You have commented 338 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Afghanistan/South Asia
Mystery man may be Chechen or Uzbek - new info
2004-03-21
A suspected senior al Qaeda member whom the Pakistani army thought it had surrounded in a remote area on the Afghan border is probably a Chechen or Uzbek militant leader, a Pakistani commander said on Saturday. An intelligence source said earlier two Chechen militants, identified as Danyar and Quaran Ata, were believed to be in the area and there was a possibility a prominent Uzbek militant, Tahir Yaldashev, was with them.

Earlier, Pakistan troops and helicopters rained fire on the rebels in their well-fortified compounds. "They are extremely professional fighters. They wait for our troops to move within five to seven meters and then open fire," Hussain said. "They are taking us from every direction whenever our troops have moved in and we are not knowing if the locals are with us," he said. "With an undefined target like this, it is practically chasing shadows." Hussain said the battle would soon be over but his forces had other targets in their campaign to sweep foreign militants out of Pakistan's often lawless and largely autonomous tribal lands. "It is going to be an unending operation. It is a series of operations we are going to launch," he said.

Hardline Islamic clerics have denounced the attack, warning it could breed terror strikes. Dozens of students in the western town of Dera Ismail Khan protested against it on Saturday. "The government has made this drama for the benefit of the USA," said protester Sherbaz Ansari. "The result is the tribal people have suffered. We are sure there are no terrorists in our area, no al Qaeda."
So what's with the shootouts, Sherbaz?
Posted by:Dan Darling

#4  we got hamas spiritual leader.
Posted by: Anonymous   2004-3-21 11:18:33 PM  

#3  Mr. Bradley is it true that you designed the user interface for Windows XP?
Posted by: Shipman   2004-3-21 10:53:47 AM  

#2  how the fuck is anyone 'onnocent if thier firing weapons at troops of thier countrys goverment,as shit as it may be.Would you expect to be treated as innocent if you had an AK-47 or perhaps the Jihadi special the RPG and were firing it at your countrys goverments troops?To even be in possesion of such weapons would probably put you inside prison for several years in the country your from. Truth is none of us sat at our computers or even for that mater in the media news rooms know exactly who or what creatures lurk within the ever expanding 'compound'.I think Perv will fear to much of a loss of face over this so he'll start battering them real hard over the coming days with warplanes and artillary,lets hope so anyway
Posted by: Jon Shep U.K   2004-3-21 9:11:42 AM  

#1  The title reminds me of that board game from the early 70's called Mystery Date. Someone should update for the WOT and call it Mystery Jihad.

You have some compound surrounded, and based on your movement around the board you find out if the guy in the hidey hole is OBL, some high Chechen, or possibly just innocent villagers.
Posted by: Milton Bradley   2004-3-21 1:17:35 AM  

00:00