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India-Pakistan

Pakistan Fights Near Afghanistan Kill 52

2007-03-30

Fighting between local and foreign militants Friday killed 52 people, bringing to more than 200 the number of dead in recent days in a conflict between Pakistanis and suspected al-Qaida-linked extremists, a senior official said. Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao said 45 Uzbek militants and seven tribesmen died in battles in South Waziristan, a lawless region used as a rear base by Taliban militants fighting in Afghanistan and where the United States fears that al-Qaida is regrouping. Since fighting began last week, 213 people have been killed, including 177 Uzbeks and their local alllies, Sherpao told The Associated Press. The minister said the conflict intensified Friday after foreigners failed to comply with an ultimatum from tribal elders to leave their territory. Security officials said tribal militias had fired rockets at the hideouts of the foreigners in several locations. An aide to Maulvi Nazir, the leader of the purportedly pro-government side in the conflict, said earlier Friday that they had killed 35 Uzbeks and lost 10 of their own men. He said both sides were using heavy weapons. The aide, who spoke to AP by telephone, asked for anonymity to prevent enemies from identifying him. South Waziristan is generally off-limits to journalists, making it hard to verify reports of the fighting.

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India-Pakistan

Suicide attack at Kharian army base, soldier killed

2007-03-30

A suicide attacker blew himself up at a military training ground in eastern Pakistan on Thursday, killing one soldier and wounding at least six more, officials said. The bomber detonated explosives at a training ground near Kharian, 130 kilometres southeast of Islamabad. Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao said one soldier was killed and six others wounded. However, military and police officials said seven were wounded. Officials said soldiers at the Guliana training ground, about four kilometres from Kharian, were learning driving skills when the bomber approached on foot and blew himself up near an army truck. Ahsan Mehboob, the police chief of the surrounding Gujrat district, said the wounded soldiers were taken to a hospital, two of them in critical condition. Mehboob said the bomber’s upper body was mutilated beyond recognition. Intelligence agents arrived at the scene to collect and preserve evidence, he said. Officials declined to speculate about who was behind the attack. However, the blast was the latest in a string of suicide bombings raising concern that militants aligned with the Taliban and Al Qaeda are gaining strength and taking aim at President Gen Pervez Musharraf’s US-aligned government. The attack comes two days after gunmen on motorbikes hurled grenades and opened fire on an army vehicle in Bajaur Agency, killing five officials of the Inter-Services Intelligence agency.

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India-Pakistan

Pakistan denies hosting bin Laden, camps

2007-03-01

Pakistan on Wednesday rejected a claim by the U.S. intelligence chief that Osama bin Laden and his deputy were hiding in northwestern Pakistan, and that al-Qaida was setting up camps near the Afghan border. President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, however, acknowledged that foreign militants were in Pakistan's tribal regions along the Afghan border and warned them to leave, the state-run news agency reported. It was not clear from the report whether Musharraf named any particular militants. Musharraf spoke a day after new U.S. intelligence chief Mike McConnell told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that al-Qaida is trying to set up training camps and other operations in Pakistan tribal areas near Afghanistan. "It's something we're very worried about and very concerned about," McConnell said. U.S. intelligence officials believe that bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, were trying to establish an al-Qaida base in the region, he said. McConnell noted the camps are in an area that has never been governed by any state or outside power. "We deny it," Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao told The Associated Press, referring to McConnell's remarks. Sherpao told The Associated Press there were no al-Qaida training camps in his country and U.S. officials had not provided any intelligence suggesting there were.

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India-Pakistan

Pakistan probing NATO raid on village

2007-02-09

Pakistani authorities are investigating claims by residents of a remote border village that NATO and Afghan forces crossed into Pakistan to search for suspected Taliban militants and killed a local tribesman, officials said on Thursday. Afghan troops entered the village of Qamar Din on Wednesday morning and began shooting, killing one villager, said Balochistan government spokesman Abdul Raziq Bugti, citing claims by residents. Villagers reported that the Afghan border security forces also wounded two Pakistani tribesmen and detained 11 villagers who were taken to Afghanistan, Bugti said. The government has ordered authorities in the area to investigate the alleged incident in the village, about 210 kilometres northeast of Quetta, he said. Maulvi Mohammed Sharif, district nazim of Zhob where Qamar Din is located, said on Thursday that NATO forces also entered Qamar Din along with the Afghan government troops, citing reports by villagers and security officials. Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao said he had read about the incident in newspapers but had no confirmation of it. Military and Foreign Ministry officials were not immediately available for comment. In Kabul, Lt Col Angela Billings, a spokeswoman for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, said it was aware of a “number of incidents” in the border area of Balochistan, Zhob and Qamar Din. “The incidents are under investigation and there are no specific details available at this time,” she said. Earlier, ISAF said none of its forces were involved. The Urdu-language newspaper Jang, citing villagers, said NATO and Afghan troops riding in three pickup trucks and three armoured personnel carriers entered Qamar Din on Wednesday morning and began firing heavy and small weapons at several homes, killing one villager.

