Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi poses during the 62nd Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, on May 22, 2009. Zhang is a member of a jury that will select the best short film and the best of 15 films selected for the Cannes Cinefondation.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Zhang Ziyi appears at Cannes Film Festival
Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi poses during the 62nd Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, on May 22, 2009. Zhang is a member of a jury that will select the best short film and the best of 15 films selected for the Cannes Cinefondation.
Militants forced army to take action: ANP
PESHAWAR: The Awami National Party Chief Asfandyar Wali Khan Friday said his party always believed in resolving issues through dialogue and peaceful political means rather than the use of force.
“The ANP-led provincial government has tried its best to resolve the Swat issue through dialogue and despite all pressure and criticism it signed peace accord, promulgated Nizam-e-Adl Regulation and set up Qazi courts, but unfortunately the militants violated the accord and forced the government to use force to ensure the safety of the people and establish the writ of the state,” Asfandyar said.
Addressing a meeting of party office-bearers and MPAs of district Charsadda here Friday, Asfandyar said the provincial government was still abiding by the Swat peace accord but the militants violated it and their nefarious designs were exposed before the nation.
Regarding Swat, he said the provincial government had always taken all the political parties into confidence and that was the reason all the political forces backed the military operation against the militants in Malakand division.
Asfandyar urged the party workers to make concerted efforts to provide better facilities to the displaced people of the restive areas. He asked them to constitute committees at district level, make regular visits to relief camps and co-ordinate with the provincial committee of the party about the deficiencies in the camps so that necessary steps could be taken to make them up.
The meeting also discussed the ongoing development projects in Charsadda district, including provision of natural gas, establishment of a cadet college and construction of roads. Asfandyar assured the party workers that the development projects would be completed soon.
Besides party office-bearers and provincial assembly members of Charsadda, Afrasiyab Khattak, Senator Zahid Khan, Bashir Ahmad Bilour, Tajuddin Khan and others also attended the meeting.
Timing not right for deal with Taliban: Gates
WASHINGTON: The chances of a deal between the Afghan government and the Taliban are remote as long as the insurgents enjoy momentum on the battlefield, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Friday.
In an interview with US television's "Today" show, Gates said the time was not yet ripe for the kind of reconciliation that occurred in Iraq with armed opponents of the Baghdad government.
"I think the view of most of us is that until the momentum of the battle turns against the Taliban... that the likelihood of any kind of reconciliation on the part of the leadership of the Taliban is very small," Gates said.
Asked about a New York Times report that Taliban factions were in talks with the Kabul government and pushing for a deadline for the withdrawal of NATO-led forces, Gates said Washington would "absolutely not" accept any such idea.
The defense secretary said "the end of all such wars involves some measure of reconciliation. We've seen it in Iraq."
Car bomb wreaks havoc in Peshawar
PESHAWAR - At least 10 persons were killed and more than 75 injured on Friday evening in a car bomb explosion in front of Tasweer Mahal Cinema, Khyber Bazaar.
According to police officials and eyewitnesses, the red coloured Suzuki Mehran car, bearing registration number R-7867 Peshawar, was parked in front of Tasweer Mahal Cinema.
As a result of the explosion, the cinema and nearby shops collapsed.
Four rickshaws and some other vehicles, electricity towers and wires were also damaged in the incident and disrupted power supply in the area.
Some of the killed persons have been identified as Usman, Kisahwar, Khan Wali, Janat Gul, orangzeb and Zahid Gul.
Soon after the explosion, a large number of civilians and police personnel reached the site. The ambulances of Edhi Foundation and Lady Reading Hospital also reached and started shifting the injured to various hospitals in the city.
Later, CCPO Peshawar, while briefing the media confirmed the killing of 10 persons and injuring of 75. He also said the 10 persons of the injured were in critical condition. He further informed that it was a high-intensity explosion in which around 40 to 50 kilograms explosive material was used.
Meanwhile President Zardari, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, NWFP Chief Minister, Amir Khan Hoti, Federal Information Minister Kamaruzzaman Kaira have strongly condemned the blast.
President Zardari said the government was determined to root out the menace of terrorism from the society and such cowardly acts will not dampen its spirit.
The Prime Minister while condemning the attack ordered an immediate inquiry into the incident and asked the local administration to provide best medical care to the injured.
Monitoring Desk adds: Miscreants on Friday blew up the house and hujra of Awami National Party leader in Shah Dheri area of Swat, reported a private TV channel. Swat-based militants detonated the house and hujra of ANP leader Khan Nawab. No casualty was reported in the incident as no one was living there in the house and hujra nowadays.
Pakistan Claims More Gains Against Taliban
NYT.COM
KHAWAZAKHELA, Pakistan — A top Pakistani general said Friday that the military has succeeded in clearing two militant strongholds in upper parts of the contested Swat valley and is just a week away from taking over a third.
“Essentially, at this point in time, we are looking at eliminating the hard core militants,” Major General Sajjad Ghani, the commanding officer of the military operation in the upper part of Swat, said in a briefing for journalists here. Khawazakhela is one of the largest cities in Swat, with a population locals estimate at more than 500,000.
General Ghani, who has been in the area for the past year and a half, said the military had cleared militants from Matta and Bini Baba Ziarart and was closing in on another stronghold in Peochar, in the upper Swat valley.
“The commandoes have already landed on the mountain peaks and ridges,” around Peochar, he said. “The militants are surrounded and encircled from all sides. They are hemmed in. And this is the right time that the security forces can go with full might and kill and eliminate the residual militants in the Peochar valley.”
Buoyed by the military’s success, local people in the neighboring northern area of Kalam have taken up arms against the Taliban, General Ghani said.
General Ghani ruled out the possibility of a ceasefire. “Miscreants are on the run,” he said. “Their command and control, communication infrastructure has been destroyed. They cannot coordinate and articulate operations in a coherent way any longer.”
While the military is gunning for the militant leadership, recruits who desert the Taliban ranks will be allowed to rejoin mainstream society, he said.
Gen. Ghani said residents could begin to return to Khawazakhela and Matta in 15 days.
But as of Friday, the city of Khawazakhela, like other towns and villages throughout the Swat valley, had a ghostly aspect when seen from a helicopter. Long roads winding through green fields were deserted. Dozens of cargo trucks were parked in the center of town, while smoke billowed from what seemed to be a filling station. Very few people could be seen.
The Pakistan Army has established an operational base in a girls’ college in the city. Soldiers in camouflage fatigues stood guard outside the boundary walls of the building.
“The Taliban would have blown it up had we not established our base here”, said Lt. Col. Abdul Rehman, one of the officers. The Taliban had targeted girls’ schools and banned female education.
Colonel Rehman said that 31 soldiers in his unit had been killed, but that morale remained high.
As helicopters flew in and out of the base, a group of young officers said there was no moral dilemma for them in fighting the Taliban, most of who are fellow Pakistanis. “They are not Muslims despite their claims to be so,” said Lt. Asad Hanif. “A true Muslim cannot slaughter people like the Taliban have been doing.”
Officers said the Taliban were recruiting young men from the area through intimidation and coercion, and raising money through extortion. While most of the Taliban militants were from the area, the officers said that some foreigners, most of them from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, had also joined in the fighting.
Rahimullah Shaheen, a local journalist, sounded a note of caution, saying that the Taliban who had been forced out of Khawazakhela had simply retreated into the nearby mountains, just a few miles from the city.
KHAWAZAKHELA, Pakistan — A top Pakistani general said Friday that the military has succeeded in clearing two militant strongholds in upper parts of the contested Swat valley and is just a week away from taking over a third.
“Essentially, at this point in time, we are looking at eliminating the hard core militants,” Major General Sajjad Ghani, the commanding officer of the military operation in the upper part of Swat, said in a briefing for journalists here. Khawazakhela is one of the largest cities in Swat, with a population locals estimate at more than 500,000.
General Ghani, who has been in the area for the past year and a half, said the military had cleared militants from Matta and Bini Baba Ziarart and was closing in on another stronghold in Peochar, in the upper Swat valley.
“The commandoes have already landed on the mountain peaks and ridges,” around Peochar, he said. “The militants are surrounded and encircled from all sides. They are hemmed in. And this is the right time that the security forces can go with full might and kill and eliminate the residual militants in the Peochar valley.”
Buoyed by the military’s success, local people in the neighboring northern area of Kalam have taken up arms against the Taliban, General Ghani said.
General Ghani ruled out the possibility of a ceasefire. “Miscreants are on the run,” he said. “Their command and control, communication infrastructure has been destroyed. They cannot coordinate and articulate operations in a coherent way any longer.”
While the military is gunning for the militant leadership, recruits who desert the Taliban ranks will be allowed to rejoin mainstream society, he said.
Gen. Ghani said residents could begin to return to Khawazakhela and Matta in 15 days.
But as of Friday, the city of Khawazakhela, like other towns and villages throughout the Swat valley, had a ghostly aspect when seen from a helicopter. Long roads winding through green fields were deserted. Dozens of cargo trucks were parked in the center of town, while smoke billowed from what seemed to be a filling station. Very few people could be seen.
The Pakistan Army has established an operational base in a girls’ college in the city. Soldiers in camouflage fatigues stood guard outside the boundary walls of the building.
“The Taliban would have blown it up had we not established our base here”, said Lt. Col. Abdul Rehman, one of the officers. The Taliban had targeted girls’ schools and banned female education.
Colonel Rehman said that 31 soldiers in his unit had been killed, but that morale remained high.
As helicopters flew in and out of the base, a group of young officers said there was no moral dilemma for them in fighting the Taliban, most of who are fellow Pakistanis. “They are not Muslims despite their claims to be so,” said Lt. Asad Hanif. “A true Muslim cannot slaughter people like the Taliban have been doing.”
Officers said the Taliban were recruiting young men from the area through intimidation and coercion, and raising money through extortion. While most of the Taliban militants were from the area, the officers said that some foreigners, most of them from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, had also joined in the fighting.
Rahimullah Shaheen, a local journalist, sounded a note of caution, saying that the Taliban who had been forced out of Khawazakhela had simply retreated into the nearby mountains, just a few miles from the city.
Actor Smith to make Katrina film
Actor Will Smith has agreed to produce a movie telling the true story of a man who rescued hundreds of people after Hurricane Katrina, reports suggest.
Ex-marine John Keller was nicknamed The Can Man after saving 244 people from flooding during the disaster.
Trade newspaper The Hollywood Reporter said that Smith's production company and Sony Pictures had bought the movie rights to his story.
John Lee Hancock will direct the project, called The American Can.
Hancock, whose previous films include The Rookie and The Alamo, will also write the script.
Mr Keller was dubbed The Can Man after rescuing his neighbours from a five-story apartment building, The American Can Company, where he lived.
For five days, Keller warded off intruders and marauders as chaos raged around the city.
He also directed the eventual rescue operation from the building's roof after residents, many of them elderly or handicapped, were left stranded by 11 feet of water.
