Recent Appearances...

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Hello !
Recent Appearances...

Afghanistan

AFGHANISTAN — Massive deployment of Taliban who have declared war on Pakistan

2024-12-28

[X]

#BREAKING 🇦🇫⚡🏳️ AFGHANISTAN – Massive deployment of Taliban who have declared war on Pakistan

Some sources suggest that Taliban have already arrived on the battlefield inside Pakistan. pic.twitter.com/t3R9iJw00S
— Monitor𝕏 (@MonitorX99800) December 27, 2024

Responding to this report from Wednesday, I imagine:

Death Toll Rises to 46 in Pakistan’s Airstrikes on Afghanistan, Majority Women and Children

[KhaamaPress] The Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
authorities report that a Pak ~~Arclight~~ airstrike
<del>Arclight</del> airstrike

...KABOOM!...
in Paktika
...which coincidentally borders North Wazoo and Kurram Agency...
province has killed at least 46 people and injured 6 others. The attack has drawn widespread condemnation.

Hamdullah Fitrat, Deputy Spokesperson of the Taliban regime,, told Khaama Press on Wednesday, December 25, that the Pak military bombed four areas in the Barmal district of Paktika.

According to Fitrat, the airstrike killed 46 individuals, including women and kiddies, and left six others injured. The attack has been described as particularly devastating.

On Tuesday evening, December 24, the Pak Army launched an attack on "Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) bases" in the Barmal district of Paktika province. The Taliban have vowed to retaliate against this attack.

Media outlets close to the Pak Army reported that several snuffies were killed in these targeted strikes, and four operational bases of the TTP were destroyed.

The Taliban’s Ministry of Defense, however, stated that the attack targeted "Wazooi refugees," disputing the claim that the strikes were solely aimed at holy warriors.

The Ministry of Defense warned that this attack would not go unanswered. It emphasized its commitment to safeguarding Afghanistan’s territorial integrity and responding to such aggression.

unverified video of one incident:

Wild scenes from the Durand border from Afghan Taliban vs Pakistan clashes.

Video being circulated by Pakistani accounts.

Disclaimer: I cannot vouch for the authenticity of the video at this time. pic.twitter.com/cVfxaPH8jm
— FJ (@Natsecjeff) December 28, 2024

Link

Afghanistan

Talibs Clash with Pak Border Guards in Paktika: Two Taliban Gunnies and Five Pak Soldiers Killed

2023-06-27

[8am] Local sources in Paktika
...which coincidentally borders South Wazoo...
have reported that two Taliban
Taliban

...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
fighters and five Pak border guards were killed as a result of festivities along the Angur-Ada border in the province.

Reliable sources confirmed that the unexpected confrontation between the Taliban fighters and Pak border guards took place last night in the Barmal district of Paktika province.

Additionally, four Taliban fighters sustained injuries during the clash, according to the sources.

One of the casualties identified by the sources is a prominent member of the Taliban named Sibghatullah Takal.

The fighting, characterized by sporadic exchanges, persisted until this afternoon, with both sides currently maintaining their positions.

Notably, the Taliban have refrained from issuing any statements regarding this incident, and the exact cause of the clash remains uncertain.

It is worth mentioning that prior to this incident, the Taliban had previously engaged in festivities with Pak border guards at the Torkham, Spin Boldak, and Dand-e-Patan gates, located in the provinces of Nangarhar
The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country..
, Kandahar, and Paktia respectively.

Link

India-Pakistan

‘Mastermind, handler’ of Peshawar mosque attack traced; TTP faction involved in blast: KP police

2023-03-18

[Dawn] The Additional Inspector General of Police in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Shaukat Abbas, said on Friday that the Counter Terrorism Department has apprehended a key suspect linked to the Beautiful Downtown Peshawar

...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistain's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire...
mosque bombing that killed dozens in January as he attributed the attack to a splinter faction of the proscribed Tehrik-e-Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
Pakistain (TTP).

On Jan 30, a powerful explosion destroyed a mosque in Peshawar’s Red Zone area where between 300 and 400 people — mostly coppers — had gathered for prayers. The suicide kaboom

blew away the wall of the prayer hall and an inner roof and claimed 84 lives.

