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Militants Attack Army Convoy, Killing 2 of Their Own
The prisoners were connected to the militant leadership in the Swat Valley, where the campaign is taking place. They were deputies of Sufi Muhammad, a religious leader with ties to the Taliban whose son-in-law Maulana Fazlullah commands the Taliban in the area. Mr. Muhammad leads a banned group called Tehrik-i-Nafaz-i-Shariah-Muhammadi, or TNSM, whose stated goal is the implementation of Islamic law and which is closely linked to the Taliban. His deputies who were killed were identified by the military and locals as Muhammad Alam and TNSMs spokesman, Amir Izat Khan. A spokesman for Pakistans military, Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, said by telephone that the attack happened at 5 a.m. near an area called Sakha Kot just north of Peshawar, the regional capital. A convoy of about six military vehicles hit a bomb in the road. Soon after, militants started shooting at the convoy, and soldiers returned fire. General Abbas said all the casualties were caused by the bomb blast. It was not clear whether the attack was an attempted effort to rescue the two prisoners. This incident was the result of an I.E.D. attack, General Abbas said, which is a very usual affair in these areas. The military has been clearing the valleys north of Islamabad since early last month, and appears to have made progress. Still, the attack on Saturday underscored the difficulty of their task. Refugees from Swat, who lived for the past two years under Taliban brutality, said the militarys capture of Mr. Khan and Mr. Alam, which took place several days ago, was an encouraging sign. But they said they would feel safe enough to return home only if the top leadership of the Taliban Mr. Fazlullah and his spokesman, Muslim Khan is killed.
General Abbas also said that the military was not yet moving into South Waziristan, the area in Pakistan of the most intense Taliban and Qaeda concentration that is expected to be the focus of the militarys next effort against the militants. Posted by: Steve White 2009-06-07 |
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