PAKISTAN: HIDEOUTS OF MILITANTS LINKED AL QAEDA BOMBED BY PAKISTANI MILITARY IN THE AFGHAN BORDER AREA OF WANA AND SHAWAL..

Record ID: 358753

  • Title: PAKISTAN: HIDEOUTS OF MILITANTS LINKED AL QAEDA BOMBED BY PAKISTANI MILITARY IN THE AFGHAN BORDER AREA OF WANA AND SHAWAL..
  • Date: 11th June 2004
  • Summary: (W4) WANA, TRIBAL AREAS OF PAKISTAN (JUNE 12, 2004) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. VARIOUS: OF HELICOPTER GUNSHIPS FLYING OVER WANA TOWARDS SHAKAI. (4 SHOTS) 0.20 2. WS: ARMY BUNKER IN OUTSKIRTS OF WANA 0.24 3. MLV: SOLDIERS IN SANDBAG BUNKER ON HILLOCK. 0.27 4. MV: PARAMILITARY PERSONNEL IN TRENCH 0.31 5. MV: OF PARAMILITARY PE
  • Embargoed: 26th June 2004 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: WANA / SHAWAL, TRIBAL AREAS OF PAKISTAN
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Reuters ID: LVAEM9XJVXISBZONSZ6DRPFSDN4P
  • Story Text: Pakistani warplanes bomb hideouts of foreign
    militants in fourth day of fighting in the tribal belt near
    Afghan border.



    Pakistani warplanes, backed by helicopter
    gunships, bombed hideouts of al Qaeda-linked militants on
    Saturday (June 12) in a fourth day of fighting in the
    mountainous tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

    Pashtun tribesmen also heard artillery fire as the
    Pakistani forces intensified an assault in the Shakai area
    of South Waziristan, some 400 km (250 miles) southwest of
    Islamabad.

    Casualty updates were scanty on Saturday, but officials
    have counted at least 54 people killed in the fighting
    since the offensive began.

    Residents of Wana, the main town of South Waziristan,
    said there had been a lot of firing the whole night, "like
    a guerrilla battle going on."
    Many said they woke up to the roar of jets and had seen
    three helicopters flying in the direction of Shakai.

    Some residents also saw air strikes on the slopes of
    the nearby hills, where brush and boulders provide fine
    cover for guerrillas.

    Afghan refugees in South Waziristan were given 72 hours
    to leave by the authorities.

    Locals saw many Afghans quitting the Karikot refugee
    camp a few kilometres (miles) south of Wana, and said they
    were headed back to Afghanistan.

    The army launched the latest offensive after attempts
    to negotiate an amnesty with tribesmen protecting the
    foreign militants failed.

    Military spokesman Major-General Shaukat Sultan told
    state-run Pakistan Television that the fighting was going
    on, adding that the operation would continue to its
    "logical end".

    Sultan said on Friday (June 11) 35 militants and 15
    soldiers had been killed on Wednesday (June 9) and Thursday
    (June 10), and a local government officer on Saturday
    reported another soldier killed. Three civilians have also been
    reported killed.

    Air strikes this week targeted a house frequented by a
    known al Qaeda member, another al Qaeda safe house and a
    militant training camp.

    While gunships have been used in earlier operations in
    the tribal areas that have failed to net any senior al
    Qaeda or militant leaders, air force jets were sent in for
    the first time this week to bomb houses where militants had
    been spotted.

    In late March, more than 120 combatants, including at
    least 46 soldiers, were killed when the army launched its
    first major offensive in South Waziristan.

    Up to 600 foreign militants, including Arabs, Chechens
    and Uzbeks linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network,
    have been hiding out in Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal
    areas, protected by Pakistani tribesmen.

    The latest unrest has spread into neighbouring North
    Waziristan agency where militants fired rockets at
    paramilitary checkpoints on Friday night and soldiers
    returned fire.

    In Miranshah, the capital of North Waziristan agency,
    one checkpoint outside the town was damaged but no
    casualties were reported, officials said.

    The government suspects an attempt to kill the military
    commander in the southern port city of Karachi on Thursday
    may have been retaliation by militants for the latest
    attack on their tribal redoubts.

    Six months ago, Pakistani President General Pervez
    Musharraf survived two assassination attempts that were
    blamed on al Qaeda-linked militants, although Musharraf
    later revealed that several low ranking military personnel
    were also involved.

    Hardline Muslim groups in Pakistan are bitterly opposed
    to Musharraf's decision to back the United States after the
    September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.


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