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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Fighting in Pakistan Heats Up and Spreads Out. Many hundred homes and shops bulldozed. |
| 2004-03-26 |
| From Jihad Unspun ... were launched at four locations in Peshawar on Tuesday night wounding two people. One rocket landed near the Frontier Corps Headquarters. This is the paramilitary organization that was initially the main group in the Wana operation until the Pakistan army took over. Three rockets were fired at Lady Gress School, a Christian missionary school, the Peshawar Sectariat (Provincial Assembly) car park and the Judicial Complex. ... Two policemen were killed during an attack on an army convoy on Bannu - Meran Shah road. .... the local political establishment held the entire Mir Ali tribe accountable and started confiscating cars and arresting people belonging to the tribe. The markets of the tribe were all sealed off and 150 other commercial units were of the Mir Ali tribe were also sealed.... Meanwhile, Mujahideen fired three rockets at a base camp of the Jandola Scouts. One of the rockets missed its target and landed near a camp of tribal nomads but thankfully it did not cause any damage. The second rocket hit heavy transmission lines of electricity, disrupting electricity for some areas in South Waziristan. .... Also of interest was that is was discovered that a local private telephone exchange that is independent of the government telephone system was being used by the Mujahideen to communicate with each other. Houses belonging to the subtribes of Achmedzai tribe, Zalikhel, Yargulkhel in Wana are to be bulldozed. Four hundred houses have been marked for demolition and many bulldozers have arrived at the location and have started their work. The campaign will involve bulldozing some 1007 homes and will continue for some several days .... Meanwhile at the Rustum Bazaar, a major market in Wana, the people of Yargul Khel tribe spend the entire day Monday moving their merchandise because they fear that along with the houses, their shops will also be bulldozed. .... The operation is now expanding ... to the village of Alam Shah, which is 8 km from Wana. The Assistant political agent Rehmat Ullah Wazir ... told the merchants to empty roughly 2000 shops because they were to be bulldozed. The Pakistan army helicopters opened fire yet again on a group of tribesmen who were moving from their besieged homes to more peaceful locations on Tuesday. .... Villagers from Shula and surrounding villages have been told to evacuate their homes as the Pakistani soldiers having received some fire from that village .... The political agent of the Waziristan agency still blame the Zali Khel tribe for the war and said that unless the Zali Khel tribe came to its senses, more carnage will follow. |
| Posted by:Mike Sylwester |
| #7 bulldozing some 1007 homes I expect a UNSC resolution at any moment. The UN has repeatedly condemmed this practice in the past. And the UN's reputation for fairness and honesty will ensure it is consistent. Wow! That was a weird dream! |
| Posted by: phil_b 2004-03-26 3:48:25 PM |
| #6 Are these those crazed Zionist bulldozers or do the Paki's have their own? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-03-26 3:30:41 PM |
| #5 my take is somewhere between Ships and Raptors - the Paks made a gain in the assault on the compund near Wana - 50 hostiles killed, 150 captured, a key fortress put out of business, and the ability to operate in the FATA demonstrated. OTOH the tribes are starting to rally against the army, and they are showing they can make things very hard by the army, by attacking convoys, disrupting lines of supply, picking off patrols, etc. Fortunately the Pak army, while not as efficient as one might like, aint no ARVN. And Perv is very motivated, Unfortunately there are probably turncoats inside the ranks of the Pak army, and many in the ISI. And as Dan says elsewhere, probably about 25% of the Pak population is pro-AQ. So its a real hard to call thing. |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-03-26 3:04:31 PM |
| #4 That is not my take,Ship.Seems like the tribes are the ones getting thier homes dozed. Nice house guest that cause's your home to be leveled. |
| Posted by: Raptor 2004-03-26 2:55:32 PM |
| #3 Just like establishing central government authority in the old west (except for the bulldozers, jihadis, and lack of Judge Roy Bean) |
| Posted by: Hyper 2004-03-26 10:53:04 AM |
| #2 shipman - I'm sure that's what the writer wants you to believe, anyway. I'm not saying that it's been a cakewalk - but I'm alway a bit suspicious of the quamire stories. |
| Posted by: B 2004-03-26 10:47:48 AM |
| #1 Sounds like the Paks are getting their butts handed to them by a bunch of simple (tho well trained in small unit tactics) sheperds. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-03-26 10:42:34 AM |