January 16, 2007

LAWLESS AREA = FREE-FIRE ZONE:

Pakistani airstrike destroys suspected Al Qaeda camps (The Associated Press, January 15, 2007)

Pakistan's army destroyed suspected al-Qaida hideouts in an airstrike near the Afghan border on Tuesday, killing 10 people, officials said. [...]

The raid in South Waziristan came days after the U.S. intelligence chief said leaders of both al-Qaida and Afghanistan's former ruling Taliban militia were finding shelter in Pakistan's lawless frontier areas.

An army statement said intelligence sources confirmed the presence of 25 to 30 foreign terrorists and their local facilitators occupying five compounds in the area of Zamzola -- a village about three kilometers (two miles) from the frontier.

Pakistani forces backed by helicopter gunships attacked them, destroying three of the compounds.


Does the fly ever learn not to love the paper?


MORE:
Top Taleban spokesman 'arrested' (BBC, 1/16/07)

Afghan intelligence agents say they have arrested a leading spokesman for the Taleban near the Pakistan border.

Intelligence service spokesman Sayed Ansari named him as Dr Muhammad Hanif, who has been speaking for Afghanistan's former rulers since October 2005.

Mr Ansari told the Associated Press the spokesman had been detained on Monday. He did not say where he is being held.

Dr Hanif's capture, if confirmed, would be a notable success for the Afghan government as it battles the Taleban.

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 16, 2007 7:46 AM
Comments

There will be a response. After Bajaur, the militants did something quite unprecedented and attacked a military academy graduation ceremony, killing 42 new recruits.

The whole area of Waziristan and now Baluchistan is becoming riddled with terrorists. Given the lack of US interest and Pakistan not willing to crack down, the situation is going to get much uglier in coming years.

Posted by: Ali Choudhury at January 16, 2007 8:50 AM

Hopefully. The more of them we can get to gather there the more effective the assault will be.

Posted by: oj at January 16, 2007 11:45 AM

One has the idea that eventually the tribal areas will become a free-fire zone, probably for several months. Maybe even more. But my question is how do these guys get food and ammunition? They aren't farming (or ranching) and it seems unlikely that the ISI is giving them weapons at this late date.

Do the tribes exist just to subsidize the 'fighters'?

Posted by: ratbert at January 16, 2007 5:02 PM
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