The outlawed TTP had initially grabbed credit for the attack. However,
it's easy to be generous with someone else's money...
it later distanced itself from it but sources earlier indicated that it might have been the handiwork of some local faction of the outlawed group.

Addressing a presser today, the senior KP police official asserted that the TTP’s group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar was behind the incident.

I seem to recall that they originally claimed it...

"The bomber who carried out the attack is known as ’Qari’ in the TTP circles," the official added.

He said that the suspect detained by law enforcement officials was a "backup jacket wallah" who would have been used as a secondary option during the attack in case the first bomber failed to detonate his vest.

The suspect was identified as Imtiaz Khan and was arrested by the CTD with the help of law enforcement agencies, according to the additional IG.

The bigwig declined to identify the place from where the suspect was arrested. However,
it's easy to be generous with someone else's money...
he reiterated that the alleged bomber got training in the Kunduz area of Afghanistan.

Furthermore, he mentioned that law enforcement had identified a "criminal mastermind" and a "handler" associated with the bombers, and they were currently making efforts to apprehend them.

The criminal mastermind was identified as Ghaffar alias Salman. "We have found that Ghaffar was in contact with the suicide bomber on the day of the incident. We are trying to apprehend the handler and criminal mastermind of the attack."

Pakistain has witnessed a surge in TTP violence since peace talks between the murderous Moslem group and the government broke down in the latter half of last year. The TTP formally ended the ceasefire on November 28 and since then 58 attacks have been claimed by the group in which 170 people died.

Many of these attacks were planned and directed by the TTP leadership based in Afghanistan, according to a Dawn report.

Link

India-Pakistan

Four ‘terrorists’ of banned outfit killed in gun battle with CTD in Quetta

2022-09-28

[Dawn] Four suspected turbans of the banned Jamaatul Ahrar
...A Pak Taliban splinter group that split off from the Mullah Fazlullah faction because it wasn't violent enough...
were killed in a shootout with a team of Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of police in Hazar-Ganji area of the thriving provincial capital on Tuesday.

The CTD personnel intercepted a truck, on a tip-off about drugs being smuggled to Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
, at Gulzarabad checkpoint on the outskirts of Quetta, a CTD spokesperson said.

Instead of stopping, the men travelling in the truck opened fire on the CTD personnel, triggering an exchange of fire that continued for half an hour, leaving four turbans dead.

Upon searching the truck, 27 kilograms of fine quality heroin was recovered from secret compartments meant to hide drugs for smuggling.

"The four turbans killed in the shootout belong to banned Jamaatul Ahrar," the front man said, adding that further investigation was in progress.

It was the second operation of the Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
Counter Terrorism Department against drug smugglers in the thriving provincial capital. Two weeks ago, police and CTD personnel had conducted a joint operation in the city nullah, killing eight drug smugglers.

CTD officials said that drug money was being used by terrorist outfits.

Link

India-Pakistan

Protest rallies held across Swat against recent 'wave of militancy'

2022-08-13

[DAWN] A large group of people on Friday erupted into the streets across Swat
...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat...
to protest against the presence of murderous Moslems in mountains bordering the area, asserting that they will never allow any elements to sabotage the "hard-earned peace" in the region.

The protests, titled ’We want peace in Swat’ and ’No to terrorism’, were held near the Matta Chowk in Khwazakhela tehsil and Kabal Chowk in Kabal tehsil.

The demonstrators were seen holding white and black flags as they walked through the markets of the districts. They also chanted "We want peace in Swat and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa" slogans.

The protestors, led by civil society activists Dr Amjad Ali, Advocate Ali Namdar, Ghairat Yousafzai, Ibne Amin Yousafzai, Rehmat Ali, Fawad Khan, Ehtishamul Haq, Mehtab Khan, Anwar Ali and Aftab Khan, said that the people of Swat would not be fooled again by any elements.

"We are peaceful people and we want durable peace at any cost. These elements must know that we have earned peace after extending unlimited sacrifices and we will not allow anyone to sabotage it," said Ali, while addressing the rally.

He continued that the residents of the region had earned peace over the years and were not ready to be "disgraced, displaced, or killed".

