|
Jets pound suspected militant hideouts in North Waziristan
[DAWN] Pak fighter jets pounded several suspected hard boy hideouts in Mir Ali area of North  Wazoo agency early Tuesday, killing up to 40 people and injuring several others, military sources and residents said.The ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... to take tougher action against Talibs following a string of attacks across the country in the past week. "This hadn't been planned before, and Pakistain Air Force jets were called to hit hideouts of the bully boyz involved in attacks on security forces," said one military official who spoke on condition of anonymity. There was no official word on casualties and residents gave different numbers. Pak military sources put the corpse count at 40, all of them suspected to be hard boys. Tribal elders said between 15 and 24 people were killed. A Taliban source put the corpse count at 27. Military sources said fighter jets were only targeting hard boy hideouts. Residents said the bombardment started overnight without any warning. "We were all asleep when the planes started bombing the village," said Khyal Zaman, a primitive from Esori village in Mir Ali. "We had no idea what happened in the dark and those who survived came out of their homes in desperation along with children and started walking away into the open."  According to a report by a foreign news agency, among the targets was the home of Adnan Rasheed, one of the most wanted hard boy commanders of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP).Taliban and military sources told AFP that his house was hit but Rasheed himself was later seen alive in the marketplace of Miranshah ... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministatein centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas... , the main town of North Waziristan. The army was not immediately available for a comment. Fear and panic gripped the areas struck by the overnight blitz which flattened several houses, following which gunship helicopters conducted fresh strikes in the morning causing locals to flee the volatile area for safer places, according to a DawnNews report. The localities where the military strikes were conducted included Hamzoni village, Mohammadkhel village of Dattakhel tehsil in North Waziristan, Shera Tala area, Harmaz village, Moski village and other areas of North Waziristan. Sources said those maimed in the attacks could not be shifted to hospitals for treatment due to a curfew imposed in the area. North Waziristan is one of the seven regions in Pakistain's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) governed by tribal laws. An myrmidon insurgency led by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) plagues the region and the area is known to be infested with hard boys, including those from Al Qaeda and other armed myrmidon organizations. The region, which lies along the Pak-Afghan border, also comes under attacks from US drones frequently which target hard boy hideouts in the area. Posted by: Fred 2014-01-22 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=384050 |