Pakistani internal security (catch all)

[Sarajevo071]

I didn't see any mention of this here. Thought it will be interesting for some.

Sorry if is re-post.

Taliban Ambushes Pakistani Convoy, Seizes 100 Troops

In an audacious display of force, Taliban fighters on Thursday ambushed a convoy of military vehicles in a remote tribal area and took more than 100 Pakistani troops hostage, local officials said.

The convoy of more than a dozen vehicles was traveling between two towns in the South Waziristan area, near the Afghan border, when it was overtaken by fighters, officials said.

"Our group has surrounded and disarmed the convoy of Pakistani soldiers and they have been made hostages," said Zulfiqar Mehsud, a purported Taliban spokesman.

Mehsud, who said the troops had been taken to "our prisons," accused the government of violating a pledge not to send soldiers into the area. He said the Taliban had meticulously planned the ambush.

...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...083001395.html

Confusion over missing Pakistanis

The fate of scores of Pakistani troops missing near the Afghan border is in doubt amid conflicting claims from militants and the army.

Pro-Taleban rebels say they are holding 300 men in South Waziristan after surrounding and disarming them.

The army said no troops were seized, but about 100 men could not move as they were caught up in fighting between militants and pro-government tribesmen.

Reports say frantic talks are going on to secure the men a passage to safety.

...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6973387.stm

Over 200 soldiers in captivity of militants
Colonel, nine other officers among hostages

Some 208 soldiers of the Pakistan Army and the Frontier Corps are in the custody of tribal militants led by their commander Baitullah Mahsud in South Waziristan Agency, credible sources told The News on Friday.

Despite repeated denials by the government till Friday that the soldiers had been taken hostage, people close to the militants confirmed to The News that the militants had seized 208 security personnel.

The government on Friday sent a 50-member Jirga comprising prominent tribal elders and Ulema from all the three subsections of the Mahsud tribe and people from the 21-member peace committee to the militants to persuade them to release the kidnapped security personnel without any condition.

The militants claimed they had been promised complete withdrawal of security forces from Ladha and other areas inhabited by the Mahsud tribesmen after recent talks between them and the 21-member peace committee and Mahsud tribal grand Jirga under which they had released the 19 kidnapped FC personnel.

“Instead of withdrawal, the government wanted to deploy more troops in the area for likely action against them (militants),” said the sources while quoting tribal militants as saying. They said the militants admitted to have kidnapped all the 208 security personnel and shifted them to their hideouts.

...

http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=9870

Govt pushes for talks to get troops freed: ‘Soldiers surrendered without firing a shot’

With the government appearing in disarray over the seizure of more than 150 soldiers in the restive South Waziristan tribal agency, militants on Friday seized in the Frontier Region’s Jandola area four vehicles along with five drivers. The vehicles were carrying rations for security forces.

Though the exact number of missing soldiers was yet to be confirmed, security officials put the number at 156.

However, tribal sources claimed that the number of security personnel held hostage was about 205, including 105 regular troops and 100 personnel of the Frontier Corps. A colonel, three majors and some captains were among the personnel seized by militants.

...

http://www.dawn.com/2007/09/01/top1.htm

[marct]

Thanks Sarajevo! Given how important the area is, getting good information on what's happening there is really important. What is your take on this?

Marc

[Sarajevo071]

You are welcome. I thought maybe it could be important piece of news.

To be honest with you, I have no idea what to think... Or mujahideen there are that strong or Pakistani army is that weak. Or is some kind game/deal. It would be the first time. Seams it was not attack with casualties but rather surrender and grab. Prelude for something else? Musharaf is slowly going down. Maybe he have something in mind?

[Sarajevo071]

Talks on release of kidnapped troops begin

As a tribal jirga went into talks with hostage-takers, the government - changing its earlier position - has held Mehsud tribesmen responsible for the kidnapping of army and paramilitary personnel in the volatile South Waziristan region.

As the number of soldiers in captivity increased to more than 200, government officials alleged local Taliban - led by commander Baitullah Mehsud - were behind the hostage drama. On Friday, the miscreants seized four vehicles carrying rations for security forces along with five drivers in the Jandola area.

