Civil War is being Incited in Pakistan - a new murderous phase begins

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Amid Taliban Rule, a NATO Supply Line Is Choked
RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. and PIR ZUBAIR SHAH, NYTimes


www.uruknet.info?p=49878

Link: www.nytimes.com/2008/12/25/world/asia/25khyber.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss&pag
   ewanted=print


A truck carried supplies for American and NATO troops on a highway east of Kabul, Afghanistan. A portion of this road in Pakistan has been called a deathtrap.


December 24 , 2008



PESHAWAR, Pakistan — This frontier city boasts a major air base and Pakistani Army and paramilitary garrisons. But the 200 Taliban guerrillas were in no rush as they methodically ransacked depots with NATO supplies here two weeks ago.

The militants began by blocking off a long stretch of the main road, giving them plenty of time to burn everything inside, said one guard, Haroon Khan, who was standing next to a row of charred trucks.

After assuring the overmatched guards they would not be killed — if they agreed never to work there again — the militants shouted "God is great" through bullhorns. They then grabbed jerrycans and made several trips to a nearby gas station for fuel, which they dumped on the cargo trucks and Humvees before setting them ablaze.

The attack provided the latest evidence of how extensively militants now rule the critical region east of the Khyber Pass, the narrow cut through the mountains on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border that has been a strategic trade and military gateway since the time of Alexander the Great.

The area encompasses what is officially known as the Khyber Agency, which is adjacent to Peshawar and is one of a handful of lawless tribal districts on the border. But security in Khyber has deteriorated further in recent months with the emergence of a brash young Taliban commander who calls news conferences to thumb his nose at NATO forces, as well as with public fury over deadly missile attacks by American remotely piloted aircraft.

Khyber’s downward spiral is jeopardizing NATO’s most important supply line, sending American military officials scrambling to find alternative routes into Afghanistan through Russia and Central Asia. Three-quarters of troop supplies enter from Pakistan, most of the goods ferried from Karachi to Peshawar and then 40 miles west through the Khyber Pass into Afghanistan.

A half-dozen raids on depots with NATO supplies here have already destroyed 300 cargo trucks and Humvees this month. American officials insist that troop provisions have not suffered, but with predictions that the American deployment in Afghanistan could double next year, to 60,000 soldiers, the pressure to secure safer transportation is even more intense.

For NATO the most serious problem is not even the depots in Peshawar but the safety of the road that winds west to the 3,500-foot Khyber Pass. The route used to be relatively secure: Afridi tribesman were paid by the government to safeguard it, and they were subject to severe penalties and collective tribal punishment for crimes against travelers.

But now the road is a death trap, truckers and some security officials say, with routine attacks like one on Sunday that burned a fuel tanker and another last Friday that killed three drivers returning from Afghanistan.

"The road is so unsafe that even the locals are reluctant to go back to their villages from Peshawar," said Gul Naseem, who lives in Landi Kotal, near the border.

The largest truckers’ association here has gone on strike to protest the lack of security, saying that the job action has sidelined 60 percent of the trucks that normally haul military goods. An American official denied that the drop-off had been that severe.

"Not a single day passes when something doesn’t happen," said Shakir Afridi, leader of the truckers’ group, the Khyber Transport Association. He said at least 25 trucks and six oil tankers were destroyed this month. "Attacks have become a daily affair," he said.

There are new efforts to deter Taliban raids, including convoy escorts by a Pakistani paramilitary group, the Frontier Corps. But now militants are attacking empty — and unguarded — trucks returning to Pakistan. The road from Peshawar to the border has become far more perilous than the route on the other side in Afghanistan, truckers say.

"Our lives are in danger and nobody cares," said Shah Mahmood Afridi, a driver who was in the returning convoy attacked on Friday. "They fired at the trucks and killed three men inside. There is no security provided when we are empty."

Escalating violence on the Khyber road has paralleled the rise of Hakimullah Mehsud, a young Taliban commander and lieutenant of Baitullah Mehsud, leader of the main Pakistani Taliban faction.

Earlier this year, Hakimullah Mehsud’s forces took control of Orakzai Agency and instituted the strict Islamic laws known as Shariah. At a news conference there one month ago, Hakimullah Mehsud declared his intention to intensify attacks on NATO supply convoys. Some security officials say they believe that he was behind the assassination in August of a rival militant leader, Hajji Namdar, in Khyber.

At the same time, another powerful Khyber warlord, Mangal Bagh, who officials say has not been attacking the convoys, has seen the geographic range of his influence narrow somewhat, easing the path for Mr. Mehsud’s authority to expand inside some parts of Khyber. "I have no love for Mangal Bagh, but the fact remains that Mangal Bagh does not do these attacks," said Tariq Hayat, the Khyber political agent, the top government official in the region.

Increased missile attacks by remotely piloted American aircraft — like one that killed seven people in the South Waziristan Agency on Monday — have enraged residents in Khyber and other tribal areas near the border, increasing sympathy for attacks on convoys. Mr. Afridi, of the truckers’ association, condemns the strikes and blames them for increased assaults on his drivers. "We are a tribal people, and if the Americans hit innocent people in Waziristan, we also feel the pain," he said.

Raising the prospect of an even wider threat to the convoys, an influential Islamic party, Jamaat-e-Islami, staged a rally last week in Peshawar, turning out thousands to condemn the missile strikes. The marchers demanded that Pakistan end the NATO convoys, and they vowed to cut the supply lines themselves.

Taliban militants have also moved into Khyber after Pakistani military campaigns in nearby areas like Bajaur Agency. Their migration is reminiscent of a tactic that bedeviled the American military in Iraq for years — dubbed "whack a mole" by combat officers — in which guerrillas eluded large American combat operations and moved to take up positions in areas with understaffed troop contingents.

All those factors have been amplified, in the view of some officials, by the torpor of the Pakistani government. Mahmood Shah, a retired Pakistani Army brigadier who until 2006 was in charge of security in the western tribal regions, said the government had the manpower to drive militants out of Khyber but had mounted only a weak response.

He recounted a recent conversation with a senior Pakistani government official. "You have the chance to wake up," he said he told the official. "But if you don’t wake up now, there is a good chance you won’t wake up at all."

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Bomb kills 30 at Pakistan polling station
Sun Dec 28, 2008 11:37am GMT
 
http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKTRE4BR0F720081228

By Izaz Mohmand

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - At least 30 people were killed in a suicide car bomb blast at a polling station in north-western Pakistan on Sunday, during a by-election for a provincial assembly seat, police said.

"The death toll has reached to 30. It could rise further," Behraman Khan, head of the police station near the Buner town, where the blast took place, told Reuters by telephone. "It was a suicide attack."

Khan said the attacker, who was apparently alone, is believed to have driven the car, parked it in front of the school where the polling station was set up and detonated the explosives while polling was underway.

The attack is the latest in a string of blasts in a region where security forces are battling al Qaeda and Taliban-linked militants who have unleashed a wave of suicide and bomb attacks and target killings in response to operations against them.

Another police official said four children were among the dead and their bodies were mutilated beyond recognition. Khan said around a dozen people were wounded.

The school building where the polling station was set up collapsed after the blast.

The incident took place near Buner, a remote mountainous town in North West Frontier Province and near the Swat Valley where security forces have been fighting militants since last year.

Suspected militants executed three men on suspicion of spying for Pakistani forces and U.S. forces in Afghanistan in the North Waziristan region on the Afghan border, intelligence officials and residents said on Sunday.

Bodies of two of the victims were strung up from a bridge near the town of Mir Ali while the bullet-riddled body of the third man was found near the region's main town, Miranshah.

In Swat, about 34 militants and two soldiers were killed in clashes on Saturday, military officials said. There was no independent verification of the casualty estimate

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Pakistan suspends Afghan supplies
 
There has been a spate of attacks on supplies to Afghanistan

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7804133.stm



Pakistan has blocked a key supply route to US and Nato forces in Afghanistan in order to begin an offensive against militants, officials say.

Troops backed by helicopter gunships and tanks began the operation in the Khyber Pass area early on Tuesday.

There has been a spate of hijackings and attacks on vehicles carrying crucial overland supplies to US and Nato troops fighting the Taleban.

The route from the port city of Karachi is the major source.

About 70%-80% of supplies for international forces in Afghanistan come through Pakistan despite efforts to develop alternative routes.

Drone attacks

The leading administrator in Khyber, Tariq Hayat, said: "Supplies to Nato forces will remain suspended until we clear the area of militants and outlaws who have gone out of control."

Speaking from Peshawar, capital of North West Frontier Province, Mr Hayat said a curfew had been imposed and the main road to the Afghan border was closed.
   

Surprise offensive


The operation was taking place in the Jamrud district, he said, and would continue until the route to Kabul was fully secured.

The military had identified 26 militant sites to target, Mr Hayat said.

He said the local Kukikhel tribe had been found to be harbouring Taleban militants.

The main border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan at Torkham has also been closed.

Mr Hayat said the operation would be extended to other areas of Khyber if necessary.

The BBC's Charles Haviland in Islamabad says attention is now shifting back to the troubles in the Afghan border region, after a month of heightened tensions with India after the attacks on Mumbai.

Since September the Taleban in Pakistan have targeted vehicles carrying supplies for foreign forces in Afghanistan.

They have hijacked lorries, stolen their cargo and kidnapped their drivers.

Some lorry drivers recently suspended organised convoys to Afghanistan due to the worsening security although some supplies did continue under heavy paramilitary guard.

Nato has played down the importance of the supply route, insisting there are others to bring in materiel.

Recently thousands of protesters turned out in Pakistan's city of Peshawar to demand an end to the supply route and to US strikes into Pakistan.

There have been a number of missile attacks by pilotless US drones on targets inside Pakistan, which the government in Islamabad has strongly opposed.

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perhaps for once some good news.................................

Pakistan's spies reined in

By Syed Saleem Shahzad

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/JL25Df01.html

KARACHI - Two major events are likely to mark the beginning of 2009 and decide the new rules of war and peace in the region. In Pakistan, the foremost is curtailing the powerful military dominated intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and the second is the unveiling of a new strategy in Afghanistan.

These two steps have emerged after months of high-level consultations between all the regional players, including the Afghan, Pakistani and Indian political leadership and the Western military establishment. American military officials have gone the
extra mile to set up an incentive package to make these plans successful.

The process of clipping the wings of the ISI, elements of which have sympathies with the Taliban in Afghanistan and militants, could not take place during the rule of former president General Pervez Musharraf, who was succeeded by a civilian government early in the year after nine years of rule.

Moves were made to place the ISI under the civilian authority of the Ministry of Interior, but these were blocked by the military. Still, a few weeks ago the ISI's political cell was shut down, a development announced by Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani.

The next move is to appoint a civilian as director general of the ISI with the aim of eventually reducing the agency to an intelligence wing of the Ministry of Interior, from the grand secret service it was that earned international fame during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s in support of the mujahideen resistance.

The plan has been agreed to by the military leadership, which earlier showed its concern on the question of the handling the external security issues if the ISI worked under the Ministry of Interior. Apparently, the brass were convinced by senior US officials who had a long list of complaints against the ISI for its lack of cooperation in the "war on terror".

The director general of the ISI and top officials, including the chief of the external wing and the chief of the internal security wing, were fired in September on the US's recommendation, but still there was the feeling in Western capitals that the ISI's structure was too complex for it to be "reformed" by the sacking of a few senior officials.

The Mumbai attack on November 26, in which militants linked to Pakistan killed nearly 200 people, further fueled the debate. Eventually, a middle-road approach was adopted by the West in which direct confrontation with the Pakistan army, the main patron of the ISI, was avoided due to its deep links in Afghanistan. As a sweetener, the military was offered better military hardware and help with Pakistan's sinking economy.