"This is the story of an everyman who became a hero," said Doug Belgrad from Sony subsidiary Colombia Pictures.
"That is the story we want to tell. In the moment of an American tragedy, when we are tested, we find that we have greater depth of spirit and strength than we ever knew."
.jpg)
10 killed, 70 injured in Peshawar blast
.jpg)
At least ten people have been killed while more than 70 others injured in a bomb blast in Peshawar. The incident occurred at Cinema Road near Khyber bazaar area, where what appeared to be a remote-controlled bomb planted in a vehicle went off in rush evening hour, eyewitnesses said. The blast was as powerful as it severely damaged a nearby cinema house, its adjacent buildings and parked vehicles. The area was jampacked at the time of the incident while a show in the cinema was also underway, news reports said. Paramedics, firefighters and security personnel have arrived at the scene while the corpses and injured were rushed to nearby Lady Reeding hospital. Emergency have also been declared in all the major hospitals of Peshawar. Police have cordoned off the area.
Peshawar Blast,10 killed,dozen injured.
PESHAWAR :A bomb exploded at Khyber Bazar in Peshawar killed atleast ten people, wounding at least 30 people, some of them seriously, atleast 10 people were killed and thirty wounded people were brought to hospital, some of them in very critical condition.The blast occurred outside a cinema and a main market in a congested neighborhood.
UN Issues Urgent Appeal for Pakistan Refugee Aid
VOA.COM
The United Nations is appealing for an additional $454 million to assist nearly two million Pakistanis displaced by fighting between army troops and Taliban militants in Swat Valley. The U.N. has already committed $88 million, bringing the total coast of humanitarian relief to $453 million.The United Nations says the scale and speed of the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Pakistan is extraordinary.
"The numbers of people who have moved in that last three and half weeks is the highest rate of movement we have seen for more than 20 years anywhere in the world," said Martin Mogwanja, the acting UN coordinator in Pakistan. "And it is the biggest displacement that has ever occurred in Pakistan. Given the other social, economic and security factors in Pakistan, we believe that responding to this appeal quickly and responding now is in the interest - not only of the humanitarian community - it is in the interest of the world as a whole."
This week, the Pakistani government unveiled a high-profile strategy to deal with the exploding numbers of people displaced by the war against Taliban militants in Swat Valley. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani hosted a donor's conference in the capital, Islamabad, where several nations, including the United States, pledged $224 million in humanitarian aid.
Gilani told donors that addressing the current humanitarian crisis in the northwest is inextricably linked to combating extremism.
"Taking care of Pakistan's IDP's [internally displaced people] is among the responsibilities that come in the wake of efforts to combat terrorism," said Mr. Gilani. "There is an urgent need for joint and comprehensive response to this issue by all those who are committed to fighting terrorism."
In addition to seeking outside financial help, the Pakistani government has budgeted $100 million for relief efforts that include one-time grants of $300 to each displaced family.Part of the problem facing the Pakistani government and aid agencies is that only 20 percent of people who fled the violence are actually in the camps. The rest are staying with family or friends and that population is harder to reach and help.
Helene Caux is a spokesperson with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. She visited Jalala camp in Mardan district not far from the military offensive this week. She says the biggest problem for camp residents is the heat, which has been steadily hovering just below 40 degrees Celsius. Caux also says camp residents are clearly traumatized and want to go home.
"They say everything is being provided to them in the camps, what they need is to go back," said Caux. "This is harvesting time right now and they absolutely need to go back [home] to do that."
On the battlefront, the military says they are on the verge on entering and taking control of Mingora, the main town in Swat Valley. Earlier this week, the military said it had recaptured the town of Sultanwas, a major Taliban stronghold, in neighboring Buner district.
Troops encircle Swat, cut off Taliban escape routes
KHWAZAKHELA: Troops are encircling Taliban militants in their mountain base as well as the main town in the Swat Valley, a Pakistani general said on Friday.
With scepticism growing about the progress of the month-old army offensive in the north-western region, the army flew a handful of reporters from foreign news organisations into Swat on Friday.
An Associated Press reporter aboard the helicopter saw no cars and few people in the town of Mingora or on roads further up the valley.
From the air, there was little evidence of the fierce fighting and air strikes that the military claims have already killed more than 1,000 militants as well as some 60 soldiers.
But a senior commander insisted the army was trapping militants in Mingora and Peochar, a side-valley further north that is the stronghold of Swat Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah.
‘The noose is tightening around them. Their routes of escape have been cut off,’ Maj. Gen. Sajad Ghani said.
‘It’s just a question of time before (Taliban leaders) are eliminated.’
Meanwhile, the head of the government relief operation, Lieutenant General Nadeem Ahmed, said up to 200,000 civilians were stranded in the valley and authorities might have to drop food to them from the air.
But Ahmed said ‘not many’ civilians were left in Mingora, with most people still in the valley in its northern reaches, which had been ‘relatively calm’.
In a sign of growing hostility towards the Taliban among people long ambivalent, villagers in two north-western districts are trying to expel the gunmen, a politician and another official said.
‘The people of Kalam have risen against the Taliban. The people have asked them to get out,’ said provincial assembly member Jafar Shah, referring to a region to the north of Swat.
A clashed had erupted on Thursday and several people on both sides were wounded or killed, he said.
‘The residents are insisting they won’t let the Taliban stay. The militants have been confined to a small area,’ Shah said.
Villagers had taken the same stand in parts of Lower Dir, to the west of Swat, and Taliban had pulled out of some areas, a provincial government official said.
In Swat, soldiers advancing from three directions have begun battling the militants in towns where civilians are still hiding.
ANP leader house blown up in Swat
The miscreants Friday blew up the house and hujra of Awami National Party leader Khan Nawab in Shah Dheri area of Swat. The militants and the Lashkar of local tribesmen have declared ceasefire in tehsil Kalam of Swat still the extremists have been entrenched in bunkers and continuing their armed patrolling in the area. The Lashkar of tribesmen and the militants were agreed for truce yesterday after negotiations. In Takhtaband, Qanbar, Matta and Kabal the forces are targeting the hideouts of the militants. According to reports the forces and militants were also fighting in Kabal and Matta.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
CRUSH TALIBAN !!!
‘’CRUSH EM’’
M WAQAR
I am glad that entire nation except QAZI HUSSAIN AND IMRAN KHAN is united on war against ignorant, fanatics, thugs and criminal Taliban. These thugs, criminals and killers are not offering anything positive but only death and damaging name of Islam and Pakistan. I am happy to see broad public and political support for the war. I am glad that people have realized that monster Taliban had to be defeated. They are doing no good to any one. The name of Islam, Pakistan and good kind innocent people have been tarnished all over the world because of them. Pakistan Army should punish em real hard and kill or arrest Taliban leaders and bring them to justice, these so called Taliban leaders are involve in crimes against humanity. They beheaded even children ,destroyed schools and other business which QAZI HUSSAIN and IMRAN KHAN DON’T SEE. It is a real test of Pakistan Army, they must crush these lunatics, nation will be very disappointed if they don’t win this war against Taliban and punish them. The emerging situation in Pakistan needs to be combated now in a very aggressive manner. These Hypocrite Taliban are a shame on Islam. It will be a service to Islam and humanity to bring these animals to a court of law. Pakistan’s civil society must target these lumping elements if they want to clean Pakistan of these rabid fundamentalist elements. Taliban have been destroying or occupying government buildings and blowing up bridges, basic health units and hotels, including the one that looked majestic with clouds often swirling around it at the now deserted Malam Jabba skiing and chairlift resort. Electricity and gas installations have been bombed and road blockades and checkpoints set up to add to the misery of the people. Beheadings of personnel of security forces and police and political rivals is common. Bodies of people slain overnight are dumped in the morning by the roadside everywhere in Swat or at the Greens Chowk, nowadays commonly referred to as "Khooni Chowk" (bloody square), in Mingora city. Taliban never had any genuine demands that could be considered. There actions are genocide of innocent peace loving puktuns . Forgiving them the blood of all those that they have killed just for negotiating "peace" sends a very wrong signal to all the other crooks who want to make money out of suppressing others. These guys need to be made an example off or we are bound to see more episodes in the futures. The only solution of the Taliban problem is an armed solution . The Taliban in Swat is a rag tag bunch of around 2000 fighters, besides being small in number they have alienated the local population with their cruelty. This should not be a big problem for the 500,000 strong Pakistan army IF it is willing to take them on. It is equally important to find and expose those elements, groups or countries supporting & re-sourcing Taliban with money and weapons and parallel efforts be made by all, army as well as local tribes to help close the taps. Otherwise it is going to be a long haul fire fighting and extended collateral miseries for the IDPs. We really need to get rid of these Taliban from Pakistan. Once they are eliminated, we should start educating our citizens in those areas to make sure no Taliban is born into another home anywhere in Pakistan. Today majority of Pakistanis from Khyber to Karachi are with our forces fighting with them to eliminate them. I think the operation started bid late, in fact it should have started earlier. I am happy that our Army is advancing and they(So Called Taleban) are retreating and on the run. I believe Taliban are the enemy of our nation and our people. We must support the families who had to vacate their homes at the hands of these barbarians. The bigger issue here is that these thugs are clearly trying to hide in the mass of refugees exiting the area of operation. So the question that arises for the security agencies is - is there a system in place to screen the whole lot of refugees in order to ensure that the Taliban are weeded out of the influx. Otherwise all the operation would end up achieving is a wider dispersal of these animals, leading to a wider geographic spread of the Taliban phenomenon. What Pakistani citizens can do now is to identify these taliban foxes among them and turn these abusers to the officials. If these barbarians really were Muslims they would never enforce their opinion on other people. Even our beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) never preached Islam by force. Double standards are deeply rooted in their philosophy. The question we must now ask ourselves is that do they really want to spread Islam or do they want to destabilize our country in the name of a peace-loving religion such as Islam. The people of Pakistan will never be forced into the dark ages . These militants are two faced barbarians! Killing people, barring women from education, looting and creating a chaos all in the name of Islam - is this really Islam? It is for people like these that our religion has had a bad press. I really hope and pray that each and every monster/Talib gets killed just as the same way they inflicted torture to people by beheading and disgracing corpses . Taliban and other extremist are savages. We as Pakistanis should do our best to drive them out. It is our failure that we let them in our cities and villages. Now the nation have risen and it time for Taliban and extremist to go where they actually belong and this is in the confinement and prison. They should not be allowed to impose their savagery on rest of the nation. Taliban are not Muslims, they are destroying the peaceful religion.. shame on them.
Pakistani Govt. is taking the right step to once it for all eliminate them, they don’t deserve to be talked about just eliminate them, request to all the parties in Pakistan to be united in this great cause and bring stability to Pakistan and freedom to its people.
Combat spreads in Swat
SWAT/MOHMAND AGENCY - As fighting flared up in several areas of Swat Valley on Thursday in which a key militant commander was killed, another prominent Taliban commander Yarseed along with five other militants surrendered themselves in Mohmand Agency on Thursday.