About army 205 army and Frontier Corps personnel were being held hostage by the militants, residents claimed, saying a colonel, three majors and four captains were among the captives. The kidnappers accused the authorities of failing to keep its promise of withdrawing troops from the Mehsud-inhabited areas in return for the 19 security men freed earlier in the week.

http://www.pajhwak.com/viewstory.asp?lng=eng&id=42063

[davidbfpo]

I read earlier this week that a party of Frontier Corps (para-military and locally raised troops) had been seized and one has been shown being beheaded by teenagers on video. Then there was a story they had been released.

Nothing like intimidation to stop local troops doing nothing.

Seizing a larger group, almost sounds like a convoy / company sized, with more officers than normal is very different. History shows many Imperial era convoys got seriously damaged when in transit, although I cannot recall a surrender.

Loss of will to resist sounds like the best explanation. Where was the support for them? Was the route picqueted?

Not a good sign for the national Pakistan government and should lead to the Army thinking hard - what happened?

davidbfpo

[TROUFION]

The surrender without firing a shot is more on line with the reaction of UN Peacekeepers (note Senegal in 1999-2000), perhaps the Pakistanis have learned the wrong leasons. Or perhaps the border guards, not the best troops and lacking in the will to resist just got sold out. Not a good sign no matter how you cut it.

[Sarajevo071]

I read earlier this week that a party of Frontier Corps (para-military and locally raised troops) had been seized and one has been shown being beheaded by teenagers on video. Then there was a story they had been released.

You are talking about these soldiers, right?

Militants Free 19 Pakistani Hostages
By SADAQAT JAN
The Associated Press
Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Militants on Tuesday released 18 soldiers and a Pakistani government official kidnapped near the Afghan border earlier this month, the army and the militants said.

Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad said the hostages were released in South Waziristan, a stronghold of pro-Taliban militants in Pakistan's lawless frontier region.

A militant leader, Rehmanullah Mehsud, said the captives were handed over to tribal elders in Kaniguram, a village north of Wana, South Waziristan's main town.

"Now they are heading to Wana to be handed over to government officials," Mehsud told The Associated Press by telephone.

The kidnappers had reportedly demanded the release of jailed comrades and a pullback of army troops in negotiations carried out through lawmakers for an Islamist political party.

However, Arshad said on Geo television news that the hostages were released unconditionally.

Militants seized 16 paramilitary soldiers after they left their base in a van on Aug. 9. One was later decapitated and his body dumped in a soccer field in the town of Jandola.

The other freed men were an army colonel, two soldiers and a security official seized last week near Laddha, another village in South Waziristan.
...

[Sarajevo071]

In mean time (update):

Militants link soldiers’ release to pullout
Monday, September 03, 2007
By Mushtaq Yusufzai & Sailab Mahsud

Tribal militants holding around 300 security personnel hostage in South Waziristan on Sunday made their release conditional to withdrawal of troops from the tribal areas besides release of their 15 comrades. They also claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of 10 FC soldiers from Mohmand Agency on Saturday evening.

Also, a bomb blast in Wana claimed the lives of four persons and injured 13 others Sunday. As the row between the Army and the tribal militants deepens, the authorities have put the Army on alert for launching a major operation against the tribal militants if they fail to release the abducted soldiers without any condition.

Tribal sources told The News from Wana, the headquarters of South Waziristan Agency, that a 100-member Jirga comprising prominent tribal elders from all the three subsections of Mahsud tribe and 21-member peace committee headed by JUI-F MNA Maulana Merajuddin returned to the town after holding unsuccessful talks with tribal militants in Ladha over the release of held soldiers.

The Jirga met with militant commanders including Baitullah Mahsud, Qari Hussain and Asmatullah Shaheen Bhittani at an undisclosed location in Ladha subdivision on Saturday evening and exchanged views with them on contentious issues, including the release of the held soldiers. On their arrival in Wana on Sunday, the Jirga members were received by senior officials of the political administration, Army and FC at the Civil Colony.

Briefing government officials about the outcome of their negotiations, Maulana Merajuddin said militants who earlier demanded the release of their 10 colleagues had now increased their number to 15. He said the militants claimed that these men were in the custody of the government on various charges. The government would have to release all of them if it wanted the safe return of the held soldiers and restoration of peace in the region.

