Pakistan army kills 50 suspected militants
Wednesday, 24 September 2008
ISLAMABAD, (Pakistan), Sept 23 (AFP): An army spokesman says security forces backed by helicopter gunships and artillery have killed more than 50 suspected militants in volatile northwest Pakistan. Maj. Murad Khan says the clashes since Monday also killed a soldier.
He says security forces Tuesday are carrying out the operation in the town of Darra Adam Khel and surrounding areas close to Pakistan's tribal regions. He says the security forces have retaken control of a key tunnel in the Kohat area.
The U.S. has urged Pakistan to crack down on al-Qaida and Taliban militants sheltering in pockets of its northwest.
Earlier report adds: Security forces killed 10 suspected insurgents Tuesday as part of an ongoing offensive near the Afghan border aimed at denying al-Qaida and Taliban militants safe havens there.
The offensive in the Bajur tribal region has won praise from U.S. officials worried about rising violence in Pakistan and Afghanistan, but has triggered retaliatory suicide bombings elsewhere in Pakistan.
Some officials believe the weekend bombing of the Marriott Hotel that killed 53 in the capital Islamabad was in response to the operations, which the army says have left more than 700 suspected militants dead since early August.
The latest casualties came early Tuesday when 10 suspected militants died in a shootout with security forces on the outskirts of Bajur's main city of Khar, government official Iqbal Khattak said. He said some security forces were wounded, but he would not say how many.
Washington says the operation in Bajur - a rumored hiding place of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and other militant leaders - appears to have reduced violence across the border in Afghanistan.
Pakistan's chief army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas has said Bajur had turned into a "mega-sanctuary" for militants and the military was determined to flush them out.
However, a rash of U.S. cross-border operations in neighboring tribal regions, including suspected missile strikes and a ground assault, underscore Washington's concerns that Pakistan is either unwilling or incapable of rooting out extremists on its own.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari was expected to discuss the cross-border attacks with President Bush on Tuesday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
In the latest such alleged breach, two U.S. helicopters crossed one mile into Pakistan late Sunday in the Alwara Mandi area in North Waziristan, two intelligence officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Citing informants in the field, they said Pakistani troops and tribesmen responded with small arms fire, but it was not clear whether the bullets were aimed at the choppers or were warning shots. The helicopters did not return fire and re-entered Afghan airspace without landing, the officials said.
That account was denied by Pentagon officials: "There was no such incursion, there was no such event," said Defense Department spokesman Col. Gary L. Keck.
Another report from New York adds: U.S. military incursions into Pakistan that have stoked anti-Americanism top the agenda for President Bush's talks with the newly elected president of the Muslim nation, which is reeling from a deadly truck bomb that devastated a Marriott hotel in Islamabad.
Publicly, Bush and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, who were to meet Tuesday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, will exhibit a show of solidarity against extremists. Privately, the two leaders will be trying to craft a delicate strategy to make progress in fighting militants while keeping U.S.-Pakistan relations on an even keel until Bush leaves office in four months.
Pakistan is under growing pressure from the United States to act against al-Qaida and Taliban insurgents along its border with Afghanistan, a staging ground for attacks against coalition troops in Afghanistan and bombings in Pakistan. Pakistan accuses the U.S. of violating its sovereignty. But with little political clout, it's unclear whether Zardari can muster the domestic support he needs, especially from the Pakistani military, to step up the fight against terrorists inside his own nation.
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said the weekend hotel bombing, which killed 53 people, including two Defense Department employees, and wounded hundreds was an attempt to "destabilize democracy" in Pakistan and destroy its already fragile economy.
In his meeting, Bush was expected to seek greater cooperation from Zardari, reiterating the White House position that the Marriott bombing is evidence that Pakistanis themselves are under siege from extremists living within their borders. Zardari is expected to tell Bush that the cross-border attacks by the U.S. are actually weakening his political standing among Pakistanis who believe U.S. meddling in the region is fueling the terrorist attacks.
He says security forces Tuesday are carrying out the operation in the town of Darra Adam Khel and surrounding areas close to Pakistan's tribal regions. He says the security forces have retaken control of a key tunnel in the Kohat area.
The U.S. has urged Pakistan to crack down on al-Qaida and Taliban militants sheltering in pockets of its northwest.
Earlier report adds: Security forces killed 10 suspected insurgents Tuesday as part of an ongoing offensive near the Afghan border aimed at denying al-Qaida and Taliban militants safe havens there.
The offensive in the Bajur tribal region has won praise from U.S. officials worried about rising violence in Pakistan and Afghanistan, but has triggered retaliatory suicide bombings elsewhere in Pakistan.
Some officials believe the weekend bombing of the Marriott Hotel that killed 53 in the capital Islamabad was in response to the operations, which the army says have left more than 700 suspected militants dead since early August.
The latest casualties came early Tuesday when 10 suspected militants died in a shootout with security forces on the outskirts of Bajur's main city of Khar, government official Iqbal Khattak said. He said some security forces were wounded, but he would not say how many.
Washington says the operation in Bajur - a rumored hiding place of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and other militant leaders - appears to have reduced violence across the border in Afghanistan.
Pakistan's chief army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas has said Bajur had turned into a "mega-sanctuary" for militants and the military was determined to flush them out.
However, a rash of U.S. cross-border operations in neighboring tribal regions, including suspected missile strikes and a ground assault, underscore Washington's concerns that Pakistan is either unwilling or incapable of rooting out extremists on its own.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari was expected to discuss the cross-border attacks with President Bush on Tuesday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
In the latest such alleged breach, two U.S. helicopters crossed one mile into Pakistan late Sunday in the Alwara Mandi area in North Waziristan, two intelligence officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Citing informants in the field, they said Pakistani troops and tribesmen responded with small arms fire, but it was not clear whether the bullets were aimed at the choppers or were warning shots. The helicopters did not return fire and re-entered Afghan airspace without landing, the officials said.
That account was denied by Pentagon officials: "There was no such incursion, there was no such event," said Defense Department spokesman Col. Gary L. Keck.
Another report from New York adds: U.S. military incursions into Pakistan that have stoked anti-Americanism top the agenda for President Bush's talks with the newly elected president of the Muslim nation, which is reeling from a deadly truck bomb that devastated a Marriott hotel in Islamabad.
Publicly, Bush and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, who were to meet Tuesday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, will exhibit a show of solidarity against extremists. Privately, the two leaders will be trying to craft a delicate strategy to make progress in fighting militants while keeping U.S.-Pakistan relations on an even keel until Bush leaves office in four months.
Pakistan is under growing pressure from the United States to act against al-Qaida and Taliban insurgents along its border with Afghanistan, a staging ground for attacks against coalition troops in Afghanistan and bombings in Pakistan. Pakistan accuses the U.S. of violating its sovereignty. But with little political clout, it's unclear whether Zardari can muster the domestic support he needs, especially from the Pakistani military, to step up the fight against terrorists inside his own nation.
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said the weekend hotel bombing, which killed 53 people, including two Defense Department employees, and wounded hundreds was an attempt to "destabilize democracy" in Pakistan and destroy its already fragile economy.
In his meeting, Bush was expected to seek greater cooperation from Zardari, reiterating the White House position that the Marriott bombing is evidence that Pakistanis themselves are under siege from extremists living within their borders. Zardari is expected to tell Bush that the cross-border attacks by the U.S. are actually weakening his political standing among Pakistanis who believe U.S. meddling in the region is fueling the terrorist attacks.