Pakistani Army Launches Major Offensive Near The Afghan Border

Pakistani Army Launches Offensive Near Afghan Border -- Reuters

(Reuters) - Residents of Pakistan's ethnic Pashtun region of North Waziristan accused government troops on Monday of killing dozens of civilians during a military operation against Taliban insurgents.

The operation started just after a December 18 suicide bomb attack on a checkpoint in North Waziristan, a stronghold for al Qaeda-linked Taliban militants on Pakistan's mountainous border with Afghanistan.

Speculation that the army might launch a major offensive in the frontier tribal areas has been building as the government's attempts to engage the Pakistani Taliban in peace talks have floundered in recent months.

Military officials said more than 30 militants, most of them ethnic Uzbeks, had been killed in the operation.

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More News On The Pakistani Army Launching A Major Offensive Near The Afghan Border

Pakistani Army Launches Offensive Near Afghan Border -- Voice of America
Pakistani military, Taliban clash in North Waziristan after suicide attack -- Long War Journal
Pakistanis Accuse Army Of Killing Civilians During Offensive -- Radio Free Europe
Over 50 killed in fighting in Pakistan's North Waziristan region -- Indian Express

Heavy Fighting Reported In Pakistan's North Waziristan Tribal Region

Pakistan: 33 Islamist Insurgents Killed in Clashes -- Voice of America

Pakistani officials say security forces have killed at least 33 Islamist insurgents during clashes in the North Waziristan tribal region bordering Afghanistan, while residents say many civilians were among the dead.

The fighting in North Waziristan erupted early Thursday, hours after a suicide bomber struck a major military base in the area, killing five soldiers and wounding at least 25 others.

Army officials say after the blast, a rescue effort was under way to recover wounded soldiers when a convoy came under attack in the town of Mir Ali.

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More News On Heavy Fighting Reported In Pakistan's North Waziristan Tribal Region

Pakistanis denounce army operation in northwest -- Gulf News/AP
Residents Say Scores Of Civilians Killed In Pakistan's North Waziristan -- Radio Free Europe
Pakistani Army Accused of Waziristan Killings of Civilians -- Wall Street Journal
33 militants killed in NWA clashes, shelling -- International News
Retaliatory operation: Security forces kill 33 militants in North Waziristan -- Express Tribune
'Heavy fighting' in Pakistan's North Waziristan -- BBC
Pakistani security forces say they killed 23 militants in tribal area -- CNN

Taliban Rule Pakistan's 'Valley Of Death'

Click map for full view. Taliban presence, by district and tribal agency, the Northwest Frontier Province and the Federally Administered Tribal Agencies. Information on Taliban presence obtained from open source and derived by The Long War Journal based on the presence of Taliban shadow governments, levels of fighting, and reports from the region. Map created by Bill Raymond for The Long War Journal.

From The Long War Journal:

The Pakistani government has promised to restore its writ in the Taliban-controlled settled district of Swat in the insurgency-infested Northwest Frontier Province.

Swat, once renowned as Pakistan's vacation paradise that has been described as the Switzerland of South Asia, is now referred to as the "valley of death" by the fearful Pakistanis still living there. The district has become the model Taliban police state. The Taliban have full control of the district and have implemented their austere version of sharia, or Islamic law.

The Taliban consolidated control in Swat over the past several months after nearly two years of fighting. Led by Mullah Fazlullah, the Taliban have defeated the Army, destroyed the police force, established a shadow government, and imposed sharia.

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My Comment: An excellent post (again) from the Long War Journal. A must read article that details the failure of Pakistan in its war against the Taliban.

Fighting Continues In Mohmand: Pakistan

From Long War Journal:

The Pakistani paramilitary Frontier Corps claimed 48 Taliban fighters were killed yesterday during heavy fighting in the Taliban-controlled tribal agency of Mohmand.

The military fired artillery and conducted helicopter strikes against Taliban positions in the mountains the day after the Taliban launched a major assault on a military compound in Mohmand. Heavy fighting was reported in the regions close to the Afghan border, Frontier Corps told the media.

More troops are being rushed to the region, according to reports. “Additional soldiers and equipment, including tanks and armored personnel carriers (APCs), arrived at a military camp in Ghalanai,” Daily Times reported.

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At Least Eight Dead In Strike On Northwest Pakistan

From Yahoo News/AFP:

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) – Twin suspected US missile strikes Monday on a tribal area in northwest Pakistan known as a hub of Taliban and Al-Qaeda activity killed at least eight militants, officials said.