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Afghanistan

Heat on Pakistan over Taliban chief

2007-01-19

A TOP Taliban official's claim that the movement's leader, Mullah Omar, is living in Pakistan under the protection of the ISI spy agency has threatened a new crisis in relations between Kabul and Islamabad. Mullah Omar heads the most wanted list for US and NATO-led coalition forces battling the Islamic fundamentalist insurgents in Afghanistan. Previous intelligence reports suggesting Mullah Omar was running the Taliban's military campaign from Quetta, capital of Pakistan's Balochistan province, with the full knowledge of the ISI, have not been substantiated. Officials in Kabul have released a video of Taliban spokesman Mohammad Hanif under interrogation following his capture on Monday night. In the video, he declares that Mullah Omar "is under the protection of the ISI in Quetta". The claim was denied by Islamabad yesterday. Pakistani Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao said the claim was "totally baseless". "We have no information on the whereabouts of Mullah Omar. He is not living in Pakistan," he said. In the video, Hanif, 26, says regular suicide bombings in Afghanistan are "carried out by Taliban, financed and equipped by the ISI of Pakistan". According to Afghanistan's intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security, Hanif, whose real name is Abul Haq Haqiq, was arrested near Jalalabad, close to the Khyber Pass, and is being held in the city. His capture is a coup for Afghan security forces, and is tipped to significantly improve intelligence on Taliban activities. As one of the Taliban's emerging leaders, Hanif was regarded as principal spokesman, regularly contacting news agencies using a satellite phone from secret locations, which he always insisted were in Afghanistan. Afghan President Hamid Karzai is expected to use Hanif's testimony to heighten international pressure on Pakistan. Adding to the controversy surrounding Hanif were reports that the house in which he was arrested contained packets of the deadly bacteria anthrax.

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India-Pakistan

President reduces Tahir's sentence

2006-11-17

President Pervez Musharraf has commuted the death sentence against a British man who has spent 18 years behind bars disputing his conviction on charges of shooting dead a taxi driver, the interior minister said on Thursday. British and European officials, human rights activists and relatives of the inmate praised the decision to spare the life of Mirza Tahir Hussain, 36, who was convicted of killing Jamshed Khan shortly after arriving in Pakistan in 1988. Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao said President Musharraf on Wednesday converted Hussain’s death sentence to life in prison. A British High Commission official in Islamabad praised Musharraf for commuting Hussain’s sentence on “humanitarian grounds”.

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Britain

Britain, Pakistan intensify terror probe

2006-08-21

Pakistani authorities interrogated a key British suspect Sunday in the alleged plot to blow up U.S.-bound passenger jetliners. Britain's top security official said that police have gathered "substantial material" and indicated they were close to charging some of the suspects. Rashid Rauf, a Briton of Pakistani descent, was arrested days before authorities said they had uncovered the plot to bomb 10 trans-Atlantic jetliners with liquid explosives. Britain has arrested 23 people, including a brother of Rauf. Rauf has been described by Islamabad as a "key person" in the alleged conspiracy. Britain announced on Aug. 10 that security services had foiled a plan to "bring down a number of aircraft through mid-flight explosions, causing a considerable loss of life." Pakistani Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao would not provide any details of Rauf's interrogation. He said a British team had arrived in Pakistan but was not involved in the investigation. British Home Secretary John Reid indicated Sunday that criminal charges could be filed in the next few days but did not disclose specific details. "Police and the security authorities are content that their investigation is rewarding substantial material which would allow them to take forward the judicial process," Reid said in an interview with ABC-TV's "This Week." "The police and the authorities are convinced that there was an alleged plot here," he said. "They have intervened. And in the course of the next few days, we'll wait and see what happens in terms of charges."