The participants of the rally expressed anger and sadness over videos recently released by bully boys. Last week, a video surfaced on social media showing a man claiming to be a member of the TTP interrogating an army major whose hands had evidently been tied behind his back, and asserting that the murderous Moslems had taken him and two others — a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) and a soldier — hostage. A jirga later successfully negotiated the release of the captives.

On August 8, it was reported that four coppers, including a DSP, were maimed in a clash between police and suspected murderous Moslems at the mountainous border of Swat and Dir districts. While Swat’s district police officer said only one policeman was injured and the murderous Moslems suffered heavy casualties, unofficial sources said four coppers were hurt.

Also last week, PTI MPA Malik Liaquat Khan was maimed and three others were killed in Lower Dir when the vehicle in which he was travelling came under attack by bully boys.

At today’s protest, Namdar said that the residents wanted the district administration and the provincial government to investigate the incident through a judicial commission immediately and put its findings in front of the entire nation.

"Ensuring peace in Swat is the duty of security agencies and if they fail to do so, it will be a violation of the Constitution," he added.

Furthermore, the protesters questioned the role of the security and law enforcement agencies regarding the reappearance of murderous Moslems in the mountains of Swat.

Link

Good Morning

2022-08-10

Is FBI Now Seizing GOP Congressmen Cell Phones

Wednesday August 10th, 2022

Senior TTP leader Omar Khalid Khorasani killed in Afghanistan, Taliban spokesperson confirms

LoisDelander

Iraqi Army PMF carried out an operation against ISIS in Diyala		PTI leader Shahbaz Gill has been 'abducted' in Islamabad
ANP wants report on 2016 Quetta tragedy implemented		Victim families await justice as 2009 Ashura blast case file gathers dust
Stampede in mourning procession in Sukkur leaves six dead		Police have taken action on a viral video on social media wherein a guard is seen torturing a woman

Wendy's employee Antoine Kendrick
sucker punches customer in Prescott Valley, AZ

Link

Afghanistan

Senior TTP leader Omar Khalid Khorasani killed in Afghanistan, Taliban spokesperson confirms

2022-08-10

More on this story from yesterday.

[DAWN] Senior Tehrik-e-Taliban
Taliban

...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
Pakistain (TTP) leader Omar Khalid Khorasani and two others members of the banned outfit were killed in a roadside kaboom in Afghanistan on Monday, according to Taliban front man Muhamamad Khorasani.

Omar's real name was Abdul Wali Mohmand and he previously headed the TTP in the Mohmand Agency
... Named for the Mohmand clan of the Sarban Pahstuns, a truculent, quarrelsome lot. In Pakistain, the Mohmands infest their eponymous Agency, metastasizing as far as the plains of Peshawar, Charsadda, and Mardan. Mohmands are also scattered throughout Pakistan in urban areas including Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. In Afghanistan they are mainly found in Nangarhar
The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country..
and Kunar...
bordering Afghanistan.

In a statement today, TTP officials said that the car carrying Omar came under attack in the eastern Paktika
...which coincidentally borders South Wazoo...
province near the Barmal district on Sunday evening.

They urged the Taliban government in Afghanistan to investigate the incident and unearth "spies" who could be responsible for the death of senior TTP leaders.

Apart from Omar, the two other men killed in the attack have been identified as Mufti Hassan and Hafiz Dawlat Khan. They were among several TTP leaders who had joined the outlawed ISIS in 2014.

It is pertinent to mention here that Omar was a member of the TTP team involved in negotiations with Pak officials, Pashtoon jirgas and recently with religious scholars over the past few weeks.

Recently, a jirga member had posted the TTP leader's photo on the sideline of its meeting with Pakistain's side which had held two rounds of talks in Kabul in the first week of June and late July.

Omar and a majority of the TTP members from Mohmand agency had parted ways with the TTP and formed a splinter faction Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain Jamaat Ahrar (TTP-JA) in 2014.

The then TTP chief Maulvi Fazalullah had sacked him after he had announced the formation of his own group Jamaat ul Ahrar, which comprised of almost all the Taliban leaders from the Mohmad Agency. Omar had accused the TTP leadership of deviating from the outfit's ideology.

