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| 16 killed as militants’ hideouts pounded in SWA |
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Sunday, June 28, 2009
By Mushtaq Yusufzai & Irfan Burki
PESHAWAR/WANA: Sixteen more militants affiliated with Baitullah Mehsud were killed and six others sustained injuries in heavy bombing by warplanes and gunship helicopters on Taliban hideouts in parts of South Waziristan Agency on Saturday.
Also, the government took a serious note of Fridayís attack on the military convoy in Miramshah, North Waziristan, and warned the tribesmen in Miramshah to hand over the culprits within three days or face the consequences under territorial responsibility section of the laws of the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR).
The government continued the military operation against Baitullah Mehsud-led insurgents and sent fighter planes and gunship helicopters to pound their hideouts.
According to sources, three fighter planes and gunship helicopters blitzed militants’ positions in their strongholds of Ladha and Makeen and other villages, including Dwatoi, Kacha Langarkhel, Kotkai and Spinkai Raghzai.
The militants reportedly suffered losses when warplanes targeted their positions in Ladha and Makeen. Officials said 16 militants were killed and six others injured in the daylong air strikes on the Taliban positions. They said the injured militants were taken to private health centres in Makeen and Ladha, as the government has already withdrawn its machinery from most parts of South Waziristan inhabited by the Mehsud tribesmen.
Besides other government buildings, the government has also vacated most of the schools and roadside posts of the paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC), which are now occupied by the militants.
In August last year, the government vacated the British-era Ladha Fort, which was built in 1932 and housed hundreds of soldiers.
The FC authorities on that occasion said they had vacated the fort to convert its building into a hospital. However, no hospital was set up there and later the spacious building was occupied by the militants. Portions of the historic building were dismantled and strong iron bars and other building material were sold at throwaway prices. Presently, there are no security personnel in the entire Mehsud territory.
The only option with the government to target Baitullah Mehsudís positions is bombing by fighter planes and gunship helicopters and using long-range artillery guns from the distant FC camps in Manzai, Jandola and Serwakai areas.
Keeping in view the tough resistance offered by the militants, the government will require sufficient time to send ground forces to the Mehsud region. The troops after days of battle secured the Wana-Jandola Road up to Serwakai while the Taliban militants are still in control of Wana-Jandola Road between Serwakai and Jandola.
Like the adjoining North Waziristan, where Utmanzai Wazir Taliban led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur developed differences with the government and attacks on security forces started in their territory, situation started deteriorating in the Ahmadzai Wazir parts of South Waziristan where pro-government militant commander Mulla Nazeer had signed a peace accord with the government.
Both Hafiz Gul Bahadur and Mulla Nazeer were considered pro-government and anti-Baitullah earlier when the government launched a military operation against the banned TTP chief in South Waziristan on January 13, 2008. However, this time the attitude of both the pro-government militant commanders seems different.
Hafiz Gul Bahadurís ties with the government have soured and he has threatened to scrap his peace accord with the government if the military operation in Janikhel and Bakakhel in FR Bannu was not stopped.
After North Waziristan, suspected militants have now started attacks on military installations in Wana, South Waziristan, where the Ahmadzai Wazirs are based.
On ground, Mulla Nazeer has nothing concrete to motivate his militants for fighting against the government. His lone and longstanding demand from the government was an end to the drone attacks in his region.
Sources in Wana said suspected militants attacked the military camp with rockets on Friday night. Later, the troops returned their attack with mortar and artillery shelling.
Tribesmen in Wana and nearby Azam Warsak village said they could not sleep due to the heavy firing in the area throughout the night.
A tribesman, Anwar Ashrafkhel, was killed and some villagers sustained injuries when mortar shells hit their mud houses in Azam Warsak village, seven kilometres west of Wana. Sources close to Mulla Nazeer said that he had gone underground after series of drone attacks in the region.
Gul Bahadur and Mulla Nazeer entered into an alliance with Baitullah when they formed ìShura Ittehad-ul-Mujahideenî or the council of holy warriors, promising to help each other in case anyone of them was in trouble.
Meanwhile, the political administration in North Waziristan on Saturday convened a Jirga of eight tribal elders and asked them to hand over the culprits involved in attack on the military convoy or face punitive action under the FCR.
Assistant Political Agent (APA) of Miramshah sub-division Asghar Khan called a meeting of tribal elders of Miramshah village and gave them a three-day deadline to hand over the culprits or face punishment.
The APA said security forces had decided to launch a strict military offensive in the area after their convoy was attacked. But, he said, they did not take action because of a nearby school as many children might have died had gunship helicopters pounded the militants’ positions.
Quoting senior military officials, APA Asghar Khan said the military in future would target the area where they were attacked.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
