Pakistan vs. Taliban thread

[Ironduke]

Pakistan pounds Taleban positions

Pakistani helicopter gunships and warplanes have been bombing suspected Taleban militants in the north-western Swat Valley, the military says.

Thousands of civilians continue to flee the area, with fighting especially heavy in the town of Mingora.

A son of the cleric who brokered a deal aimed at ending clashes is reported killed in shelling in a nearby area.

On Wednesday, US President Barack Obama vowed to "defeat al-Qaeda" and its allies in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

He was speaking after talks in Washington with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.

'Mortar'

Cleric Sufi Mohammed acted as a mediator between the government and Taleban forces in the north-west.

He organised a recent peace deal in the Swat valley which has now broken down amid heavy fighting.

Family members say that Kiffayatullah was killed in the Daro area of Lower Dir late on Wednesday night.

"My brother was in his house when a mortar fell on it and he was killed," another son, Zia ul-Islam, told the BBC.

Sufi Mohammed's son-in-law was also injured in the attack.

There has been no word from the military or the Taleban in relation to the death.

The BBC's Syed Shoaib Hasan in Islamabad says that the death of Kiffayatullah is likely to exacerbate an already tense situation in the north-west.

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Pakistan pounds Taleban positions

[dave lukins]

On Wednesday, US President Barack Obama vowed to "defeat al-Qaeda" and its allies in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

He was speaking after talks in Washington with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.

I would have loved to be a fly on that wall. Let's hope Pres. Obama kicked some butt.

[Kommunist]

I would have loved to be a fly on that wall. Let's hope Pres. Obama kicked some butt.

You mean a human "bug", huh ;), dressed as a fly?

Erm, I thought they checked for bugs....... (at least the electronic ones)

[Merlin]

Pakistan pounds Taleban positions

Pakistani helicopter gunships and warplanes have been bombing suspected Taleban militants in the north-western Swat Valley, the military says....

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Pakistan pounds Taleban positions

Will this give a 'shock and awe' effect?

[Kommunist]

Well the timing of the offensive does seem interesting to say the least considering Zardari's visit to the US and a $10 billion aid package to Pakistan being discussed in the Senate.

[JAD_333]

Commentary from Arnaud, whose opinion used to matter. His piece is long on summary and short on solutions. The thing which struck me is the part about PA not having the heart to fight fellow muslims. We've heard that before, but now we see PA moving robustly against the Taliban. What gives? Were we fed a myth about the PA?

Is Pakistan another Iran?