They handed themselves over to the Agency administration at a ceremony held in Jirga Hall of Ghalani in the presence of Political Agent Amjad Ali.
Addressing the ceremony, the Political Agent remarked that though the militants had shocked and tortured the nation as well as the government, the government would take care of them if they surrendered. The five others who surrendered included Tariq, Usman, Hasseen Shah, Mohammad Ishaq and Gul Zamin.
Amjad Ali said, “Pakistan is an Islamic country and there is no ban on Islamic way of life. We are Muslims and know the principles of Islam very well.” He said that Pakistan was a stable country and no one could dare destabilise it. He said that militants could not justify their activities as they were fighting against their own people.
He thanked the elders of Safi tribe who convinced these militants to lay down arms. He said all the miscreants should know that government had an alternate option in case of failure of dialogue. He urged the militants to disarm themselves for the sake of the development of the country.
Yarseed on the occasion said that he had joined Taliban for the sake of Islam but when he saw the IDPs’ women in various relief camps, he compelled to lay down arms and hand over himself to the government.
Reuters/AFP adds: A number of terrorists including one of their commanders Abu Tariq were killed while seven miscreants held from various parts of the area during the last 24 hours.
In an update issued here Thursday by the ISPR, five soldiers embraced Shahadat and seven others including an officer injured in various areas of Swat.
The military reported fighting in Peochar, a key Taliban bastion in northern Swat, the town of Kanju and around a Taliban supply line in Takhtabund.
Security forces cleared a number of miscreants’ hideouts in the Poechar valley and are conducting search and destroy operations while fire battles continued between terrorists and the troops.
Security forces attacked and “fully secured” the strategic plateau of Banai Baba Ziarat, which the military called “the highest point in the area”.
Forces have secured and cleared the area up to Shahid Khapa and making further advancement towards the valley. During clashes, few terrorists were killed and three soldiers hurt.
In Kanju and Takhtaband areas the security forces are strengthening their positions around Takhtaband Bridge, Barikot, Gokdara, and Udigram. The security forces Wednesday attacked the Banai Baba Ziarat occupied by the terrorists and the highest point in the area while Ziarat was fully secured by the Army.
The military says more than 1,050 militants and more than 60 soldiers have been killed since forces launched an offensive against advancing Taliban militants in northwest Pakistan late last month.
Such death tolls are impossible to confirm independently with the combat area a closed military zone, sealed off to journalists and aid workers.
NNI adds: Chief of Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force, Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman Thursday visited an operational base from where air operations are being conducted against the militants in Swat valley and adjoining areas.
On his arrival at the operational base, the Base Commander briefed the Air Chief about the significant aspects of air operations, a PAF statement said.
While addressing the airmen of the base, the Air Chief said, “PAF undertook its obligations towards national security and is, therefore, supporting Pak Army in its ground operations to restore writ of the government in Swat and root out militancy from there. PAF is striking targets, which are located in isolated areas. PAF is making all possible efforts to avoid civilian casualties and collateral damage. For this, it is only using precision guided munitions (PGMs).”
The Air Chief also said, “Intelligence and information about targets are being provided to PAF by the ground forces engaged with the militants. Pak Army as well as the PAF are extremely careful about targets’ selection to avoid civilian casualties and collateral damage during the operation. The targets engaged by PAF are ammunition dumps, militants training camps, militant commanders’ hideouts and tunnel structures. The militants have been flushed out from their hideouts.”
While talking about the PAF relief operations for IDPs, he said, “PAF is also contributing significantly towards the relief efforts for the IDPs. It is in the process of setting up a relief camp for 250 families and a field hospital, which will be run by the NWFP government and sustained by the PAF. PAF will hand over the camp and relief goods to NWFP government shortly.”
He further said the PAF would continue its relief operations by airlifting relief goods from Karachi, Quetta and Lahore by utilising its transports aircraft fleet to ensure speedy delivery of the relief goods to needy IDPs.”
Lessons from Sri Lanka
Najmuddin A Shaikh
Daily Times
This is a war for Pakistan’s survival. It must be fought without illusions and without yielding to the temptation to believe that one has credible and willing partners with whom a negotiated peace could be worked out
The curtain has at long last fallen on the destructive and polarising campaign of the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, which claimed more than 70,000 lives over the last 26 years. Led by Velupillai Prabhakaran, the Tamil Tigers pioneered the use of suicide bombers and were responsible for the assassination not only of Sri Lankan leaders but also of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Prabhakaran’s ruthlessness and total disregard for human rights did not appear to dent his hold on his people in the areas he controlled or even on the Tamils living abroad.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa, as the defence minister, adopted the same ruthlessness and disregard for human rights to achieve victory. From the Sri Lankan perspective, theirs was a desperate battle for survival as a united state. Previous efforts at finding a negotiated settlement had all foundered on the rocks of LTTE intransigence. Humanitarian concern about the innocent Tamils trapped and kept trapped by the LTTE for use as human shields was understandable but for the Sri Lankan army there was, in their view, no alternative to seeking an unconditional surrender, whatever the ‘collateral damage’.
Today there is outcry in the West about the manner in which the Sri Lankan army conducted operations and about the suppression of dissent in the Sri Lankan media. There is talk of denying Sri Lanka the IMF loan it desperately needs and withdrawing the preferential trading sights that it enjoys with the European Union. Yet the need of the hour is assistance for the refugees and for the more than a quarter of a million people who were more or less held hostage by the Tamil Tigers in their “last stand”.
There is further need to provide the political backing which ensures that the reconciliation process does not become hostage to the activities of Tigers sympathisers from across the narrow strait that separates Sri Lanka from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Much has been written about the role that external forces — be it the national government in India or the state government of Tamil Nadu or non-state actors — had played in fomenting the Sinhalese-Tamil divide or the rise of the LTTE. The international community must play its part in ensuring that this does not recur.
This should not be too difficult. The greatly strengthened Manmohan Singh government, with a minimal dependence on the regional political parties, will have the capacity to guarantee non-interference in Sri Lankan affairs.
All that the international community should insist upon thereafter as a condition for its assistance is that a clear path for reconciliation should be set out and be acted upon.
It is perhaps true that when the government was able to establish control in eastern Sri Lanka, it did not move in this direction. Perhaps the Rajapaksa government was too preoccupied with the continuing military campaign to do so. Perhaps it was because the long years of conflict have created distrust and even hatred that will take time to overcome. Many Tamils who opposed Prabhakaran and the LTTE have not joined the Sinhalese in celebrating the Tigers’ defeat because they did not hear in Rajapaksa’s victory speech any word on what his government intended doing to move towards reconciliation. Reconciliation is, however, the only way forward.
Are there any parallels between the situation in Sri Lanka and the counter-insurgency operation that we are now waging? If there are none, is there any prospect of such parallels developing in the future?
Currently there appear to be no parallels. The Taliban in Malakand are not reflecting Pashtun or Swati aspirations. Their agenda is to push their distorted interpretation of Islam down the throat of all Pakistanis and then move further afield. Whatever the movement started as, there is no doubt that it has been infiltrated and perhaps even taken over by criminal elements.
Underneath the surface, however, lies a simmering resentment that pervades all Pashtuns, be they in Afghanistan, Pukhtunkhwa or Karachi (which has more Pashtuns than either Peshawar or Kabul). In their perspective, whatever the reasons for the conflict or its prolongation, Pashtun blood is being spilled on both sides. It is Pashtuns who are branded as extremists even though it is Pashtuns who are the principal victims of the extremists. Many in this community have become paranoid enough to suggest that the “authorities” are using them as pawns to carry forward an agenda that has little to do with the genuine aspirations of the moderate Pashtuns.
For the Pashtuns, the massive exodus from Malakand, occasioned as much by fear of military action as by the atrocities committed by the Taliban is yet another indicator of the miseries that have been inflicted upon them for no fault of their own. Many can perhaps be persuaded that the fault lay with the American invasion of Afghanistan, but too many others recall how the setting up of Taliban recruitment centres in Swat and the tribal areas, long after the Soviets had left, contributed to the radicalisation of the region.
If we are not to return to the dreaded days of the past when many Pashtuns argued that there was no place for them in Pakistan, there are two things that must be done. First, the IDPs must be looked after not only in Pukhtunkhwa but also anywhere else in Pakistan. Equally or perhaps more importantly, the military operation must be brought to closure quickly. It is encouraging that people, at least in the thousands, have started returning to Buner and one can hope that the clearing of Sultanwas will hasten the process further. We must not, however, make the mistake of withdrawing the army immediately. The area must be cleared and then held.
We should acknowledge that the resistance has been stiffer than expected and that our present effort may need to be reinforced by further contingents from our eastern border, particularly if areas are to be held after they are cleared. The development of our civil armed forces and police will take time and the area cannot be abandoned.
I saw some evidence of a willingness to do this in the ISPR statement that the eastern border remained a long term threat while the internal threat was, at least by implication, more immediate. That resistance would be strong became evident when it was revealed that in the Peochar Valley, under the very eyes of our intelligence agencies, the militants had been able to build 80ft deep bunkers and other such defensive positions. In areas where the civil administration and the intelligence agencies were less visible, even more must have been done.
Sri Lanka does one offer one lesson. This is a war for Pakistan’s survival. It must be fought without illusions and without yielding to the temptation to believe that one has credible and willing partners with whom a negotiated peace could be worked out. The time for that has passed. The time for reconciliation will come when military victory has been achieved just as it has now come in Sri Lanka.
The writer is a former foreign secretary
Daily Times
This is a war for Pakistan’s survival. It must be fought without illusions and without yielding to the temptation to believe that one has credible and willing partners with whom a negotiated peace could be worked out
The curtain has at long last fallen on the destructive and polarising campaign of the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, which claimed more than 70,000 lives over the last 26 years. Led by Velupillai Prabhakaran, the Tamil Tigers pioneered the use of suicide bombers and were responsible for the assassination not only of Sri Lankan leaders but also of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Prabhakaran’s ruthlessness and total disregard for human rights did not appear to dent his hold on his people in the areas he controlled or even on the Tamils living abroad.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa, as the defence minister, adopted the same ruthlessness and disregard for human rights to achieve victory. From the Sri Lankan perspective, theirs was a desperate battle for survival as a united state. Previous efforts at finding a negotiated settlement had all foundered on the rocks of LTTE intransigence. Humanitarian concern about the innocent Tamils trapped and kept trapped by the LTTE for use as human shields was understandable but for the Sri Lankan army there was, in their view, no alternative to seeking an unconditional surrender, whatever the ‘collateral damage’.
Today there is outcry in the West about the manner in which the Sri Lankan army conducted operations and about the suppression of dissent in the Sri Lankan media. There is talk of denying Sri Lanka the IMF loan it desperately needs and withdrawing the preferential trading sights that it enjoys with the European Union. Yet the need of the hour is assistance for the refugees and for the more than a quarter of a million people who were more or less held hostage by the Tamil Tigers in their “last stand”.
