Pakistan’s army launched a major offensive against suspected terrorists in a mountainous region near the border with Afghanistan believed to be used by Al Qaeda fugitives, senior officials said yesterday.
It was not clear whether any major arrests were made during the operation, said Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed.
Brig. Mehmood Shah, a security official in the tribal areas, said authorities were focusing on three compounds in Kalosha, a tiny village near the town of Azam Warsak, where 15-20 foreign terror suspects are believed to be holed up. The area is in the primitive deeply conservative tribal region of South Waziristan.
| That hasn't changed much since yesterday... |
Authorities were also looking for three Pakistani men — Naik Mohammed, Sherdil, and Sharif Khan — believed to own the dwellings, Shah said. He said soldiers had already searched the home of Sherdil, who goes by only one name, and were in the process of leveling it with bulldozers after finding nobody inside.
| Leveling it with bulldozers seems pretty drastic. Sounds like they either found something inside that cheesed them off or that they had some pretty hard intel on Sherdil's activities. Or both. Personally, I always find that if you're running away to avoid arrest and interrogation it's not a good idea to leave booby traps behind in your house. It only makes them mad. |
An intelligence official said authorities received information three days ago that a group of armed men, believed to be foreigners, were in an area called Azam Warsak, near Wana. Tribal elders were contacted and asked the men to surrender, but they refused, prompting the military action.
| "No, no! They are our guests! They... Where are you going with those tanks?" |
Troops stormed the compound where the men were believed to be holed up at 3 am yesterday. He said there had been an exchange of fire and that several army helicopters were involved.
"I'll hold 'em off, Mahmoud, while you sneak out the back way!"
"There's a helicopter overhead! They'll zap me in a Peshawar minute!"
"The tunnel! How 'bout the tunnel?"
"There ain't no tunnel. I was still tired from Rafah."
"Hostages?"
"Only the cat."
"Mahmoud, we're in deep trouble." |
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