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| Afghanistan |
| U.S. forces searching for al-Qaeda in Pakland |
| 2002-04-26 |
| U.S. forces are searching for al-Qaeda fighters in the rough tribal regions of Pakistan, which has agreed to let American troops go after militants in the South Asian country, four well-placed U.S. officials said Thursday. This started coming out yesterday. There have been rumors of Delta/SAS ops in Jammu and Kashmir as well... The covert operation will extend the U.S. conflict against Osama bin Laden's terror operation in Afghanistan across the border to Pakistan as President Pervez Musharraf validates his support for the Bush administration. He'll also take a lot of heat for it from the turbans, who see a secular state under every bush with an infidel behind it. "We have a shared concern with the Pakistanis," one of the officials told The Associated Press. But asked about reports the military operation has begun, the official said, "I can't say we've gotten to that point yet." That's the ticket. Admit nothing. The tribal areas, just over the border from al-Qaeda's Afghan strongholds in Paktia and Paktika provinces, are historical rally points for fighters fleeing Afghanistan. Also R&R centers and a place to keep a second home. U.S. officials have said al-Qaida and Taliban fighters are believed to be regrouping in the tribal areas. The administration and Pakistan worked out rules of engagement for the military several weeks ago. This established terms for the operation, and the Musharraf government has stood by them despite reports of wavering. Perv's not a fool. He's got lots of opposition in the country, from the PPP and PML factions, but the big opposition is Qazi, operating as front man for Fazl, who is in turn Binny's front man. The tribal areas are a big gob of Pashtunistan that Pakland's never been able to digest. It poses as much of a danger to Perv as it does to Karzai. Also, an official said, American soldiers had not been wounded, as The Washington Post reported Thursday. Most of the reports of wounded originate with Afghan Islamic Press, which seems to be a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Talibs and/or al-Qaeda. They're picked up by Frontier Post and then disproved or ignored. Yet another official said U.S. forces in Afghanistan had chased al-Qaida fighters across the border sporadically over the past few weeks, but that was separate from the covert operation. These are the cross-border ops that Qureshi was saying don't happen... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |