Fight against militants in S Waziristan
Mian Shehryar
Pakistani troops backed by fighter jets launched a major operation
against the Taliban in South Waziristan last week, sparking deadly
clashes with heavily-armed rebels. The mountain district is part of a
tribal belt on the Afghan border that US officials call the most
dangerous place in the world and is home to thousands of Taliban and
al-Qaeda-linked fighters branded a major threat to the West. Officials
say air strikes and heavy artillery are pounding Taliban bases as troops
advance north, west and east, after months spent planning an assault
seen as a hard test for the military on terrain ideally suited to
guerrillas. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani vowed in a recent meeting
not to let terrorists get away with “cowardly acts”, and said the
military offensive in South Waziristan would be taken to its logical
conclusion. He vowed to assist those affected by the unrest in South
Waziristan.
“We will provide them Rs 5,000 a month, in addition to ration and relief
goods,” he said, adding that Rs 2.5 billion had been released to FATA
Secretariat for internally displaced persons from South Waziristan
Meanwhile, the militants have continued to coordinate suicide bombings
and assassinations outside Waziristan . On 20 October 2009, two suicide
attacks at the male and female campuses of Islamic University in
Islamabad claimed 6 lives and left 22 injured. Schools in all the major
cities were closed down by the government on account of the security
situation. On 22 October three gunmen on a motor cycle assassinated
Brigadier Moin in G-11 in Islamabad while he was on his way to join his
assignment in Sudan. The three gunmen were later captured in Haripur
area and basically hail from Matta in Swat, the site of the military’s
previous operation against the Taleban. Moin-ud-Din was the second
brigadier ranking officer to have been killed by a spate of violence
which had rocked the country the past fortnight, leaving more than 185
people dead. Another brigadier and a colonel were among 23 people killed
when Tehrik-e-Taliban militants stormed the army’s headquarters in the
garrison town of Rawalpindi this month. On 23 October, 7 people were
killed at a suicide attack near Kamra checkpost in Attock. However,
despite these incidents, the military is determined to carry on its
offensive against the militants. The operation is considered to be
crucial in arresting the spill over into Pakistan of Taleban and Al
Qaeda from the war in neighbouring Afghanistan. Figures vary, but it is
estimated that Waziristan is home to more than 5,000 hardened militants
besides some 2,000 Uzbek fighters. The army is therefore faced with a
mixed enemy, the Uzbeks forming part of the loose coalition of foreign
militants that we refer to as Al Qaeda. On 23 October it was reported
that six Uzbeks had been killed and books in the Uzbek language were
discovered during the operation. The reported death of the Islamic
Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) leader Tahir Yuldashev in a drone attack in
South Waziristan in August was a big blow to the violent foreign
militant group that was waging a fierce campaign against Pakistan and
its state agencies. The death of Yuldashev has deprived the IMU of a
leader credited with masterminding deadly attacks on military convoys
and camps.
But the army has made clear that the military operation is against
terrorists and evil doers not against peace loving tribesmen of the
area. In fact the government has tried its best to avoid collateral
damage once the operation began. There were some initial reports that
the operation had begun in the area since June and that the army was
ready to start hostilities against the Taliban in the area. The reports
were apparently issued to give ample time to the civilian population of
Waziristan to leave for safer places and convert the area into a
battlefield where the security forces could unleash their arsenal
without causing too much collateral damage.
Two days after the operation was launched, Chief of the Army Staff Gen
Ashfaq Parvez Kayani sought support of Mehsud tribes in the operation
against militants in South Waziristan. In an open letter to the Mehsud
tribes, the army chief expressed the hope that the tribes would fully
back the army in the operation and collectively rise against oppressive
elements for a decisive action. He made it clear that the operation in
South Waziristan was not meant to target the ‘valiant and patriotic’
Mehsud tribes, but aimed at ridding them of the elements who had
destroyed peace in the region. He said the target of the operation were
Uzbek terrorists, foreign elements and local militants. Gen Kayani said
the army wanted to provide an opportunity to the Mehsud tribes to once
again live in their area in peace. He acknowledged that all tribes,
including Mehsud, were loyal to Pakistan and had been working for the
‘defence of the country as an army without salary’. He expressed the
hope that drone attacks would not be carried out during the operation.
‘The government has been telling the United States that drone attacks
are counter-productive and that drone technology should be transferred
to Pakistan.’
Therefore the military operation is a carefully planned ground offensive
against Taleban and Al Qaeda operatives. It is not a brutal operation
that is blind to the civilian toll of the conflict.. On 24 October,
Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira while briefing reporters said the
government was taking measures to address the problems of IDPs from
South Waziristan. The process of registration of total 20872 IDPs had
already been started. “11080 families vacated their houses prior to
launching operation in South Waziristan whereas 9792 families became
homeless after initiation of operation there”.
Moreover, the government has made efforts to gather support for the
operation in South Waziristan which now has the full backing of all the
political parties in the country. Representatives of all the major
political parties were invited to a briefing at Prime Minister’s House
prior to the launch of the operation on 16 October 2009.A statement
after the meeting said there was national consensus to root out
extremist elements that had become a threat to national security. The
meeting decided that the writ of the government would never be
compromised in any part of the country. The military operation in South
Waziristan had become unavoidable due to the deteriorating law and order
situation. The notorious mountainous area had become a hot bed of
terrorist activities being executed throughout the country. In the words
of the army chief the situation had become so ‘dangerous’ because of
terrorist activities being planned in South Waziristan that a military
operation had become unavoidable.
The battle for Waziristan has been characterized as the ‘mother of all
battles’. The battle will take place over a formidable terrain covering
2,420 square kilometres. It will take a determined effort from the
government to root out terrorists from the area and break their ranks.
With the start of the operation the Taleban will try to ignite fires
elsewhere in Pakistan as they already appear to be doing. More suicide
attacks can be expected in large cities like Peshawar, Islamabad,
Rawalpindi, Lahore and Karachi. The epicentre of the Taliban and the
Uzbek militants lies in South Waziristan. Thus for these militants it
should be a battle for existence.
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