There is further need to provide the political backing which ensures that the reconciliation process does not become hostage to the activities of Tigers sympathisers from across the narrow strait that separates Sri Lanka from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Much has been written about the role that external forces — be it the national government in India or the state government of Tamil Nadu or non-state actors — had played in fomenting the Sinhalese-Tamil divide or the rise of the LTTE. The international community must play its part in ensuring that this does not recur.
This should not be too difficult. The greatly strengthened Manmohan Singh government, with a minimal dependence on the regional political parties, will have the capacity to guarantee non-interference in Sri Lankan affairs.
All that the international community should insist upon thereafter as a condition for its assistance is that a clear path for reconciliation should be set out and be acted upon.
It is perhaps true that when the government was able to establish control in eastern Sri Lanka, it did not move in this direction. Perhaps the Rajapaksa government was too preoccupied with the continuing military campaign to do so. Perhaps it was because the long years of conflict have created distrust and even hatred that will take time to overcome. Many Tamils who opposed Prabhakaran and the LTTE have not joined the Sinhalese in celebrating the Tigers’ defeat because they did not hear in Rajapaksa’s victory speech any word on what his government intended doing to move towards reconciliation. Reconciliation is, however, the only way forward.
Are there any parallels between the situation in Sri Lanka and the counter-insurgency operation that we are now waging? If there are none, is there any prospect of such parallels developing in the future?
Currently there appear to be no parallels. The Taliban in Malakand are not reflecting Pashtun or Swati aspirations. Their agenda is to push their distorted interpretation of Islam down the throat of all Pakistanis and then move further afield. Whatever the movement started as, there is no doubt that it has been infiltrated and perhaps even taken over by criminal elements.
Underneath the surface, however, lies a simmering resentment that pervades all Pashtuns, be they in Afghanistan, Pukhtunkhwa or Karachi (which has more Pashtuns than either Peshawar or Kabul). In their perspective, whatever the reasons for the conflict or its prolongation, Pashtun blood is being spilled on both sides. It is Pashtuns who are branded as extremists even though it is Pashtuns who are the principal victims of the extremists. Many in this community have become paranoid enough to suggest that the “authorities” are using them as pawns to carry forward an agenda that has little to do with the genuine aspirations of the moderate Pashtuns.
For the Pashtuns, the massive exodus from Malakand, occasioned as much by fear of military action as by the atrocities committed by the Taliban is yet another indicator of the miseries that have been inflicted upon them for no fault of their own. Many can perhaps be persuaded that the fault lay with the American invasion of Afghanistan, but too many others recall how the setting up of Taliban recruitment centres in Swat and the tribal areas, long after the Soviets had left, contributed to the radicalisation of the region.
If we are not to return to the dreaded days of the past when many Pashtuns argued that there was no place for them in Pakistan, there are two things that must be done. First, the IDPs must be looked after not only in Pukhtunkhwa but also anywhere else in Pakistan. Equally or perhaps more importantly, the military operation must be brought to closure quickly. It is encouraging that people, at least in the thousands, have started returning to Buner and one can hope that the clearing of Sultanwas will hasten the process further. We must not, however, make the mistake of withdrawing the army immediately. The area must be cleared and then held.
We should acknowledge that the resistance has been stiffer than expected and that our present effort may need to be reinforced by further contingents from our eastern border, particularly if areas are to be held after they are cleared. The development of our civil armed forces and police will take time and the area cannot be abandoned.
I saw some evidence of a willingness to do this in the ISPR statement that the eastern border remained a long term threat while the internal threat was, at least by implication, more immediate. That resistance would be strong became evident when it was revealed that in the Peochar Valley, under the very eyes of our intelligence agencies, the militants had been able to build 80ft deep bunkers and other such defensive positions. In areas where the civil administration and the intelligence agencies were less visible, even more must have been done.
Sri Lanka does one offer one lesson. This is a war for Pakistan’s survival. It must be fought without illusions and without yielding to the temptation to believe that one has credible and willing partners with whom a negotiated peace could be worked out. The time for that has passed. The time for reconciliation will come when military victory has been achieved just as it has now come in Sri Lanka.
The writer is a former foreign secretary
Thousands flee as Waziristan tense
PESHAWAR: Residents of South Waziristan are fleeing the agency amid a build up of forces by the army and the Taliban.
“Mehsuds are leaving their areas in Sarwakai and Ladah tehsils for fears of an operation,” local sources told Daily Times. Former tribal MNA Maulana Mirajuddin confirmed “hundreds of thousands” of people were on the move.
There have been no reports that Ahmedzai Wazirs are migrating. The tribes are seeking an “unambiguous pledge” from Taliban leader Maulvi Nazir to stay away from Baitullah Mehsud if he fights against the army, Ahmedzai Wazirs elders told Daily Times by phone from Wana.
Unconfirmed reports say Nazir has told Baitullah: “I am ready to give you passage through Ahmedzai Wazir areas to Afghanistan if you want to fight the occupational forces there. But I cannot join you against the Pakistani forces...”
A group of elders attempted to meet Nazir on Thursday but could not because the Taliban leader is keeping his location secret to avoid a drone attack from the United States.
Pakistanis in Swat town fend off Taliban
CRUSH EM.
ISLAMABAD — Armed residents foiled an attempt by Taliban militants to expand their reach in Pakistan's Swat Valley as foreign aid for refugees fleeing an army offensive in the northwestern region passed $200 million, officials said Thursday.
The attempted infiltration in Kalam indicated insurgents are feeling pinched by an army offensive and are seeking new shelter, while the local resistance suggested growing public confidence in an anti-Taliban operation supported by the United States.
Deputy Mayor Shamshad Haqqai told The Associated Press that about 50 Taliban fighters tried to enter Kalam, but that residents gathered quickly Wednesday to fight them off. They captured eight militants during a shootout and were expecting another attack, Haqqai said.
"We will not allow Taliban to come here," he said. Kalam, a town in the far north of the valley, has about 50,000 residents and has so far remained beyond Taliban control.
Washington has stepped up its pressure on Islamabad to eliminate al-Qaida and Taliban sanctuaries across its northwestern regions bordering Afghanistan.
Pakistani troops launched the latest offensive last month after Swat militants pushed into adjacent Buner district, bringing them within 60 miles (100 kilometers) of the capital.
The army claims it has killed more than 1,000 militants and won back swaths of territory in Swat, a valley whose scenery once drew hordes of tourists. But it faces stiff resistance and has ventured no prediction of when the Taliban will be defeated.
On Thursday, it said five soldiers and an unspecified number of "miscreants-terrorists" were killed in battles in several parts of the valley during the previous 24 hours. Seven militants were captured, a military statement said.
The army's account was impossible to verify because reporters have little access to the war zone.
Authorities say the clashes have prompted about 1.9 million people to flee their homes, creating a humanitarian crisis that could sap Pakistani enthusiasm for the effort if it drags on or spreads to other areas.
Relatives have taken in most of those driven out of Swat, and officials have already declared some parts of Buner safe for refugees to return, despite continued clashes in the district.
However, Rear Adm. Michael A. LeFever, the top U.S. military official at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, forecast Wednesday that between 200,000 and 250,000 will be living in refugee camps through the end of the year.
Many thousands more are believed to be hunkered down in their homes in areas including Kalam, unwilling or unable to move.
U.S. officials are scrambling to help the pro-Western government manage the refugee crisis and encourage it to sustain and expand its military action.
Hina Rabbani Khar, a government official overseeing the relief effort, said Thursday that foreign donors had pledged $224 million to help the displaced. The total includes $110 million pledged Tuesday by the United States.
As part of the American support, two U.S. military planes delivered air-conditioned tents and 120,000 pre-packed meals to an air base near the capital on Wednesday. Another flight was due Thursday.
At a donors' conference Thursday in Islamabad, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani asked aid groups and other countries to help quickly rebuild affected areas and help stabilize his nuclear-armed country.
"There is an urgent need for joint and comprehensive response to this issue by all those who are committed to fighting terrorism," Gilani said. "Without peace there can be no sustainable development and without development the establishment of enduring peace is impossible."
ISLAMABAD — Armed residents foiled an attempt by Taliban militants to expand their reach in Pakistan's Swat Valley as foreign aid for refugees fleeing an army offensive in the northwestern region passed $200 million, officials said Thursday.
The attempted infiltration in Kalam indicated insurgents are feeling pinched by an army offensive and are seeking new shelter, while the local resistance suggested growing public confidence in an anti-Taliban operation supported by the United States.
Deputy Mayor Shamshad Haqqai told The Associated Press that about 50 Taliban fighters tried to enter Kalam, but that residents gathered quickly Wednesday to fight them off. They captured eight militants during a shootout and were expecting another attack, Haqqai said.
"We will not allow Taliban to come here," he said. Kalam, a town in the far north of the valley, has about 50,000 residents and has so far remained beyond Taliban control.
Washington has stepped up its pressure on Islamabad to eliminate al-Qaida and Taliban sanctuaries across its northwestern regions bordering Afghanistan.
Pakistani troops launched the latest offensive last month after Swat militants pushed into adjacent Buner district, bringing them within 60 miles (100 kilometers) of the capital.
The army claims it has killed more than 1,000 militants and won back swaths of territory in Swat, a valley whose scenery once drew hordes of tourists. But it faces stiff resistance and has ventured no prediction of when the Taliban will be defeated.
On Thursday, it said five soldiers and an unspecified number of "miscreants-terrorists" were killed in battles in several parts of the valley during the previous 24 hours. Seven militants were captured, a military statement said.
The army's account was impossible to verify because reporters have little access to the war zone.
Authorities say the clashes have prompted about 1.9 million people to flee their homes, creating a humanitarian crisis that could sap Pakistani enthusiasm for the effort if it drags on or spreads to other areas.
Relatives have taken in most of those driven out of Swat, and officials have already declared some parts of Buner safe for refugees to return, despite continued clashes in the district.
However, Rear Adm. Michael A. LeFever, the top U.S. military official at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, forecast Wednesday that between 200,000 and 250,000 will be living in refugee camps through the end of the year.
Many thousands more are believed to be hunkered down in their homes in areas including Kalam, unwilling or unable to move.
U.S. officials are scrambling to help the pro-Western government manage the refugee crisis and encourage it to sustain and expand its military action.
Hina Rabbani Khar, a government official overseeing the relief effort, said Thursday that foreign donors had pledged $224 million to help the displaced. The total includes $110 million pledged Tuesday by the United States.
As part of the American support, two U.S. military planes delivered air-conditioned tents and 120,000 pre-packed meals to an air base near the capital on Wednesday. Another flight was due Thursday.
At a donors' conference Thursday in Islamabad, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani asked aid groups and other countries to help quickly rebuild affected areas and help stabilize his nuclear-armed country.
"There is an urgent need for joint and comprehensive response to this issue by all those who are committed to fighting terrorism," Gilani said. "Without peace there can be no sustainable development and without development the establishment of enduring peace is impossible."