Recently, the International Monetary Fund approved a 23-month US$7.6 billion bailout program for Pakistan. "American military officials played a crucial role in this approval," commented the executive director of the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), Dr Farrukh Saleem, to Asia Times Online. "The purpose is to keep pace with Pakistan and its armed forces to ensure maximum cooperation in the 'war on terror'," he added.

An exclusive group called the 909 Intelligence Group has been formed which is working directly under the military command to look exclusively at issues of cross-border intelligence. The group has already taken over the ISI's external operations.

The US was spurred into action by the Mumbai attack to get Pakistan to deal with military sponsored militias and the ISI; the last thing it wanted was a war between Pakistan and India that would derail its plans for a surge next year in Afghanistan against the Taliban.

At one stage the war appeared so unavoidable that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) piled up additional supplies in Afghanistan due to fears of an interruption to its supply lines in the event of an Indian naval blockage of the Arabian Sea. The Indian government gave a 30-day deadline for Pakistan to take action against those responsible for the Mumbai attack or else "all options would be open".

According to strategic sources who spoke to Asia Times Online, India activated three military bases - Rajasthan, Gujarat and Ladakh - but due to extraordinary American intervention and Pakistan's increased cooperation, such as over the ISI, the clouds of war cleared.

Nevertheless, India and the Americans understand that Pakistan's cooperation can only go to a certain level as militants still call the shots in many places, especially in the tribal areas on the border with Afghanistan. Thus Pakistan is being given a little leeway over organizations such as the Jamaatut Dawa, which has been named by the United Nations as a front for a terror organization linked to the Mumbai attack. Jamaatut, which is involved in extensive charity work, will be allowed to continue even though it is officially outlawed.

With all-out war between India and Pakistan now highly unlikely, there is still the possibility of limited surgical strikes by Israeli Predator drones from Indian soil against militant camps in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Israel is present in India due to the killing of some of its citizens in the Mumbai attack and is helping with investigations.

Meanwhile, NATO is looking to protect its supply lines and might have found assistance from Iran, which would reduce its dependence on Pakistan, where supply lines have come under heavy attack.

Non-military supplies, including food and oil, could go from the Iranian port of Chabahar overland to Afghanistan, where a new road in the west of the country has been completed despite an unprecedented number of attacks by the Taliban.

The main challenge, however, is to clear the ring roads up to the capital Kabul, which are at present controlled by the Taliban. This will be crucial in deciding which way the Afghan war theater goes when Pakistani jihadi militias and the Pakistani Taliban are unleashed.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com
 
 
 

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Thursday, January 01, 2009
11:50 Mecca time, 08:50 GMT   
News CENTRAL/S. ASIA
 http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/01/20091174444393245.html
 
Deaths in Pakistan drone attack 
 
 
 
At least five people have been killed when a suspected US drone fired missiles into a tribal area in northwest Pakistan, local officials said.

A security official told the AFP news agency that an unmanned aircraft fired three missiles in the Karikot area of South Waziristan on Thursday.

It was the same spot where eight suspected fighters were killed in a US drone strike 10 days ago.

According to a local government official, one of the missiles hit a vehicle, killing all five people inside who were believed to be pro-Taliban fighters.

He said two other missiles hit a hilltop house that was a known hideout for fighters in the area but was empty at the time of the strike, the official said.

"We rushed out of our homes," Zar Wali, a local resident, told the AFP news agency, saying the powerful explosions caused panic.

US forces based in Afghanistan have carried out about 30 missile strikes in Pakistan in 2008, according to a Reuters tally, more than half since the beginning of September.

Continued battles

A tally of of reports from Pakistani intelligence agents, district government officials and residents claim the raids have killed more than 220 people, including foreign fighters.

In recent months, Pakistani forces and pro-Taliban fighters have been fighting in the Bajaur region on the Afghan border, northeast of South Waziristan, as well as in the Swat Valley.

The government in Islamabad says the US raids violate its sovereignty and undermine its military efforts by inflaming public anger.
 
 Source: Agencies 
 
 
 
 
 

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'Forty held' in Khyber operation
 
The main fighting is in the Jamrud sub-district of Khyber

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7805915.stm


Pakistani forces have arrested 40 people and destroyed suspected militant houses and camps in a key operation in the Khyber region, officials say.

The operation has led to the closure of a crucial overland route carrying supplies to US and Nato troops fighting the Taleban in Afghanistan.

The offensive involves ground troops, helicopters and tanks.

There has been a spate of hijackings and attacks on vehicles carrying supplies into Afghanistan.

Curfew

The top administrator of the Khyber tribal region, Tariq Hayat, told the BBC: "The security forces have arrested at least 40 suspected militants and criminals since Tuesday morning.

"Many of the arrested persons are local Taleban commanders and their sponsors. The forces have destroyed their houses."
   

Pakistan's surprise offensive


Mr Hayat said 18 houses and at least 14 camps of Taleban militants in the region had been destroyed.

The section of the Khyber Pass that passes through the Jamrud sub-district is the most insecure stretch of the road.

Witnesses told the BBC that the security forces were using artillery fire and helicopter gunships to pound suspected militant positions in the Ghundai and Shahkas areas of Jamrud.

The entire sub-district is under curfew.

Local officials said they did not know when the supply route would reopen but hoped it would be soon.

The international forces in Afghanistan have praised the Pakistan offensive despite the fact that the route carries about 75% of their supplies via Karachi.

US military spokesman in Afghanistan, Col Greg Julian, said: "We are glad that they're helping clean out what they call miscreants... Temporary closure is not a problem. It's best that they conduct this operation and clear out these trouble spots."
 
The offensive has closed the supply route to Afghanistan


However there have been reports Nato and the US are trying to find alternative routes through central Asia.

The offensive was a surprise move to many as there had been reports Pakistan was scaling down operations in the north-west to move some troops to the Indian border amid tension over the Mumbai attacks.

Since September the Taleban in Pakistan have targeted vehicles carrying supplies for foreign forces in Afghanistan.

They have hijacked lorries, stolen their cargo and kidnapped their drivers.

Some lorry drivers recently suspended organised convoys to Afghanistan because of the worsening security although some supplies did continue under heavy paramilitary guard.

Recently thousands of protesters turned out in Pakistan's city of Peshawar to demand an end to the supply route

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Swat diary: 'Taleban rule now'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7815082.stm


Militant Taleban sympathisers are fighting for control of Swat


Munir (not his real name), an administrator in the Swat region of north-west Pakistan, describes the challenges of daily life in his valley as the Taleban and the army vie for influence. In recent weeks, he says, the Taleban have gained the upper hand and are making their presence felt in brutal fashion.


I know I always say the situation is terrible. And each time I find myself saying it, I am aware it has got worse.

Over the last five to six days 13 bodies have been found in our area. In Mingora [capital of Swat] bodies are laid out in the square called Green Chowk. Hundreds come and look at the dead bodies.

Sometimes they have been beheaded, sometimes they are just shot.

Over the last few months the number of people killed in my village alone is in double digits. Some of them are villagers, others are frontiers corps and sometimes we see total strangers just lying there.

But recently there was a terrible death in our village. It happened while I was away. It was a prominent man who spoke against the Taleban and tried to unite people against them. He was shot dead.


The deadline of 15 January that the Taleban have set for girls schools to close down is a false deadline. Schools have already closed.
Dozens have been burned to the ground. My two nieces were going to school and now they just stay at home. Nobody dares to educate girls now.

People are very sad about this but they are more sad about the dead bodies. People are really becoming very upset about this problem.

'Beatings'

And the Taleban are taking power, they are going up in the world.

Last night I saw for myself in my village that they had painted on walls signs saying: "Do not smoke" and "do not sell hashish". It is frightening to see these things painted around your home.

In a village close by militants entered people's homes and broke television sets and beat the owners using terrible force on them.

They walk about warning people not to smoke and sell cigarettes or hashish. Some people in our village smoke hashish and opium.

The people who were seen smoking during Ramadan were taken by the Taleban, beaten and their mobiles were broken.

'People leaving'

Most of the Taleban in my area are local villagers, I have come to believe now. Or at least people who were close friends of the Taleban.

Things have changed a lot recently as the Taleban have gained more power in this region. They have guns, weapons, they have got everything. So I think this makes people want to become one of them.

Some people are leaving. My uncle's old home has been occupied by the Taleban. They have total control of his village. Many of the homes there were razed to the ground when the Taleban battled the army - but the Taleban are still there, although many villagers have left.

Here, nobody really fully knows who belongs to the Taleban. The militants are obvious, the sympathisers are not. There is no trust. The issue becomes complicated when reporters come to the district. Nobody is willing to talk to them.

Everyone is scared.

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Four Pakistani security men killed, one wounded in militant attack

Military and Security    1/7/2009 11:46:00 AM
 
http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=1965977&Language=en

ISLAMABAD, Jan 7 (KUNA) -- At least four security personnel were killed and one policeman was wounded in a militant attack on a security checkpost in northern Pakistan on Wednesday, said sources.
Militants attack a checkpost in Doaba area of Hungu town with rockets that put it on fire and completely destroyed it, security sources told KUNA.
Also, they said, four security personnel were killed and one policeman was wounded in the attack.
They added that three policemen were also kidnapped by the militants at gunpoint.
The latest attack on security forces in Hungu town, known for sectarian violence, came amid heavy security measures on the occasion of Muharram month. (end) amn.ema KUNA 071146 Jan 09NNNN

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'Suicide bomber' caught after Lahore blasts

BREAKING

Story Highlights:

At least six people hurt in four explosions in Pakistani city of Lahore, police say

Suspected suicide bomber caught after throwing grenades from roof, police say

Attack occurred in busy district of Pakistan's second largest city



LAHORE, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistani police arrested a suspected suicide bomber Friday after at least six people were injured in a series of explosions in Lahore, Pakistan's second largest city, police told CNN.

At least four explosions occurred around 8.45 p.m. local time in the busy Mall Road district of the city, CNN's Reza Sayah reported, quoting police sources.

He said the suspected suicide bomber was arrested by police as he tried to blow himself up after throwing grenades from a rooftop near the Al-Falah theater.
 

 
 
 
Links referenced within this article


 

 
Find this article at:
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/01/09/pakistan.lahore.explosions/index.html 
 

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Washington loses a vital link
By Syed Saleem Shahzad

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/KA10Df01.html

KARACHI - In line with a compliance list recently handed over by US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia and Central Asia Richard Boucher, Pakistan was was due on Thursday to launch a crackdown against the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET) and other jihadi organizations.

But the operation, which was to be coordinated by the Ministry of Interior, police and the Intelligence Bureau, was halted at the 11th hour by the Pakistani military establishment, well-placed contacts in Pakistan's intelligence quarters have told Asia Times Online.

And instead, powerful National Security Advisor retired Major General Mahmood Durrani was fired. He and other senior government officials had earlier admitted that Ajmal Qasab, the

 

sole survivor of the 10 terrorists who launched a bloody attack on the Indian city of Mumbai on November 27, was Pakistani. The men had already been linked to the LET, a banned group in Pakistan.

Durrani has been a crucial link between the US, the government of Pakistan and the Pakistan military.

The new year began with a fresh initiative in the US-led "war on terror" in terms of which Boucher unfolded a two-prong approach: Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari was to seek reconciliation with India by complying with its demands following the Mumbai attack, and Zardari was to visit Kabul to establish better coordination with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

The head of US Central Command, General David Petraeus, is soon to launch a surge in Afghanistan that will double the number of US troops from 30,000 to 60,000. At the same time, Pakistan's tribal areas, where militants have extensive bases, will become open hunting grounds for Afghan and Pakistan tribal militias backed by joint patrols of the national armies of the two countries, in addition to North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces.

