Pakistan Taking on al Qaeda and Taliban

JP5 · #1 (**permalink**) 10-11-2007, 06:44 AM

Another reason why we don't want to alienate our ally governments.

50 foreign militants said killed in Pakistan clashes
6 hours ago

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (AFP) — Pakistan's army said 50 foreign militants including Arabs were among 200 rebels killed in fierce clashes near the Afghan border, indicating the involvement of Al-Qaeda.

Tribesmen revealed that "foreigners" were among the dead during a meeting in the troubled tribal zone of North Waziristan aimed at brokering a formal end to days of intense fighting, the military said.

The clashes were the culmination of three months of violence sparked by a government raid on an Al-Qaeda-linked mosque in Islamabad in July and the collapse of a controversial peace deal in North Waziristan.

Of the dead foreign rebels "25 have been recognised as Uzbek and the remaining 25 are from Tajikistan, Afghanistan and of Arab descent," a military statement said, citing the tribesmen.

"This is one of the heaviest tolls suffered by the foreigners," a security official said separately, using the official Pakistani jargon for rebels linked to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5...IzcL-3T7ShQQ6g

lunecat · #2 (**permalink**) 10-11-2007, 07:52 AM

Well done Pakistan - always nice to see the terrorist getting a bloody nose!!!

I wish Pakistan was a proper democracy though

Hard-Driver · #3 (**permalink**) 10-11-2007, 09:05 AM

Something actually relating to the real central front in the war on terrorism.

Good start. I hope Pakistan keeps it up.

nonsqtr · #4 (**permalink**) 10-11-2007, 02:04 PM

What took 'em so long?

I guess Musharraf now considers he's got a "mandate"?

DuH2 · #5 (**permalink**) 10-11-2007, 02:46 PM

Good news.

Past that though..

Quote:

Good start.

Its not a start its years past the start.

Quote:

What took 'em so long?

Nothing as they have been egaged in that area and with that enemy for years.

All this is to be blunt is a single large scale engagemnt in an ongoig camaign they have been engaged in since 2002. It has been hot and cold but it has been going on now for about 6 years.

Examples-

Quote:

July 19, 2002
Tipped off by U.S. intelligence, Pakistani forces staged a nighttime raid on an alleged al Qaeda hideout in a remote village near the border with Afghanistan, touching off a four-hour gun battle that killed 10 Pakistani soldiers and at least two al Qaeda militants, Pakistani officials said today.

The combat deaths were the first suffered by Pakistani forces charged with flushing out foreign fighters from the rugged, lawless border region. The clash in which they died served as a reminder of how the war on terrorism has evolved into a dangerous manhunt -- largely out of sight -- since last ...

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-349809.html

Quote:

Pakistan army and al-Qaeda engage in fierce battle

FEROCIOUS FIGHTING: Pakistan's army has been attacking al-Qaeda positions in the mountains near the Afghan border since Tuesday, killing dozens, including civilians

REUTERS, WANA, PAKISTAN
Monday, Mar 22, 2004, Page 5
Pakistani army helicopters fired on suspected al-Qaeda fighters in mountains near the Afghan border yesterday as government forces pressed on with a campaign to expel foreign militants.

Dozens of people have been killed in battles since Tuesday including 13 civilians, many of them women and children, who some officials said were killed in an attack on Saturday by a helicopter gunship.

Tribal elders called for a ceasefire to collect and bury the dead.

Pakistani commanders say they have surrounded several hundred foreign al-Qaeda supporters and their Pakistani tribal allies but doubt al-Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahri, Osama bin Laden's deputy, is among them as some officials had suspected last week.

"First there was small-arms fire, perhaps targeting the helicopters," one witness near the fighting in Pakistan's rugged west said of yesterday's firing.

"Then the helicopters hit back. We heard loud explosions," he said.

Overnight attacks on the militants, who have been fiercely defending clusters of heavily fortified mud-walled compounds, were not as intense as the previous night, local residents said.

The army has sent tens of thousands of troops into its largely autonomous tribal lands on the Afghan border to root out foreign militants and hunt their leaders.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/worl.../22/2003107291

Quote:

Pakistan seizes 'al Qaeda No. 3'
10 other suspected al Qaeda operatives arrested
Thursday, May 5, 2005 Posted: 0419 GMT (1219 HKT)

LAHORE, Pakistan (CNN) -- The alleged No. 3 man in al Qaeda -- believed responsible for the terror group's global operations -- has been captured in northwest Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan, Pakistani and U.S. officials said Wednesday.

In Washington, President Bush hailed the arrest of Abu Faraj al-Libbi and that of 10 other suspected al Qaeda members as a "critical victory in the war on terror."

U.S. and Pakistani officials said al-Libbi and three other al Qaeda suspects were arrested Monday after a gunbattle in Mardan, a city in the country's northwest province.

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/as...est/index.html

etc..IOW knock off the selective reading to support the empty rhetoric.

There was a pause in 2006 that going by the ins and outs of the March 2007 fighting paid off.
But acting like this is new or about time or whatever is just prattle.

nonsqtr · #6 (**permalink**) 10-11-2007, 10:27 PM

So, what do you think will happen if AQ gets kicked out of Pakistan?

I mean, they'll just go somewhere else, right?

They have places "all over the world", last I heard, including even unlikely places like Argentina.

Just like I keep saying, "swarm of gnats".....

Wildbore · #7 (**permalink**) 10-12-2007, 05:36 AM

Pakistan is doing almost nothing about Waziristan. There are thousands of terrorists and sympathizers here, and yet all Pakistan does is set up road blocks and rarely go in to do anything about it.

The terrorists have pushed the Pakistan government out of Waziristan, and they only occasionally go back in rescue their troops which were taken hostage.

Pakistan is an ally, but they aren't doing much and they can't do much about the situation in Waziristan.

f100supersabr · #8 (**permalink**) 10-12-2007, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wildbore";p=&quot

Pakistan is doing almost nothing about Waziristan. There are thousands of terrorists and sympathizers here, and yet all Pakistan does is set up road blocks and rarely go in to do anything about it.

The terrorists have pushed the Pakistan government out of Waziristan, and they only occasionally go back in rescue their troops which were taken hostage.

Pakistan is an ally, but they aren't doing much and they can't do much about the situation in Waziristan.

Wild, I read the same things about the situation is Waziristan !!

DuH2 · #9 (**permalink**) 10-12-2007, 01:42 PM

AH its all fake..ok

BTW some of the heaviest fighting since the pause in 2006 is occuring in Waziristan and has been now for months but thats ok..its fake

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