The militants also demanded implementation of the Sara Rogha peace agreement signed between the government and Mahsud tribal militants on February 9, 2005, under which militants claimed they were promised that security forces would not be deployed in the Mahsud inhabited areas besides removal of the forces checkpoints. The agreement, they stressed, also called for the withdrawal of Army from the agency. By stressing the need for implementation of the Sara Rogha peace accord, the militants in fact wanted complete command and control over the area.

Similarly, they demanded that military officials would inform militants through the political administration about the troops movement in their areas so that they could take possible arrangements for their safe passage.

The militants further told the Jirga that the government would have to release all the Mahsud tribesmen taken into custody during the past few days in the wake of soldiers’ abduction under territorial responsibility clause of the Frontier Crimes Regulations.
....

more here:
http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=9898

Jirga fails to secure release of soldiers
September 03, 2007 Monday
By Alamgir Bhittani and Shams Momand

Local Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud has linked the release of over 150 soldiers taken hostage on Aug 30 to the implementation of the Sararogha agreement signed in Feb 2005, Zulfiqar Mehsud, a spokesman for the commander, said on Sunday.

The agreement requires the government to grant amnesty to the militant commander and restrains Baitullah Mehsud from protecting and assisting foreign militants, attacking government officials and installations or blocking development projects in the area.

But militants claim that a clause, which is not included in the written agreement, requires security forces to stop their movements in the Mehsud-dominated area of South Waziristan.

Militants dispute the figure of 150 hostages given by the government and claim to have seized 300 soldiers.

The spokesman also claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of 10 personnel of the Frontier Corps in the Mohmand Agency, and warned of suicide attacks if the government started military operations in tribal areas.

“Our foremost demand is the implementation of the Sararogha agreement, which binds the government to contain the movement of troops in South Waziristan,” he said.

Sources said that talks between members of a tribal jirga and militants for the release of over 150 security personnel had failed. The 50-member jirga headed by Senator Salih Shah went to Wana from Laddah and briefed Political Agent Hussainzada Khan on Sunday on talks held with militants.

The sources said that militants had told the elders of the Mehsud tribe that further talks were meaningless till the previous agreement was honoured.
...

more here:
http://www.dawn.com/2007/09/03/top1.htm

[Sarajevo071]

Release of 100 soldiers likely today
Troops vacate two South Waziristan posts, to withdraw from third today

The Pakistan Army pulled out from two of the three posts in the restive South Waziristan Agency after days of negotiations with the tribal militants, thus, paving the way for the release of around 300 security personnel held captive by the militants, a tribal Jirga disclosed on Tuesday.

All the three posts are located in the Mahsud-inhabited tribal territory. According to the Jirga sources, after vacating the two strategic posts, the tribal militants led by Commander Baitullah Mahsud would fulfill their commitment on phased release of the held soldiers. In the first phase, the militants were to release around 100 soldiers either on Tuesday night or today (Wednesday).

When contacted on phone, Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj Gen Waheed Arshad told The News that troops were not deployed at the two posts mentioned by the Jirga members. He, however, said that from one of those posts, the forces were relocated which often takes place in the region according to requirements.
...

http://www.leemedia.net/links.php?ur...l.asp?Id=10191

[Sarajevo071]

Seven more FC men kidnapped in Tall

Seven more Frontier Constabulary (FC) personnel were kidnapped by the militants after an attack on their check post in Tall near Mir Ali late on Tuesday night, while a held FC soldier was killed and three others fled to Bannu on Wednesday.

The check post is six kilometres from the FC fort on the Hangu-Waziristan road near the Tall town. The abducted personnel include Havaldar Piao Khan, Sepoy Safeerullah, Aqeel, Raza Khan, Noor Jehan and Noor Khan. The identity of the 7th soldier could not be ascertained.
...

In South Waziristan, a Jirga negotiating the release of around 300 security personnel refused to accept 10 detainees against the 100 agreed upon earlier and returned to Wana empty-handed.