The group received prominence when Jamaat-ul-Ahrar front man Ehsanullah Ehsan

...formerly the front man for the Pak Taliban, then the lips and tongue of the Jamaatul Ahrar splinter group in Mohmand Agency...
grabbed credit for the Wagah border suicide kaboom in November 2014, in which over 70 people, almost all civilians, were killed.

The TTP leader's killing could be seen as a major blow to the group, especially at a time when it is involved in talks with the Pak government.

Omar was wanted by the Pak government for his involvement in a series of attacks on security forces, tribal elders and members of the peace committee in the area.

In July 2017, one of the UN Security Council’s sanctions committees, upon Pakistain’s request, had approved the addition of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar in the list of entities and individuals subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo.

Meanwhile,
...back at the argument, Jane reached into her purse for her .38...
the United States added Omar's name to the US State Department's Rewards for Justice wanted list in March 2018. The US had announced a reward of up to $3 million for information on him.

In recent years, several TTP leaders, including former chief Maulvi Fazallah, have been killed in Afghanistan after they crossed into the border due to military operation in the tribal areas, Swat
...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat...
and parts of the Malakand division. Fazlullah, who served the TTP chief in Swat, was killed in a US dronezap in Afghanistan’s eastern Kunar province
... which is right down the road from Chitral. Kunar is Haqqani country.....
in June 2018.

Tolo News adds:

Meanwhile, some sources said that Khurasani was present in the negotiations which were reportedly held between the TTP and Pakistani government in Kabul.

The political analysts gave various views on the killing of Khurasani.

“To gain money and weapons from the US, (Pakistan) should always declare an enemy and that enemy is now TTP. This is an enemy who could be controlled everywhere and they can eliminate it anywhere they want to,” said Sher Hassan Hassan, a political analyst.

“I think there are disagreements among the TTP. Usually, whenever there are peace negotiations, the hardliners are on one side and the moderates are on the other side. I think it is about the internal disagreements among the TTP,” said Waheed Faqiri, a political analyst.

Khurasani was the chief of Jamat-ul-Ahrar (JuA), a TTP branch that is designated a terrorist group by the United Nations and United States, according to Reuters.

Link

Afghanistan

Pakistani Taliban Commander Allegedly Killed in South-Eastern Afghanistan

2022-08-09

[KhaamaPress] A top Tehrik-e-Taliban
Taliban

...Arabic for students...
Pakistain (TTP), also known as Pak Taliban, commander and three other snuffies were reportedly killed in a roadside explosion in eastern Afghanistan, according to Pak media quoting Pak officials and bully boy sources.

While traveling in a vehicle with senior TTP members, Omar Khalid Khorasani, aka Abdul Wali Mohmand, who also had a $3 million bounty on his head, was killed by an unidentified bomb in the Barmal district of the Afghan south-eastern province of Paktika
...which coincidentally borders South Wazoo...
The TTP leaders were reportedly traveling in the Paktika district of Barmal "for consultation" on August 7 when their car struck a roadside mine, according to a Pak publication citing unnamed sources.

So far, Taliban security authorities in Paktika province have made no statements to the media.

The TTP commander is reported to have been a former journalist and poet who studied at several madrasas in Pakistain’s Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
The top national rewards program run by the US Department of State, Rewards for Justice (RFJ), revealed that "Wali reportedly operates from Afghanistan’s Nangarhar
The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country..
and Kunar Province
...one of the four N2KL provinces (Nangarhar, Nuristan, Kunar and Laghman). N2KL is the designation used by US and Coalition Forces for the rugged and very violent region opposite Pakistain's Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Northwest Frontier Province. Kunar is the center of the N2KL region. Its population is 95% Pashtun. It is adjacent to Bajaur Agency..
s."

The current peace talks between the TTP and the Pakistain government have come to a halt after the group refused to back down from its demand that the merger of the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province be reversed.

The Afghan Taliban requested the negotiations, which resulted in a one-month cease-fire in November.

Link

India-Pakistan

Terror outfit's spokesperson surrenders to security forces

2018-01-16

[GEO.TV] The spokesperson of banned terrorist outfit Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA), Asad Mansoor, has surrendered to security forces, sources informed on Monday.