The first segment of the American package concerning India has, however, now been shot down with Durrani's dismissal, throwing into doubt the remaining part. This leaves Zardari's civilian government awkwardly caught between the competing desires of the US and its own military establishment.

A missing linkman
After the exit of former president General Pervez Musharraf and the election of a civilian government early last year, Durrani's role as a go-between became crucial as he tried to balance the pressures on the government.

Durrani had a close rapport with American decision-makers on South Asian affairs and had been involved in backchannel American-sponsored efforts on disputed Kashmir and on Afghanistan. He was for a time Pakistan's ambassador in Washington.

After the Mumbai attack, a move was made to establish a National Intelligence Authority as a counterweight to the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence, which has consistently been accused of dragging its feet in the "war on terror". A Pakistani professor at Harvard, who used to work as Zardari's staff officer and once was in the police service, was suggested to head this new body, but on the military's intervention the scheme was shelved.

Earlier, under US pressure, the Pakistani government had managed to outmaneuver the military by having the Jamaatut Dawa declared by the United Nations a front organization of the LET and having it placed on a terror list, along with the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

This gave the government justification to arrest leaders of the Jamaatut Dawa. However, the military establishment warned that unless India provided evidence against them, they must be released, and the government concurred.

The government then prevaricated, even claiming that leader Masood Azhar was at large and could not be traced anywhere in Pakistan. Neither Washington nor Delhi bought into this, and pressure was exerted for civilian agencies such as the police and the Intelligence Bureau to take action.

Provincial Home Departments prepared lists of wanted militants and action was about to start on Thursday after Durrani and others had set the scene by admitting that Qasab was Pakistani.

This was too much for the military leaders and they issued a "note of advice" to the president and Prime Minister Yousuf Gilani that Durrani had to go immediately.

The government buckled, and Washington has lost a vital point man as it prepares for a new phase in Afghanistan. US vice president-elect Joe Biden, who is due to visit the region soon, has much to be concerned about.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com

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Pakistan NW Frontier Corps attacked 

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/01/200911175224878417.html



The Bajaur and Mohmand regions are key fronts in the battle against militants [AFP] 
 
At least 40 fighters have been killed in an attack on an army base in northwestern Pakistan.

Hundreds of fighters stormed the Mohammad Ghat military camp in the Mohmand agency north of Peshawar, close to the Afghanistan border, before dawn on Sunday.

A military official says the attack on the Frontier Corps began at 2am local time (2100 GMT), and that at least 10 security personnel had been killed, six more injured. More than 25 remain missing.

The official said most of the force of about 600 came from Afghanistan and were joined by local Taliban fighters.

The initial attack involved mortars and rocket fire which sparked fierce gun battles at the fort at Mamad Gate, where members of Pakistan's elite Quick Reaction Force are stationed.

Escalating violence

The security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that most of the attackers eventually fled the scene, but at least 40 were killed and many more surrendered or were arrested.

The border region is a key battleground in the so-called "war on terror", with Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked fighters said to be operating bases in northwestern Pakistan's tribal areas from which they send fighters to attack Nato and US forces in Afghanistan.

Many militants are thought to have fled there after the US-led invasion that overthrew the Taliban government in Afghanistan in 2001.

"There has been a significant escalation of violence in the region, next to Bajaur, where police forces have been able to bring some sort of control," said Al Jazeera's correspondent Kamal Hyder.

"There is a thinking that militants might move to Mohmand," he said. "Pakistani forces are determined to hold that border region."

Abduction

Also on Sunday, suspected militants abducted a senior local government official in South Waziristan, another border area south of Mohmand, according to intelligence staff.

Gunmen in four vehicles are reported to have stopped a convoy in which the official, Amir Latif, was travelling, 30km east of the regional centre of Wana. They bundled Latif into one of their vehicles and drove off.

In December, militants in neighbouring North Waziristan abducted another government official, Asmatullah Wazior, from the Mir Ali district.

The whereabouts and condition of both men is still not known.

Key battleground

Last week, Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, told Asif Ali Zardari, his Pakistani counterpart, that the two countries had a "new relationship" and determination to defeat "terrorism and extremism".

Karzai had previously accused Islamabad of not doing enough to shut down militant "sanctuaries" in the tribal areas and stop insurgents from crossing into Afghanistan.

Pakistan rejected the accusations, pointing to its operation against fighters in the Bajaur region, which borders Mohmand and Afghanistan, where the military says more than 1,500 rebels have been killed since August.

In late December, Pakistan also mounted a major offensive in the Khyber tribal area south of Mohmand to clear militants from the area along a key road used by trucks ferrying supplies to Nato and US-led troops in Afghanistan.
 
 Source: Al Jazeera & Agencies 
 

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Sunni-Shia clashes in Pakistan leave 17 dead, 30 wounded

Rival Muslim sects battle in northwest Pakistan's Hangu District

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/01/10/pakistan.clashes/index.html

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Seventeen people have been killed and 30 wounded in clashes between Sunni and Shia groups in villages in the Hangu District in northwest Pakistan, police said Saturday.

A meeting has been called to bring the two sides together with government officials to discuss a cease-fire, police said.
A curfew is still in place, and police said more bloodshed is likely if an agreement is not reached.

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very large scale attack on a frontier corps base, actually a fort, by a large group of militants/rebels


Pakistan NW Frontier Corps attacked

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/01/200911175224878417.html


At least 40 fighters have been killed in an attack on an army base in northwestern Pakistan.

Hundreds of fighters stormed the Mohammad Ghat military camp in the Mohmand agency north of Peshawar, close to the Afghanistan border, before dawn on Sunday.

A military official says the attack on the Frontier Corps began at 2am local time (2100 GMT), and that at least 10 security personnel had been killed, six more injured. More than 25 remain missing.

The official said most of the force of about 600 came from Afghanistan and were joined by local Taliban fighters.

The initial attack involved mortars and rocket fire which sparked fierce gun battles at the fort at Mamad Gate, where members of Pakistan's elite Quick Reaction Force are stationed.

Escalating violence

The security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that most of the attackers eventually fled the scene, but at least 40 were killed and many more surrendered or were arrested.

The border region is a key battleground in the so-called "war on terror", with Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked fighters said to be operating bases in northwestern Pakistan's tribal areas from which they send fighters to attack Nato and US forces in Afghanistan.

Many militants are thought to have fled there after the US-led invasion that overthrew the Taliban government in Afghanistan in 2001.

"There has been a significant escalation of violence in the region, next to Bajaur, where police forces have been able to bring some sort of control," said Al Jazeera's correspondent Kamal Hyder.

"There is a thinking that militants might move to Mohmand," he said. "Pakistani forces are determined to hold that border region."

Abduction

Also on Sunday, suspected militants abducted a senior local government official in South Waziristan, another border area south of Mohmand, according to intelligence staff.

Gunmen in four vehicles are reported to have stopped a convoy in which the official, Amir Latif, was travelling, 30km east of the regional centre of Wana. They bundled Latif into one of their vehicles and drove off.

In December, militants in neighbouring North Waziristan abducted another government official, Asmatullah Wazior, from the Mir Ali district.

The whereabouts and condition of both men is still not known.

Key battleground

Last week, Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, told Asif Ali Zardari, his Pakistani counterpart, that the two countries had a "new relationship" and determination to defeat "terrorism and extremism".

Karzai had previously accused Islamabad of not doing enough to shut down militant "sanctuaries" in the tribal areas and stop insurgents from crossing into Afghanistan.

Pakistan rejected the accusations, pointing to its operation against fighters in the Bajaur region, which borders Mohmand and Afghanistan, where the military says more than 1,500 rebels have been killed since August.

In late December, Pakistan also mounted a major offensive in the Khyber tribal area south of Mohmand to clear militants from the area along a key road used by trucks ferrying supplies to Nato and US-led troops in Afghanistan.

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Attacks renewed on Nato supplies
 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7825809.stm

Pakistani troops have tried to crack down on the militant attacks


A Nato supply depot in north-west Pakistan has been attacked by suspected militants, the first such raid since a major army offensive against them.

Several rockets were fired at the terminal on the outskirts of Peshawar, damaging a number of trucks.

Last month authorities suspended the supply route in an offensive involving ground troops, helicopters and tanks.

The route carries about 75% of the supplies needed by the US and Nato forces in Afghanistan.

Alternative routes

A senior police officer, Fida Mohammad, told Agence France-Presse news agency: "The militants fired six rockets on a Nato terminal during the night. One truck was hit and it caught fire, while three other vehicles suffered minor damage."
 


He said there was a brief exchange of fire with police but the attackers fled.

Last month the military launched a major operation against militants in the Khyber region in response to a wave of hijackings and attacks on vehicles carrying supplies into Afghanistan.

Dozens of people were arrested and a number of suspected militant houses and camps were destroyed in the operation.

The offensive led to the closure of the crucial overland supply route. It was later reopened for day deliveries.

The international forces in Afghanistan praised the offensive saying it was necessary to "clear out these trouble spots".

There have been reports Nato and the US are trying to find alternative routes through central Asia.

[David Rothscum]

Columnist: Draft is needed because we may have to invade Pakistan
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Blankley_Reinstate_draft_for_Pakistan_invasion_0112.html
Conservative columnist Tony Blankley foresees a dangerous future, in which the United States will be able to ensure its own survival only through a universal military draft and may routinely have to commit hundreds of thousands of troops to overseas excursions, including a potential invasion of Pakistan.

Blankley, a former Reagan speechwriter and Newt Gingrich press secretary, is the author of The West's Last Chance: Will We Win the Clash of Civilizations? (2005) which raised the specter of a Europe dominated by radical Islam. His new book is called American Grit.

"If we don't do a lot of things smart and tough, we could get overwhelmed," Blankley told the hosts of Fox & Friends on Monday. "We've failed to exploit our energy. We're not paying enough attention to what our kids are learning -- Bill Ayers is actually a senior person in guiding the curriculum design of America."

One of Blankley's more eye-catching proposals in American Grit is that all eighteen year olds should be subject to two years of required military service.

"I don't like it, I love the volunteer army ... but we don't have enough troops," Blankley explained. "When George Bush wanted to have the surge, he was told by the senior generals we didn't have the extra 20,000 troops to finish the war. ... Now Obama wants to go to Afghanistan ... but he says we don't have the troops unless we pull them out of Iraq. What happens if Pakistan goes jihad-y? We don't have the troops to go in there and stop them from taking over the nuclear weapons."

"If we had had enough troops in Iraq, we wouldn't have lost 4,000 great young men and women," Blankley concluded. "We needed to flood the field ... with 300,000 troops occupying every village and every building and they would never have been able to rise up."

It seems possible, however, that Blankley is promoting a universal military draft not just as the necessary pre-requisite for adventures overseas but also as a means of making young Americans "grittier."

In a Washington Times editorial, written just before November's election, Blankley bemoaned the endorsement of Obama by "me-too conservatives" and suggested that "the conservative movement we start re-building on the ashes of November 4th (even if Mr. McCain wins) will have little use for over-written, over-delicate commentary."

"The new conservative movement will be facing a political opponent that will soon reveal itself to be both multiculturalists and Euro-socialist," Blankley wrote. "We will be engaged in a struggle to the political death for the soul of the country. ... I will certainly do what I can to make it a big-tent conservative movement. But just as in every great cause, one question has to be answered correctly: Whose side are you on, comrade?"

