 |
| |
WEEKLY
SECTIONS |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Waziristan operation |
|
|
|
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Troops advance towards militants’ strongholds
By Irfan Burki & Daud Khattak
WANA/PESHAWAR: Fierce fighting was reported from the Sherwangai area in South Waziristan Agency as troops started their advance towards the militants’ strongholds on the Shakai-Ladha axis on Friday, the seventh day of the operation Rah-e-Nijat.
The Army claimed killing 13 militants, raising the casualty toll of the Taliban to 142 since October 17. However, the Taliban said only three of their men were killed since the launch of the operation. Claims from both sides could not be confirmed.
After three days of fighting, security forces were seen in full control of Sherwangai, its surrounding heights and the nearby village of Chalweshtai where troops had been deployed on the mountain peaks to avoid militants’ attacks from different directions, sources said.
Security forces will advance on Kaniguram, Sam, Karwan Sar, Asman Manja and Ladha, all said to be mountainous areas and strongholds of the militants, who had retreated from the plains to mountains and forests after the launch of the operation.
Tribesmen said the capture of Sherwangai and Chalweshtai had strengthened the troops’ position in the area, but the next important step was the seizure of Karwan Sar mount and Asman Manja, which would ensure strategic dominance for security forces and facilitate their advance and siege of Karama, Delay, Moshay, Jalandhar, Kokatkhel, Nano and other areas.
Asman Manja is a plain area on a hilltop spreading over several kilometres where security forces will be able to land helicopters for bringing reinforcements and shifting soldiers as well as keeping a watch on the surrounding areas for any hostile activity. The area is located around 10 kilometres from Chalweshtai, which is already under the control of security forces.
Fighter jets and artillery targeted suspected militants positions in Mashta, Ragh, Sam, Srarogha, Penga, Ladha and Makeen areas, but there are no reports about casualties. A statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that 13 militants and two soldiers were killed in clashes and rocket fire in and around Kotkai, Sherwangai and Chalweshtai areas. Seven soldiers suffered injuries in the fighting.
The ISPR said one soldier and seven militants were killed and two soldiers injured during an engagement around Kotkai while another soldier and six Uzbek militants were killed in the fighting around the Sherwangai area. Five more soldiers sustained injuries.
The military statement said one Vickers machine gun, one rocket launcher, along with three rockets, two Kalashnikov rifles, along with 300 rounds, one sniper rifle, one hand-grenade, two walkie-talkie sets and books in Uzbek language were also recovered.
According to the ISPR, 142 militants and 20 soldiers have been killed since October 17. Another 56 soldiers suffered injuries while the troops arrested six suspected militants during the operation. The Taliban confirmed the killing of only three of their men in the past one week.
Talking to reporters from an undisclosed location by phone, the outlawed TTP spokesman, Azam Tariq, said only three of their colleagues had been killed since the launch of the military operation. He claimed that six innocent tribesmen had also been killed during the past seven days.
Azam Tariq warned the media outlets not to present one side of the picture. This is the second time in the past one week that the militants’ spokesman is complaining about the media’s ‘partial’ coverage of the Waziristan operation.
A similar warning was issued by the spokesman in his phone call to a tribal journalist four days ago. He warned the Taliban would target media organisations if they failed to stick to the principles of independent journalism.
Almost all media offices in Peshawar and Islamabad have already upgraded their security after the first warning from the militants about a week ago. The ISPR statement did not mention the casualties and material losses suffered by civilians in artillery shelling and bombing by fighter planes and helicopters.
|
|
|
| Back
| Send
this story to Friend | Print
Version |
|
|
‘Al-Qaeda, Taliban leaders not in Pakistan’
ISLAMABAD: Strongly reacting to some of the reports of the presence of al-Qaeda and Taliban leadership in Pakistan by the US newspapers and some intelligence agencies, President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday said more |
|
|
Mulla Omar in Karachi, claims WT
WASHINGTON: Mulla Muhammed Omar, the leader of the Afghan Taliban, has fled Quetta and found refuge from the potential US attacks in Karachi with the assistance of Pakistan’s intelligence, the Washington Times more |
|
|
Will PM intervene or will robber barons kill CCP?
By Mehtab Haider
ISLAMABAD: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has warned that it will cease to exist and its actions will become invalid in case the government fails to re-promulgate the Competition Ordinance on or b more |
|
|
Eight militants die in US drone attack
By our correspondent
MIRAMSHAH: Eight militants were killed and two others injured when a US drone hit a house in the Michikhel area in North Waziristan on Friday, the second such attack in less than 24 hours.