The strikes were the latest on extremists in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan -- all said to have been launched by unmanned CIA aircraft -- that have raised tensions between Washington and Islamabad.

Two missiles "fired by US drones" struck the villages of Karikot and Shin Warsak in troubled South Waziristan, a senior security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

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US Predator hits Taliban Safe House In North Waziristan, Kills 4

From The Long War Journal:

The US has struck in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal areas for the first time in a week, according to reports from the region.

The Predator fired two Hellfire missiles at a Taliban safe house in North Waziristan. The strike took place in a town outside of Mir Ali, Reuters reported.

At least four people have been reported killed, and "many" more were wounded, Geo News reported." aliban militants immediately surrounded the house and did not allow locals to come near the site, witnesses said." No senior Taliban or al Qaeda leaders have been reported killed in the attack at this time.

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Pakistan Kills Up To 30 Militants In Airstrike

From Yahoo News/Reuters:

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – Pakistan killed up to 30 Islamist militants in an air strike and three soldiers and a civilian were killed in a suicide attack in the northwest near the Afghan border Wednesday, officials said.

The air raid on a militant hideout in Mohmand tribal region came hours after a suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden car into a military convoy in nearby Shabqadar town.

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The Tribal Fallacy

The Atlantic:

Why the counterinsurgency tactics that seem to have worked so well in Iraq could backfire in Pakistan

Last year, in the town of Dera Ismail Khan, near South Waziristan, a Pakistani friend of mine joined a gang—a “peace force,” he called it, but it sounded like a gang to me. The Taliban, flushed from Afghanistan into Pakistan's tribal areas, had begun to spread out of the tribal areas, and to terrorize residents and attack police stations in places like Dera Ismail Khan. Until gangs (or lashkars) like my friend’s formed, not even the police dared to stand against the Taliban. Now, just a year later, posses and tribal militias are the backbone of Pakistan’s aggressive new counterinsurgency campaign. The use of the lashkars hopes to mimic the Anbar Awakening in Iraq, where Sunni tribes left the insurgency and banded together with the U.S. military to drive out al-Qaeda. But will feuding gangs accomplish American security goals, or create even nastier problems down the road?

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My Comment: This article examines the tribal intricacies of Pakistani alliances and conflicts in the Tribal Areas .... a must read article for those who are following this conflict closely.

War Updates In Pakistan's Tribal Regions

The army says it has captured dozens of militants like these

Pakistan Villagers Taking On The Taleban -- BBC

The BBC's Barbara Plett travels to Bajaur where the Pakistani army is encouraging villagers to stand up to Taleban fighters.

Helicopter gun ships swoop overhead, preparing to attack.

The sound of heavy gunfire echoes around us as we venture out from the military base in Bajaur, a Pakistani tribal area along the Afghan border.

The army has brought a group of journalists to this latest front line in its war against militants linked to the Taleban and al-Qaeda.

The soldiers take us to Tang Katha, a village of mud brick houses with walls three feet thick.

It's a maze of narrow passageways and enclosed courtyards. We're told this was a stronghold from where militants launched ambushes on the army. Troops had to fight house to house to win it back.

Bajaur is a crucial hub for insurgents. It has access routes to Afghanistan and the rest of Pakistan and the Taleban knows its worth.

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More News On Pakistan's Tribal Regions

Pakistani tribesmen kill 13 Taliban militants: officials -- AFP
Pakistani Officials: US Drone Strike Kills at Least 4 -- Voice Of America
‘Pakistan turns to tribal militias to combat Taliban’ -- Daily Times
Pakistani Refugees Pour Into Afghanistan -- New York Times
Pakistan Turns to Tribal Militias -- Wall Street Journal
Pakistan 'kills 1,000 militants' -- BBC News

Pakistan: 300,000 Flee As Jihadis Attacked

From News.com (Australia)

A human tide of more than 300,000 civilians has fled the al-Qaeda badlands, amid indications that the fighting there has reached unprecedented levels, with the Pakistani army using massive firepower to attack jihadi militant strongholds.

Helicopter gunships, fixed-wing strike aircraft, tanks and heavy artillery have been used in the onslaught that follows the visit last month by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to Washington, where he was berated for Pakistan's failure to wipe out the militants.

The offensive runs counter to perceptions that Pakistan's new civilian Government is "soft" on Islamic extremism, The Australian reports.

This will reassure Washington, whose ally in the war in terror for the past nine years, President Pervez Musharraf, was given by the Coalition Government until midnight last night (4am today AEST) to resign or face impeachment proceedings beginning tonight in the National Assembly.