This video is from Fox's Fox & Friends, broadcast Jan. 12, 2009.

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Two Pakistani soldiers and 14 Taliban killed in clash
Sun Jan 18, 2009 9:39am GMT
 
http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKTRE50H0WZ20090118?rpc=401&feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&rpc=401

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani security forces, backed by artillery and tanks, have killed 14 Taliban insurgents in heavy fighting in the Mohmand region on the Afghan border, a government official said on Sunday.

Pakistan is struggling to stem Islamist militant influence and violence in the northwest as it keeps a wary eye on its eastern border with India after militant attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai led to a spike in tension between the neighbours.

The latest fighting in the northwest broke out Saturday evening when militants attacked troops conducting searches.

"They launched the attack from a hideout. Our troops responded quickly and destroyed it and killed 14 miscreants," Miraj Khan, a government official in the region, told Reuters.

Two paramilitary soldiers were killed in the clash that went on for several hours, he said.

Pakistani security have recently stepped up their operations in Mohmand, which is to the north of the city of Peshawar, to fight al Qaeda and Taliban militants fleeing a military offensive in the neighbouring Bajaur region, to the north.

Last week, more than 600 militants, many from Afghanistan, attacked a military camp and two nearby checkposts in the region and six soldiers and 40 militants were killed, the military said.

The United States and Afghanistan have for years urged Pakistan to eliminate militant bases in lawless ethnic Pashtun tribal regions on the border from where Taliban infiltrate into Afghanistan to fight U.S.-led forces.

Intensified Pakistani efforts against the militants has led to what some officials call reverse infiltration, with some Taliban coming back into Pakistan to protect their rear bases from the Pakistani military.

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Pakistan's shift alarms the US

By Syed Saleem Shahzad

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/KA22Df01.html

KARACHI - Ongoing tension between India and Pakistan in the wake of the terror attack on the Indian city of Mumbai last November in which 179 people died at the hands of gunmen linked to Pakistan has clouded Islamabad's role in the United States-led "war on terror".

Mindful of this, US Central Command commander General David Petraeus paid a one-day visit to Pakistan on Tuesday. In meetings with senior officials, including army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kiani, Petraeus said that the US and the international community would continue to support Pakistan, but it needed "to put its house in order" on the issue of militants.

The US is already looking ahead to this year's round of fighting in

 

Afghanistan against the Taliban-led insurgency once winter passes. Petraeus has committed to a surge in US troop numbers to about 60,000, but Pakistan's cooperation in dealing with militants based in its tribal areas is essential. The militants use these bases to support their operations in Afghanistan.

On Tuesday, Petraeus announced a partial solution to another problem that has dogged the war efforts in Afghanistan. He said a new supply route to Afghanistan had been agreed on with Central Asian states and Russia as an option to the one that passes though Khyber Agency, the Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan through which nearly 80% of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) supplies pass on the way to landlocked Afghanistan.

"There have been agreements reached and there are transit lines now and transit agreements for commercial goods and services in particular that include several countries in the Central Asian states and also Russia," Petraeus said. This means NATO supplies will have to travel by the most expensive route to reach Afghanistan, which will push up the costs of an already very expensive war.

NATO supplies through the agency have increasingly been under attack since early 2008 and the agency, once a peaceful area, is a new war theater between the Pakistani security forces and the Taliban.

NATO has repeatedly urged Pakistan to do something about protecting the route, but it has been helpless because of a serious lack of human resources as many of its forces are engaged in combating the Taliban in Bajaur Agency and in the Swat Valley.

And significantly, following the Mumbai attack, Islamabad has moved troops from the border with Afghanistan to the border with India, where Indian troops are also mobilized. On Tuesday, India tested a cruise missile close to the Pakistan border. An Indian Defense Ministry spokesman said a Brahmos supersonic cruise missile had been successfully fired. The missiles have a range of up to several hundred kilometers.

It is Pakistan's focus on India that has Washington concerned, yet the heightened tensions between Islamabad and Delhi suit both countries. India has to hold general elections before May, and the ruling Congress-led government needs to be seen as doing something about the Mumbai attacks. Pakistan, meanwhile, has an excuse to bail out its highly demoralized troops on the western borders with Afghanistan by moving them to the Indian border.

Relations between the countries are likely to remain frosty for some time. Pakistan has now agreed to the trial of leaders of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the terror group linked to the Mumbai attack. Delhi has handed over files of evidence which range from Pakistani-manufactured shaving cream used by the gunmen to the Pakistani-manufactured boat engine the men used to get to Mumbai.

In another development, shortly before Petraeus met with Pakistani officials, Maulana Fazlur Rahman, the head of his own faction of the Jamaat-i-Ulema-i-Islam political party, met with President Asif Ali Zardari and received a military backed green light to negotiate truces with Pakistani militants.

Rahman did this job successfully in 2005, which resulted in a ceasefire between the Pakistani Taliban and the Pakistani security forces in April 2006. Consequently, the Taliban made a successful comeback in Afghanistan in the spring of 2006 - their first powerful offensive since their regime was driven out of Kabul in 2001.

This will be of grave concern to Petraeus ahead of the next real battle against the Taliban that starts in April. The foremost concern is over the most effective deployment of the additional troops in Afghanistan. Permanent ground deployment comes with problems, as the Pakistani military has learned in Bajaur Agency, where its troops become sitting ducks at the hands of guerrillas operating from safe mountain sanctuaries. Yet if the troops are not deployed on the ground, the whole exercise of bringing in more of them and making additional arrangements for their supplies will be a waste of time and money.

The last thing Petraeus needs now is for Pakistan to continue with its focus on India while effectively handing over its western borders to the Taliban, yet this process is already underway.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com

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Bombs kill two soldiers, one civilian in Pakistan (Roundup)
South Asia News

Jan 23, 2009, 10:32 GMT

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/southasia/news/article_1455318.php/Bombs_kill_two_soldiers_one_civilian_in_Pakistan__Roundup__

   Islamabad - A suicide car bomber killed two soldiers in Pakistan's troubled Swat district on Friday, hours after a civilian died in a roadside explosion intended for a military convoy, an official said.

   The bomber detonated his vehicle when troops opened fire on him as he tried to break through a cordon and ram into a school housing a makeshift army camp in the Fizaghat area, 12 kilometres north-east of Swat's main town of Mingora.

   'Two soldiers manning the roadblock embraced martyrdom,' a military spokesman said in a phone interview.

   'Had the bomber not been intercepted, the losses would have been extensive,' he said.

   The suicide attack came hours after a remote-controlled roadside bomb targeting a military convoy killed a civilian and wounded two others in the Takhtaband area on the outskirts of Mingora.

   The security forces did not suffer any casualties as electronic radio jamming equipment delayed the explosion, according to the military.

   Swat used to be a tourist haven until 2007 when supporters of local radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah tried to enforce strict Taliban-style laws, including a ban on girls' education, and set up a parallel judicial system in the region.

   Military action against the militants triggered a wave of attacks on security forces and politicians, killing hundreds of people.

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11 militants killed in Swat valley

link here      

Pakistani security forces today killed 11 militants and injured nine others in the restive northwestern Swat valley, most of which has been taken over by the local Taliban.


A statement issued by the military said gunship helicopters destroyed several militant hideouts in the Qambar area of Swat, killing four rebels and injuring six others.

Security forces killed another seven militants and injured three more during an operation in Matta sub-district. Hundreds of people, a majority of them militants, have died since the Pakistan Army launched an operation against the local Taliban in Swat in October 2007.

The local Taliban led by radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah--which control most parts of Swat -- have banned girl's education and barred women from stepping out of their homes without a male relative.

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4 civilians killed as troops battle Taliban in Swat

http://dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C01%5C27%5Cstory_27-1-2009_pg7_24

PESHAWAR: Four civilians were killed on Monday as troops pounded suspected Taliban hideouts in the Swat valley following the imposition of curfew in the area, officials said. The authorities placed several towns under indefinite curfew late on Sunday, warning that ‘anybody violating the curfew will be shot at sight’. On Monday, the troops shot dead a civilian for violating the curfew in Chaharbagh town, a police official said. Three others, including a woman, were killed when security forces targeted suspected Taliban hideouts in the same area, the official said, requesting anonymity. "Troops launched an operation against the Taliban in Chaharbagh and Manglore areas and are targeting their hideouts with artillery, mortars and small arms," Major Nasir Khan said. Meanwhile, the Taliban blew up a boys’ school on the outskirts of Mingora and also attacked a girls’ school in the city, security officials said, adding the ‘troops repulsed the attack’. afp

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Seven militants among 18 killed in Swat Operation

Wednesday January 28, 2009 (1802 PST)

http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?210673

At least 18 people, including seven militants’ were killed and 11 others were wounded as security forces continued to pound militants’ positions here on Wednesday.

According to Swat Media Center, seven militants were killed and 11 others injured in fresh offence by security forces in Sangota and Mangor. Meanwhile, security forces took full control of these two areas.

In another incident, five people were gunned down near boys’ school at Mangor in Mangora. The deceased were migrating from volatile valley to some safe place.

Besides, one more person was shot dead in Balogram.

Security forces shelled militants’ hideouts in Mangora, Matta, Charbagh, Cherial, Namal and Sirbandai.

In Mangora, two women among three persons were killed and two others hurt in a roof collapse. While two unidentified dead bodies were recovered in Mangor.

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Pakistan: Former minister urges downing of US drones

http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=3.0.2959735133

Islamabad, 28 Jan. (AKI) - By Syed Saleem Shahzad - If United States aircraft continue to carry out airstrikes inside Pakistan, the Pakistani Air Force should shoot them down, a former interior minister, Lt. Gen. Hamid Nawaz told journalists on Wednesday.

The comments, which appear to signal a major policy shift in Pakistan-US military cooperation, came after US defence secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday that Washington would continue with strikes by unmanned Predator drones against militants and that Pakistan was aware of this.

Nawaz was interior minister in Pakistan's last interim government before the February 2008 elections and was a close aide of former president Pervez Musharraf when he headed the army.

In a statement on Wednesday, Pakistan's foreign ministry denied the existence of a deal between Pakistan and the US allowing unmanned US Predator drone attacks against suspected militants.

Twenty-one people were killed last Friday in northwest Pakistan in the first suspected US missile strikes since US President Barack Obama took office. The two attacks took place on villages in North and South Waziristan tribal areas.

Pakistan's lawless tribal regions are believed by intelligence services to be a haven for Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. The US last year stepped up drone attacks in the area in frustration at Pakistan's failure to stem the flow of militants to and from Afghanistan, despite the various military operations it has launched in the northwest.

The US has rarely confirmed or denied the attacks, which are reported to have killed over 220 people. The attacks have angered Pakistanis and the government says they violate its sovereignty and undermine its military campaigns.

Pakistan is now revising its foreign policy in the belief that America will wield less influence in the future than it has in recent years and that US financial support for the 'war on terror' is likely to decrease, according to unnamed AKI diplomatic and military sources.

The credit crunch and global recession that began in the US has impacted Pakistan. Washington's late payment last year of 800 million dollars of anti-terrorism funding was a major cause of Pakistan's financial meltdown.

Only 101 million dollars of these funds were transferred to Pakistan last Friday. Defence sources see further delays in payment of anti-terror funds from the US to Pakistan next year when its finances are further strained by additional troop expenditure in Afghanistan.

So far Washington has spent over 700 billion dollars fighting insurgency in Iraq and in Afghanistan, where it is due to deploy an additional 33,000 troops in 2009.

