military planes touched down on Wednesday at an air base near Islamabad laden with supplies including air-conditioned tents and 120,000 pre-packed meals, the U.S. Embassy said...

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Military retakes largest town in Swat Valley

By ROHAN SULLIVAN, Associated Press Writer Rohan Sullivan, Associated Press Writer – 1 min ago
ISLAMABAD – Pakistani troops have retaken the largest town in the Swat Valley from the Taliban as the army presses its offensive against militants in the country's northwest, the army spokesman said Saturday.

Government forces had full control of Mingora, though they were still meeting pockets of resistance from fighters on the outskirts of the town, Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said.

Abbas said many militants had fled the town instead of confronting troops in a final battle, despite the military saying earlier that escape routes had been closed.

"They had prepared Mingora city ... with bunkers, but when they realized that they were being encircled and the noose was tightening they decided not to give a pitched battle," Abbas said.

The military launched a major offensive one month ago in the Swat Valley and neighboring areas to oust Taliban militants who were extending their control over the northwestern region, near the border with Afghanistan.

The campaign is strongly backed by Washington and the government's other Western allies...

(...)

The fighting has caused more than 2 million people to flee the region, raising fears of a humanitarian crisis. More than 160,000 people are taking refuge in sweltering refugee camps south of the battle zone, while the rest are staying with relatives or relying on goodwill from local residents.

(...)

Abbas said on Saturday that 1,217 militants have been killed in the Swat offensive and 79 arrested; 81 soldiers have died. The military has not released civilian casualties and has said all care has been taken to minimize them.

(...)

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Originally posted by Canuck_Centaur:
So is the end of this campaign within sight?

++http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090530/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan

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Military retakes largest town in Swat Valley

By ROHAN SULLIVAN, Associated Press Writer Rohan Sullivan, Associated Press Writer – 1 min ago
ISLAMABAD – Pakistani troops have retaken the largest town in the Swat Valley from the Taliban as the army presses its offensive against militants in the country's northwest, the army spokesman said Saturday.

Government forces had full control of Mingora, though they were still meeting pockets of resistance from fighters on the outskirts of the town, Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said.

Abbas said many militants had fled the town instead of confronting troops in a final battle, despite the military saying earlier that escape routes had been closed.

"They had prepared Mingora city ... with bunkers, but when they realized that they were being encircled and the noose was tightening they decided not to give a pitched battle," Abbas said.

The military launched a major offensive one month ago in the Swat Valley and neighboring areas to oust Taliban militants who were extending their control over the northwestern region, near the border with Afghanistan.

The campaign is strongly backed by Washington and the government's other Western allies...

(...)

The fighting has caused more than 2 million people to flee the region, raising fears of a humanitarian crisis. More than 160,000 people are taking refuge in sweltering refugee camps south of the battle zone, while the rest are staying with relatives or relying on goodwill from local residents.

(...)

Abbas said on Saturday that 1,217 militants have been killed in the Swat offensive and 79 arrested; 81 soldiers have died. The military has not released civilian casualties and has said all care has been taken to minimize them.

(...)

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Pakistanis avenge mosque blast, attack Taliban
Associated Press Writer Asif Shahzad, Associated Press Writer – 49 mins ago
ISLAMABAD – Hundreds of Pakistanis banded together and attacked Taliban strongholds in a troubled northwestern region, killing 11 militants, to avenge a deadly suicide bombing at a local mosque, officials said Sunday.

The incident Saturday underscored a swing in the national mood toward a more anti-Taliban stance — a shift that comes as suicide attacks have surged and the military wages an offensive in the Swat Valley.

Some 400 villagers from the neighboring Upper Dir district, where a suicide bomber killed 33 worshippers at a mosque in the Haya Gai area on Friday, formed a militia and attacked five villages in the nearby Dhok Darra area, said Atif-ur-Rehman, the district coordination officer.

The citizens' militia has occupied three of the villages since Saturday and is trying to push the Taliban out of the other two. Some 20 houses suspected of harboring Taliban were destroyed, he said.

At least 11 militants were killed, said the district police chief, Ejaz Ahmad.

The government has encouraged local citizens to set up militias, known as lashkars, to oust Taliban fighters.
(...)

Ahmad said around 200 militants were putting up stiff resistance in their strongholds surrounded by the villagers. "We will send security forces, maybe artillery too, if the villagers ask for a reinforcement," he added.

The surge in suicide attacks reached Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, on Saturday when a man wearing an explosive-laden jacket attacked a police compound but was shot down before he could enter the main building. Two officers died and six were wounded, police said.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack at the police emergency response center, but it fit with a Taliban threat of strikes in major cities across Pakistan in retaliation for the military's month-old offensive in Swat.

On Sunday, police in the southern city of Karachi said they averted a suicide attack by arresting a would-be bomber allegedly linked to Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud. Several explosives and bomb-laden jackets were found during the raid, which was spurred by a tip, senior police official Javed Bukhari said.

(...)

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Originally posted by popsiq:

quote:

Originally posted by Bladensburg:

quote:

Originally posted by popsiq:
How long has the tribal regions 'war' been going on now, 10-12 years?

Ha, you could just as easily say 100 -120 or 1000 - 1200 years. The NW Frontier has never been stable no matter who has run what is now called Pakistan.

Genghiz Khan and the Moghuls managed to keep a lid on the place for 3 or 4 centuries.