Egypt tycoon gets death for singer's slaying
CAIRO – A real estate mogul with ties to Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak's son was sentenced to death Thursday for ordering the slaying of a Lebanese pop star in a case that sparked a media frenzy in a country where the elite is often perceived as being above the law.
Hisham Talaat Moustafa, a member of the ruling National Democratic Party, was accused of paying a former Egyptian police officer $2 million to kill Suzanne Tamim while she was in Dubai.
Moustafa, who is married, and Tamim, who was 30 at the time of her death last July, were lovers before the relationship soured.
The former officer, Mohsen el-Sukkary, was also convicted and sentenced to death in a court session that quickly turned chaotic with police and Moustafa's relatives clashing with reporters scrambling for a reaction from the defendants to the verdict.
Moustafa's two daughters burst into tears after the verdict, and his sister fainted.
"This verdict is cruel," Sameer el-Shishtawi, one of Moustafa's lawyers told reporters outside the southern Cairo court. He said he would appeal and was confident the verdict would be overturned.
Both men had pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Tamim's murder, and leaked images of her lying dead, her throat slashed, were the stuff of tabloid headlines across the Middle East — the story of a jilted lover who hired a thug to murder a beautiful diva.
Media frenzy prompted the judge impose a gag order and to close most of the 27 trial sessions to the public. Fueling the excitement were Moustafa's ties to Gamal Mubarak, who is often touted as his father's successor. Moustafa was a member the party's influential policies committee, which the younger Mubarak chairs.
Authorities maintain Moustafa paid el-Sukkary, a former State Security officer who worked for the tycoon at one of the Four Seasons hotels he owned in Egypt, to kill Tamim while she was staying in a luxury apartment in Dubai. Her friends have said she moved to London then Dubai after ending the relationship with Moustafa.
At the trial, authorities pointed to security footage of El-Sukkary in Dubai, blood-soaked clothes that were found dumped outside the building and the knife he used to slash Tamim's throat as evidence.
In Tamim's Aisha Bakkar middle-class Muslim district of Beirut, a picture of the slain singer hung above the door of the family's ground floor residence.
Najib Liyan, who identified himself as the family's lawyer, told APTN he was "grateful for the verdict."
"We had no doubt about justice," Liyan said. Still, he added, "no one can be happy about death, whether it is a crime or a death sentence."
Moustafa's trial marked the demise of one of the country's most prominent businessmen.
Over the past decade, he became one of Egypt's wealthiest men, building a real estate empire that included luxury hotels and resorts. He was also a leading force behind the rise of the pricey Western-style suburbs that ring Cairo.
Shares of Talaat Moustafa Group were down about 14.5 percent on the Egyptian stock exchange, trading at 4.22 Egyptian pounds by midday.
Tamim rose to stardom in the late 1990s but then hit troubled times, separating from her Lebanese husband-manager who filed a series of lawsuits against her.
Hisham Talaat Moustafa, a member of the ruling National Democratic Party, was accused of paying a former Egyptian police officer $2 million to kill Suzanne Tamim while she was in Dubai.
Moustafa, who is married, and Tamim, who was 30 at the time of her death last July, were lovers before the relationship soured.
The former officer, Mohsen el-Sukkary, was also convicted and sentenced to death in a court session that quickly turned chaotic with police and Moustafa's relatives clashing with reporters scrambling for a reaction from the defendants to the verdict.
Moustafa's two daughters burst into tears after the verdict, and his sister fainted.
"This verdict is cruel," Sameer el-Shishtawi, one of Moustafa's lawyers told reporters outside the southern Cairo court. He said he would appeal and was confident the verdict would be overturned.
Both men had pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Tamim's murder, and leaked images of her lying dead, her throat slashed, were the stuff of tabloid headlines across the Middle East — the story of a jilted lover who hired a thug to murder a beautiful diva.
Media frenzy prompted the judge impose a gag order and to close most of the 27 trial sessions to the public. Fueling the excitement were Moustafa's ties to Gamal Mubarak, who is often touted as his father's successor. Moustafa was a member the party's influential policies committee, which the younger Mubarak chairs.
Authorities maintain Moustafa paid el-Sukkary, a former State Security officer who worked for the tycoon at one of the Four Seasons hotels he owned in Egypt, to kill Tamim while she was staying in a luxury apartment in Dubai. Her friends have said she moved to London then Dubai after ending the relationship with Moustafa.
At the trial, authorities pointed to security footage of El-Sukkary in Dubai, blood-soaked clothes that were found dumped outside the building and the knife he used to slash Tamim's throat as evidence.
In Tamim's Aisha Bakkar middle-class Muslim district of Beirut, a picture of the slain singer hung above the door of the family's ground floor residence.
Najib Liyan, who identified himself as the family's lawyer, told APTN he was "grateful for the verdict."
"We had no doubt about justice," Liyan said. Still, he added, "no one can be happy about death, whether it is a crime or a death sentence."
Moustafa's trial marked the demise of one of the country's most prominent businessmen.
Over the past decade, he became one of Egypt's wealthiest men, building a real estate empire that included luxury hotels and resorts. He was also a leading force behind the rise of the pricey Western-style suburbs that ring Cairo.
Shares of Talaat Moustafa Group were down about 14.5 percent on the Egyptian stock exchange, trading at 4.22 Egyptian pounds by midday.
Tamim rose to stardom in the late 1990s but then hit troubled times, separating from her Lebanese husband-manager who filed a series of lawsuits against her.
COAS visits Daggar, briefed over ongoing army operation
RAWALPINDI-:Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani today visited Daggar in Buner district to see first hand progress of operations on ground.
According to ISPR press release, he met the commanders and troops participating in ongoing operations and had informal discussion with them.
COAS appreciated the morale of troops. He was also briefed about operations by the field commanders.
On arrival in the area, he was received by the Corps Commander.
Pakistan aid crisis seen lasting all this year-US
WASHINGTON- Pakistan will likely have to cope with some 1.5 million people forced from their homes by fighting between troops and militants until the end of the year, a U.S. military official said on Wednesday.
Rear Admiral Michael LeFever, the U.S. defense attache in Pakistan, said the displaced population would change over time as troops cleared militants from some areas but the total would stay the same as the troops pressed on to other regions.
"This population will be a different population but the numbers will be consistent -- around the 1-1/2 million mark of total displaced personnel," LeFever said in a conference call with reporters at the Pentagon.
He cited Lieutenant General Nadeem Ahmed, the head of the Pakistani government's relief efforts, as the source of his information.
"General Nadeem has alluded... that he expects this number to potentially peak about the 2 million point and that will most likely occur in the next seven to 10 days," LeFever said.
He said the increase was expected as the Pakistani military moved into Mingora, the main town in the Swat valley region.
The United States on Tuesday offered Pakistan $110 million to help people driven from their homes by the fighting in Swat.
The Pakistani military launched its offensive in Swat this month after Taliban militants thrust from there into an area closer to the capital Islamabad, raising alarm both at home and abroad.
Around 200,000 to 250,000 of the displaced people are in camps while the rest stay with families, LeFever said.
LeFever was briefing reporters on the Pentagon's contributions to humanitarian efforts in Pakistan, which included the arrival on Wednesday of two C-17 aircraft loaded with relief supplies.
Pakistan's allies promise $224 mln for displaced
ISLAMABAD- Pakistan's allies promised $224 million in aid for about 1.5 million people displaced by an offensive against the Taliban after the government warned that the militants could exploit a failure to help.
The military launched an offensive this month in the picturesque Swat Valley and neighbouring districts to stop the spread of a Taliban insurgency that had raised fears for nuclear-armed Pakistan's future.
The United Nations has warned of a long-term humanitarian crisis and called for massive aid for the displaced, who have joined about 555,000 people forced from their homes by earlier fighting in the northwest.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani told the donors' conference in Islamabad that Pakistan was issuing an urgent call for help from "all those who are committed to fighting terrorism".
Aid for the displaced would help win the battle against the Taliban, he said.
"It would also help in ensuring that the militants don't exploit the vulnerability of the displaced population ... We have to win the hearts and minds of the people," he said.
Minister of State for Finance Hina Rabbani Khar later told reporters donors had promised $224 million, including $110 million the United States promised on Tuesday.
That sum would go towards a flash appeal that the United Nations will launch on Friday in a bid to raise up to $600 million, she said.
NUCLEAR ARSENAL
Khar noted the latest call for aid comes amid the global financial crisis and a degree of "donor fatigue" just weeks after donors promised Pakistan more than $5 billion.
"By and large, we are very satisfied with the donors' response," Khar said.
The Obama administration is confident that Pakistan will not use a planned sharp increase in U.S. aid to strengthen its nuclear arsenal, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday. [ID:nN20538027]
The New York Times this week reported U.S. lawmakers were told in confidential briefings that Pakistan is rapidly adding to its nuclear capability while fighting a Taliban insurgency, stoking fears in Congress about diversion of U.S. funds.
The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs on Wednesday approved tripling U.S. economic aid to Pakistan to about $1.5 billion a year for each of the next five years, including money for Pakistani schools, the judicial system, parliament and law enforcement agencies.
The United States, which sees Pakistan as vital to its plan to defeat al Qaeda and bring stability in Afghanistan, has applauded Pakistani resolve to fight what some U.S. leaders have called an "existential threat" to the country.
Politicians and members of the public broadly back the offensive, but support will quickly evaporate if many civilians are killed or if the displaced languish in misery.
About 15,000 members of the security forces are fighting between 4,000 and 5,000 militants in Swat, the military says.
Pakistan says more than 1,000 militants and more than 50 soldiers have been killed in the fighting.
The estimate of militant casualties has not been independently confirmed. Reporters have left Swat and communications with remaining residents there have been disrupted.
BATTLING IN TOWNS
After clearing many Taliban strongholds and supply depots in Swat's mountains, soldiers have begun battling militants in towns where many thousands of civilians are believed to be hiding.
Soldiers were battling militants on Thursday at a Taliban stronghold in a remote side valley off the main Swat valley, and in some Swat towns as well, the military said.
Five soldiers and an unspecified number of militants were killed, it said.
President Asif Ali Zardari has said Swat was just the beginning and the army would next move against militants in the Waziristan region on the Afghan border.
The military launched an offensive this month in the picturesque Swat Valley and neighbouring districts to stop the spread of a Taliban insurgency that had raised fears for nuclear-armed Pakistan's future.
The United Nations has warned of a long-term humanitarian crisis and called for massive aid for the displaced, who have joined about 555,000 people forced from their homes by earlier fighting in the northwest.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani told the donors' conference in Islamabad that Pakistan was issuing an urgent call for help from "all those who are committed to fighting terrorism".
Aid for the displaced would help win the battle against the Taliban, he said.
"It would also help in ensuring that the militants don't exploit the vulnerability of the displaced population ... We have to win the hearts and minds of the people," he said.
Minister of State for Finance Hina Rabbani Khar later told reporters donors had promised $224 million, including $110 million the United States promised on Tuesday.