The militants had agreed to release one-third of the captive security personnel in talks with the Jirga earlier after the Army pulled out of two security posts in the Mahsud areas. The Jirga, headed by a pro-MMA MNA, Maulana Merajuddin Qureshi, went to Mulla Khan Serai near Barwand in Tiarza subdivision on Wednesday morning for decisive talks with the militants but was disappointed when they found the militants led by Baitullah Mahsud missing from the meeting.
...

http://thenews.jang.com.pk/top_story...l.asp?Id=10216

[tequila]

Battle, airstrikes kill 250 in Pakistan - Washington Post, 9 Oct.

Fierce fighting between Islamic militants and security forces near the Afghan border has killed as many as 250 people over four days. The battles marked some of the deadliest clashes on Pakistani soil since it threw its support behind the U.S.-led war on terrorism in 2001, the army said Tuesday.

Airstrikes hit a village bazaar in North Waziristan tribal region on Tuesday afternoon, killing more than 50 militants and civilians and wounding scores more, said resident Noor Hassan. "The bombing destroyed many shops and homes," Hassan said by telephone from the village of Epi. "We are leaving."

...

The fighting began Saturday after a roadside bomb hit a truckload of paramilitary troops, sparking bitter clashes. The bodies of dozens of soldiers, many with their throats slit, have been recovered from deserted areas of the region, fleeing residents said.

The violence comes as Gen. Pervez Musharraf tries to secure another term as president, vowing to shore up Pakistan's troubled effort against Islamic extremism.

The army appeared to be resorting to heavy firepower. Pakistani troops have suffered mounting losses as they try to reassert state authority in a swath of mountainous territory where warlords supportive of the Taliban and al-Qaida have seized control.

Before Tuesday's airstrikes, the army had reported that battles have killed 150 fighters and 45 soldiers since Saturday. About 12-15 troops are missing. Another 50 militants and 20 soldiers had been wounded.
Security forces have rejected a cease-fire proposed by the militants and will "continue punitive action till complete peace is restored" in the area, an army statement said ...

[davidbfpo]

The Pakistani "stop & go" policy at work and timed to coincide with the re-election of President Musharraf I'd say. Will the action continue? Watch and wait.

davidbfpo

[SWJED]

Moderator's Note: An old thread 'Waziristan: campaigning in the past and soon?' has been merged into this thread.


Strategic Design Considerations for Operations in Pakistan’s Tribal Areas: Dust-up along the North-West Frontier by William McCallister at SWJ Blog.

Ideas as to what constitutes good governance various among individuals, groups and cultures. The current definition of good governance as outlined in a recent report on threats from safe havens and ungoverned areas is a case in point. The report defines governance as the “delivery of security, judicial, legal, regulatory, intelligence, economic, administration, social and political goods and public services, and the institutions through which they are delivered”. The definition implies a social service centric function for government emphasizing “delivery” and distribution of social services. It further implies that only democratic institutions are a safeguard against militancy, extremism and terrorism. Not all cultures view the role and function of government in quite the same way. Tribal society, particularly along the North-West frontier between Pakistan and Afghanistan judges the role and function of effective government quite differently...

[Ray]

An excellent read.

The SWJ "Strategic Design Considerations for Operations in Pakistan’s Tribal Areasust-up along the North-West Frontier" by William S. McCallister is one of the finest articles that has covered the psyche that governs the lawless badlands of western part of Pakistan.

Indeed, Pakistan is a curious mix of tribalism, feudalism, modernity, military supremacy and an attempt at democracy. It is an interesting pot pourri that does not mix and exude a pleasant aroma.

Pakistan is a country that has a serious identity crisis. It rejects its Indian past and is struggles to conjure an exclusiveness of being a historical separate indentity called the Indus Valley civilisation. This in fact encourages a further schism wherein the Mohajirs (immigrants from India due to the Partition) are forgotten and slighted! Interestingly, this search for a new identity ignores the fact that a large part of the Moslem population of pre Independent India were low caste convertees (to be free of the horrid caste system) or those who were converted to avoid the subjugation through the jezia (unbearable tax on non Moslem) or because of the Sword!

Thus, Pakistan is actually at war with itself and seized with a national schizophrenia, in a manner of speaking!