By ARNAUD DE BORCHGRAVE, UPI Editor at Large
Published: April 27, 2009

WASHINGTON, April 27 (UPI) -- U.S. President Obama's foreign policy gurus are baffled by Pakistan's anarchic chaos that is sweeping one of the world's eight nuclear powers. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she had trouble understanding why the Pakistani army isn't moving to suppress Taliban insurgents inching closer to the capital city of Islamabad.
After six decades of independence -- and half that time under military dictatorship -- Pakistan is still a largely feudal society where landless Taliban have started an uprising against the landlords who back the inept government of President Asif Zardari. It is hard to imagine that he enjoys much support in the budding showdown between Pakistan's haves and have-nots. He says Pakistan is in a state of war without defining the enemy. For the Taliban and Pakistan's landless millions, the enemy is Pakistan's political establishment and the feudal estates that enjoy government protection.
Pakistan is increasingly a rerun of the Islamic fundamentalist revolution in Iran that ousted the pro-Western regime of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi in 1979 and proceeded to execute some 7,000 "counterrevolutionaries" in a few months, thousands more than were sentenced to death during the emperor's 40 years on the Peacock throne. The Iranian equivalent of Pakistan's Taliban -- revolutionary Islamist students -- seized the U.S. Embassy and kept 52 U.S. citizens hostage for 444 days.
To understand the angry growl of Pakistan's 170 million people, look at the number of Taliban (students) that are graduated from Pakistan's 12,500 madrassas, the free-board Koranic schools. They grind out some 2 million teenage boys a year. They are the sons of small or landless peasants who cannot afford the fees of proper schools; most Pakistanis subsist on $2 a day. Besides free food, clothes, books and notebooks, many are promised jobs in mosques or other madrassas. They learn Arabic and the Koran (by heart), an education based on memorization of medieval texts to the exclusion of analytical skills. "It's the ossification and stagnation of knowledge," harrumphed one Pakistani professor. And countless millions of young Pakistanis have been similarly brainwashed.
Many join the ranks of Pakistan's professional army. And they believe that shooting at Taliban insurgents in the Swat Valley or Buner, 60 miles from Islamabad, or the seven Federally Administered Tribal Areas that abut the Afghan border, is tantamount to killing the soldiers of Allah. For them, Islam is the only true religion. The others are heretical enemies that are on the warpath against Islam. That was drilled into most of them for 10 consecutive years, from age 6 to 16.
Under tremendous U.S. pressure to take action against the Taliban and al-Qaida in FATA, the army saw 1,400 killed and 4,000 wounded in 2007-2008. Their heart was not in it. They were fighting their own people. The army negotiated cease-fires with the Taliban that were promptly broken. Unknown numbers of Taliban guerrilla fighters then moved out of FATA and into the 70-mile Swat Valley, the country's most popular tourist area, in Pakistan proper. There, too, the army grew tired of killing its own citizens, and the Zardari government conceded defeat and allowed the Taliban to impose Shariah law, a strict Islamic code of justice that allowed the public beating of a 17-year-old girl who was seen talking to a man she was not related to. Her screams were caught on a video that was widely shown around the world.
Then black-turbaned Taliban insurgents, rocket-propelled grenade rifles and AK-47s slung over their shoulders, pushed their luck and moved into the neighboring Buner district, 60 miles northwest from the seat of government in Islamabad. Clinton and special envoy for AFPAK Richard Holbrooke raised a cry of alarm and leaned on Zardari and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ashfaq P. Kayani to take action. But Clinton also conceded some U.S. responsibility for sowing the seeds of Islamic extremism as a means of undermining the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s. Today's Taliban are the sons of yesterday's mujahedin guerrillas.
The Pakistani government responded by dispatching eight platoons of paramilitary troops to shore up its authority. Taliban militants ignored them and went about terrorizing a population of half a million. All music was banned. Barber shops were closed and men were instructed to grow their beards to the regulation length measured by holding one fist under the chin. From the age of 7, all girls were ordered to wear burqas, the ambulatory-tent look. Taliban enforcers rode around in stolen vehicles.
Stung to the quick by U.S. criticisms, Kayani ordered helicopter gunships to attack Taliban guerrillas after they ambushed a convoy of security forces in the Lower Dir district. But in downtown Islamabad, pro-Taliban religious extremists were back in charge of the Red Mosque after their leader -- Maulana Abdul Aziz, arrested as he escaped an army siege in burqa camouflage -- was released from prison. More than 100 were killed on both sides before the army prevailed in July 2007.
One Urdu-language TV channel called the Taliban "mazahmat kaar," the latest translation for "resistance fighters." State-controlled PTV labels them with a halo of respectability, "askaryet pasand," a flowery translation for "militant" that makes them sound like a distant Tupamaros threat in Uruguay. In the towns and villages they occupied, they killed local policemen, even an army general in the medical corps.
By week's end, it became increasingly clear Pakistan was spinning out of control with a discredited, ineffectual government that the army did not seem inclined to save for the benefit of corrupt politicians. Waiting in the wings was Nawaz Sharif, head of the Pakistan Muslim League, twice prime minister, who presided over Pakistan's first nuclear test explosions in 1998 (in response to India's) and was deposed by Army Chief Pervez Musharraf in 1999. The son of a wealthy industrial family, Nawaz was sentenced to 10 years of exile, which he chose to serve in Saudi Arabia. Among his assets were 15 major properties that ranged from steel, paper and spinning mills to an engineering company and vast land holdings.
Zardari served more than 11 years in prison on corruption charges but proudly says he was never convicted. Similarly plagued by accusations of corruption throughout his two stints as prime minister in the 1990s, Nawaz still enjoys a huge following. Nearly a million people responded to his recent call to block Zardari's attempt to depose Nawaz's brother Shahbaz as chief minister of Punjab and to reinstate Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry. Zardari backed down on both counts.
The Taliban's religious fanatics, meanwhile, continue to gnaw at Pakistan's body politic, much the way they did in Iran before the ayatollahs overthrew the shah 30 years ago.

[Kernow]

Pakistan 'to eliminate militants'
Pakistan's PM says he has ordered the army to "eliminate militants and terrorists", apparently referring to operations against the Taleban.

Yusuf Raza Gilani made the announcement in an evening TV address to the nation.

Fighting has intensified in recent days in the Swat Valley and other parts of the north-west, and thousands of civilians are leaving the area.

US defence secretary Robert Gates earlier said he was satisfied with Pakistan's anti-Taleban moves.

He said there was "very little chance" of the Taleban achieving the kind of success in Pakistan that they would need to get access to the country's nuclear weapons.

At least 10 soldiers have been killed and nine wounded in the fighting in the past 24 hours, the Pakistani military says.


At least seven of them were reported to have died when a troop carrier was ambushed near Mingora.

Appeal for help


“ The time has come when the entire nation should side with the government and the armed forces against those who want to make the entire country hostage and darken our future at gunpoint ”
Yusuf Raza Gilani

Mr Gilani said efforts by the militants to disrupt peace and security had reached a point where the government had to take "decisive steps".

"In order to restore honour and dignity of our homeland, and to protect people, the armed forces have been called to eliminate the militants and terrorists," he said.

"The time has come when the entire nation should side with the government and the armed forces against those who want to make the entire country hostage and darken our future at gunpoint," he added.

He also appealed to the international community to help Pakistan look after people displaced by the fighting.

A curfew has been lifted to allow civilians to leave Swat, prompting thousands to flee and join those already in camps or staying with relatives further south.

But around half a million people remain in Mingora, the main town of Swat, where there is no water or electricity.