That sum would go towards a flash appeal that the United Nations will launch on Friday in a bid to raise up to $600 million, she said.
NUCLEAR ARSENAL
Khar noted the latest call for aid comes amid the global financial crisis and a degree of "donor fatigue" just weeks after donors promised Pakistan more than $5 billion.
"By and large, we are very satisfied with the donors' response," Khar said.
The Obama administration is confident that Pakistan will not use a planned sharp increase in U.S. aid to strengthen its nuclear arsenal, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday. [ID:nN20538027]
The New York Times this week reported U.S. lawmakers were told in confidential briefings that Pakistan is rapidly adding to its nuclear capability while fighting a Taliban insurgency, stoking fears in Congress about diversion of U.S. funds.
The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs on Wednesday approved tripling U.S. economic aid to Pakistan to about $1.5 billion a year for each of the next five years, including money for Pakistani schools, the judicial system, parliament and law enforcement agencies.
The United States, which sees Pakistan as vital to its plan to defeat al Qaeda and bring stability in Afghanistan, has applauded Pakistani resolve to fight what some U.S. leaders have called an "existential threat" to the country.
Politicians and members of the public broadly back the offensive, but support will quickly evaporate if many civilians are killed or if the displaced languish in misery.
About 15,000 members of the security forces are fighting between 4,000 and 5,000 militants in Swat, the military says.
Pakistan says more than 1,000 militants and more than 50 soldiers have been killed in the fighting.
The estimate of militant casualties has not been independently confirmed. Reporters have left Swat and communications with remaining residents there have been disrupted.
BATTLING IN TOWNS
After clearing many Taliban strongholds and supply depots in Swat's mountains, soldiers have begun battling militants in towns where many thousands of civilians are believed to be hiding.
Soldiers were battling militants on Thursday at a Taliban stronghold in a remote side valley off the main Swat valley, and in some Swat towns as well, the military said.
Five soldiers and an unspecified number of militants were killed, it said.
President Asif Ali Zardari has said Swat was just the beginning and the army would next move against militants in the Waziristan region on the Afghan border.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Troops struggle to regain Buner
ISLAMABAD - Director-General ISPR Maj-Gen Ather Abbas on Wednesday said foreign militants arrested by Pakistan security forces in the military operation in Malakand Division had been identified as Arabs, Afghans and Afghan Uzbeks.
“They have been arrested from different parts of Malakand Division and are being interrogated,” Gen Ather said while talking to TheNation.
He said security forces had killed 1,057 miscreants in Swat, Dir and Buner since April 27, while 58 security personnel had embraced martyrdom and 187 got injured.
Earlier, in his Press briefing, he said security forces had successfully cleared Taliban stronghold of Sultanwas, a small town in the northwest of Buner district, on Tuesday night after intense battles that resulted in killing of 80 miscreants. He said the troops had been fighting against militants in Sultanwas for some time.
Six vehicles belonging to militants and seven bombs were destroyed during the operations, he said, adding that the security forces were investigating the source who provided police-like vehicles and police uniforms to the militants. He said the security forces had also removed several landmines laid by the militants.
Answering a question, he said Pakistan was facing threats from two fronts, one from militants and other from country’s Eastern border, and Armed Forces of the country were being prepared and trained to tackle these threats.
To another question, the DG ISPR said it was still not confirmed whether Taliban leader Fazlullah had been killed during the operation, adding that the forces had targeted his hideouts.
He said that 10 to 15 per cent civilian population of Swat was still residing there and declined to unveil a time frame of the completion of the ongoing Rah-e-Rast Operation. He said the insurgency in Swat and other parts of Malakand division had started before 2007.
To yet another question, Gen Ather Abbas said all necessary steps had been taken to stop militants from fleeing to other sensitive areas, including Hazara division.
Agencies add: The government has still fully to assert control in the district of Buner, military officials told a visiting team of BBC journalists on Wednesday.
The army is conducting a big offensive against Taliban militants in Buner.
The BBC said fighting is continuing in two villages and the area is effectively a war zone. Many areas are deserted and remaining residents are shaken by curfews and power cuts.
Three weeks into the assault, the BBC says that it is clear that the Army is not in full control even if there also is little overt sign of any militant presence.
While some of Buner’s residents are starting to return in trickles - mostly farmers fearing that their crops will die - the main town of Daggar is mainly deserted, with vehicles and a fuel station destroyed.
Hospitals have remained open but power is erratic following recent fighting with the Taliban.
According to the BBC, the Army is not manning checkpoints in Buner, preferring instead to position themselves in the hills and fire warning shots at people who try to pass through during the hours of the curfew.
Meanwhile, the ISPR confirmed that the security forces have successfully secured the Binai Baba Ziarat, near Shangla, a stronghold and a main terrorist den in the area. During the operation, the terrorists suffered heavy causalities.
In Matta, the security forces after crushing stiff resistance by militants, fanned them out and took over the portions in the town.
The Army spokesman said operation was successfully underway in Peochar, Takhtaband and Kanju.
In the Piochar area, the search and destroy operations by the security forces were underway while clearance of compounds and houses in Matta is also in progress.
Search and cordon operation also continued at Kanju where three soldiers were injured during the operation.
In Takhtaband, clearance operation of the village is in progress where one soldier embraced shahadat while six others were injured.
According to a private TV channel, after encircling Mingora, the forces are advancing on the town from three directions and it is expected that soldiers would soon enter the town. Forces bombed militants hideouts in Qambar area on the outskirts of Mingora, leaving over a dozen of them dead.
In Brakot tehsil, militants attacked security forces and seven of them, including their commander, were killed in the ensuing battles. Sporadic clashes were continuing between the forces and militants in Kanju and Kozabandi areas.
Entire Swat Valley was under curfew, which is adding to the miseries of over 200,000 people still present there.
After clearing many Taliban strongholds and supply depots in Swat’s mountains, soldiers are battling militants in its towns where many thousands of civilians are believed to be hiding.
Abbas said clashes had erupted in three towns in Swat as soldiers conducted search and cordon operations.
The military wanted to finish the offensive as quickly as possible and minimise casualties among civilians who had been warned to stay away from the militants, he said.
The world needs peace, social justice and health in the face of the crisis
.jpg)
GENEVA— Cuba stated today at the World Health Assembly that the crises currently affecting the world require a system of peace based on social justice and the guarantee of access to health as a fundamental right for all.
Speaking in this Swiss city at the 62nd session of the annual forum, José Ramón Balaguer Cabrera, Cuban minister of public health, also emphasized the importance of solidarity and harmony with Mother Nature.
He stressed the right of all human beings to medical attention and the importance of recovering the human condition of societies and peoples, in order to avoid them being reduced to simple consumers or to merchandise, Prensa Latina reports.
Backed by Cuba’s position as current president of the Non-Aligned Movement, Balaguer Cabrera stated that the group considers the present economic and financial situation to be one of the most serious threats to the world.
He expressed his condolences over the loss of human lives as a result of Influenza A (H1N1), and particularly to the sister people of Mexico, one of the hardest hit by this virus.
He recalled that regarding the current world financial crisis, the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, has affirmed that in addition to this cyclical situation, our world is also threatened by unemployment, ruin and fabulous losses of assets and wealth.
Balaguer, likewise a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Cuba, underlined that despite all the difficulties his country faces, Cuba ended 2008 with an infant mortality rate of 4.7 per 1,000 live births and a life expectancy rate of 77.97 years.
Clinton Says US Losing Media War in Afghanistan, Pakistan
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the U.S. is losing the media war in Afghanistan and Pakistan - something she said must be reversed.
She told the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Wednesday that militants broadcasting from radio equipment on the backs of pickup trucks are threatening and intimidating people.
She says while they are spreading what she called the "worst kind of disinformation" they have been more effective than the U.S. when it comes to strategic communications.
Secretary Clinton says as a result, the Obama administration is revamping its communications strategy - looking at new ways to directly reach people in areas where militants are active - including on their cell phones.
Clinton says the U.S. must not lose the "information war" in the region, and much do a better job at communicating its values and ideals to Afghans and Pakistanis.
She is seeking $48.6 billion in State Department funding for 2010, a seven percent increase over 2009 funding levels. Clinton also says the State Department will work side-by-side with the Defense Department to promote U.S. interests and security in the region.
She told the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Wednesday that militants broadcasting from radio equipment on the backs of pickup trucks are threatening and intimidating people.
She says while they are spreading what she called the "worst kind of disinformation" they have been more effective than the U.S. when it comes to strategic communications.
Secretary Clinton says as a result, the Obama administration is revamping its communications strategy - looking at new ways to directly reach people in areas where militants are active - including on their cell phones.
Clinton says the U.S. must not lose the "information war" in the region, and much do a better job at communicating its values and ideals to Afghans and Pakistanis.
She is seeking $48.6 billion in State Department funding for 2010, a seven percent increase over 2009 funding levels. Clinton also says the State Department will work side-by-side with the Defense Department to promote U.S. interests and security in the region.
Humanitarian crisis worsens in Swat
Two million people have been displaced in northwest Pakistan and fears are raised more could be fleeing after the president said the offensive against the Taliban would be expanded to include Waziristan.
The government has set up camps, but a vast majority of the displaced are staying with relatives or in private accommodation.
Asif Ali Zardari, the president, was scheduled to convene a high-level meeting of government and UN officials on Wednesday on relief and rehabilitation efforts.
Yousuf Raza Gilani, the prime minister, said Pakistan was fighting the Taliban on two fronts - militarily in the mountains and in trying to cope with the humanitarian crisis.
For her part, Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, pledged $110m in humanitarian aid on Tuesday to Pakistan as part of Washington's new strategy for helping Islamabad counter the Taliban.
Meat and supplies
The funds would be used to deliver tents, FM radios, meat, water lorries, generators and other supplies, Clinton said.
Some of the money would also be spent on buying Pakistani wheat to boost the local economy.
Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder, reporting from Islamabad, said the amount was not near to enough of what Pakistan needs as fighting between government fighters and the Taliban appears to be spreading.
"People from Matta, who had endured weeks of curfews, are now escaping over the mountains. Families are being separated from each other and it's another humanitarian catastrophe unfolding there," Hyder said.
"If the government offensive will be extended, it will be become a very serious issue to contain."
Hyder said it is unclear how the aid money will be used.
Hyder further said: "In human terms, the catastrophe that is unfolding is unprecedented. The number of IDP is expected to grow larger.
"We have indications from South Waziristan, from the Mehsud area which is controlled by Baitullah Mehsud, supposed to be the commander of the overall Taliban, that he will continue his struggle.
"We do have indications that thousands of people are now leaving the Mehsud area.
"They are not being helped entirely by the government. The people of this country are going out of their way to give them some kind of shelter."
'Horrible speed'
Rashid Khalikov, director of the United Nations' humanitarian office in New York, has said that aid workers are struggling to reach many of those who fled as the number of displaced increased with "absolutely horrible speed."
The UN estimates that about 1.4 million people have been displaced since fighting in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) started at the end of April.