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India-Pakistan

29 Taliban arrested from Quetta hospital

2006-08-16

Pakistani forces arrested 29 Taliban suspects on Tuesday, including a local commander, in a raid on a private hospital in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan. Sources told Daily Times that law enforcement agencies raided Al Khair Hospital on Quetta's Zargoon Road. “The suspected Taliban fighters were being treated for wounds sustained in fighting in Afghanistan's Kandahar province in recent weeks...” "Ten of the Talibans were under treatment at the hospital, while the reaming Talibans were in the hospital to meet them," said sources, adding that the hospital was raided when all of the Talibans were in the hospital. Sources however did not give the arrested commander's name. All the arrested men have been shifted to an undisclosed location for interrogation. Pakistani Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao confirmed security agents had arrested 29 suspected insurgents who were brought to the hospital in recent days. The suspected Taliban fighters were being treated for wounds sustained in fighting in Afghanistan's Kandahar province in recent weeks, said a hospital official.

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India-Pakistan

Paks wax 25 Baluchis near Sui

2006-07-06

QUETTA, Pakistan - Pakistani security forces backed by helicopter gunships targeted hideouts of tribal militants accused of blowing up gas pipelines and attacking officials in troubled southwestern Pakistan, killing 25 suspects, a senior Cabinet minister said. The security forces also seized a cache of weapons, including rockets, land mines and other munitions during the two-day operation near Sui, a town about 350 kilometers (210 miles) east of Quetta, Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao told The Associated Press on Wednesday. Sherpao termed the operation “an important success,” but gave no further details. Abdul Razak Bugti, the spokesman for the Baluchistan government said the slain tribesmen were supporters of Nawab Akbar Bugti, a tribal elder who is allegedly leading the insurgency in various parts of the province. “The 25 people who were killed in the operation were the supporter of Nawab Akbar Bugti. We targeted them with 100 percent accuracy,” he told reporters in Quetta. He said the security forces suffered no losses in the operation which began Tuesday and ended Wednesday near Sui, where Pakistan’s main gas fields are located and where tribesmen have waged a campaign to press the government to increase royalties for resources such as natural gas extracted from the region.