Jinnah, the Founder of Pakistan, was initially with the Congress Party and was not really concerned about the Moslem cause. But like all politicians when he realised that he could not wrest power from Gandhi and others, he took up the cause of Moslem's and for a separate homeland for the Moslems. It was merely a power quest that worked itself into a powerful political movement that brought about the birth of Pakistan. It was but a fait accompli without a solid foundation in reality of existence.

It is important to note what Jinnah had said in the inaugural address of the Pakistan Parliament. He had said:

We should begin to work in that spirit and in course of time all these angularities of the majority and minority communities, the Hindu community and the Muslim community, because even as regards Muslims you have Pathans, Punjabis, Shias, Sunnis and so on, and among the Hindus you have Brahmins, Vashnavas, Khatris, also Bengalis, Madrasis and so on, will vanish......

Now I think we should keep that in front of us as our ideal and you will find that in course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the State.

This indicates that Jinnah's main aim was for power and not for Islam!

The birth of Pakistan though rejoiced by the Moslems of India, actually put into place a power struggle amongst the various segments. The Mohajirs being more educated than those who were from the parts that became Pakistan took all the plum posts in the bureaucracy, judiciary, education etc. The actually population of what became West Pakistan, steeped in feudalism and power as the land owning "aristocracy" and the backbone of the Indian Army felt threatened. This is the genesis of the struggle in Pakistan between the military and democracy.

The Mohajirs , who were rootless but intelligent, realised that there had to be a common cause wherein their legitimacy as inheritors of the promised land was not up for the grabs, used Islam as the catch all for all eventualities. Given that Pakistan was created for Moslems, the military and the landed satraps could not contest this excellent ploy.

Kashmir came handy for the military, who used the Mohajir inspired identity of Islam to the hilt. The military sprang into action as the true defender of Islam and went to war. This ensured that the exchequer became military oriented and beholden to it for defending Islam, as the sword arm, and extracted their pound of flesh.

Islam being partial to an aggressive mindset accepted the military's domination over democratic norms and thus this psyche gave legitimacy to successive military govt and its stranglehold over the economy wherein the army put its finger in every economic pie. It also turned the Nelson's eye to the military's infiltration and thus stranglehold over the bureaucracy by appointing serving and retired military officers in important bureaucratic and economic appointments.

This unholy churn and mismatch of governance is the cause of Pakistan's woe wherein the democratic institutions and norms have been sabotage and totally put out of shape.

While Islam ruled supreme in Pakistan, it had not yet been encased ''in the show window''.

It was Zia, who ensured Pakistan breathed and slept Islam! It was again a Machevillian ploy of an illegitimate dictator to legitimise his regime and the US strategic interest in Afghanistan was his Allah given gift.

Zia's "vision" of Islamic predominance of all matters temporal is what has added to the identity crisis. Fundamentalist Wahhabism and the ummah, an unrealistic dream of all Moslems, has seized the people.

Therefore, all one can say is, Quo Vadis, Pakistan?

[Jedburgh]

The Jamestown Foundation's Terrorism Monitor, 22 Sep 08: A Who’s Who of the Insurgency in Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province: Part One – North and South Waziristan

Militants operating in Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) include both Taliban and non-Taliban forces. However, the Taliban militants are much larger in number and have a lot more influence in the region. The Pakistani Taliban have close links with the Afghan Taliban and operate on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, also known as the Durand Line after the British diplomat who demarcated the boundary in 1893, Sir Mortimer Durand. The non-Taliban militants, on the other hand, are often pro-government and enjoy cordial ties with the Pakistan authorities and security forces......

[Jedburgh]

A pair of briefs from the Pakistan Security Research Unit, 22 Sep 08:

Future Prospects for FATA

The future of Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal areas (FATA) has become the focus of intense anxiety and debate both within the country and in the wider international community. The problems, posed by the lawlessness of this strategic region for the ‘War on Terror’, hardly need stating, but there is little consensus regarding the way forward. Allegations of cross-border infiltration by a resurgent Taliban based in FATA have soured relations between Pakistan and the government of Hamid Karzai in neighbouring Afghanistan. Growing US and British casualties in Southern Afghanistan have raised concerns about Pakistan’s military effectiveness and commitment and have led to public debate about the necessity for US unilateral action within Pakistan’s tribal territory. There have also been claims that people in the intelligence services sympathised with the militants.....

