Pakistani internal security (catch all)

[Jedburgh]

Moderator's Note

Today a parallel thread 'Operations in Pakistan’s Frontier / Tribal Areas' was merged into this thread, it has become increasingly difficult to separate posts and the title has been amended (ends).


ICG, 29 Mar 07: Pakistan: Karachi's Madrasas and Violent Extremism

...Karachi’s madrasas, which have trained and dispatched jihadi fighters to Afghanistan and Indian-administered Kashmir, offer a valuable case study of government failures and consequences for internal stability and regional and international security. In 2006, the city was rocked by high-profile acts of political violence. In three separate attacks, suicide bombers killed a U.S. diplomat, assassinated the head of the most prominent Shia political group and wiped out the entire leadership of a Sunni militant group locked in a struggle for control over mosques with its Sunni rivals.

Not all madrasas in the city are active centres of jihadi militancy but even those without direct links to violence promote an ideology that provides religious justification for such attacks. Exploiting Karachi’s rapid, unplanned and unregulated urbanisation and its masses of young, disaffected and impoverished citizens, the madrasa sector has grown at an explosive rate over the past two decades. Given the government’s half-hearted reform efforts, these unregulated madrasas contribute to Karachi’s climate of lawlessness in numerous ways – from illegal land encroachment and criminality to violent clashes between rival militant groups and use of the pulpit to spread calls for sectarian and jihadi violence.

The Pakistan government has yet to take any of the overdue and necessary steps to control religious extremism in Karachi and the rest of the country....

[kaur]

http://bosun.nps.edu/uhtbin/cgisirsi...ay_db=HYPERION

[SWCAdmin]

Direct access at http://bosun.nps.edu/Archimages/14278.PDF

[goesh]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19577341/

"Shooting erupts at radical mosque in Pakistan
At least nine killed, including 2 police officers, soldier, officials say
~
The students later pelted two government buildings, including the Ministry of Environment, with rocks and set them ablaze, and torched a dozen cars in the ministry's lot.
~
The battle marked a major escalation in a six-month standoff at the Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, whose clerics have challenged the military-led government by mounting a vigilante anti-vice campaign in Islamabad.
~

Hundreds of police and paramilitary Rangers have taken up position near the mosque in recent days in what officials have said is an effort to contain their activities.
President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said last week that he was ready to raid the mosque, but warned that suicide bombers from a militant group linked to al-Qaida had slipped into the mosque and that the media would blame any bloodbath on the government. "

[SWJED]

6 July Washington Post - Pakistan Launches Operation Against Radicals in Mosque by Griff Witte.

Pakistani security forces launched a major operation Thursday against radical students holed up in an Islamabad mosque, seeking to end a months-long standoff that has turned bloody in recent days.

Fighting raged in the darkness and continued early Friday, with the pops and cracks of small-arms fire echoing through the silence of a residential neighborhood. Just after 3 a.m., there was a major explosion, followed by an intense round of shooting that lasted nearly half an hour.

The government had earlier been hoping to pressure the students to leave the mosque peacefully, but those negotiations appeared to have broken down.

It was not immediately clear how many people had been killed in the clash, but leaders of the pro-Taliban Red Mosque have said they are prepared to fight to the death. The government, meanwhile, vowed Thursday to settle for nothing less than surrender...

[goesh]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19627493/

"Pakistan official: Musharraf’s plane fired on
Intelligence officer contradicts government denials of attack"

Another piece reports explosions at the Red Mosque

[SWJED]

7 July NY Times - Musharraf’s Plane Fired Upon as Mosque Standoff Continues by Salmond Masood and Carlotta Gall.

A burst of gunfire went off as President Pervez Musharraf’s plane took off Friday morning from an airfield in the garrison town of Rawalpindi, near the capital, as the government’s siege of a militant mosque entered its fourth day.

Security officials said they recovered two antiaircraft guns and one submachine gun with a telescopic sight from the rooftop of a house barely a mile from the airport where the shooting had apparently taken place.

It was not immediately clear if there was a link between the shooting and the siege at the Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, complex in the heart of the capital, where the leader of the rebellion vowed to fight to the death...

7 July Washington Post - Fear Grows Of Hostage Situation at Red Mosque by Griff Witte.

Security forces ringing a besieged mosque pummeled Islamic radicals with gunfire on Friday, as concern grew that many of those still inside -- including children -- were being held against their will.

Although more than 1,200 people have fled the mosque since the siege began Tuesday, authorities estimated that several hundred remain within. Only a few dozen are suspected to be hard-core radicals; others appear to want to leave but have been prevented from doing so...

[Jedburgh]

Received via e-mail this morning:

Pakistani Special Forces launched a major operation against those holed up in Lal Mosque this morning at 0400 local using their most advanced military systems, including US Predator Drones and helicopters. Fierce fighting is reported inside the buildings within the compound. Military reports state that at least 40 security forces personnel and over 70 Lal Mosque students have been killed in the operation which is still ongoing. It was also reported that the operation is expected to be complete within a matter of hours.

Monday night the government revoked the relaxation of the curfew re-enforcing the curfew for an indefinite period in Sector G-6. G-6 has been completely sealed off by the security forces and all hospitals are reportedly under their control. The media have also been strictly forbidden to enter into the area.

The security situation in Islamabad remains extremely tense and a minimum presence observed in most all business centers. Roads leading to the city have been blocked by the military but routes leaving the city, including the main route to the airport remain open with stringent checking of vehicles at military checkpoints.

[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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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]

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