Residents say at least 24 civilians have lost their lives in the past two days.

Some died when their houses were hit by artillery, while others were reportedly shot for defying a curfew.

The BBC Urdu service's Riffatullah Orakzai says that eyewitnesses in the Kanju area near Mingora have seen militants setting up checkposts on the main roads and not allowing people who want to flee the fighting to pass.

Witnesses say a large number of people, including women and children, are now stranded there.

Resistance to troops

The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) says the humanitarian crisis in Pakistan is intensifying.

In a statement the ICRC said that it no longer had access to the areas most affected by the conflict and that precise statistics of the displaced were difficult to ascertain.

The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says troops moving into Swat face resistance all along the 40km (25-mile) road that heads in a north-easterly direction from Malakand to Mingora.

Our correspondent says that fighting has not only erupted in several areas around Mingora, but there are also reports of more clashes in the neighbouring area of Buner.

In another incident, militants overran a paramilitary fort in the Chakdara area of Lower Dir, officials say.

Three paramilitary soldiers were killed in the attack and 10 policemen were taken away as hostages.



Story from BBC NEWS:
BBC NEWS | World | South Asia | Pakistan 'to eliminate militants'

Published: 2009/05/07 18:38:07 GMT

[Albany Rifles]

Well the timing of the offensive does seem interesting to say the least considering Zardari's visit to the US and a $10 billion aid package to Pakistan being discussed in the Senate.

Whatever it takes

[Deltacamelately]

Hope the PA can quickly evacuate the stranded females and children from the war zone. More power to the soldiers.

[sumob]

Looks like the action is only to clear the Taliban from the Swat Valley, and not to eliminate the Taliban completely.

DAWN.COM | Pakistan | Troops determined to accomplish mission: Gilani

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Thursday that the armed forces were fully committed to flushing out militants from the troubled areas of Malakand and the government would make all resources available to help them to complete their mission.

Talking to a delegation of lawmakers from Swat, Dir, Buner and Shangla districts at the Prime Minister’s House, he said the centre would continue to support the efforts of the provincial government to restore peace in the region and to provide shelter and relief to the displaced people.

[Yusuf]

Wonder why PA is using RT in SWAT. The Talibans are not holed up in one particular area. They are part of the population out there.

That aside, what remains to be seen is till when does this attack last. The usual case is that PA attacks Taliban when the Pakistanis need money and are under US pressure to fight them. Once the money comes and the US pats them on their backs for fighting the Taliban, they ease up and go back to their old ways.

[dave lukins]

Once the money comes and the US pats them on their backs for fighting the Taliban, they ease up and go back to their old ways.

I don't think for one moment that Pres.Obama will except that. The US will keep a tight watch on the situation and they will want to see concrete results and not a cursory show of strength.

[Georgie]

Once the going gets tough the Taliban will simply melt into the civillian population. This probably explains why the Taliban are stopping the civllians from leaving. Heavy losses of civillians is not going to endear the civillian population to the P.A. either. I think this will be the usual show to gain the $$$. .

[Yusuf]

I don't think for one moment that Pres.Obama will except that. The US will keep a tight watch on the situation and they will want to see concrete results and not a cursory show of strength.

The Pakistanis have been doing that for the last 8 years and the US admin has done nothing but shower it with more aid. So i dont know how different its going to be now.

[sumob]

I found an interesting articles on various scenarios in the PA battle against the Taliban.

SCENARIOS: What next in Pakistan's battle with the Taliban? | Reuters

QUICK SUCCESS

Army chief General Ashfaq Kayani told his top commanders on Thursday the army was fully aware of the gravity of the internal threat and would "employ requisite resources to ensure a decisive ascendancy over the militants."

A quick defeat of the Taliban in Swat would allow the army to move on to tackle militant strongholds on the Afghan border, such as North and South Waziristan, part of a region from where the Taliban orchestrate their Afghan war and where al Qaeda plots violence. Quick success would reassure a public skeptical about the government's alliance with the United States and bolster support for unpopular President Asif Ali Zardari.

However, the Pakistani army has since its creation in 1947 focused on the threat from old rival India and critics say it is not trained or properly equipped for a counter-insurgency operation. That could make quick success a long-shot scenario.

INCONCLUSIVE CAMPAIGN

The army has in the past relied on artillery and air strikes to fight the militants, which critics say invariably involves civilian casualties and alienates the population when the army should be winning hearts and minds.

When pressed, the Taliban are likely to withdraw up remote side valleys, striking back with bomb attacks on military convoys, checkposts and camps. The Taliban can also be expected to step up attacks outside Swat, including suicide and other strikes in towns and cities, to create diversions and undermine public support for the campaign.

An inconclusive campaign in Swat, heavy civilian casualties and more bomb attacks elsewhere would undercut public support for the action and provide ammunition to critics who decry fighting "America's war." If the campaign fails to stop the militants, a frustrated United States could feel forced to step up strikes on fighters in border strongholds by its pilotless drone aircraft, while the government might try another peace deal like the one that has just fallen apart in Swat.

If history is a guide, this may be the most likely scenario.