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Terror Networks

Binny and Ayman now traveling separately

2006-04-24

Osama bin Laden is hiding in a remote tribal area along Afghanistan's 1,500-mile border with Pakistan, separated from his top deputy and, in a sign he has to be careful about whom he trusts, surrounded by fellow Arabs. His No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri, is hiding in a more settled area along the border, surrounded by al-Qaida operatives of his Egyptian nationality, according to U.S. intelligence officials familiar with his pursuit. Their separation has opened a debate in national security circles in the United States and elsewhere about whether the leaders have split up. Neither man mentions the other by name in public pronouncements, and both headed separate groups before joining forces in 1998. Al-Zawahri has decided to take a more prominent public role than has bin Laden, releasing dozens of written and recorded Internet messages, including a video this month urging Muslims to support Iraqi insurgents. On Sunday, bin Laden was heard in his first new message in three months, purportedly saying the West was at war with Islam and calling on his followers to go to Sudan to fight a proposed U.N. force in Darfur. U.S. and Saudi officials, several of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because of the information's sensitive nature, say the al-Qaida leaders have made a strategic security decision to hide in different places from one another. These officials do not yet see evidence of an ideological split. "I don't think they have the luxury to have a rift," said Jamal Khashoggi, an adviser to the Saudi ambassador to Washington, Prince Turki al-Faisal. A former reporter and editor, Khashoggi interviewed and traveled with bin Laden at times between 1987 and 1995. Bin Laden lost his Saudi citizenship in 1994 after governments in Algeria, Egypt and Yemen accused him of financing subversion. Bin Laden's at-large status has hounded the Bush administration. When people were asked in a recent CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll if bin Laden will be killed or captured in 2006, only 27 percent said yes, while 68 percent said no. In a position paper released late last month, congressional Democrats pledged to "eliminate" bin Laden by doubling the number of special forces and adding more intelligence operatives. A senior Pakistani security official said Pakistani security forces working closely with the CIA came close to capturing bin Laden a couple years ago, missing by a few hours. Clues to his whereabouts have dried up. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to media, said bin Laden and some associates were hiding in Waziristan, near the Afghan border, at the time. The official would not elaborate on who those associates were or who had sheltered the al-Qaida leader. It is unclear now where bin Laden and al-Zawahri are. Some U.S. officials believe they are hiding on the Pakistani side of the border with Afghanistan, protected by tribes that warn when Pakistani forces may be approaching, several U.S. counterterrorism officials said. The Pakistani government does not believe that is true. Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao told The Associated Press that he has no information suggesting the al-Qaida leaders are in Pakistan. "Naturally, we can't go on a wild goose chase. We can only act if we get credible information about the hide-out.... We have got no evidence," he said. He and others believe bin Laden and al-Zawahri may be on the Afghan side of the border, perhaps in rugged, autonomous Kunar. One of 34 provinces in Afghanistan, Kunar is slightly smaller than Delaware. No matter which side, the border gets little respect, particularly compared with deep-seated tribal and family loyalties. Complicating the search, the mountainous region - with peaks taller than the Rockies - is full of centuries-old routes used for trade, smuggling and invasions that would be invaluable for evading capture. Parts of the Afghan side are controlled by renegade Islamic militia leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who Khashoggi and others say may be allied with bin Laden and al-Zawahri. "They don't have many choices to hide in Afghanistan," Khashoggi said. "I think they are roaming in a very limited area." The marriage would be one of convenience, centered largely on a mutual disdain for the United States. After the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, U.S. officials began to suspect Hekmatyar was aligning himself with al-Qaida. The CIA tried to kill him with a Predator drone in May 2002. Help from Hekmatyar would be invaluable, given that bin Laden and al-Zawahri are foreigners and do not speak the languages native to the region. Joining the U.S. in any searches on the Afghan side are thousands of NATO troops from countries including Britain, Canada and the Netherlands. Intelligence officials got some confirmation that al-Zawahri is surrounded by only the closest of associates with the Jan. 13 Predator drone attack on a house in Damadola, just across from Kunar. U.S. officials will not confirm that the strike happened, and Pakistani officials suspect at least four foreign militants died in the strike. The list includes Egyptian Midhat Mursi, an explosives and chemical weapons expert; Abu Obaidah al-Masri, a chief responsible for attacks on U.S. forces in eastern Afghanistan; and Al-Abdul Rehman al-Maghribi, al-Zawahri's Moroccan son-in-law. Mursi had a $5 million bounty on his head and is on the FBI's list of most-wanted terrorists. Authorities hoped al-Zawahri would be at the high-level dinner called Eid al-Adha, marking the end of Muslims' pilgrimage to Mecca. The fact that the U.S. could target the gathering signaled to some security experts that someone in the region betrayed the al-Qaida leader - and the U.S. was able to take advantage of the fissure. "For the United States to get wind of a high-level dinner like that and have precise information on when it is taking place, someone must have betrayed somebody - absolutely," said Ken Katzman, an expert on terrorism at the Congressional Research Service who recently traveled to Afghanistan. U.S. intelligence officials believe bin Laden and al-Zawahri are surrounded by smaller entourages of perhaps 10 or 20 people. Katzman called it a "fairly sculpted group" of "close cronies" - often of their own country. "If you are an Egyptian in that region, Zawahri is your mentor and the one you look up to more," he said. Counterterrorism officials say Egyptians in the region play an important role in protecting the al-Qaida leaders.

