Pakistani internal security (catch all)

[Sarajevo071]

Militants withdraw threat to behead abducted soldiers
by Mushtaq Yusufzai & Sailab Mahsud

A pro-Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal tribal senator said on Monday the militant commander holding 300 soldiers hostage in South Waziristan had withdrawn his threat to behead five soldiers a day due to the efforts of a Jirga.

Senator Maulana Saleh Shah, who belongs to South Waziristan and is affiliated to the JUI-F and MMA, is heading a 100-member Jirga to secure release of the abducted soldiers. He said commander of the militants had earlier conveyed to the Jirga that he would start killing five soldiers every day and send their bodies to the Pakistan Army base at the Frontier Corps (FC) Fort in Jandola.

Shah was part of the Jirga that held extensive talks with the militants to secure the release of around 300 security personnel, who were taken hostage by the militants last Thursday along with 16 vehicles and ammunitions in South Waziristan.

He said Commander Baitullah Mahsud was angry over the detention of his tribesmen by the government and threatened to behead five hostages daily if the government did not release all of them and stopped their arrest.

The Maulana said the militants at the request of the Jirga withdrew their threat and asked them to convoy their message to the government officials to immediately release all the innocent detained tribal people.

As a sign of goodwill gesture the government on Monday released all the 80 Mahsud tribesmen, arrested under territorial responsibility clause of the Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR). They had been arrested soon after the security personnel were made hostages by the tribal militants in their area.
...

http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=9916

Govt yielding to pressure; 100 tribesmen freed: Troops held hostage number about 300
by Ismail Khan

Militants holding hundreds of soldiers hostage have demanded withdrawal of forces from the restive South Waziristan tribal region and release of 15 alleged would-be suicide bombers in government custody, an official told Dawn.

“The militants have made certain demands but it does not mean that we will accept them. It will be managed,” the official said.

He acknowledged that the Taliban were holding close to 300 army and paramilitary personnel, including some senior officers.

Maulana Esamuddin, a member of the Mehsud tribal jirga, endorsed the official’s statement and said the authorities had asked them to help secure the release of 270 troops.
...

http://www.dawn.com/2007/09/04/top1.htm

[Tacitus]

Click on this link to listen to their report.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...oryId=14191419

From the people they interivew, the mood in Pakistan is "anger and embarassment."

If that many soldiers can be taken without even firing a shot, it makes you wonder. Either about the fighting capability of the army, or their loyalty (or lack of?) to the government, maybe some of both. Considering the report of political unrest there lately, if I was thinking about plotting a coup d'etat, the time would seem right.

I wonder what India to the south thinks about the fighting capacity of the Pakistani army.

[Sarajevo071]

Thank you for the link.

BTW, don't you think that Paki Army would behave differently if they fight Indian Army and not they own people? I think many in Paki Army and police have struggle with what's going on and where they stand. It's not easy to shoot your own people.

[davidbfpo]

Thanks to Sarajevo for the source material.

I fear the worst with these incidents, either the Pakistani Army will go neutral - which means doing even less than before. Or it will be assertive, even launching operations. Even the most Islamic soldier, or officer should not accept the beheading of a FC para-military. Yes, I say this from the comfort of my "armchair" and rely on my reading of Imperial history.

davidbfpo

[davidbfpo]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...akistan106.xml

Pakistan army helicopter kills militants

A Pakistan army helicopter has attacked a vehicle carrying suspected pro-Taliban tribesmen as uncertainty grew over the fate of over 100 Pakistani soldiers captured by militants in the tribal areas. Officials said four militants and two passers-by were killed in the strike near the town of Mir Ali in North Waziristan, notorious as a safe haven for militants, including Arabs and Central Asians.(more on the link about background).

[Sarajevo071]

Thanks to Sarajevo for the source material.

I fear the worst with these incidents, either the Pakistani Army will go neutral - which means doing even less than before. Or it will be assertive, even launching operations. Even the most Islamic soldier, or officer should not accept the beheading of a FC para-military. Yes, I say this from the comfort of my "armchair" and rely on my reading of Imperial history.

davidbfpo

You are welcome. I thought it is important development.

I agree with you on above observations on beheadings. I honestly never understand people like that... Seams to me that things will boil over soon and some kind of conflict will start. I am looking at this through they political crisis and imminent end of Musharraf's dictatorship.

[JJackson]

I have been following this one too but scanning for updates I am drawing a blank. The story has gone cold nothing on The Dawn, BBC, Reuters etc. - at least that I found - anyone got an update?

P.S. For those interested in the flux in Pakistani politics and its ramifications for Afghanistan see
Generals Waiting in the wings: http://www.dawn.com/2007/09/07/top4.htm and
Humour - Pakistan-style: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6984262.stm

[JJackson]

Ok I seem to have now found something.

Pro-Taliban fighters have freed more than 260 Pakistani troops who were kidnapped nearly two weeks ago in the tribal region on the border with Afghanistan.

A local intelligence official said the soldiers were handed over to members of a jirga, or tribal council on Monday.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exer...91E72CD7B4.htm