[bigron]

Nine Brutal Disappointments For US Obama Fans

Jay Janson
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m51328&hd=&size=1&l=e

28 January, 2009



Would rather like to point out Obama mistakes as one still hopeful for better future Obama executive orders and leadership, than to complain.

Closing Guantanamo, ending torture policies, restoring Executive Order 12667, directing federal regulators to grant states the right to set strict automobile emissions and fuel efficiency standards, are all positives.

As the news rolls in, we who wait patiently, and hope Obama will eventually be an exception to the frightful imperialism of corporate governance in spite of knowing that it was the backing of the banks and corporations that allowed for his election success, we must, especially if we want to give Obama the benefit of the doubt, help him by reacting loudly to aberrations, if that is what these following notated points be:

1. Obama’s silence during and after US made planes and bombs were used against civilians and children in Gaza. The Israelis broke a signed obligation to respect a US law which restricts the use of military aid to defensive employ. Representative Dennis Kucinich brought this to the attention of Congress.

2. Obama insulted the Vietnamese, angry U.S. veterans, and the millions of decent Americans who opposed what Martin Luther King Jr. called "a crime against humanity, referring in his inaugural address to "those who fought and died for us at Khe Sahn", Vietnam. (see OpEdNews, Jan. 23, 2009)

Mr. President, They Did Not Die For Us When Killing Vietnamese in Khe Sahn, Vietnam

3. Also in his inaugural address, grossly slighting Native-Americans by hailing the the march westward of early Europeans who came to this continent as having done it "for us", insensitively discounting the racist, savage and homicidal conduct of those Europeans, who in their ignorance too often sought to exterminate the noble nations of the indigenous population of America, stealing their land and forcing them on to reservations.

4. At the State Department, while speaking of security for the state of Israel, Obama made no mention of the dire state of Arab Palestinians over the last sixty years since an unfair partition of the British mandate was forced upon them - nor recognition of the history of Palestinian Arab suffering to this day from the occupations, blockades, illegal settlements and Israeli irresponsibility as an occupying power. No change yet from the one sided and unfair stance of earlier administrations.

5.. Obama's stimulus package is being ridiculed by some of his greatest promoters. MSNBC prime time commentator Rachel Maddow gave detailed satiric and graphic attention to its large tax breaks and much smaller infrastructure spending.

China reacted quickly to the economic collapse of the West on November 9th, at a time when major infrastructure projects were being put off around the world. The New York Stock Market climbed approvingly as China announced it would spend an estimated $586 billion over the next two years — roughly 7 percent of its gross domestic product each year — to construct new railways, subways and airports and to rebuild communities.

Most Americans were expecting Obama to immediately create an infrastructure plan reminiscent of FDR’s Works Projects Administration during the great depression of the 1930s.

6. New York Times, Jan. 24, reports Obama's Secretary of Treasury Geithner accusing China of currency manipulation, as has Obama, and getting a sharp answer from the Chinese. Blaming China for America's malfeasance in managing its own economy does not sound intelligent, especially when China is also suffering, but less, for the U.S. and European fraudulent banking debacle. Confronting China while asking for her help?

7. Even more heartbreaking and disappointing is the continuing of U.S. air attacks on Pakistan territory, a supposed ally, whose president and legislature have in the past angrily condemned the strikes as a criminal and merciless taking of civilian lives, and as counterproductive to both countries aims. No change from Bush. (We had hoped candidate Obama was only just talking tough about bombing Pakistan, confronting a militarist John McCain.

"President orders air strikes on villages in tribal area" Ewen MacAskill in Washington, The Guardian, Saturday 24 January 2009

"Barack Obama gave the go-ahead for his first military action yesterday, missile strikes against suspected militants in Pakistan which killed at least 18 people."

Is it now Obama who has set himself up for war crime charges - violating the U.S. Constitution, U.N. Charter, International Treaties, etc.?

8. "Afghan president: 'US forces killed 16 civilians'" by Jason Straziuso and Rahim Faiez, Associated Press Writers Jan 25

'KABUL, Afghanistan – President Hamid Karzai condemned a U.S. operation he said killed 16 Afghan civilians, while hundreds of villagers denounced the American military during an angry demonstration Sunday."

"Karzai said the killing of innocent Afghans during U.S. military operations "is strengthening the terrorists." He also announced that his Ministry of Defense sent Washington a draft technical agreement that seeks to give Afghanistan more oversight over U.S. military operations. The same letter has also been sent to NATO headquarters.
Karzai in recent weeks has increasingly lashed out at his Western backers over the issue of civilian casualties, ...
Karzai's latest criticism follows a Saturday raid in Laghman province. ... The U.S. military said '"We are sorry for this incident and after this we are going to coordinate our operations with Afghan forces,"
Karzai last week told parliament that the U.S. and NATO have not heeded his calls to stop air strikes in civilian areas. Karzai has recently sought to have more control over what kinds of activities U.S. and NATO forces can carry out. According to a copy obtained by The Associated Press last week, the draft technical agreement Karzai's government sent to Washington and NATO headquarters calls for:
• The deployment of additional U.S. or NATO troops and their location carried out only with Afghan government approval.
• Full coordination between Afghan and NATO defense authorities "at the highest possible level for all phases of military and ground operations."
• House searches and detention operations to be carried out only by Afghan security forces.

... the U.S. military has also been known to not fully acknowledge when it killed civilians. After a battle in August in the village of Azizabad ... The Afghan government and the U.N. said 90 civilians were killed."

But we were hoping Obama would respect the Afghan legislature years old call for negotiations with the former governing Taliban (still governing most of the land), a thirty-five year back amnesty for all fighters, and the withdrawal of all foreign forces. There has been talk of negotiations in media recently, and Obama had said Afghanistan would take more than a military solution.

Will Obama continue the Bush directive that if less than thirty civilians deaths are anticipated in a strike targeting insurgent leaders, no White House approval is required?

9. "We will not apologize for our way of life", aggressively intoned Obama in his inaugural address - sounding threatening, just like Bush did. Is it not an arrogant statement? Is mindless consumption pushed by a cartelized commercial media, a way of life in which the U.S. with 5% of the world’s population consumes 25% of the world’s resources not deplorable. Has not the America way of life included world dominance? Is it not our way of life that produces a majority of the world’s weapons and is responsible for a war in Iraq that has caused the death of hundreds of thousands and the wounding/maiming of millions plus 3 million refugees - which Obama already denounced without however apologizing to Iraqis. There is plenty to apologize for - imperialist wars and CIA assassinations and destabilization of democratic governments.

Let’s don’t be silent, neither about Obama’s accomplishments nor, and especially, about what is disappointing and scary.

Organize to support an Obama led change that as yet is slight.





 

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Pakistani police nab Indian agents

Pakistani police arrest three allegedly Indian agents planning to attack politicians and installations across the violence-hit country

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=84121&sectionid=351020401
.

Announcing the arrests at a news conference in Lahore, Lahore police chief Pervez Rathor claimed the suspected terrorists were working for India's Research and Analysis Wing (RA&W) spy agency, Press TV correspondent reported Thursday.

The men-all Pakistanis- were trained in a bomb-making center in New Delhi by RAW security agency, Rathor told reporters.

"They had plans to destroy important buildings and to kill important personalities," the official said.

Rathor also alleged they were involved in a bus stop bombing outside a college in Lahore in 2006 that killed two people and wounded several others.

He also accused the men of planning to attack offices linked to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), blamed by India for November terror attacks on the Indian port city of Mumbai.

The arrests came after Indian police said they had killed two armed Pakistani militants on Sunday close to the capital, New Delhi.

Tension has been running high between the two nuclear-armed countries since the coordinated attacks in India's financial hub, raising fear of conflict between the neighbors which have fought three wars since 1947.

India blamed the LeT and Pakistani security agencies for the attacks in Mumbai, in which 179 people were killed including nine militants.

Pakistan has denied any involvement in the attacks and offered to cooperate in the investigation.

Pakistan Premier Yousaf Raza Gilani has said that Islamabad would release details of its investigation into the Mumbai attack "very soon".

[bigron]

UN official abducted in Pakistan 

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/02/2009226118678547.html


 
The attackers opened fire on the UN official's vehicle as he travelled to Quetta [AFP]

 
A senior UN refugee agency (UNHCR) official has been abducted by armed men in southwestern Pakistan, police say.

John Solecki, an American national, was seized as he travelled to his office in Quetta, the provincial capital of Baluchistan province, which borders Afghanistan and Iran.

Solecki is the regional head of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

"The gunmen have taken him with them after shooting his driver," Wazir Khan Nasir, a police official in Quetta, said.

The Pakistani driver later died in hospital, he said.

Television footage from the scene showed a UNHCR vehicle crashed into a wall.

At least one bullet hole was visible on one side of the car door and security officials were seen to be collecting evidence at the scene.

Motive

Khalid Masood, a senior police official, said Solecki "has been serving in Quetta for more than two years".

"We cannot speculate on the motive behind the crime," he told The Associated Press news agency.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility or ransom demand was reported following the abduction.

The UN confirmed that an official with the UNHCR had been kidnapped, but did not disclose the official's name or nationality, pending notification of his relatives.

Incidents of abduction have increased in Pakistan over the past year, especially in the northwest in areas on the border with Afghanistan, where several foreigners have been taken by pro-Taliban fighters.
   
A number of nationalist groups are fighting for autonomy in Baluchistan province, but such groups are not known for targeting foreigners.
 
 Source: Agencies 
 

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Pakistani Taliban rule Swat valley

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/02/200922185636519955.html


Police officers and residents in Pakistan's northwestern Swat valley are living in fear of fighters loyal to Maulana Fazlullah, a local leader waging an armed campaign against the government, Al Jazeera has found.

Security forces and other state employees have borne the brunt of many attacks, with some being beheaded.

The Pakistani military claimed on Monday that they had killed 70 fighters loyal to the Taliban in Swat, in what is now an almost daily declaration of progress.

But residents of the region say it is almost entirely under the control of pro-Taliban anti-government fighters.

The Pakistan military launched an operation against the groups operating in Swat in 2007.

Fazlullah's supporters have blown up 173 schools, 105 of them for girls, since 2007, Sher Afzal, a Pakistani education ministry official, said last month.

'Out of control'

Kamal Hyder, Al Jazeera's correspondent in the Swat valley, said that decapitated bodies of policemen, left with notes warning authorities, were now a common sight on streets in the area.

"It is out of control, because the elected representatives of the people who were promising to bring peace ... disappointed their people when they ran out of the area after their escalation of violence, leaving most of their supporters in the lurch," he said.
In depth


 Swat: Pakistan's lost paradise
 Video: Taliban sway over Swat



"[The people] still need a political administration on the ground."

Hundreds of people have reportedly fled the area in recent days, heading for two relief camps opened at schools in and near the region's main city of Mingora.

"We are facing a very dangerous situation," Wajid Ali Khan, a provincial minister, said.

"The fighting in the valley has made it almost impossible for civilians to stay there anymore."

Up to one third of the 1.5 million population is estimated to have left Swat, which until recently was a prime tourist destination because of its natural beauty.

'Complex situation'

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Imtiaz Gul, a Pakistani security analyst, said what prevails in Swat "is a very difficult and complex situation" that will need both a military and political approach to resolve.

"It has to be a combination of blitzkrieg, surgical strikes and operations in the Swat valley, backed up by the civilian administration as well as the political leadership," he said.

Have you witnessed the violence in Pakistan's Swat valley? 

Send your video, pictures or tell us of your experiences here

"Most of the representatives have simply abandoned the area for fear of their lives ... more than 70 per cent of policemen have either left their jobs, are sitting at home, or have been eliminated or executed."