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Update: Pakistan’s Awakening Is Growing As Local Tribes Ally With Government And Hunt Down Militants - Strata-Sphere

My Comment: This story is huge, but only a few news services are carrying this breaking story. This is also the region that many believe Osama Bin Laden is hiding.

Heavy Fighting In The Tribal Regions Of Pakistan

Pakistan Says 460 Militants, 22 Troops Killed In Fighting-- Yahoo News/AFP

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) - Pakistan's interior ministry chief said Friday that over 460 Islamic militants and 22 soldiers have been killed in more than a week of fighting in a tribal area bordering Afghanistan.

More than 3,000 armed militants, most of them foreigners, are taking part in the clashes in the troubled Bajaur tribal region, said Rehman Malik, the prime minister's advisor on interior matters.

Pakistan sent security forces backed by helicopter gunships and fighter jets into Bajaur last week amid intense pressure from the United States to curb militants launching attacks in Afghanistan.

"Extremists wanted to establish their hold in Bajaur and the government had to take action," Malik told a news conference in the northwestern city of Peshawar.

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More News On Pakistan's Tribal Regions

Official: 460 militants, 22 troops die in Pakistan -- Yahoo News/AP
460 Insurgents Killed in 10 Days of Pakistan Fighting -- FOX News
Taliban, Pakistan Army Battle Over Swat Valley -- NPR
Taliban leader in Bajaur rumored killed in Pakistani strikes -- Long War Journal
al-Qaeda Fighting Alongside Taliban In Bajaur, May Indicate A Prime al-Qaeda Enclave Has Been Discovered -- Strata-Shere
Exodus In Mohmand Agency Might Indicate al-Qaeda Presence -- Strata-Sphere
Violence in NW Pakistan triggers exodus -- Reuters
Thousands flee Pakistan tribal belt -- MWC News
Taliban, Al Qaeda Unchecked in Pakistan -- Washington Independent
Al-Qaeda Said to Use Regional Strife to Tighten Grip in Pakistan -- Washington Post
Pakistan's Musharraf to resign as president: reports -- Yahoo News/Reuters
Pakistan rupee falls to new low -- BBC News

My Comment: Judging by the heavy fighting and a large body count (so they say) of foreign fighters, this area must be a crucial and important area for Al Qaeda. The fact that the civilian population is now fleeing out of the region will make targeting these individuals easier. Last month's visit to Washington by the new Pakistan PM is now producing dividends. More importantly there is now a recognition from the Pak Gov't that the Al Qaeda and Taliban groups who are in this region are a strategic threat to Pakistan..

Will the Pakistani Army keep up with this intensity of attack .... I guess we will know in the next few weeks.

U.S. Forces Are Preparing To Strike Into Pakistan

Pakistani Army Troops Move Towards Pakistan's Tribal Region Of Waziristan

From Strata-Sphere:

In an update to a post I did yesterday on what appears to be a ramping up of operations targeted at the Islamist extremists in the Pakistan Tribal region there are today reports of increased Predator and UAV operations in the area:

Pilotless U.S. drones armed with missiles have stepped up patrols over Pashtun villages on the Afghan-Pakistan border, hunting for Taliban and al Qaeda militants and fraying nerves below.

Pashtun villagers living on the frontier call them “buzzers”, and the aircraft have increasingly taken to the skies, causing sleepless nights and occasionally raining down death.

Read more .....

More News On Pakistan's Tribal Regions

"More than 100 terror camps" in operation in northwestern Pakistan -- Long War Journal
Deadly U.S. "buzzers" fray nerves in Pakistan -- Yahoo News
U.S. air strike injures 11 in Pakistan's tribal region -- China View
US military in Pakistan warning -- BBC News
Hot Pursuit Into Pakistan? -- Investors Business Daily
Shift in US strategy: Fata operation, hot pursuit feared -- Dawn The Internet
Our Security Muddle -- Opinion: International The News
Pakistani Military Drive Avoids Targeting Taliban -- Memri
Pakistan tells U.S. it is fighting militants -- Reuters
NEFA Foundation Report: "Jihad Networks in Pakistan and Their Influence in Europe" -- Counter Terrorism Blog

My Comment: Pakistan has failed to keep its end of the bargain when it comes to controlling the Taliban in its border regions. As a result, many are now making the argument that Pakistan is not only not helping us, but are in fact openly supporting the Taliban.

This failure to respond to what is an obvious threat to the region will result in U.S. military action. The scope and extent of this action will be determined probably in the next few days/weeks.