Steeplerot
Lifer
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/Di...p;section=subcontinent
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has withdrawn soldiers from the main town in a tribal area near the mountainous Afghan border after months of bloody offensives against Al-Qaeda-linked militants, officials said on Saturday.
Military checkpoints in Wana, capital of troubled South Waziristan district, are being handed over to police after tribesmen pledged their territory would not be used for violence, military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan said.
But soldiers are still-hunting insurgents in the rest of the tense region and the military said the scaling-down in Wana was largely a symbolic move to reward one of the area?s two dominant tribes, the Wazir, for their help.
?The Wazir tribesmen have given guarantees that no foreign militants will be given shelter in the area and they will not support any militant activity,? Sultan told AFP.
?The checkposts will now be manned by local security people so that no intruder enters into their areas.?
Since early this year Pakistan, a key US ally in its war on terror, has conducted several major operations near Wana. It has destroyed hideouts and training camps of militants linked to Osama bin Laden?s terror network.
Sultan said offensives were continuing in neighbouring areas, which are dominated by the region?s other main tribe, the Mahsud -- one of whose key members masterminded the kidnapping of two Chinese engineers last month.
One-legged former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Abdullah Mahsud is among Pakistan?s top targets after the hostage crisis, which ended with the killing of one of the Chinese in a rescue operation.
?The operation continues in the areas under Mahsud tribes till the time either those wanted men surrender or they follow the suit of their Wazir colleagues,? Sultan added.
Security officials said the relaxation in Wana followed a deal signed two weeks ago by five militant commanders pledging they would not indulge in any subversive activity or harbour foreign fighters.
In return the government has granted them pardons and decided to release all tribesmen taken into custody during the operation, an official said without disclosing how many would be freed.
Pakistan pushed some 75,000 regular troops into the area to hunt up to 600 Al-Qaeda and Taleban fighters believed to have crossed the 2,500-kilometer (1,500 mile) Afghan border after the 2001 ousting of the Taleban regime, officials have said.
And now a further update on the war on terror.
So.. Mr. Bush what is this war on terror about again?
Someone should really investigate the shrub and his daddys Saudia Arabian ties, this all is getting weirder, we at least deserve to know with all the coincidences
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has withdrawn soldiers from the main town in a tribal area near the mountainous Afghan border after months of bloody offensives against Al-Qaeda-linked militants, officials said on Saturday.
Military checkpoints in Wana, capital of troubled South Waziristan district, are being handed over to police after tribesmen pledged their territory would not be used for violence, military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan said.
But soldiers are still-hunting insurgents in the rest of the tense region and the military said the scaling-down in Wana was largely a symbolic move to reward one of the area?s two dominant tribes, the Wazir, for their help.
?The Wazir tribesmen have given guarantees that no foreign militants will be given shelter in the area and they will not support any militant activity,? Sultan told AFP.
?The checkposts will now be manned by local security people so that no intruder enters into their areas.?
Since early this year Pakistan, a key US ally in its war on terror, has conducted several major operations near Wana. It has destroyed hideouts and training camps of militants linked to Osama bin Laden?s terror network.
Sultan said offensives were continuing in neighbouring areas, which are dominated by the region?s other main tribe, the Mahsud -- one of whose key members masterminded the kidnapping of two Chinese engineers last month.
One-legged former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Abdullah Mahsud is among Pakistan?s top targets after the hostage crisis, which ended with the killing of one of the Chinese in a rescue operation.
?The operation continues in the areas under Mahsud tribes till the time either those wanted men surrender or they follow the suit of their Wazir colleagues,? Sultan added.
Security officials said the relaxation in Wana followed a deal signed two weeks ago by five militant commanders pledging they would not indulge in any subversive activity or harbour foreign fighters.
In return the government has granted them pardons and decided to release all tribesmen taken into custody during the operation, an official said without disclosing how many would be freed.
Pakistan pushed some 75,000 regular troops into the area to hunt up to 600 Al-Qaeda and Taleban fighters believed to have crossed the 2,500-kilometer (1,500 mile) Afghan border after the 2001 ousting of the Taleban regime, officials have said.
And now a further update on the war on terror.
So.. Mr. Bush what is this war on terror about again?
Someone should really investigate the shrub and his daddys Saudia Arabian ties, this all is getting weirder, we at least deserve to know with all the coincidences