Yusuf Raza Gilani, Pakistan's prime minister, pledged on Monday to restore peace to the Swat valley.

"We are finding a way out. We do not want to disclose the strategy right now, but soon Swat will be peaceful, like the rest of the country," he said.

Gilani suggested that negotiations could end the violence, despite some security officials criticising a previous peace deal with pro-Taliban fighters for allowing them to regroup and strengthen.

"We are looking at various options. We have both the capacity and the will, but we want a strategy in which there is no collateral damage," he said

"We are all concerned about the life and property of the people. We are also concerned about those who are migrating."

[bigron]

Wednesday, February 04, 2009
12:33 Mecca time, 09:33 GMT   
News CENTRAL/S. ASIA 
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/02/20092464553306111.html
 
'Taliban seize' Pakistan policemen 



Pakistani troops have battled resurgent opposition
fighters in Swat Valley since mid-2007 [GALLO/GETTY]
 
Thirty Pakistani policemen are reported to have been captured by Taliban fighters in the northwest Swat Valley after they laid siege to a police station.

"Taliban kidnapped 30 policemen and blew up the police office after a day-long fight," Dilawar Khan, a regional police commander, said on Wednesday.

Army troops were sent to the Shamozai area in an effort to rescue the police officers but the operation was suspended after dusk fell, security officials said.

Four paramilitary and police officers were wounded in the clashes around the police station, a Pakistani intelligence official said.

Civilians threatened

Pakistan has carried out a series of military operations against Taliban-linked fighters in the region in recent months.

Thousands of people living in the Swat valley have fled their homes to escape clashes between government forces and opposition fighters.

Many of the fighters are loyal to Maulana Fazlullah, a religious leader who since mid-2007 has led an armed campaign aimed at promoting Sharia.

In depth

 Video: thousands flee fighting in Swat Valley
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/02/2009244389112105.html

 Swat: Pakistan's lost paradise
http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/01/200912512351598892.html

 Video: Taliban holds sway over Swat
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/02/20092217142292775.html

 
Kamal Hyder, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Islamabad, said that scores of public buildings in Swat Valley have been destroyed amid the fighting.

"At least 200 institutions, such as schools, have been destroyed. The government continues to insist that it is Fazlullah's loyalists who have been doing this. The militants themselves say this is not the case," he said.

While visiting the Swat Valley, Hyder found evidence that the conflict is widening from the upper reaches of the valley to other areas.

"The failure of a political settlement has led to a more intense military confrontation here. People here will tell you that the military solution alone will not work," he said

"The provincial government that rules the Northwest Frontier Province [which contains the Swat Valley] has failed totally.

"From what we have seen, the problem has spread from upper Swat and is spreading to lower Swat. What happens next is anybody's guess."

Government strategy

Amir Rana, director of the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies, speaking in Islamabad, said that the Pakistan government appears not to have a clear long-term strategy.

"Even if the government is successful, what happens next? The whole infrastructure in Swat is destroyed, the administration is nowhere and education systems have totally collapsed," he told Al Jazeera.

"The biggest challenge comes after the elimination of the Taliban ... But the Taliban are intensifying their operations. They are confident."

About 50 militants were killed in military operations across the valley between Monday and Tuesday, security and intelligence officials have said.
 
 Source: Al Jazeera and agencies 
 
 
 
 
 

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NATO trucks attacked in northwest Pakistan


Story Highlights

Attack destroyed nine vehicles near the town Landi Kotal in the Khyber Agency

Series of recent attacks have tried to choke supplies into Afghanistan for the U.S.

Trucks were stranded in the town after suspected militants destroyed a bridge

Towns along the Khyber Agency are key staging posts for deliveries of supplies




ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Suspected militants fired rockets on NATO trucks in northwest Pakistan early Wednesday -- the latest in a series of recent attacks meant to choke supplies into Afghanistan for the United States and its allies.

The attack, which destroyed nine vehicles, took place near the town Landi Kotal in the Khyber Agency -- one of seven semiautonomous tribal agencies along the Afghan border, a Khyber official told CNN.

The trucks were returning from Afghanistan but were stranded in the town because, a day earlier, suspected militants had destroyed a bridge connecting Landi Kotal to Jamrod, another part of the Khyber Agency.

The bridge's destruction had forced authorities to halt traffic.

The Khyber official told CNN that the trucks were empty and caught fire when the rockets struck them.

Because Afghanistan is landlocked, many of the supplies for NATO-led troops fighting Islamic militants there have to be trucked from Pakistan.

Towns along the Khyber Agency are key staging posts for deliveries of food, fuel and military gear.

In recent months, militants aligned with the Taliban and al Qaeda have carried out several attacks to disrupt supplies, Pakistani officials said.

The country's central government has little control in the area, and U.S. intelligence officials say the area is a haven for militants.

The attacks have prompted the U.S. to look for new shipping routes for military gear destined for Afghanistan, two military officials told CNN in December. More than half of all military equipment is shipped in overland convoys from Pakistan.

CNN's Zein Basravi contributed to this report.

All AboutAfghanistan • Afghanistan War • Pakistan • The Taliban • Khyber Agency • Al Qaeda • NATO
 

 
 
 
Links referenced within this article

Pakistan
http://topics.edition.cnn.com/topics/Pakistan
Khyber Agency
http://topics.edition.cnn.com/topics/Khyber_Agency
Taliban
http://topics.edition.cnn.com/topics/The_Taliban
al Qaeda
http://topics.edition.cnn.com/topics/Al_Qaeda
Afghanistan
http://topics.edition.cnn.com/topics/Afghanistan
Afghanistan
http://topics.edition.cnn.com/topics/Afghanistan
Afghanistan War
http://topics.edition.cnn.com/topics/Afghanistan_War
Pakistan
http://topics.edition.cnn.com/topics/Pakistan
The Taliban
http://topics.edition.cnn.com/topics/The_Taliban
Khyber Agency
http://topics.edition.cnn.com/topics/Khyber_Agency
Al Qaeda
http://topics.edition.cnn.com/topics/Al_Qaeda
NATO
http://topics.edition.cnn.com/topics/NATO

 

 
Find this article at:
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/02/04/pakistan.NATO.trucks/index.html 
 

[bigron]

Thursday, February 05, 2009
20:37 Mecca time, 17:37 GMT   
News CENTRAL/S. ASIA
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/02/2009251665136642.html
 
Deadly blast at Pakistan mosque 


 
Thousands have been killed in sectarian violence in Pakistan since the 1980s [EPA]

 
At least 20 people have been killed and dozens injured in a bomb blast near a Shia mosque in Pakistan's central Punjab province.

The explosion occurred on Thursday as worshippers gathered for an evening prayer ceremony in the city of Dera Ghazi Khan.

Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder, reporting from Islamabad, said a bomb exploded and hit a procession heading towards the mosque. He said several children were among the dead.

Athar Mubarik, the district police chief, said: "The initial report is that it was a suicide attack. The attacker was wearing a jacket carrying 12 to 14 kilograms of explosives."

"More than 20 people have died, according to the information I received from hospital officials. "

The blast also injured around 40 others.

Medics said six people with serious injuries were rushed for specialist treatment in Multan, west of Dera Ghazi Khan.

Powerful blast

The powerful blast caused serious damage to the mosque and another nearby Shia holy site.

Shia Muslims are observing the last week of a 40-day mourning period to commemorate the death of Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad. Hussein was killed in 680 AD.

About 20 per cent of Pakistan's 160-million-population are Shia Muslims.

Although Shia and Sunnis generally co-exist peacefully in the country, more than 4,000 people have died in sectarian violence since the late 1980s.

Two days ago, an explosion ripped through a Sunni mosque in the northwest town of Dera Ismail Khan, killing one person and wounding 18 others.
 
 Source: Al Jazeera and agencies 
 
 
 
 
 

[bigron]

Friday, February 06, 2009
13:04 Mecca time, 10:04 GMT   
News CENTRAL/S. ASIA
 http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/02/20092672450383795.html
 
Mob fury after Pakistan mosque bomb 

 
Thousands have been killed in sectarian violence in Pakistan since the 1980s [EPA]

 
Hundreds of angry Shia Muslims have set fire to a police station in Pakistan after at least 27 people were killed in a bomb blast near a Shia mosque in Pakistan's central Punjab province.

Maqsood Ahmed, a city police chief, said the protesters were demanding the arrest of those who orchestrated the attack.

Ahmed said that the protesters also damaged some shops and disrupted traffic in various parts of the city as they set fire to tyres in the streets.He said officers were seeking help from Shia leaders to restore order in the area.

There were no reports of any casualties in the blaze, which occured just hours before the funerals of at least 27 people who died in Thursday's suicide blast.

Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder, reporting from Islamabad, said: "The attack angered a lot of people, they vented their anger on the police station this morning. [Police] were unable to priovide security to these people in the procession. So there was considerabel anger at police.

"Also most of these people had to be rushed off to faraway places, almost two hours away, to the city of Multan where they could get some medical care. The medical care in Dera Ghazi Khan was almost absent."

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the bombing, but authorities generally blame Sunni groups for such attacks.

The explosion occurred as worshippers gathered for an evening prayer ceremony in the city of Dera Ghazi Khan.

Athar Mubarik, the district police chief, said: "The initial report is that it was a suicide attack. The attacker was wearing a jacket carrying 12 to 14 kilograms of explosives."

The blast also injured around 40 other people.

Medics said six people with serious injuries were rushed for specialist treatment in Multan, west of Dera Ghazi Khan.

Powerful blast

The powerful blast caused serious damage to the mosque and another nearby Shia holy site.



 
Shia Muslims are observing the last week of a 40-day mourning period to commemorate the death of Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad, who was killed in 680 AD.

About 20 per cent of Pakistan's 160-million-population are Shia Muslims.

Although Shia and Sunnis generally co-exist peacefully in the country, more than 4,000 people have died in sectarian violence since the late 1980s.

A suicide bomb took place in the town of Jamrud on a key road between Pakistan and Afghanistan, through which trucks pass carrying supplies for NATO forces in Afghanistan, in the semi-autonomous Khyber tribal district on Friday. The explosion wounded six people,

Overnight, another suicide bomber drove a car bomb into a police station in Mingora, the capital of the northwest Swat valley, where militants are fighting a bloody campaign to enforce their hardline brand of Sharia law.

Khaista Rehman, a local police station chief said 11 security personnel were wounded, including seven policemen and four paramilitary soldiers. The force of the explosion damaged dozens of shops and nearby buildings, but caused no other casualties, he said.

Two days ago, an explosion ripped through a Sunni mosque in the northwest town of Dera Ismail Khan, killing one person and wounding 18 others.
 
 Source: Al Jazeera and agencies 
 
 

[bigron]

Friday, February 06, 2009
19:38 Mecca time, 16:38 GMT   
News CENTRAL/S. ASIA 
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/02/20092672450383795.html
 
Mob fury after Pakistan mosque bomb

 

No one has claimed responsibility for the blast outside the Shia mosque on Thursday [Reuters]
 

 
Hundreds of people have set fire to a police station in Pakistan after at least 27 people were killed in a bomb blast near a Shia mosque in Punjab province.

Maqsood Ahmed, the city police chief, said on Friday that the attackers were demanding the arrest of those behind the blast, which took place in Dera Ghazi Khan.

He said that the protesters also damaged some shops and disrupted traffic in various parts of the city as they set fire to tyres in the streets.

Ahmed said officers were seeking help from Shia leaders to restore order in the area.

There were no reports of any casualties in the blaze, which occured just hours before the funerals of at least 27 victims of Thursday's mosque attack.