Tribal sources sai more |
|
|
19 militants killed in SWA, Khyber, Bajaur clashes
By our correspondents
WANA/BARA/KHAR: Nineteen militants were killed in clashes with security forces in South Waziristan, Khyber and Bajaur tribal regions on Friday.
Tribal and officials sources said five militants were kille more |
|
|
|
Pakistan has nothing to fear from India: Singh
WASHINGTON: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said India is ready to resolve all outstanding issues with the country on the condition that it will not allow its territory to be used against its neighbour more |
|
|
|
Qureshi wants result-oriented dialogue with India
MULTAN: Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mehmud Qureshi said on Friday Pakistan wanted meaningful and result-oriented bilateral negotiations with India.
Addressing a press conference at the airport here, h more |
|
|
|
Only 15 pc believe Pakistan is going right
By Gibran Peshimam
KARACHI: Pakistan’s youths are losing confidence in the future and a mere 15 per cent believe that the country is heading in the right direction, while 72 per cent feel economically worse off than a year ago. O more |
|
|
|
Mustafa Jatoi passes away
ISLAMABAD: Former caretaker prime minister Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi breathed his last at the St Marry Hospital in London on Friday after a protracted illness. He was 78.
He leaves behind six sons and three d more |
|
|
|
Slaughter of animals, NRO beneficiaries begins on Eid
By Muhammad Ahmad Noorani
ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) will soon announce its strategy to deal with the cases which are going to reopen on Nov 28, a NAB spokesman told The News on Friday.
“The NAB chairman more |
|
|
|
WFP, Rescue 15 attacks’ mastermind arrested
By Shakeel Anjum
ISLAMABAD: The Capital Police on Friday arrested the mastermind behind the attacks on the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the Rescue 15 offices in Islamabad.
The terrorist, identified as Jamshed Ahmad more |
|
|
|
Mushahid asks Karzai not to allow use of Afghan land against Pakistan
By our correspondent
ISLAMABAD: Secretary General Pakistan Muslim League-Q Mushahid Hussain Sayed on Friday asked President Hamid Karzai not to allow the use of Afghan land against Pakistan under Indian designs.
“Pakistan wa more |
|
|
|
No Indo-Pak FMs meeting: Nirupama
NEW DELHI: India on Friday said no meeting had been scheduled between foreign ministers of Pakistan and India in Port of Spain later this month on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting ( more |
|
|
|
US to tighten control of Afghan contracts: Gates
HALIFAX: US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Friday that the United States must tighten control of Afghan development contracts as a first step towards stemming rampant corruption.
“The reality is more |
|
|
|
China has stake in Kashmir: Mirwaiz
News Desk
HELD SRINAGAR: As he plans to visit China, Hurriyat Conference leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Friday kicked up a controversy by saying that Beijing has a “direct link” with the Kashmir issue, drawing strong obje more |
|
|
|
Clinton favours Indo-Pak dialogue on Kashmir
WASHINGTON: The United States is encouraging Pakistan and India to resume their dialogue to address Kashmir and other outstanding disputes but any solution must come from the two countries, Secretary of State H more |
|
|
|
Competition Commission forces PIA to fly fair
By our correspondent
ISLAMABAD: Silent prayers of many Hajis have apparently been answered as the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has ordered PIA to refund within 60 days the excessive fares charged from the passengers, wh more |
|
|
|
Attack on policemen in Peshawar
By Javed Aziz Khan
PESHAWAR: The death toll in the bomb attack on police party in Yakatoot rose to three after a sub-inspector and another cop succumbed to injuries at the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) on Friday as the city mourned more |
|
|
|
‘Musharraf funnelling money to improve image’
ISLAMABAD: Former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf has reportedly funnelled a large amount of money to his former aides in the country in order to improve his image, as he is planning a return to the c more |
|
|
|
Sen Lugar’s wife arrested, charged with drinking, hit-and-run
News Desk
WASHINGTON: The wife of Republican Senator Richard G Lugar was arrested in the suburb of McLean on Wednesday night after crashing into a parked car, and she was charged with drunk driving and hit-and-run, the F more |
|
|
|
briefs...
Bombers kill 23 in Afghanistan
HERAT: Bomb attacks on Friday killed 23 people in Afghanistan, a deadly start to President Hamid Karzai’s second term that underscored spiralling insecurity nine years into more |
|
|
|
ISSN 1563-9479 