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India-Pakistan

Update to the Osama-on-the-border story

2006-04-24

Osama Bin Laden is hiding in a remote tribal area along Afghanistan’s 2,413-kilometre border with Pakistan, separated from his top deputy and, in a sign he has to be careful about whom he trusts, surrounded by fellow Arabs, according to US intelligence officials familiar with his pursuit. His No 2, Ayman Al-Zawahri, is hiding in a more settled area along the border, surrounded by Al Qaeda operatives of his Egyptian nationality, they say. Their separation has opened a debate in national security circles in the United States and elsewhere about whether the leaders have split up. Neither man mentions the other by name in public pronouncements, and both headed separate groups before joining forces in 1998. Al-Zawahri has decided to take a more prominent public role than has Osama, releasing dozens of written and recorded Internet messages, including a video this month urging Muslims to support Iraqi insurgents. On Sunday, Osama was heard in his first new message in three months, purportedly saying the West was at war with Islam and calling on his followers to go to Sudan to fight a proposed UN force in Darfur. US and Saudi officials, several of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because of the information’s sensitive nature, say the Al-Qaeda leaders have made a strategic security decision to hide in different places from one another. These officials do not yet see evidence of an ideological split. “I don’t think they have the luxury to have a rift,” said Jamal Khashoggi, an adviser to the Saudi ambassador to Washington, Prince Turki Al Faisal. A former reporter and editor, Khashoggi interviewed and travelled with Osama at times between 1987 and 1995. Osama lost his Saudi citizenship in 1994 after governments in Algeria, Egypt and Yemen accused him of financing subversion. Osama’s at-large status has hounded the Bush administration. When people were asked in a recent CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll if Osama will be killed or captured in 2006, only 27 percent said yes, while 68 percent said no. In a position paper released late last month, congressional Democrats pledged to “eliminate” Osama by doubling the number of special forces and adding more intelligence operatives. A senior Pakistani security official said Pakistani security forces working closely with the CIA came close to capturing Osama a couple years ago, missing by a few hours. Clues to his whereabouts have dried up. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to media, said bin Laden and some associates were hiding in Waziristan, near the Afghan border, at the time. The official would not elaborate on who those associates were or who had sheltered the Al-Qaeda leader. It is unclear now where bin Laden and al-Zawahri are. Some US officials believe they are hiding on the Pakistani side of the border with Afghanistan, protected by tribes that warn when Pakistani forces may be approaching, several U.S. counter-terrorism officials said. The Pakistani government does not believe that is true. Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao told AP that he has no information suggesting that the Al-Qaeda leaders are in Pakistan. “Naturally, we can’t go on a wild goose chase. We can only act if we get credible information about the hide-out. We have got no evidence,” he said. He and others believe Osama and Al-Zawahri may be on the Afghan side of the border, perhaps in rugged, autonomous Kunar. One of 34 provinces in Afghanistan, Kunar is slightly smaller than Delaware.

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India-Pakistan

Taliban rule DI Khan, Tank, and the Khyber Agency

2006-04-19

The local Taliban have killed as many as 150 pro-government tribal leaders (Maliks) in North and South Waziristan and openly challenging the writ of the federal government and engaging a number of security forces' personnel in the area. Federal Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao said that the Taliban was a serious threat to the country's national security and economic development and must be dealt with in a firm manner. He said the Talibanization of Waziristan was not only posing a threat to FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas), but also having a negative impact in other parts of the NWFP. So great has been the impact that the local 'Maliks' and political administration have all been limited to their houses and offices, reports the Daily Times. "The Taliban's sphere of influence has expanded to DI Khan, Tank and the Khyber Agency, where clerks of the area have started to join them. There has been a sharp increase in attacks on heavily-defended military targets in these areas as well," said Sherpao. He said, "religious extremism, militancy and terrorism were continuously undermining Pakistan's image in the international community" and the situation remained volatile in both North and South Waziristan agencies, despite the deployment of a heavy contingent of armed forces. The presence of Indian consulates in Afghan cities near the Pakistan border was another major concern. "The other concern of the government is the presence of Indian consulates in the Afghan cities, which are near the Pakistani border," he said. Pakistan had accused Afghanistan of turning a blind eye towards the activities of Indian consulates and allowing them to foment trouble in the Pakistan-Afghan border areas in FATA and Balochistan. He said that restoration of normalcy in all districts of the NWFP and eliminating militancy and Talibnisation in FATA and the border areas were the government's top priorities and it had adopted a two-pronged strategy in this regard. "The government, on one hand, is focusing on socio-economic development and political dialogue while, on the other hand, it is utilising its military options as well," he further said. In this regard, all towns and major markets of the area have been declared weapon-free zones, and efforts have been initiated for taking action against defiant tribes, restoring the position of tribal elders and Maliks, and reinforcing the restoration of 'political agent' in the area. (ANI) The situation in Waziristan has been quite grim for sometime. The local Taliban have taken control of most of North and South Waziristan and enforced a strict Islamic code, including a ban on sale of music and films. They have also ordered the men to not shave off their beards. While they have established an Islamic court in Wana, headquarters of South Waziristan, replacing the traditional jirga, in Miramshah, capital of North Waziristan, curfew has been imposed after bloody clashes between federal forces and alleged Al Qaeda militants. And though the capital is under the control of the security forces, the situation is far from normal and sporadic incidents of violence occur every now and then. The federal government has also imposed a ban on carrying arms and ammunition in North Waziristan, which has met with stiff opposition from tribal elders who have said that the ban, if enforced, will put their lives at stake. Elsewhere, Musharraf has said that though the situation in Waziristan is bad, it has not deteriorated to the extent that it won't be possible to hold talks to find an amicable solution to the crisis.

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