For two years, Afghan officials have said it publicly and American troops have bitterly complained about it privately. A large group of foreign militants who they suspect are allied with Al Qaeda — and possibly Osama bin Laden himself — appeared to be safely hiding in Pakistan's tribal areas and mounting cross-border attacks on American forces in Afghanistan. Pakistani forces at the border appeared to do little to stop them. "If they'd cut the restraints," said one American soldier on patrol near the border last week, referring to their orders to stay on the Afghan side, "we'd go into Pakistan and kill them."
Developments in recent days indicate that Pakistan is finally willing to press its troops on the border to go after the foreigners, after two assassination attempts on President Pervez Musharraf by Islamic militants — but they also point out that it could have happened a lot sooner. The discovery of hundreds of foreign militants in South Waziristan, the focus of the current operation, also suggests that if there is a Qaeda stronghold where Mr. bin Laden is hiding, it may be there. It also appears that Pakistani troops sent to the fiercely independent tribal areas more than two years ago failed to find militants who might have been living on their doorstep.
| Kind of implies they didn't look very hard, doesn't it? |
Pakistani officials say the current battle involves 400 to 500 militants who gathered in villages only 10 miles from a large military base in the town of Wana without Pakistani forces realizing it. "Yes, we must confess they were surprised," a Pakistani military spokesman, Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, said at a news conference on Monday, referring to the members of the raiding party that finally discovered the militants. "They had underestimated the strength of the miscreants there." Afghan and some American officials contend that Pakistani forces have simply not tried to find the militants, or in some cases overtly aided them.
| We've all been saying that for a couple years. I guess it took a couple hits at Perv to get the message through... |
Zalmay Khalilzad, the American ambassador to Afghanistan, said in an interview with The Associated Press on Sunday that two Taliban commanders believed to be orchestrating attacks in southern Afghanistan were operating from Pakistan. "We know several key Taliban figures are there," he said, "and there is some sense that some of the remaining Al Qaida leaders are in the border area on the other side."
Pakistani officials say no one, including American officials, suspected that there were so many militants in South Waziristan. Pakistani forces uncovered a sign of the strength and sophistication of the militant network on Monday, officials said. Army engineers destroying the house of a local tribesman who sheltered militants discovered a network of tunnels. One tunnel was more than a mile long and linked the compounds of two local tribesmen who had been wanted for months for harboring militants and carrying out attacks on American forces, officials said. The tunnel then extended to a nearby dry riverbed. Mehmood Shah, the incompetent chief of security in the tribal areas, conceded that militants might have used it to flee. "It is possible that some might have escaped through this tunnel," he said. "It has been there for quite some time. I don't know how effective the cordon was on the first night."
A Wana area resident who saw some of what happened that night but feared reprisals if his name were used said in telephone interview on Monday that most of the militants escaped on the first night of the operation before the cordon was firmly in place. The resident and a Pakistani security official also said the leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Tahir Yaldash, who was believed to have been surrounded along with scores of Chechen fighters, might have escaped. Pakistani officials said no tunnels were discovered when a house where tunnels were found on Monday was raided last month.
| The old revolving Koran case trick, eh? Fools 'em every time... |
The bodies of six militants believed to be foreigners have been taken to Rawalpindi for DNA testing, Pakistani official said. They said none appeared to be Mr. Zawahiri or Mr. bin Laden. Other signs that the Pakistani effort may be faltering emerged Monday. Suspected militants attacked a resupply convoy 20 miles from the fighting, killing 12 soldiers and wounding 22, and apparently escaped with no casualties. In addition, a delegation of 22 tribal elders sent to convey a government demand that the militants surrender returned empty-handed.
| They weren't expecting (or expected) to bring anything back. They were buying time. |
Malik Ba Khan, a member of the delegation, said in a telephone interview that the delegation had met with local tribal leaders who had said that no foreign militants were present. "They said that the wanted men are not there," he said, "and that they would inform the government if they are seen in the area."
| Same thing they've been saying since October, only with gunfire in the background. |
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