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India-Pakistan
'Other options open' if peace not restored in Swat, says ISPR
2009-02-23
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Athar Abbas has said that the government is keeping 'other options open' if peace is not restored in Swat through political negotiations, a private TV channel reported in the backdrop of a peace deal between the Taliban and the administration.
Those options probably don't include defeating the bad guyz...
In an interview with a US news agency on Sunday, the ISPR chief said troops were not being withdrawn from the valley. He said long-lasting peace in all tribal areas and Swat was what the government was aiming for, and "many other options remain open, including the use of force, if peace is not restored".
The Pak army isn't real good at applying force unless it's against civilians...
Abbas said the army required modern equipment to carry out an effective operation against the Taliban.
Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
'Army getting jammers for Taliban radio'
2009-01-27
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Athar Abbas on Monday said the military was acquiring the latest technology to jam the illegal radio transmissions of the Swat Taliban, a private TV channel reported. The ISPR spokesman told the channel that the Taliban's FM radio transmitters were mobile and could not be destroyed immediately. However, Abbas said, the acquisition of the technology would help block the illegal transmissions.
Some fairly old-technology radio direction finding equipment will nail them down within anywhere from a half kilometer to about 100 square meters. Multiple intersects from remote-operated airborne equipment can nail them within comfortable artillery range, and then there's suddenly no more Mullah Fazlullah. That's what they're trying to avoid, of course.
General Abbas said the Taliban were trying to create an atmosphere of fear in Swat and wanted to extend their presence to other parts of the country, the channel reported. He told the channel that the Taliban were trying to project themselves as a parallel government in the valley, but the military would control the situation soon.
"Define soon?"
"Next 100 years. Maybe 150."
Link


Afghanistan
NATO massing forces on Pak Border
2008-07-16
HT to Gateway Pundit! I'm doing the "believe it when I see it" thing
  • Villagers and officials say hundreds of coalition troops, tanks and APCs airlifted to border area
  • ISPR spokesman says media creating 'unnecessary hype' about troop movement
  • Pakistan Army deployed along border placed on high alert
  • Taliban spokesman says proximity makes it easier to kill more US soldiers
    heh...up close and personal death to Taliwhackers
    By Haji Mujtaba
    MIRANSHAH: A build up of Western coalition forces on the Afghan border spread alarm among villagers in North Waziristan on Tuesday, as residents and officials said that the Pakistan Army was gearing up for "any eventuality".
    "prepare to flee"
    If "any eventuality" includes war with the U.S. then it's time for the Paks to take a deep breath and count to 10. They've never won a war. We've won several. But I suspect this is more a case of whipping up the rubes and viewing with alarm than an actual push into North Wazoo.
    Villagers and officials, requesting anonymity, said that hundreds of coalition troops had been airlifted to a border area near the Lawara village. "The coalition troops have started to strengthen their positions after setting up camp in the border areas adjacent to the Pak-Afghan border and US helicopters have been spotted hovering over target areas as support," officials said.
    and psyops
    Reports from Afghanistan have said that helicopters have been transporting tanks and armoured personnel carriers (APCs) to Sarobagh and other landing strips in the Khost province, which neighbours the Tribal Areas. A villager said he could clearly see the troops.
    "Yeah! I seen 'em! They wuz big 'uns, too!"
    "They were brought by helicopters. They are at the zero point," Akmal Khan, a resident of Lawara, told Reuters, referring to the disputed international boundary. The deployment is near Camp Tillman, a forward operating base for US forces.
    Camp Tillman, huh?
    Unnecessary: Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Athar Abbas played down concerns by saying it was probably a routine movement and the media had created "unnecessary hype".
    Sure. We often move large amounts of men and materiel to remote Afghan villages.
    According to APP, he told Dawn News that the movements were restricted to within Afghan territory and were in preparation for an exercise or operation there. "We closely monitor all such moves so nothing occurs too close to the border. Certainly, we have co-ordination and communication with each other," he added.
    "We're on top of it, really! Why, right now I'm headed off to my office in Lahore to coordinate the coverage!"
    High alert: However, officials told Daily Times that the Pakistan Army deployed along the Pak-Afghan border has been placed on high alert in case of any infiltration.
    "getcher curly-toed track shoes on, boyz"
    A spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan said there was no question of entering Pakistan. "Our mandate stops at the border," spokesman Captain Mike Finney said. There was some "extra activity" on the border with troops searching for surviving insurgents after Sunday's attack that killed nine US troops, he told AFP.

    Welcome: Meanwhile, Bajaur Taliban spokesman Maulvi Omar welcomed the build up on the border as a chance to kill more Americans. "It's a gift that they're coming here on our land and making it easy for us to kill our enemies, the enemies of Muslims," he told Reuters.
    Of course, Maulvi won't be anywhere near the killing, and would report thousands of Americans dead regardless, but I think the Talibs will get their chances at doe-eyed sheep virgins
    In a separate statement to The Associated Press, he criticised a statement by Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani that had acknowledged the presence of foreign fighters in the Tribal Areas. "We will consider Prime Minister Gilani our enemy if the NATO or Pakistani security forces attack us after his baseless claim," he said.

    The new government has promised to do whatever it can to secure the border with Afghanistan.
    Short of hunting down Baitullah Mehsud and killing him or tossing Maulvi Omar into the clink for 180 years.
    However, a series of incidents along the border, including drone aircraft missile attacks, have fueled fears that the US military may be moving to a more offensive strategy in Pakistani territory.
  • Link


    India-Pakistan
    Operation to retake Sararogha Fort soon. Really.
    2008-01-18
    The military is planning an operation to take the Sararogha Fort in South Waziristan Agency, which the Taliban abandoned after briefly taking control of it in a Wednesday siege, military officials said on Thursday. “Hopefully, it will be retaken by the troops tonight,” Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Athar Abbas told Daily Times on Thursday.

    Seven FC soldiers and 40 miscreants were killed when hundreds of militants stormed the paramilitary fort on Wednesday. The militants have, however, abandoned the fort since.

    Fifteen soldiers are still missing after the rebel attack, AFP cited army sources as saying. An ISPR statement said five soldiers missing after the clash had reached a nearby village.

    Saklatoi Fort attacked: An Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement said miscreants fired several rockets and small arms at Ladha Fort in South Waziristan on Thursday. Security forces retaliated, but no loss of life or damage to property was reported.

    AP reported Maulvi Muhammad Umar, a purported militant spokesman, as saying troops surrendered after 500 fighters surrounded the post. “We released them (the troops) under the spirit of Islam,” he said. “The Taliban have now hoisted their white flag at the fort.”

    An army spokesman, however, immediately denied that the Saklatoi post had been evacuated. “I strongly contradict this news, this post is in our control,” said Major General Abbas in Islamabad.

    Separately, three rockets fired at an air force base in Kamra on Thursday fell near a residential area, but caused no damage, the military said. Meanwhile, troops continued targeting militant hideouts in Sararogha, Khewra, Makeen, Barwand, Spinkai, Kotkai, Chagmalai, Saplatoi and other areas. Four citizens — a one-year-old baby, a girl and two men — were injured. They were taken to a North Waziristan hospital, where their condition was said to be stable.

    No peace efforts till shelling stops: Meanwhile, Mehsud tribe elders on Thursday refused to facilitate peace efforts in South Waziristan Agency until “troops stop pounding areas”. A jirga, called by the political agent, spelled out their demands — that troops stop the artillery fire, the road leading to South Waziristan be opened and that ‘peaceful’ citizens picked up by the authorities be released. The elders were told that the political administration was in touch with senior military officials and the jirga would be called again after a positive response from them.
    Link



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