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Timeline of operations in South Waziristan
The death toll in the ongoing operations in the South Waziristan Agency, bordering Afghanistan’s Paktika province, is increasing everyday. In the wake of growing friction in the area, TFT’s correspondent Iqbal Khattak revisits key events that have taken place in the area. Following is a chronology of operations against Al Qaeda suspects and their local supporters in the South Waziristan Agency:

June 27, 2002: Army conducted its first operation at Kaza Punga in the Azam Warsak area, close to the Afghan border. This was the first operation of its kind as part of the war on terror. The army contingent came under fire and the exchange left 12 army jawans, including an officer, dead. The suspects managed to escape.

October 2, 2003: The second operation was launched in the Baghar area, just one kilometre away from the Afghan border. The army killed 12 Al Qaeda and Taliban suspects and netted 18 other suspects.

October 9, 2003: The Zalikhel sub-tribe of the Wazirs was served notices by the political administration for sheltering Al Qaeda. The administration also demanded the tribe handover its wanted men charged with sheltering foreign terrorists.

January 8, 2004:The army went to the Kalosha area near Wana, agency headquarters of South Waziristan Agency, to search houses of local tribesmen believed to be sheltering foreign terrorists. No one was found during the search operation, but houses of four tribesmen demolished.

January 10, 2004: Four army soldiers were killed and two injured when suspected terrorists attacked the military base outside Wana. The incident happened just a day after the army operation in Kalosha.

January 12, 2004: A “stray bullet” killed an army jawan in the Azam Warsak Bazaar.

January 18, 2004: The political administration announced new measures to step up pressure on Wazir tribesmen to give up support to the Al Qaeda and Taliban elements. They included seven years imprisonment and a fine of Rs1.5 million if a tribesman was found sheltering terrorists. The tribe itself was to fined Rs1 million if a suspect belonged to it.

January 26, 2004: Sixty-six new names were added to the list of wanted tribesmen accused of sheltering al-Qaeda and Taliban elements. The political administration demanded the tribes hand over a total of 123 wanted men.

February 20, 2004: Tribal elder Malik Behram Khan warned Pakistan and the US against launching operation in Waziristan saying: “If the day belongs to the cruel, the night belongs to the poor.”

February 25, 2004: Troops backed by helicopter gunships and artillery launched another operation in Azam Warsak. They claimed arresting 20 foreign terrorists.

February 27, 2004: Fresh reinforcement of paramilitary force arrived in Wana for operations against Al Qaeda.

February 28, 2004: 14 civilians were killed when army opened fire on two vehicles after they did not stop at a checkpoint near the Zeri Noor army base outside Wana.

February 29, 2004: Unknown militants fired two missiles at an army-manned checkpoint in the village of Shulman. The attack, which caused no losses, came a day after the killing of 14 civilians.

March 2, 2004: The political administration slapped a Rs5.4 million fine on the Ahmedzai Wazir tribe for attacks on the army. President Pervez Musharraf ordered inquiry into the February 28 killing of 14 civilians.

March 3, 2004: Sixteen tribesmen, including four key tribal elders and Ahmedzai Wazir chieftain Malik Bismallah Jan, were arrested and sent to Dera Ismail Khan prison for not cooperating with the government in the war on terror.

March 4, 2004: Two tribal policemen were injured when their vehicle was blown up in Wana bazaar.

March 7, 2004: A group of five tribal senators brokered a peace deal between the political administration and the Wazir tribesmen and a tribal army was formed to help the government secure custody of seven wanted men and flush out foreign terrorists from Waziristan.

March 10, 2004: Tribal army, locally called the lashkar, gave the wanted men a two-day deadline to surrender or face serious consequences.

March 13, 2004: The wanted Wazir tribesmen ignored the deadline to surrender. A 10-man delegation was formed to meet them.

March 15, 2004: President Pervez Musharraf addressed a grand jirga of tribesmen from all the seven zones seeking their help in the war on terror and warning that failure to purge Waziristan from foreign terrorists and their local supporters will not be in the country’s interests.

March 16, 2004: Eight Frontier Constabulary jawans were killed and 15 injured during an operation to search the home of Sharif, one of the most wanted men. Twenty-four terrorists along with Al Qaeda supporters were also killed in the shootout. This operation took place on the eve of the visit to Pakistan of US Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Posted by: Paul Moloney 2004-03-19
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=28558