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the blast, but authorities generally blame Sunni Muslim groups for such attacks.

'Considerable anger'

Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder, reporting from Islamabad, said: "The attack angered a lot of people, they vented their anger on the police station this morning. [Police] were unable to provide security to these people in the procession. So there was considerable anger at police."



A blast on a main road from Pakistan to Afghanistan wounded six people[AFP]
 

Shia Muslims are observing the last week of a 40-day mourning period to commemorate the death of Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad, who was killed in 680 AD.

About 20 per cent of Pakistan's 160 million population are Shia Muslims.

"Security agencies had been warning in the past that some of the troubles are likely to spread into the sounthern part of Punjab because there has been a renewed wave of sectarian violence in certain areas," Hyder said.

"While that is a factor, the real concern is the escalation of suicide bombings."

Fighters killed

Also on Friday, security officials said that a massive ground and air offensive by government forces have killed 52 suspected anti-government fighters in the northwest Khyber region.

   

"Frontier Corp troops killed 52 militants, targeted five hideouts and destroyed an ammunition dump and eight vehicles in Chapri Feroze Khel in Khyber," a senior security official involved in the operation said.

   

The tolls were impossible to verify independently in the remote and dangerous region, where Pakistani troops are battling Taliban fighters to secure the Khyber for vehicles to carry supplies to Nato forces in Afghanistan.


There were also more violence elsewhere in the country on Friday.

A suicide bombing took place in the town of Jamrud on a key road between Pakistan and Afghanistan, wounding six people.

Overnight, a suicide bomber drove a car bomb into a police station in Mingora, the main town of northwest Swat Valley, where armed groups are fighting an armed campaign against the government.

Khaista Rehman, a local police station chief, said 11 security personnel were wounded, including seven policemen and four paramilitary soldiers.

The force of the explosion damaged dozens of shops and nearby buildings, but caused no other casualties, he said.

 
 Source: Al Jazeera and agencies 
 
Feedback Number of comments : 1

 
honey
United States  06/02/2009
   
Mosque Blast & Mob Fury
   
The people who commit such as these towards their fellow Muslims are against Islam. These killers shouldn't call themselves Muslims & I consider them worst than the Zionist Israel which bombs innocent Civilians in Palestine. 

 
 
 
 

[Biggs]

Pakistani official says 52 militants killed close to Afghan border

http://www.kristv.com/Global/story.asp?S=9801337&nav=menu192_2

Associated Press - February 6, 2009 11:43 AM ET

ISLAMABAD (AP) - A Pakistani official says government forces in helicopter gunships killed 52 Islamist militants in two attacks today.

The attacks took place in the Khyber region of northwestern Pakistan near the Afghan border, where al-Qaida and Taliban militants have been gaining control.

The government's second highest ranking official in the region says five militant hide-outs, a large ammunition depot and eight vehicles were destroyed in the attack.

Militants have stepped up their own attacks in the region in recent months in an effort to disrupt supply lines for Western forces in Afghanistan.

Elsewhere, hundreds of Shiite Muslims protested a bloody suicide attack by burning a police station in central Pakistan. Yesterday's blast killed at least 27 people outside a mosque as a crowd streamed in for evening prayers. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

[Biggs]

Taliban hold upper hand in Swat Valley

Vivian Salama, Correspondent
Last Updated: February 05. 2009 9:30AM UAE / February 5. 2009 5:30AM GMT

http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090205/FOREIGN/753432648/1002

LAHORE // Nearly 30 Pakistani police officers captured during a long day of fierce battles between Taliban militants and Pakistani security forces have been released unharmed.

Officials with the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) government confirmed that Taliban insurgents had abducted the officers on Wednesday when they seized control of the Shamozai police checkpoint in the volatile Swat Valley. They were released less than 24 hours later.

“They did not harm us,” policeman Abdul Haq told Reuters. “The Taliban have given us a new lease of life.”

Since late 2007, militants have infiltrated the valley from Taliban and al Qa’eda strongholds just across the border in Afghanistan, implementing austere Islamist rule.
A statement released by the Pakistani army earlier this week said that about 16 militants had been killed in the latest military operation in Swat. However, efforts to maintain law and order have been complicated in recent weeks with a growing number of Swat police forces deserting duties or dying in clashes.

“We cannot leave our people at the mercy of terrorists,” said Pakistan’s minister of information Sherry Rehman. “It is important to pursue a strategy that incorporates political and social measures to build the architecture of sustainable peace in Swat, and in the Tribal Areas.”

Despite the police and military action, local media reports reveal that control over the Swat Valley has essentially fallen into the hands of the insurgency.

News of the takeover recently sparked an international outcry after militants closed girls’ schools across the valley, later torching and bombing many.

Women have been forbidden from walking in the streets and at least 50,000 girls have been banned from attending school. Militants have also utilised an illegal FM radio frequency to broadcast their authoritarian teachings.

“We are extremely concerned because the civilian population in Swat is caught in crossfire between militants and security forces,” said I A Rehman, the secretary general of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, which has a significant presence across the NWFP.

Officials estimate that about 1,200 civilians have been killed and about 2,000 wounded in Swat since 2007.

The escalating violence has triggered a mass exodus, with hundreds of thousands of civilians reportedly fleeing the valley, a popular holiday and honeymoon destination, described as “Switzerland of the East” by the popular travel guide Lonely Planet. Government estimates reveal that as much as one-third of Swat’s 1.5 million residents may have fled the valley since fighting began more than one year ago.

“The death toll is rising every day and we are extremely concerned about the people who have been dislocated,” Mr Rehman said.

Concerns are mounting that the insurgency may seep into the heart of Pakistan. Located a mere 160km from Islamabad, the Talibanisation of this picturesque region has hit close to home for many.

“People here just can’t believe it,” said Nadeem Sheikh, a businessman based in Lahore. “Swat is such a popular tourism destination for people from Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi and now it is becoming fundamentalist – this is not the Pakistan we know.”

US President Barack Obama has said he intends to take a firmer stance with Pakistan to ensure Afghan militants do not slip through the cracks, using the country’s semi-autonomous tribal border region as a sanctuary.

Pakistan has been a key partner and staging ground for the Bush administration’s military operations in Afghanistan, as well as the broader “war on terrorism”. Some analysts believe that US cross-border military operations will only exacerbate Pakistan’s security woes.

“The terrain and local resources and political problems are extremely complex in the region and something the Pakistani military is dealing with a lot better than the US can,” said Rasul Bakhsh Rais, a professor of politics at the Lahore University of Management and Economic Research.

For Mr Sheikh and many like him, this popular holiday spot may be gone forever.
“The way things are in Swat now, it seems it will never be the same.”
* The National

[Biggs]

Published: Feb 7, 2009   
Militants Kill 7 Police In Pakistan Attack
by Staff

http://www.postchronicle.com/news/breakingnews/article_212206272.shtml

Suspected militants shot dead two policemen and blew up a checkpost killing five more in an attack in the central Pakistani town of Mianwali on Saturday, police said.

"Seven of our men have died in the attack that appears to be part of terrorist activity being carried out by militants across the country," Malik Tasaddaq Hayat, a senior police official in Minawali district, told Reuters.

Attacks on security forces by militants linked to al Qaeda and the Taliban have become commonplace in Pakistan in the last two years, but incidents in Mianwali have been rare.

Mianwali lies on the eastern bank of the Indus River dividing the central province of Punjab from North West Frontier Province and the tribal lands, where militancy has become rife.


There are concerns in the West and among regional neighbors that Pakistan's year-old civilian government is struggling to handle the mounting insecurity in nuclear-armed country.

On Friday, security forces unleashed helicopter gunships on militants near the Khyber tribal region, killing 52.

Militants in Khyber have been attacking truck convoys carrying supplies to Western forces in Afghanistan for the past few months, forcing the United States to step up its search for alternative routes.

On Thursday, a bomb killed 27 people outside a Shi'ite Muslim mosque in the town of Dera Ghazi Khan, and authorities suspect Sunni Muslim militants, with links to al Qaeda, were behind sectarian attacks aimed at destabilizing the state.

[Biggs]

Pakistani Taliban behead abducted Polish oil worker - Summary
Posted : Sat, 07 Feb 2009 15:17:58 GMT
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/254669,pakistani-taliban-behead-abducted-polish-oil-worker--summary.html

Islamabad - Taliban militants in troubled north-western Pakistan said Saturday that a Polish electrician held by them for the last 18 weeks has been beheaded. A Taliban spokesman who identified himself as Mohammad, told various media organizations over the phone that Polish citizen Peter Stanczak was executed in tribal district of South Waziristan after the expiry of a February 6 deadline given to Pakistani and Polish governments to fulfil the militants' demands.

According to Mohammad, Taliban had initially demanded the release of their 61 comrades during the talks with the government through mediators. Later on, the numbers were cut down to 26.

He told BBC Urdu Service that the Pakistani government promised to release four Taliban fighters as a goodwill gesture by February 4, but it never fulfilled the promise despite a two-day extension in the deadline.

Gunmen ambushed Stanczak's vehicle in Attock district, about 85 kilometres from the capital Islamabad, on September 28. They killed his driver and two guards before snatching the man.

Fakhr Sultan a district police officer in Attock, said he had no information about the execution of Stanczak and nor any clue that Taliban had set some demands for his release.

A spokesman for Pakistan's Interior Ministry was not available for comments.

Stanczak worked for Poland-based Geofizyka Krakow Limited, which is exploring natural resource reservoirs in the region.

In October, militants released a video in which Stanczak asked the government to release some Taliban fighters from custody.

Islamic militants have intensified attacks on foreign diplomats and aid workers in recent months to avenge military operations against them. But secular nationalists are also carrying out such action for their demands in south-western region of the country.

[Biggs]

Police injured in Pakistan attack
 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7878184.stm

A suicide bomber has driven a car loaded with explosives into a police check post in north-western Pakistan, injuring at least 15 policemen.

Police said the attack happened at Baran Pul, about 50km (31 miles) from Miranshah in North Waziristan region.

The check post is the main entry route to the rest of Pakistan from North Waziristan and has been targeted by suspected Taleban militants before.

The lawless region is known to be a hub of Taleban and al-Qaeda militants.

Senior police official Tahuir Daur told the BBC that the vehicle exploded about 50 to 60 yards from the check post when one of the policemen fired at it.

The police had reinforced defences at the post with sandbags a week ago, which prevented the blast from damaging its walls.

Mr Daur said the blast was so powerful that the police have not been able to find a single body part of the bomber.

Taleban and al-Qaeda fighters use North Waziristan and other tribal areas to launch attacks in Afghanistan.

Foreign fighters from Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and the Middle East are all thought to be based there.

[Biggs]

Pakistan Parliament Will Authorize Shooting Down U.S. Drones?

 http://informationclearinghouse.info/article21951.htm

Here is a 7-point Parliament resolution authorizing Pakistan Air Force to shoot down CIA drones coming from Afghanistan and killing innocent Pakistani citizens.  -  We the people of Pakistan must demand these actions from this government and must not fall into the disguised rhetoric of our corrupt leaders.

By Talha Mujaddidi


February 10, 2009 "AHMEDQURAISHI.COM" -- KARACHI, Pakistan—It’s time Pakistan said farewell to the disastrous journey that we embarked upon right after 9/11. We must at all cost liberate ourselves from the yoke of Yankee slavery. This is the time we seek examples of other world rulers who are taking stand against U.S. hegemony. The Pakistani parliament must get together and get the following resolutions passed from the house:

1.      Pakistan must pass a bill in the parliament that must authorize Pakistan Air Force to retaliate against deadly U.S drone attacks.