Sources said Mansoor surrendered voluntarily along with two associates in DI Khan and surrendered his weapons and documents.

The JuA, based in Nangarhar
The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country..
province of Afghanistan, has been involved in a series of terrorist attacks inside Pakistain.

Since 2014, when the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar first surfaced, it proved itself to be a lethal terrorist group, perpetrating some of the most brutal attacks in Pakistain.

Pakistain had proscribed the organization in 2016. The group has been involved in more than 100 terrorist attacks on Pak soil.

In July, Pakistain welcomed the United Nations
...where theory meets practice and practice loses...
Security Council decision to include JuA in the list of entities subject to travel bans, arms embargos and freezing of assets.

JuA chief Omar Khalid Khorasani was reported killed in a drone attack in Afghanistan in October last year.

The strike was conducted close to the Pakistain-Afghanistan border
...also known as Pashtunistan, home of ignorance, poverty, and automatic weapons...
in Paktia.

Link

India-Pakistan

A new militant threat in Pakistan

2017-02-21

[GEO.TV] Since its establishment in 2014, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar has proved to be a lethal terrorist group, by perpetrating some of the most brutal attacks in Pakistain. While the leadership is currently based out of Afghanistan, Ahrar has networks in Bajaur and Mohmand agencies of the Federally Administrative Tribal Areas, as well as support structures in others parts of the country.

The bad boy outfit is the brainchild of Omar Khalid Khorasani -- an ambitious Taliban capo and a former member of the Pak Taliban’s Shura - who parted ways with the Taliban after they pursued peace talks with the government.

From August 2014 to date, the group has been found involved in 116 terrorist attacks in Pakistain, against diverse targets ranging from security forces, tribal elders, and minorities to sectarian communities.

Link

India-Pakistan

Two key terrorists held on 13th belong to JuA

2016-08-20

LAHORE - Two hardcore terrorists caught from the provincial capital on the night of August 13 were identified as members of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a deadly splinter of outlawed TTP, security officials told The Nation yesterday.

However, other identification details and profiles of the two have not been disclosed by the security officials to blow other sleeper cells of this group.

The two key terrorists of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) were caught in an intelligence-led operation on the night of August 13 by a counter-terror section of the main security agency of the military from Lahore’s Barkat Town in the limits of Shahdara Town after an extensive surveillance and tail operation.

According to the security officials, the terrorist pair was a ‘master sleeper unit’ which was running other sleeper cells in Punjab to launch terror operations.

They were planning to strike high-profile targets in major towns of the province, including the provincial metropolis, on Independence Day on the pattern of Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park terror activity. Members of the same gang carried out a deadly terror act in April this year in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park, killing many people, including children and women.

The JuA master sleeper unit had planned to target key sensitive government buildings and high-profile figures, said the security officials, divulging more details concerning initial investigations of the busted terrorists.

Following leads of the two hardcore terrorists, the key security agency of the military has caught more suspected sleeper units from parts of Punjab, which could be used to launch a major terror operation in the province.

However, extensive interrogation sessions of new busted cells would unveil more details with regard to the nature of assistance and facilitation to be provided by these cells, they added.

Security officials declined to share any piece of information about the towns and cities from where the new sleeper cells were caught because of the upcoming follow-up operations to be launched in the light of the information divulged by these cells.

An ISPR spokesman said on the night of Independence Day, 11 suspects, including two hardcore terrorists, were caught by security forces in a three-hour-long combing operation in Barkat Town near Shahdara. Cache of arms and ammunition was also recovered from the possession of the arrested.

A threat alert of Nacta was issued on August 9 that TTP head Mullah Fazlullah had planned to attack border parade at Wagah near Lahore and Ganda Singh Border in Kasur district on August 13, 14 and 15. The TTP which is operating from Afghan soil had dispatched two suicide bombers to the two border points.

Security officials, when asked about intelligence inputs, pointing towards Fazlullah gang terrorists targeting sensitive high-profile targets, said the command and control system of the terrorists has been destroyed as a result of the operation Zarb-e-Azb and Khyber 1 and 2. They added the terrorists operating from the Afghan soil were launching joint terror operations.

