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| India-Pakistan |
| UK colonel sez Taliban is using Pakistan as HQ |
| 2006-05-19 |
| A senior British officer accused Pakistan of allowing the Taliban to use its territory as a "headquarters" for attacks on western troops in Afghanistan as insurgents struck on multiple fronts yesterday. In one of the worst 24-hour periods since they were ousted from power in 2001, the Taliban launched two suicide bombs, numerous firefights and a massive assault on a village in Helmand province, where 3,300 British soldiers are being deployed. The violence, which started on Wednesday night, caused 105 deaths including 87 Taliban, 15 police, an American civilian and a Canadian woman soldier, according to the highest estimates. British forces were not involved. Colonel Chris Vernon, chief of staff for southern Afghanistan, said the Taliban leadership was coordinating its campaign from the western Pakistani city of Quetta, near the Afghan border. "The thinking piece of the Taliban is out of Quetta in Pakistan. It's the major headquarters," he told the Guardian. "They use it to run a series of networks in Afghanistan." The Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, echoed these comments by accusing Pakistan of arming the insurgents. "Pakistani intelligence gives military training to people and then sends them to Afghanistan with logistics," the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press news agency quoted him as saying. Col Vernon said the Quetta leadership controlled "about 25" mid-level commanders dotted across the Afghan south, one of whom was captured last month. He declined to name him. The unusually forthright British criticism, reflecting sentiments normally expressed in private by western commanders, drew a furious denial from the Pakistani military. "It is absolutely absurd that someone is talking like this. If the Taliban leadership was in Quetta we would be out of our minds not to arrest them," said a spokesman, Major General Shaukat Sultan. "They should give us actionable intelligence so that we can take action." The clash reflects growing tensions between Pakistan and the west as Nato prepares to assume command of southern Afghanistan from the US on July 31. About 7,000 troops from Britain, Canada and the Netherlands are deploying to Helmand, Kandahar and Uruzgan provinces, while another 1,000 Americans and Romanians will be stationed in Zabul. Kandahar has suffered the worst upheaval, much of it apparently aimed at unbalancing the Nato mission before it can settle down. Canadian troops have been pummelled with a string a suicide attacks, roadside bombs and an axe attack on an officer during a village meeting. On Wednesday a suicide bomber rammed into a UN vehicle near the main coalition base at Kandahar airport, killing himself and injuring the driver. Col Vernon said he had tightened security on the road after similar attacks in March by "imposing Northern Ireland procedures". On Wednesday night hundreds of Taliban fighters assailed Musa Qala village in northern Helmand, sparking an eight-hour battle that officials said left 40 militants and 13 police dead. Having convulsed the volatile south, the guerrilla summer offensive now threatens the rest of the country. Yesterday suicide bombers struck in the normally peaceful cities of Herat in the west and Ghazni to the north, killing an Afghan motorcyclist and a US police trainer. "This is the worst things have been since the fall of the Taliban," said a western source in Kandahar. Across the border, worried British and Canadian diplomats are pressing the Pakistani government to take a tougher approach to the Taliban. Although Pakistan forces have killed or arrested hundreds of al-Qaida suspects since 2001, it has detained only a handful of Taliban officials. The last big catch was spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi, who was arrested in October 2005 after his mobile phone was traced to Quetta. "Clearly the Taliban are at large in Baluchistan, operating in Quetta. Obviously that's a cause for concern," said a British diplomat in Islamabad. "There's no evidence of a serious network of Taliban camps but it's easy for them to take cover in Afghan refugee camps." The 930-mile border, most of it barren mountains and desert, is notoriously porous. Maj Gen Sultan said that it was impossible for Pakistani officials to discriminate between ordinary Afghans and Taliban insurgents. Col Vernon did not say whether Mullah Omar, the Taliban's leader, was also sheltering in Quetta. Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan worsened sharply in March after Afghan allegations that Omar, Osama bin Laden and more than 100 Taliban leaders were hiding in Pakistan. The Taliban fight has also become a propaganda war. The insurgents regularly paste "night letters" - threatening tracts against "collaborators" - on walls and doors in southern villages. A Taliban radio station has also started operating in Helmand, where the British troops are being deployed. Nato commanders are retaliating, pushing local media to publicise their successes. Domestic pressure means western journalists are also coming under scrutiny. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #10 OP - Ima there in .com's place with ya |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-05-19 17:33 |
| #9 Thank you very much Colonel Chris "The Scoop" Vernon. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-05-19 16:34 |
| #8 While Pak military and muslim imams push the taliban and aid and abet them, the money comes from Saudi Arabia and Iran. Striking one while ignoring the other won't stop the conflict. We need to slaughter the house of saud, down to the tiniest child, and turn the western half of the nation over to Jordan. Keep the eastern half as a "protectorate" for a few hundred years. Nuke Iran, any place where there may be military equipment, any city over 5000 people, and anything else that strikes our fancy. Until we destroy Iran, the islamofascists will have a protector and fundraiser. Paleostain and Pakiwakiland would both collape in three days without the support of Iran. There would be some serious implosions in Syria and Lebanon as well. We need to conquer all the Middle East, and SLOWLY let them learn to live in a democracy, starting at the local level, working up to region, and finally, if they learn their lessons well enough, to the national level. This "war" will only be long as long as we try to do everything piecemeal. Let the iron fist fall, and let the weeping begin. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2006-05-19 14:28 |
| #7 Senior U.S. officials also report sights of the sun rising in the East and setting in the West, and stopped clocks being right precisely twice each day. |
| Posted by: Perfessor 2006-05-19 09:49 |
| #6 Rhetoric vs Reality. Succinctly put, gromgoru. |
| Posted by: mcsegeek1 2006-05-19 09:40 |
| #5 I have no problem targeting inside the Pak border. But I'm still frustrated with the Pak sideshow, and thats all it really is. Iran is where we need to be to end this war against the Muslim extreemists and their plans to defeat Israel. Lets break this down a bit. From my slightly jaded perspective. Afghanistan was little more than the training grounds for the terrorists and now a battle ground that they are losing. While this was a great strategic victory for us, I believe all along Palistine and Israel continue to be the real objective battle ground for Iran, Their center of gravity. Iran is the real driving force and I believe they are the center of gravity in this war if we are to end it. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2006-05-19 08:56 |
| #4 Heh - Pakistan - the next target in the WoT. Nope. There will never be another target in the WoT. At least, from the West. We've given up. We've decided it's just not worth defending ourselves. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2006-05-19 08:54 |
| #3 Heh - Pakistan - the next target in the WoT. |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2006-05-19 04:07 |
| #2 Pakistan. A valuable ally in WoT. |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2006-05-19 03:19 |
| #1 "we would be out of our minds..." You are. "They should give us actionable intelligence so that we can take action." They have repeatedly. You take no action or warn the terrorists before operastions are caried out. Sectors fo the ISI support the Taliban. Sectors of the militarty support the Taliban. OBL and Mullha One Eye are still protected guests in your country. Saying it's not true means nothing. The facts are what they are. |
| Posted by: SPoD 2006-05-19 02:02 |