Friday, September 26, 2008

Pakistan: On Ground Updates - September 26, 2008

Pakistan: On Ground Updates
Pakistani Troops Fighting Mountain Battle That Generals Claim Will Break Back Of Taliban Insurgency Within Months
Friday, September 26, 2008

* Telegraph.co.uk brings us the following report...
Pakistani forces have killed up to 1,000 Islamist militants in an offensive for control over the northwestern region of Bajau...
Read the report at link below...
Battle with the Taliban: Pakistan could defeat militants in months
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* The Times Of India has the following report posted on their website this early Friday afternoon...
Pakistan warned the US not to stray across the Afghan border into its territory after a gunbattle between the anti-terror allies that was praised by tribesman on Friday as a victory against Washington... As if to underline the point that Pakistan can beat al-Qaida and Taliban militants without American firepower, a top general said an offensive in another frontier province had killed more than 1,000 suspected insurgents and predicted the region would be "stabilized" within two months... Still, he also showed reporters photos of militant tunnel systems and trenches in Bajur, suggesting more tough fighting ahead in an area that is considered a likely hiding place for Osama bin Laden and other top al-Qaida leaders...
Read the full report at link below...
Pakistan tells US to stay out of its territory

* TimesOnline.co.uk had another report out this evening and it starts off like this... Tanks rumble along the dusty road and helicopter gunships hover. Soldiers keep a sharp eye out for snipers hiding inside the mud houses. Any gunmen will be the only ones at home: the inhabitants of this small border village have fled the fighting. In the distance there is the sound of machinegun fire as troops try to flush out militants holed up in a ravine. “It is not easy to dislodge these heavily armed men,” Colonel Javaid Baluch, a local commander, says. Earlier a grenade was thrown at an army bunker, blowing off the legs of a major and seriously injuring three others... This was the scene yesterday in the Bajaur tribal region, as it has been for much of the past six weeks. Bajaur, which borders southeastern Afghanistan, is a main operating base for al-Qaeda and the Taleban; Pakistani intelligence believes that Ayman al-Zawahri, the second-in-command of al-Qaeda, has been a visitor. Now it is the venue for the fiercest battle between Pakistani military and Islamic fighters since Pakistan joined the US War on Terror in 2001... More than 8,000 Pakistani troops have been involved in the six-week campaign. The generals claimed yesterday to have killed 1,000 militants so far – yet the hostilities show no sign of letting up. A constant supply of fresh fighters from inside the country and across the border in Afghanistan is helping the militants to stay in the fight...
Read the rest at link below...
8,000 Pakistani soldiers take on al-Qaeda in volatile tribal region

Update: Saturday, September 27, 2008.

* Telegraph.co.uk...
US secret forces are intensifying their cross-border raids into Pakistani tribal areas because of fears of a high-profile al-Qaeda attack during the American election campaign...
Read the report at link below...

US steps up Pakistan raids to thwart al-Qaeda 'October surprise' plot

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