Common needs and targets can bring the foes at one platform to carry on their business, said the security officials when asked Omer Khalid Khorasani leading JuA was an arch rival of TTP head Fazlullah.

In September 2014, non-Mehusd chief of TTP, Mullah Fazlullah, expelled Mohmand Agency chief of TTP, Omar Khalid Khorasani, a member of defunct Ahrar-ul-Hind.

Ahrar-ul-Hind, headed by Maulana Umar Qasmi (former leader in Lashkar-e-Jhangvi), was formed after TTP opened peace talks with the government. It later merged with Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a second splinter group that broke away from TTP in September 2014 and named Omar Khalid Khorasani as its commander.

Both Qasmi and Khorasani were against the peace talks and believed the new TTP leadership under Mullah Fazlullah was not a true representative of Hakim Ullah Mehsud who was killed in a US drone strike in February 2014.

Ahrar had announced they would no longer recognise or obey Mullah Fazlullah as their ameer.

Link

India-Pakistan

Militants' pact

2015-03-15

[DAWN] CLAIMS that a breakaway faction of the banned TTP, the Jamaatul Ahrar
...A Pak Taliban splinter group that split off from the Mullah Fazlullah faction because it wasn't violent enough...
, led by Omar Khalid Khorasani, has rejoined the original umbrella organization, the TTP led by Mullah Fazlullah

...son-in-law of holy man Sufi Mohammad. Known as Mullah FM, Fazlullah had the habit of grabbing his FM mike when the mood struck him and bellowing forth sermons. Sufi suckered the Pak govt into imposing Shariah on the Swat Valley and then stepped aside whilst Fazlullah and his Talibs imposed a reign of terror on the populace like they hadn't seen before, at least not for a thousand years or so. For some reason the Pak intel services were never able to locate his transmitter, much less bomb it. After ruling the place like a conquered province for a year or so, Fazlullah's Talibs began gobbling up more territory as they pushed toward Islamabad, at which point as a matter of self-preservation the Mighty Pak Army threw them out and chased them into Afghanistan...
, and that a third turban outfit, Mangal Bagh
...a former bus driver, now head of the Deobandi bandido group Lashkar-e-Islam and the Terror of Khyber Agency

...
's Lashkar-e-Islam
...a group of Islamic bandidos infesting Khyber Agency. It's headed by a former bus driver....
, has also joined forces have come as no surprise. The new pact formalises what had been an informal working arrangement in place for a while, including the sharing of jacket wallahs for each others' operations. Neither is the timing of the announcement particularly surprising. All three groups have come under pressure in their hideouts on the Afghan side of the Pak-Afghan border and attempted to reassemble in the Tirah region of Khyber Agency -- the very region in which the Pakistain military has launched the next phase of the Khyber-I operation. This week, the military has claimed dozens of turban casualties in air strikes in the region and that is expected to be only the start of intense action against ~~bandidos~~ bully boyz there, following on from the push in the flatter terrain of the Bara region late last year.

As ever, in the opaque world that is the frontline fight against militancy, there are several big questions. To begin with, how much cooperation from the Afghan government and security forces -- to stop ~~bandidos~~ bully boyz from fleeing across the border again -- will the Pak state be able to expect? The recent improvement in ties between the Pak government and the security establishment on one side and the Afghan government and intelligence and security forces on the other is the key to obtaining and sustaining Afghan cooperation. It almost certainly includes the quid pro quo of urging the Afghan Taliban to the negotiating table with the Afghan government. It remains to be seen how durable that new, untested compact is. The other question: is Khyber-I going according to plan? The military had always suggested there would a second phase starting this month, but the general experience in military operations here is that the ability to clear and hold is relatively easy as compared to being able to return an area to normality and keep the ~~bandidos~~ bully boyz out after the main phase of the operation is over. Finally, the ~~bandidos~~ bully boyz themselves have proved to be far more resilient and adaptable than is often assumed. Once again, in the face of intense pressure, they have banded together and may seek to survive in enough form to be able to bounce back at a later point. Is there a strategy to prevent that?

Link

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