That estimate is in addition to about 550,000 people already displaced by fighting across the NWFP and in other Pakistani regions.
John Holmes, the UN humanitarian chief, has said only about 20 per cent of displaced civilians are inside about 24 refugee camps at the moment.
Pakistan's military has said up to 15,000 troops are fighting 4,000 well-armed Taliban in Swat.
Gen Kayani chairs meeting to review operation
RAWALPINDI:Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervaz Kayani presided over a high level meeting at General Headquarters here on Wednesday.
The meeting discussed the counterinsurgency drive in Swat and other areas and also reviewed the matters related to rehabilitation of the displaced persons.
The army chief lauded the progress in the operation and high morale of the military.
He also directed for providing all possible facilities to the affected persons on emergency basis.
The meeting discussed the counterinsurgency drive in Swat and other areas and also reviewed the matters related to rehabilitation of the displaced persons.
The army chief lauded the progress in the operation and high morale of the military.
He also directed for providing all possible facilities to the affected persons on emergency basis.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Arms From U.S. May Be Falling Into Taliban Hands
By C. J. CHIVERS
New York Times
KABUL, Afghanistan — Insurgents in Afghanistan, fighting from some of the poorest and most remote regions on earth, have managed for years to maintain an intensive guerrilla war against materially superior American and Afghan forces.
Arms and ordnance collected from dead insurgents hint at one possible reason: Of 30 rifle magazines recently taken from insurgents’ corpses, at least 17 contained cartridges, or rounds, identical to ammunition the United States had provided to Afghan government forces, according to an examination of ammunition markings by The New York Times and interviews with American officers and arms dealers.
The presence of this ammunition among the dead in the Korangal Valley, an area of often fierce fighting near Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan, strongly suggests that munitions procured by the Pentagon have leaked from Afghan forces for use against American troops.
The scope of that diversion remains unknown, and the 30 magazines represented a single sampling of fewer than 1,000 cartridges. But military officials, arms analysts and dealers say it points to a worrisome possibility: With only spotty American and Afghan controls on the vast inventory of weapons and ammunition sent into Afghanistan during an eight-year conflict, poor discipline and outright corruption among Afghan forces may have helped insurgents stay supplied.
The United States has been criticized, as recently as February by the federal Government Accountability Office, for failing to account for thousands of rifles issued to Afghan security forces. Some of these weapons have been documented in insurgents’ hands, including weapons in a battle last year in which nine Americans died.
In response, the Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan, the American-led unit tasked with training and supplying Afghan forces, said it had made accountability of all Afghan police and military property a top priority, and taken steps to locate and log rifles issued even years ago. The Pentagon has created a database of small arms issued to Afghan units.
No similarly thorough accountability system exists for ammunition, which is harder to trace and more liquid than firearms, readily changing hands through corruption, illegal sales, theft, battlefield loss and other forms of diversion.
American forces do not examine all captured arms and munitions to trace how insurgents obtained them, or to determine whether the Afghan government, directly or indirectly, is a significant Taliban supplier, military officers said. The reasons include limited resources and institutional memory of issued arms, as well as an absence of collaboration between field units that collect equipment and the investigators and supervisors in Kabul who could trace it.
In this case, the rifle magazines were captured last month by a platoon in Company B, First Battalion, 26th Infantry, which killed at least 13 insurgents in a nighttime ambush in eastern Afghanistan. The soldiers searched the insurgents’ remains and collected 10 rifles, a rocket-propelled-grenade launcher, 30 magazines and other equipment.
Access to Taliban equipment is unusual. But after the ambush, the company allowed the items to be examined by this reporter.
Photographs were taken of the weapons’ serial numbers and markings on the bottoms of the cartridge casings, known as headstamps, which can reveal where and when ammunition was manufactured. The headstamps were then compared with ammunition in government circulation, and with this reporter’s records of ammunition sampled in Afghan magazines and bunkers in multiple provinces in recent years.
The type of ammunition in question, 7.62x39 millimeter, colloquially known as “7.62 short,” is one of the world’s most abundant classes of military small-arms cartridges, and can come from dozens of potential suppliers.
It is used in Kalashnikov rifles and their knockoffs, and has been made in many countries, including Russia, China, Ukraine, North Korea, Cuba, India, Pakistan, the United States, the former Warsaw Pact nations and several countries in Africa. Several countries have multiple factories, each associated with distinct markings.
The examination of the Taliban’s cartridges found telling signs of diversion: 17 of the magazines contained ammunition bearing either of two stamps: the word “WOLF” in uppercase letters, or the lowercase arrangement “bxn.”
“WOLF” stamps mark ammunition from Wolf Performance Ammunition, a company in California that sells Russian-made cartridges to American gun owners. The company has also provided cartridges for Afghan soldiers and police officers, typically through middlemen. Its munitions can be found in Afghan government bunkers.
The “bxn” marking was formerly used at a Czech factory during the cold war. Since 2004, the Czech government has donated surplus ammunition and equipment to Afghanistan. A.E.Y. Inc., a former Pentagon supplier, also shipped surplus Czech ammunition to Afghanistan, according to the United States Army, including cartridges bearing “bxn” stamps.
Most of the Wolf and Czech ammunition in the Taliban magazines was in good condition and showed little weathering, denting, corrosion or soiling, suggesting it had been removed from packaging recently.
There is no evidence that Wolf, the Czech government or A.E.Y. knowingly shipped ammunition to Afghan insurgents. A.E.Y. was banned last year from doing business with the Pentagon, but its legal troubles stemmed from unrelated allegations of fraud.
Given the number of potential sources, the probability that the Taliban and the Pentagon were sharing identical supply sources was small.
Rather, the concentration of Taliban ammunition identical in markings and condition to that used by Afghan units indicated that the munitions had most likely slipped from state custody, said James Bevan, a researcher specializing in ammunition for the Small Arms Survey, an independent research group in Geneva.
Mr. Bevan, who has documented ammunition diversion in Kenya, Uganda and Sudan, said one likely explanation was that interpreters, soldiers or police officers had sold ammunition for profit or passed it along for other reasons, including support for the insurgency. “Same story, different location,” he said.
The majority of cartridges in the remaining 13 Taliban magazines bore headstamps indicating they were made in Russia in the Soviet period. Several rounds had Chinese stamps and dates indicating manufacture in the 1960s and ’70s. A smaller number were Hungarian. Much of this other ammunition was in poor condition.
Hungarian and Chinese ammunition had also been provided to the Afghan government by A.E.Y., making it possible that several of the remaining magazines included American-procured rounds.
The American military did not dispute the possibility that theft or corruption could have steered Wolf and Czech ammunition to insurgents.
Capt. James C. Howell, who commands the company that captured the ammunition, said illicit diversion would be consistent with an enduring reputation of corruption in Afghan units, especially the police. “It’s not surprising,” he said.
But he added that in his experience this form of corruption was not a norm. Rather than deliberate diversion, he said, the more likely causes would be poor discipline and oversight in the Afghan national security forces, or A.N.S.F. “I think most A.N.S.F. don’t want their own stuff coming back at them,” he said.
Captured Taliban rifles provide a glimpse at arms diversion as well.
After the battle in the eastern village of Wanat last year, in which 9 Americans died and more than 20 were wounded, investigators found a large cache of AMD-65 assault rifles in the village’s police post, which was implicated in the attack, according to American officers. In all, the post had more than 70 assault rifles, but only 20 officers on its roster. Three AMD-65s were recovered near the battle as well.
The AMD-65, a distinctive Hungarian rifle, was rarely seen in Afghanistan until the United States issued it by the thousands to the Afghan police. They can now be found in Pakistani arms bazaars.
In the American ambush last month, all of the 10 captured rifles had factory stamps from China or Izhevsk, Russia. Those with date stamps had been manufactured in the 1960s and ’70s.
Photographs of the weapons and serial numbers were provided to Brig. Gen. Anthony R. Ierardi, the deputy commander of the transition command. Upon checking against the Pentagon’s new database, the general said one of the Chinese rifles had been issued to an Afghan auxiliary police officer in 2007. How Taliban insurgents had acquired the rifle was not clear.
The auxiliary police, which augmented the Afghan Interior Ministry, were riddled with corruption and incompetence. They were disbanded last year.
Speaking about the captured Taliban ammunition, General Ierardi cautioned that the range of headstamps could indicate that insurgent use of American-procured munitions was not widespread. He noted that the captured ammunition sampling was small and that munitions might have leaked through less nefarious means.
“The mixed ammo could suggest battlefield losses; it could suggest captured ammo,” he said. He added, however, that he did not want to appear defensive and that accountability of Afghan arms and munitions was of “highest priority.”
“The emphasis from our perspective is on accountability of all logistics property,” he said. Leakage of Pentagon-supplied armaments to insurgents was an “absolutely worst-case scenario,” he said, adding, “We want to guard against the exact scenario you laid out.”
New York Times
KABUL, Afghanistan — Insurgents in Afghanistan, fighting from some of the poorest and most remote regions on earth, have managed for years to maintain an intensive guerrilla war against materially superior American and Afghan forces.
Arms and ordnance collected from dead insurgents hint at one possible reason: Of 30 rifle magazines recently taken from insurgents’ corpses, at least 17 contained cartridges, or rounds, identical to ammunition the United States had provided to Afghan government forces, according to an examination of ammunition markings by The New York Times and interviews with American officers and arms dealers.
The presence of this ammunition among the dead in the Korangal Valley, an area of often fierce fighting near Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan, strongly suggests that munitions procured by the Pentagon have leaked from Afghan forces for use against American troops.
The scope of that diversion remains unknown, and the 30 magazines represented a single sampling of fewer than 1,000 cartridges. But military officials, arms analysts and dealers say it points to a worrisome possibility: With only spotty American and Afghan controls on the vast inventory of weapons and ammunition sent into Afghanistan during an eight-year conflict, poor discipline and outright corruption among Afghan forces may have helped insurgents stay supplied.
The United States has been criticized, as recently as February by the federal Government Accountability Office, for failing to account for thousands of rifles issued to Afghan security forces. Some of these weapons have been documented in insurgents’ hands, including weapons in a battle last year in which nine Americans died.
In response, the Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan, the American-led unit tasked with training and supplying Afghan forces, said it had made accountability of all Afghan police and military property a top priority, and taken steps to locate and log rifles issued even years ago. The Pentagon has created a database of small arms issued to Afghan units.
No similarly thorough accountability system exists for ammunition, which is harder to trace and more liquid than firearms, readily changing hands through corruption, illegal sales, theft, battlefield loss and other forms of diversion.
American forces do not examine all captured arms and munitions to trace how insurgents obtained them, or to determine whether the Afghan government, directly or indirectly, is a significant Taliban supplier, military officers said. The reasons include limited resources and institutional memory of issued arms, as well as an absence of collaboration between field units that collect equipment and the investigators and supervisors in Kabul who could trace it.
