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Fighting in Waziristan spreading
EFL... Even more alarming is the spillover effect of the violence that began in South Waziristan's Wana valley and then spread to Shakai, both inhabited by the Pashtun tribe of Ahmadzai Wazir. The fighting has now moved to places such as Karwan Minza, Kaniguram, Makeen and Laddah, all populated by the more numerous Mahsud tribe. Moreover, hostilities have spilled over to the neighbouring North Waziristan tribal agency, prompting the Pakistan Army to launch military operations there as well. It has over-stretched the military's resources in an area where there were almost [no] Pakistani troops in the past and exposed the soldiers to ambushes, landmine explosions and rocketing in some of the most rugged and treacherous terrain in the world. The spread of insurgency to the Mahsud tribal territory could have dire consequences. The Mahsuds, a warlike Pashtun tribe described by some British colonial officers and writers as wolves for their shrewdness and cunningness, constitute around 75 per cent population of the largely mountainous South Waziristan. Until now, the Mahsud area was largely peaceful, enabling the government to claim that the Mahsud tribe supported its tough anti-militancy policy and the deployment of Pakistan Army troops in South Waziristan. Government functionaries have also been claiming that only a small section, Yargulkhel, of the Zalikhel sub-tribe of Ahmadzai Wazirs, who form almost 25 per cent of South Waziristan's population, had given refuge to foreign militants and was involved in attacks on the troops. With the change in the situation on the ground, one would have to view with skepticism the claims that the authorities have been making with regard to the support for the government in the troubled South Waziristan tribal agency bordering Afghanistan. Though there had been some attacks earlier on the Pakistan Army troops and the paramilitary Frontier Corps in the Mahsud area such as the bloody ambush in Sarwakai that killed more than a dozen soldiers, the recent bombing by Pakistan Air Force jet-fighters and gunship helicopters on a militants' training camp in the Laddah area brought home the point that young Mahsuds too were becoming willing recruits to the cause of militancy. According to some reports, some 26 Mahsud youngsters being trained in the use of firearms and explosive devices were killed when the camp was bombed. The government claimed that up to 50 foreign militants perished in the bombing raid. Independent sources said around 15 foreign fighters were among those killed. Posted by: Paul Moloney 2004-09-21 |
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