Pakistani forces battling local and foreign al-Qaeda militants near the Afghan border are also looking for Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi whom they say helped finance Osama bin Laden’s terror network, an official said today. ’’Intelligence reports suggest that al-Iraqi used to visit the house of local tribesman Eda Khan but right now we can,t say anything about his whereabouts,’’ Pakistan’s military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan told reporters. With the help of satellite images probably provided by the United States, Sultan said at least three targets have been identified in a location where about 50 local and foreign ’’miscreants’’ have been putting up fierce resistance to security forces. ’’Besides two hideouts, there is a training area for local and foreign militants," he said.
| There goes the "simple but well-armed shepherds" story... |
General Shaukat Sultan said fighting still raged in the Shakai area of South Waziristan and would continue till the miscreants are eliminated’." Every terrorist act makes the government more determined and undeterred to pursue its agenda that runs against the agenda of terrorists,’’ he said, adding that ’’we will pay any price to bring our fight (against terrorism) to its logical end.’’ The spokesman said the military could not use its full might as it was difficult to clearly separate civilian population from foreign fighters. Local residents in Wana, the embattled region’s administrative headquarters, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa they saw air force fighter jets flying over the Shakai hills followed by huge explosions. ’’We also saw smoke bellowing from the targeted areas,’’ local resident Ahmed Wazir said. Wazir also said that the Pakistani army sent in fresh reinforcements to help the paramilitary South Waziristan Scouts (SWS) who have been busy hunting the wanted tribesmen harbouring al-Qaeda and Taliban fugitives. |