Sectarian Violence in Pakistan's Kurram Agency

Since 2004, there has been intense violence in the FATA. What started in South Waziristan,slowly spread to North Waziristan in 2005 and then later to Bajaur and Mohamand Agency during 2006 and 2007. For the last two years, this violence has spread to the settled districts of the NWFP including Bannu, DI Khan, Peshawar and Swat. Led by the Taliban and its local supporters in the FATA and NWFP, this violence is posing a serious threat to the process of governance, challenging the writ of the State. Referred to by media as Talibanization, these developments have been the subject of intense academic, media and policy interest.

Unfortunately, this excessive focus on the Talibanization phenomenon, has not given adequate space to focus on the ongoing sectarian violence in Kurram Agency. Since 2007, sectarian killings have increased in the agency and have taken many lives. During the last two months (July-August 2008) alone, there have been around 300 casualties.

This briefing examines what is happening in Kurram Agency, and explores three questions: Why is there sectarian violence in this agency? Why has it escalated recently? And are there any connections between this violence and the violence that is happening in the neighbouring Agencies of the FATA?

[sullygoarmy]

A good article on Pakistan in the Economist as well:

http://www.economist.com/world/asia/...ry_id=12267391

[Jedburgh]

PSRU, 29 Sep 08: Pakistan’s Tribal Areas: An Agency by Agency Assessment

There are seven tribal agencies (Bajaur, Mohmand, Khyber, Kurram, Orakzai, North Waziristan and South Waziristan) and six Frontier Regions (Peshawar, Kohat, Bannu, Lakki Marwat, D I Khan and Tank). They share a similar history and structure of ‘governance’ and -in varying degrees- all the agencies are suffering from the fallout from the US led War on Terror. However, they are not homogenous, and there are multiple actors in, and differing dynamics to, the conflicts in the tribal borderlands. The purpose of this briefing is to outline the differences between the agencies in terms of the nature of violence, the humanitarian situation and the prospects for improving the situation within the region, using both quantitative and qualitative methods.

There are clear limitations to such a research process, and accurate quantifiable assessment of the human security situation in the FATA is difficult. The region remains subject to a media blackout, and in cases where journalists are active, they are likely to be cautious and, understandably, exercise a degree of self-censorship with what they publish. In this context, the assessment below can only ever be illustrative rather than exhaustive, and it remains an assessment which probably represents a minimum baseline in terms of the extent of human suffering in the region, based on the collation of media reports. Notwithstanding a significant margin for error, the differences appear important, and, quantitatively, it seems that the agencies have not equally shared the insecurity in the region, suggesting some agencies may be more resilient than others to the Talibanization, whereas other may have simply submitted to the militant presence.

Complete 21-page brief at the link.

[ODB]

From the AP:

The Taliban activity in northwest Pakistan also comes as the country shifts forces east to the Indian border because of tensions over last month's terrorist attacks in Mumbai, potentially giving insurgents more space to maneuver along the Afghan frontier.

Militants began preying on Swat's lush mountain ranges about two years ago, and it is now too dangerous for foreign and Pakistani journalists to visit. Interviews with residents, lawmakers and officials who have fled the region paint a dire picture.

A suicide blast killed 40 people Sunday at a polling station in Buner, an area bordering Swat that had been relatively peaceful. The attack underscored fears that even so-called "settled" regions presumptively under government control are increasingly unsafe.

The 3,500-square-mile Swat Valley lies less than 100 miles from the capital, Islamabad

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...7LLJgD95COON80

[Rob Thornton]

Bad news indeed. It makes you wonder if someone in the planning loop of the Mumbai attacks might have considered the potential of increasing Pakistani/Indian tensions and the resulting redistribution of Pakistani forces.

Whether deliberate, or lucky on the part of the enemy - the sooner that tension is eased some the better for us, the Afghanistan government, the Pakistanis, and the Indians.

From another perspective, it seems to show the enemy does not have to coordinate (at least in the way we think of it) its actions to have an effect or to take advantage of new conditions as a result of that effect.

Best, Rob