2.      Pakistan must ask U.S. to pack up its military bases from Pakistani soil, since there was no open agreement between Pakistan government and U.S.  All agreements done between Pakistan and the U.S. under President Musharraf must be made public and cancelled. If there is a need to continue with any one of those agreements with the U.S., they must be renegotiated in a manner that ensures Pakistan’s territorial sovereignty.

3.      Pakistan must ask NATO and U.S. military to make sure that Afghanistan’s soil is not used by India to launch and sustain proxy wars against Pakistan.

4.      Pakistan must declare neutrality in the War in Afghanistan. Pakistan can’t continue to be support a puppet Karzai Afghan Government that is working against the interests of Pakistan.

5.      Pakistan must stop access to NATO and U.S. supplies through Pakistan in the current circumstances until the U.S. accepts and respects Pakistan’s legitimate strategic interests.

6.      Evidence against RAW, NDS, and CIA operations inside Pakistan must be presented before the Parliament and media. Evidence against India and RAW must be presented to the U.N. Security Council, E.U., and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

The Pakistani Parliament can and should act as a cushion to Western pressure. If the Pakistani parliament passes these resolutions, U.S. will be unable to apply pressure on key Pakistani officials. The example of Turkey in pre-invasion Iraq is before us when the Turkish parliament refused U.S. demand to allow Iraq invasion from Turkish soil.

If the parliament manages to pass these resolutions, Pakistan’s government must seek to expand its relationship with China and Russia and apply for a full membership in SCO. Iran has already applied for full membership in SCO.

Of course this is all easier said than done. We all know the real face of our parliament and the sheer incompetence and guilt of our politicians. We must demand these actions from them.

Most of the politicians in government and parliament will continue their verbal gymnastics and waste precious time. In the meantime U.S. might expand its war into Pakistan. This is a time for concrete action. It’s now or never. If we have to then we must remove this government and install an interim technocrat based government until the situation in the country improves. We the people of Pakistan must demand these actions from this government and must not fall into the disguised rhetoric of our corrupt leaders. We must recognize that while our citizens are being killed either by foreign intelligence agencies’ proxy wars, or direct U.S. attacks, or terrorist attacks, our leaders are using this time to gain their short term political goals. We must never forgive our politicians and rulers. Gone is the time when Yahya Khan could have a full military burial. We need to remember our history and must be steadfast in defense of our future. We should not allow our politicians to use patriotism as an excuse to obtain their vicious political gains. It’s time we looked beyond U.S. as our ally and deal with them as a bully and a declining empire.

Writer is a Communications Engineer, and independent analyst based in Karachi, Pakistan. He can be reached at talhamujaddidiATgmail.com

[Biggs]

11 children among 26 killed in Darra shelling

http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=20212

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

By Syed Yasir Shah

KOHAT: A soldier and 25 persons, including 11 children, were killed while 38 others sustained injuries when mortar shells hit some houses during ongoing clashes between security forces and militants in Qasimkhel area of Darra Adamkhel on Monday.

Sources said militants fired three rockets at the Babozai checkpost, killing a soldier, Mirdad, and injuring two others, who were rushed to the Combined Military Hospital, Peshawar.

Security forces also retaliated and an exchange of fire continued for sometime, during which heavy weapons were used.

Reports said several shells fell at the main gate of the Government Girls Primary School Qasimkhel and nearby houses on the outskirts of Darra Adamkhel, killing at least 13 persons including 11 children and injuring about 38 others. Four of the injured died at a hospital in Peshawar.

In a statement issued here, the ISPR said the militants fired mortar shells which killed 13 civilians and injured several others when they hit some houses in Darra Adamkhel. Eyewitnesses said the death toll was more than 25 as some of the bodies were mutilated beyond recognition. Body parts were found scattered at the explosion site, which were buried soon after the incident.

The minors killed in the incident were identified as Wadood, Aftab, Mujeeb, Inamullah, Roaid, Ishfaq, Waleed, Rahimullah, Hasnain, Waqar and Hanif while Muhammad Sadiq, Javed, Muhammad Ayub, Hamza and Fazal Amin were among the other killed.

Some of the injured were identified as Saifur, Majid, Shakoor, Zahoor, Naveed and Shah Hafiz. The injured were rushed to hospitals in Darra Adamkhel, Kohat and Peshawar. Kohat Tunnel and Kotal Pass were closed for all kinds of traffic soon after the incident which added to the miseries of the injured.

Meanwhile, the enraged residents decided to come out against the so-called war on terror, in which innocent people were being killed.

Talking to The News, Haji Muhammad, a local elder, said, “The government should stop bloodshed of the innocent citizens. The security forces and Taliban should fight each other, and not the people.”

AFP adds: Security forces denied involvement. “No military operation is currently underway in the area,” a security official said, requesting anonymity.

An angry mob of around 200 people protesting against the killings blocked a highway linking the town with Peshawar and other southern districts.

The town, known for its weapons market, has become a stronghold of Taliban extremists. A Polish engineer, who was beheaded at the weekend, was kidnapped by a Taliban group in the area last September.

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From the Los Angeles Times

Feinstein comment on U.S. drones likely to embarrass Pakistan

The Predator planes that launch missile strikes against militants are based in Pakistan, the senator says. That suggests a much deeper relationship with the U.S. than Islamabad would like to admit.


By Greg Miller
http://fairuse.100webcustomers.com/thatseemsfair/latimes0051.html
February 13, 2009

Reporting from Washington — A senior U.S. lawmaker said Thursday that unmanned CIA Predator aircraft operating in Pakistan are flown from an air base in that country, a revelation likely to embarrass the Pakistani government and complicate its counter-terrorism collaboration with the United States.

The disclosure by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, marked the first time a U.S. official had publicly commented on where the Predator aircraft patrolling Pakistan take off and land.

At a hearing, Feinstein expressed surprise over Pakistani opposition to the campaign of Predator-launched CIA missile strikes against Islamic extremist targets along Pakistan's northwestern border.

"As I understand it, these are flown out of a Pakistani base," she said.

The basing of the pilotless aircraft in Pakistan suggests a much deeper relationship with the United States on counter-terrorism matters than has been publicly acknowledged. Such an arrangement would be at odds with protests lodged by officials in Islamabad, the capital, and could inflame anti-American sentiment in the country.

The CIA declined to comment, but former U.S. intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, confirmed that Feinstein's account was accurate.

Philip J. LaVelle, a spokesman for Feinstein, said her comment was based solely on previous news reports that Predators were operated from bases near Islamabad.

"We strongly object to Sen. Feinstein's remarks being characterized as anything other than a reference" to an article that appeared last March in the Washington Post, LaVelle said. Feinstein did not refer to newspaper accounts during the hearing.

Many counter-terrorism experts have assumed that the aircraft take off from U.S. military installations in Afghanistan and are remotely piloted from locations in the United States. Experts said the disclosure could create political problems for the government in Islamabad, which is considered relatively weak.

The attacks are extremely unpopular in Pakistan, in part because of the high number of civilian casualties inflicted in dozens of strikes.

The use of Predators armed with Hellfire antitank missiles has emerged as perhaps the most important tool of the U.S. in its effort to attack Al Qaeda in its sanctuaries along the Pakistani-Afghan border. A New Year's Day strike killed two senior Al Qaeda operatives who were suspected of involvement in the bombing of Islamabad's Marriott Hotel.

They were among at least eight senior Al Qaeda figures reportedly killed in Predator strikes over the last seven months as part of a stepped-up missile campaign.

Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at Georgetown University, said Feinstein's comments put Pakistan's government on the spot.

"If accurate, what this says is that Pakistani involvement, or at least acquiescence, has been much more extensive than has previously been known," he said. "It puts the Pakistani government in a far more difficult position [in terms of] its credibility with its own people. Unfortunately it also has the potential to threaten Pakistani-American relations."

As chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Feinstein is privy to classified details of U.S. counter-terrorism efforts. The CIA does not publicly acknowledge a campaign against Pakistan-based extremists using remotely piloted planes, making Feinstein's comment all the more unusual.

Feinstein's disclosure came during testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee by U.S. Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair on the nation's security threats. Blair did not respond directly to Feinstein's remark, except to say that Pakistan was "sorting out" its cooperation with the United States.

Pakistani officials have long denied that they have even granted the U.S. permission to fly the Predator planes over Pakistani territory, let alone to operate the aircraft from within the country.

The civilian leadership that took over from an unpopular former general, Pervez Musharraf, last year, has gone to significant lengths to distance itself from the Predator strikes.

The Pakistani government regularly lodges diplomatic protests against the strikes as a violation of its sovereignty, and officials said the subject was raised with Richard C. Holbrooke, a newly appointed U.S. envoy to the region, who completed his first visit to the country Thursday.

But a former CIA official familiar with the Predator operations said Pakistan's government secretly approves of the flights because of the growing militant threat.

Feinstein prefaced her comment about the Predator basing Thursday by noting that Holbrooke "ran into considerable concern about the use of the Predator strikes in the FATA areas," a reference to what Pakistan calls its Federally Administered Tribal Area along the border with Afghanistan.

Many Pakistanis believe that the civilian leadership, despite public anger, has continued Musharraf's policy of giving the United States tacit permission to carry out the strikes.

The CIA has been working to step up its presence in Pakistan in recent years. It has deployed as many as 200 people to the country, one of its largest overseas operations besides Iraq, current and former agency officials have estimated. That contingent works alongside other U.S. operatives who specialize in electronic communications and spy satellites.

In his prepared testimony Thursday, Blair said that Al Qaeda had "lost significant parts of its command structure since 2008."

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Taliban is in "huge" amounts of Pakistan - Zardari


REUTERS
Reuters North American News Service
http://wire.antiwar.com/2009/02/13/taliban-is-in-huge-amounts-of-pakistan-zardari/

Feb 13, 2009 17:39 EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Taliban has established itself across a large part of Pakistan, forcing the country to fight a war against the hardline Islamist group that is about Pakistan's own survival, President Asif Zardari told CBS News.

"(The Taliban) do have a presence in huge amounts of land in our side. Yes, that is the fact," Zardari told "60 Minutes" in an interview to be broadcast Sunday, excerpts of which were released Friday.

President Barack Obama said this week there was no doubt terrorists were operating in safe havens in the tribal regions of Pakistan, and the United States wanted to make sure Islamabad was a strong ally in fighting that threat.

Obama and Zardari spoke by telephone Wednesday, the Pakistani foreign ministry said. The two discussed the surge in violence by al Qaeda and the Taliban, which has stepped up its insurgency against U.S. forces and the Afghan government.

Zardari said Pakistan had been in denial about the Taliban in the past. "Our forces weren't increased ... . We have weaknesses and they are taking advantage of that weakness," he said.

Zardari has now put 120,000 soldiers into the fight against the Taliban, despite concerns among many Pakistanis that it is fighting a proxy war for the United States.

"We're not doing anybody a favor," Zardari said. "We are aware of the fact it's ... Taliban... trying to take over the state of Pakistan.

"So, we're fighting for the survival of Pakistan. We're not fighting for the survival of anybody else."

Zardari, who was elected last year after the assassination of his wife Benazir Bhutto in 2007, rejected suggestions that he lacks the full support of the military and intelligence services, saying he was confident they were behind him.

"If that wasn't the case, then Islamabad would have fallen because obviously if the army doesn't do its job, these men are not restricted. They've blown up the Marriott Hotel before. They've attacked us inland before. They would be all around us, wouldn't they?" he said. (Reporting by Claudia Parsons; Editing by Xavier Briand)

Source: Reuters North American News Service