Pakistani internal security (catch all)

[davidbfpo]

Pakistan's western province of Balochistan / Baluchistan is rarely reported upon so Al Jazeera decided to have a look and broadcast early in January 2012.

From the short written summary:

This film offers a glimpse into a region which, in 2010, had the highest number of militant, insurgent and sectarian attacks of any province in Pakistan. It is a region torn apart with separatist organisations attacking the state, sectarian and ethnic attacks, and crime, including kidnapping for ransom.

Link to summary:http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/...372863878.html

Link to film (47 mins):http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4aTxF3xjWA

What startled me was to see Cryptome feature the documentary via a what shall I say opinionated Pakistani blogsite, who had watched very closely and noted early on (02:02 to 02:16):

what came as a new revelation was a militant carrying an "SA-7" MANPAD. Yes, a shoulder launched surface-to-air missile, the Soviet SA-7, a weapon which is not even in use with the Afghan Taliban. After the withdrawal of Soviet Union from Afghanistan and several subsequent years of civil war, an SAM was never noticed in use by the militants in Afghanistan. The terrorist front, TTP, could not get its hand on an SAM, despite some reports which suggested they were trying very hard to get access to missiles for use against the Aviation Wing of Pakistan's Army.

The Pakistani blogsite:http://www.terminalx.org/2012/01/tx-...militants.html

[davidbfpo]

Hat tip to Circling the Lion's Den blogsite:

I have been perplexed for some time by the figures for militants killed in clashes with the Pakistani Army and Airforce. If accurate, then given the massive attrition these figures suggest, it is surprising that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan can still find anyone willing to fight for it....

Thus in the last three months - and accepting that these figures are not complete - a reported 496 militants, mostly members of the TTP or Lashkar-e-Islam, have been killed in military action in the FATA region of Pakistan. A similar number have been injured. Can this be possible? If so, it certainly confirms FATA as more of a battlefield than southern Afghanistan, for example, where reported deaths of militants are much lower. Either that, or the official figures are suspect. You decide.

A list of reported incidents is included:http://circlingthelionsden.blogspot....-pakistan.html

Have our observers of the Pakistani security scene noted a change in 'will'? Plus after the passage of time 'capability' may now be far more effective.

[omarali50]

Maybe more are getting killed, but there is one definite pattern: If "militants" (aka "bad jihadis") ambush the security forces and kill some of them then that incident is NEVER reported as just an ambush and X security forces dead. A larger number of militants is invariably announced as having been killed in the "clash" or in counter-operations by the security forces. I cannot recall a single ambush/clash in which the claimed militant death toll did not exceed the security forces death toll. If there are some, I will be happy to be proven wrong. (there are occasional IED or bomb blast events in which no militants are said to be killed).
That sounds suspicious to suspicious people, but then, some people are incorrigible cynics.
Having said that, I do not doubt that the Pakistani security forces will fight a longer and bloodier war in the years to come. I know the official line (Ahmed Qureshi) is that things will become normal once the accursed Americans leave, but I have my doubts. Some people are also incorrigible pessimists.

[VCheng]

.........................
Having said that, I do not doubt that the Pakistani security forces will fight a longer and bloodier war in the years to come. I know the official line (Ahmed Qureshi) is that things will become normal once the accursed Americans leave, but I have my doubts. Some people are also incorrigible pessimists.

I foresee Pakistan descending into a low-grade civil war smoldering on for years as the state slowly implodes over a decade or so. The signs have been evident for quite some time.

[omarali50]

btw, the exactitude of the casualty lists from aerial bombing is extremely impressive. Every time the hideouts are bombed the army seems to know exactly how many militants were killed and how many injured. Given the primitive nature of medical facilities in the area, many of the wounded must also die in the days that follow, but surprisingly the superb intel network that the army has in place does not seem to relay those numbers to headquarters. This may just be an oversight on the part of ISPR. Perhaps someone can let them know so they can start adding "wounded, died later" to their casualty lists. Future historians will want an accurate count. This will also permit us to estimate the size of the militants field hospitals and their ancillary staff. Unless the wounded are permitted evacuation to "our side" of the front. Which would be an impressive humanitarian gesture, but raises the issue of where they go after they recover? are they permitted to rejoin the fight in the best tradition of Salahuddin Ayubi? Or are they unchivalrously locked up? Or do they make their way to hospitals operated by RAW? Lots of questions, I know, but its that kind of day.
Tangentially related: some Western Hadith scholar wrote that one easy way to detect fake hadiths (traditions of the holy prophet) is to see which one is supported by the most impressive list of transmitters. Accursed westerners. if we dont give them an authentic list of transmitters, they dont believe the tradition. If we give them an impressive list, they say its too impressive. We cannot seem to win.

[davidbfpo]

The internal troubles in Pakistan's western province, Balochistan / Baluchistan, get an occasional mention here, although there is a persistent insurgency underway, so hat tip to Watandost for it's commentary:http://watandost.blogspot.co.uk/2012...ow-of-gun.html and the pointer to this backgrounder by a Pakistani:http://www.newslinemagazine.com/2012...f-balochistan/

No wonder it is so easy for some, maybe the majority in the Pakistani Army / ISI to see the "hidden hand" of others.

[VCheng]

..............
No wonder it is so easy for some, maybe the majority in the Pakistani Army / ISI to see the "hidden hand" of others.

The whole country is in a delusional state, with gross overestimation of its own importance and abilities, a carefully nursed grudge against the rich world for not giving it enough money, and a state-encouraged persecution complex that readily blames everything from a shortage of onions to no electricity on foreign powers.

Not a happy combination overall.