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| India-Pakistan | |
| Pakistan kills 12 al Qaeda | |
| 2003-10-02 | |
Pakistani troops are engaged in a major operation to capture suspected al-Qaeda fugitives near the border with Afghanistan. Reports say up to 12 al-Qaeda suspects have been killed in a prolonged gun battle in the district of South Waziristan. The rugged tribal area borders on the Afghan province of Paktika, which has become a centre for ousted Taliban fighters. The present security operation began hours before a senior American official, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, was expected in Pakistan. But his trip has now been rescheduled for unspecified reasons.
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| Posted by:Paul Moloney |
| #4 at a very minimum its good that pakis seem to be coordinating with Coalition to get border crossers. And that they are going after AQ and even Taliban wholesale, and that the locals dont seem to be stopping it. Even better if there are really US troops involved, as this would cross another Paki red line. Of course what I would really like to see, but I suspect we wont, is some high level AQ captured. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-10-2 1:25:52 PM |
| #3 Update Islam Online: Twelve Al-Qaeda "suspects" have been killed Thursday, October 2, in a gun battle with Pakistani troops during a raid on a camp in the tribal district of South Waziristan bordering Afghanistan. At least 10 people were captured, including four Al-Qaeda and six Taliban suspects, Pakistani military officials said. Military commanders took journalists to the site of the operation to show them the bodies of four men described as "foreign" Al-Qaeda suspects, reported Agence France-Presse. Journalists were also shown the suspected Al-Qaeda detainees, who were stripped to the waist and blindfolded. The gunfight broke out after Pakistani troops surrounded what they called an Al-Qaeda base some five kilometers from the porous border with Afghanistan in South Waziristan tribal area, Major General Faisal Alavi said. "By first light we had surrounded the camp. We asked them to surrender. They did not surrender. They opened fire," Alavi, special forces commander in charge of operation, told AFP. "We raided a camp identified as an Al-Qaeda camp. Until (11:00 am) they had not surrendered, we were still fighting it out." Before the shooting broke out, women and children had come out from one of the houses in the camp. Their nationalities were unclear but the Pakistani officers said they were foreigners. "From what the women and children told us, they are foreigners," Alavi said. "They came out of one house, but from the rest of the houses came firing. We took them on," he added. The operation involved attack helicopters and ground troops. There was "a great possibility" that Al-Qaeda suspects were the people involved in attacks that killed a U.S. soldier in Shkin on Monday, September 29, military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan told reporters in Angoor Adda. He maintained he could not say for sure if they were Al-Qaeda fugitives but they were clearly "foreign elements". "There are all possibilities some of these people might have been involved in these actions. I would say there is a great possibility. When these people escaped (Shkin area) they came and took refuge in this area. They were trapped by our people. Once their presence was confirmed we launched an operation, we went in this morning," Sultan said. U.S. warplanes have dropped bombs near Angoor Adda in recent months in pursuit of Taliban fighters fleeing back into Pakistan after attacking U.S. troops. |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-10-2 12:55:48 PM |
| #2 More details from Reuters: Major General Faisal Alavi, commander of special forces in the area where the operation is taking place, told reporters that Pakistani troops had surrounded a compound late on Wednesday where they believed al Qaeda fighters were hiding out. He said around 40 militants had been seen crossing into Pakistan's semi-autonomous South Waziristan agency carrying the bodies of fighters killed in clashes inside Afghanistan. "We thought this was an opportune time to strike as they were in the process of regrouping," he told reporters, who were flown by helicopter to Bannu, a town some 280 km (175 miles) southwest of the capital Islamabad. "From the fire we are attracting, we think there are 25 guys inside," he added. |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-10-2 9:21:53 AM |
| #1 think this might have anything to do with Ayman's little rant against Perv the other day? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-10-2 8:12:51 AM |