In this case, the rifle magazines were captured last month by a platoon in Company B, First Battalion, 26th Infantry, which killed at least 13 insurgents in a nighttime ambush in eastern Afghanistan. The soldiers searched the insurgents’ remains and collected 10 rifles, a rocket-propelled-grenade launcher, 30 magazines and other equipment.
Access to Taliban equipment is unusual. But after the ambush, the company allowed the items to be examined by this reporter.
Photographs were taken of the weapons’ serial numbers and markings on the bottoms of the cartridge casings, known as headstamps, which can reveal where and when ammunition was manufactured. The headstamps were then compared with ammunition in government circulation, and with this reporter’s records of ammunition sampled in Afghan magazines and bunkers in multiple provinces in recent years.
The type of ammunition in question, 7.62x39 millimeter, colloquially known as “7.62 short,” is one of the world’s most abundant classes of military small-arms cartridges, and can come from dozens of potential suppliers.
It is used in Kalashnikov rifles and their knockoffs, and has been made in many countries, including Russia, China, Ukraine, North Korea, Cuba, India, Pakistan, the United States, the former Warsaw Pact nations and several countries in Africa. Several countries have multiple factories, each associated with distinct markings.
The examination of the Taliban’s cartridges found telling signs of diversion: 17 of the magazines contained ammunition bearing either of two stamps: the word “WOLF” in uppercase letters, or the lowercase arrangement “bxn.”
“WOLF” stamps mark ammunition from Wolf Performance Ammunition, a company in California that sells Russian-made cartridges to American gun owners. The company has also provided cartridges for Afghan soldiers and police officers, typically through middlemen. Its munitions can be found in Afghan government bunkers.
The “bxn” marking was formerly used at a Czech factory during the cold war. Since 2004, the Czech government has donated surplus ammunition and equipment to Afghanistan. A.E.Y. Inc., a former Pentagon supplier, also shipped surplus Czech ammunition to Afghanistan, according to the United States Army, including cartridges bearing “bxn” stamps.
Most of the Wolf and Czech ammunition in the Taliban magazines was in good condition and showed little weathering, denting, corrosion or soiling, suggesting it had been removed from packaging recently.
There is no evidence that Wolf, the Czech government or A.E.Y. knowingly shipped ammunition to Afghan insurgents. A.E.Y. was banned last year from doing business with the Pentagon, but its legal troubles stemmed from unrelated allegations of fraud.
Given the number of potential sources, the probability that the Taliban and the Pentagon were sharing identical supply sources was small.
Rather, the concentration of Taliban ammunition identical in markings and condition to that used by Afghan units indicated that the munitions had most likely slipped from state custody, said James Bevan, a researcher specializing in ammunition for the Small Arms Survey, an independent research group in Geneva.
Mr. Bevan, who has documented ammunition diversion in Kenya, Uganda and Sudan, said one likely explanation was that interpreters, soldiers or police officers had sold ammunition for profit or passed it along for other reasons, including support for the insurgency. “Same story, different location,” he said.
The majority of cartridges in the remaining 13 Taliban magazines bore headstamps indicating they were made in Russia in the Soviet period. Several rounds had Chinese stamps and dates indicating manufacture in the 1960s and ’70s. A smaller number were Hungarian. Much of this other ammunition was in poor condition.
Hungarian and Chinese ammunition had also been provided to the Afghan government by A.E.Y., making it possible that several of the remaining magazines included American-procured rounds.
The American military did not dispute the possibility that theft or corruption could have steered Wolf and Czech ammunition to insurgents.
Capt. James C. Howell, who commands the company that captured the ammunition, said illicit diversion would be consistent with an enduring reputation of corruption in Afghan units, especially the police. “It’s not surprising,” he said.
But he added that in his experience this form of corruption was not a norm. Rather than deliberate diversion, he said, the more likely causes would be poor discipline and oversight in the Afghan national security forces, or A.N.S.F. “I think most A.N.S.F. don’t want their own stuff coming back at them,” he said.
Captured Taliban rifles provide a glimpse at arms diversion as well.
After the battle in the eastern village of Wanat last year, in which 9 Americans died and more than 20 were wounded, investigators found a large cache of AMD-65 assault rifles in the village’s police post, which was implicated in the attack, according to American officers. In all, the post had more than 70 assault rifles, but only 20 officers on its roster. Three AMD-65s were recovered near the battle as well.
The AMD-65, a distinctive Hungarian rifle, was rarely seen in Afghanistan until the United States issued it by the thousands to the Afghan police. They can now be found in Pakistani arms bazaars.
In the American ambush last month, all of the 10 captured rifles had factory stamps from China or Izhevsk, Russia. Those with date stamps had been manufactured in the 1960s and ’70s.
Photographs of the weapons and serial numbers were provided to Brig. Gen. Anthony R. Ierardi, the deputy commander of the transition command. Upon checking against the Pentagon’s new database, the general said one of the Chinese rifles had been issued to an Afghan auxiliary police officer in 2007. How Taliban insurgents had acquired the rifle was not clear.
The auxiliary police, which augmented the Afghan Interior Ministry, were riddled with corruption and incompetence. They were disbanded last year.
Speaking about the captured Taliban ammunition, General Ierardi cautioned that the range of headstamps could indicate that insurgent use of American-procured munitions was not widespread. He noted that the captured ammunition sampling was small and that munitions might have leaked through less nefarious means.
“The mixed ammo could suggest battlefield losses; it could suggest captured ammo,” he said. He added, however, that he did not want to appear defensive and that accountability of Afghan arms and munitions was of “highest priority.”
“The emphasis from our perspective is on accountability of all logistics property,” he said. Leakage of Pentagon-supplied armaments to insurgents was an “absolutely worst-case scenario,” he said, adding, “We want to guard against the exact scenario you laid out.”
Security forces locked in fierce street battle with militants
ISLAMABAD:Militants in Pakistan are getting reinforcement from Afghan Taliban and extremists from different countries bordering Afghanistan are taking part in insurgency in Swat and other parts of Malakand, besides Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), said Inter-Services Public Relation Director General Major General Athar Abbas, on Tuesday.
Afghan militants are supplying arms, money and manpower to Pakistani militants lined up against the security forces, General Abbas said. He said the insurgency could be effectively countered by cutting the supply routes being used by these militants. He said the PAF has been requisitioned to hit high value targets in conflict zone.
Meanwhile, in update on Malakand situation, the ISPR spokesman revealed that the security forces have entered fierce street battle with Taliban fighters in insurgency-hit Swat and other parts of Malakand Division during last 24 hours and killed 16 militants while four security officials including a major were martyred besides 16 officials wounded.
Security forces during the ongoing military operation "Rah-e-Raast", are consolidating their positions in the restive valley of Swat and other parts of Malakand Division, while search and destroy operations are continuing, the spokesman said.
He said security forces were advancing on several fronts towards Mingora. They are conducting cordon and search operations inside the Matta Town, at Nazarabad, during which exchange of fire took place between security forces and militants, resultantly one officer Major Abid and one soldier martyred while 7 soldiers got injured, the spokesman said.
He said that in Kanju and Takhtaband areas, troops have successfully cleared more than 40 houses in Kanju and area ahead of Takhtaband Bridge. Fierce clashes are taking place at both places. Fourteen miscreants were killed during exchange of fire with security forces at Takhtaband, while 2 soldiers were martyred and 8 injured, he added.
He said that the operation in Buner is continue to clear Sultanwas, where the security forces are conducting cordon and search operations in various parts. In Peochar, the security forces are consolidating their positions in the valley by conducting search and destroy operations. During clashes one soldier got injured while 2 miscreants were killed.
More than 1,000 militants and at least 49 troops have been killed in operation Rah-e-Raast so far, earlier named as Operation Rah-e-Haq, launched in the districts of Lower Dir on April 26, Buner on April 28 and in Swat on May 8
Zardari honours politician who stood up to Swat militants
ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari Tuesday conferred a coveted civil award on a senior politician who stood up against Taliban militants, the president's spokesman said.
Afzal Khan Lala, a veteran politician of the ruling Awami National Party who lives in the rural town of Druskhela in the troubled Swat valley, had refused to leave the area despite threats from militants.
Zardari 'in recognition of the great courage and steadfastness demonstrated by him in the war against militants in Swat region' has conferred Hilal-i-Shujaat (crescent of courage) on him, the spokesman said.
'When the victims of militants' brutalities were streaming out of Swat for safety, the 78-years-old Afzal Khan stood up against the militants and refused to abandon his ancestral home,' Babar said.
'The veteran Afzal Khan Lala stood like a rock against the militants and refused to heed the advice to migrate to a safer place. In standing up to the militants he became a tower of strength and encouragement to a besieged people.'
Babar said that Lala had miraculously survived several attempts on his life by militants who wanted to eliminate him to remove 'a symbol of defiance and courage.'
Lala and his nephew were seriously wounded in one attack. In another attack his two grandsons were killed and body guards seriously wounded last year.
'The conferment of Hilal-i-Shujaat on Afzal Khan also signifies determination of the president to honour symbols of courage in the fight against militants and to assure the victims that the state will not abdicate its duty to protect them,' Babar said.
More than 1.45 million people have been displaced across the region by the fighting since May 2, however, raising alarm among humanitarian agencies.
Authorities say more than 1,030 militants and at least 53 troops have been killed in a three-pronged onslaught launched in the districts of Lower Dir on April 26, Buner on April 28 and Swat on May 8.
Five burqa-clad Arabs arrested in Mohmand
BURN THEM ALIVE.
GHALANAI: At least 13 militants were killed in a clash with security forces following arrest of five burqa-clad Arabs, one Afghan national and a local man in Mohmand Agency on Tuesday.
Four of the five Arabs are Saudi nationals — Ahmed, Ali, Mohammad and Obaidullah — and one Libyan national, Abdullah. The Afghan national has been identified as Habibullah and the local man as Shad Ali. They were detained at the Khapakh checkpost. The Afghan was living in Chakdara area of Lower Dir.
When troops were taking the detained men to Ghalanai, about 60 militants attacked them in an area between Ziyari Kando and Nasapai. The clash continued for more than two hours, an official spokesman said.
Security forces shelled militants’ positions from Ghalanai with mortars and cannons. Thirteen terrorists were killed and the others escaped. Two vehicles of militants were destroyed, the spokesman said.
Security personnel brought the body of one militant to the Ghalanai FC camp; the other bodies were taken away by the attackers. The administration sealed all entry points to the tribal region and beefed up security to apprehend the fleeing militants.
Troops also launched a search operation in Mian Mandi Bazaar.
A jirga of tribal elders will be held in Ghalanai on Wednesday to discuss the presence of militants, including foreigners, in the area.
The spokesman said the detained militants had been hiding in Kareer Qandaharo and Kung Khwayzai for several days and they had attacked the Khapakh post.
‘They came to Pakistan via Afghanistan which is financing them,’ he alleged.
He said SMGs, hand-grenades, Kalashnikovs, passports and other important documents had been seized from them and their vehicle had been impounded.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)