Pakistani Troops Surround High Value Target

Anonymous · #1 Postby **Anonymous** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 1:09 pm

Pakistani troops begin new offensive to hunt al-Qaida, Taliban suspects in tribal region

(03-18) 10:01 PST WANA, Pakistan (AP) --

Pakistani troops and paramilitary forces using artillery and helicopter gunships launched a new assault Thursday against al-Qaida and Taliban suspects in a tribal region near Afghanistan, two days after a fierce assault that left dozens dead.

In a report from Islamabad, CNN said Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf told them Pakistani forces had surrounded a "high-value target" that was being protected by al-Qaida fighters. CNN said the identity of the target was not known.

The new push began in Azam Warsak, Shin Warsak and Kaloosha villages in South Waziristan, the tribal region that borders Afghanistan, said Brig. Mahmood Shah, the chief of security for the area. Army spokesman Gen. Shaukat Sultan said there have been casualties in the new offensive, but he had no details of how many or on which side.

The operation follows a clash between security forces and suspected Taliban and al-Qaida holdouts in a fortress-like compound in the village of Kaloosha, just miles from the border. Some 39 people -- including 15 troops and 26 militants, died in the raid on Tuesday, the military said Thursday in a statement. Eighteen other suspects were captured.

The statement said most of those killed Tuesday were foreigners, but it gave no details of nationalities and acknowledged that only two of the bodies had been recovered. No senior al-Qaida figures are believed to have been among those killed or captured.

One of the two dead militants whose bodies were recovered was a Chechen and the other was believed to be of Middle Eastern origin, a military official said on condition of anonymity.

In another part of the tribal region -- North Waziristan -- attackers launched a rocket and fired gunshots at a Pakistan army post before dawn on Thursday, Sultan said. Two soldiers died and several were injured in the attack, according to an intelligence official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

The official also said that assailants threw a hand grenade at an army truck heading to Miran Shah, the main town of North Waziristan,and that several soldiers were injured. But Sultan denied the incident occurred.

The fresh operation in South Waziristan began as U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell began talks with Pakistani leaders in the capital, Islamabad, on Thursday.

Powell was meeting with Musharraf, a key ally in the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism. They were expected to discuss the operation in Kaloosha, as well as U.S. efforts to track al-Qaida and Taliban holdouts on the Afghan side of the border.

The aim of the operation is to "flush out foreign terrorists from Pakistani territory," Shah told The Associated Press from the northwestern city of Peshawar, a regional capital where he is based.

Early morning calls from mosques warned residents in Azam Warsak, Shin Warsak and Kaloosha to leave the area, apparently to give the troops more room to operate.

About a dozen helicopters buzzed over Wana, in South Waziristan, early Thursday, flying toward the operation zone about 6 miles to the west.

A convoy of army trucks carrying soldiers also passed Wana hours before it started. Later, when the operation began, mortar booms could be heard in the town, from the direction of the battle zone.

Interior Ministry spokesman Abdur Rauf Chaudhry said extra troops were dispatched in anticipation of the new offensive.

"Reinforcements have been sent to the area," Chaudhry told AP.

He said "a few" paramilitary troops are missing since the operation in Kaloosha on Tuesday, with rumors in the region that they may have been kidnapped by the suspected militants.

The raid in Kaloosha on Tuesday sparked outrage in the tribal region, which fiercely covets its autonomy and has resisted foreign intervention for centuries.

After the battle, attackers set fire to several military vehicles, some containing weapons and munitions.

U.S. forces in Afghanistan announced over the weekend the start of an operation -- dubbed Mountain Storm -- to capture terror fugitives, including Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar.

On Monday, Musharraf promised to rid Pakistan's tribal areas of foreign terrorists. Pakistan's semiautonomous tribal regions border eastern and southern Afghanistan -- the focus of operation Mountain Storm.

Anonymous · #2 Postby **Anonymous** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 1:14 pm

Coincidence???

Colin Powell Arrives In Pakistan
Updated on 2004-03-18 09:36:58

http://www.paknews.com/main.php?id=1&date1=2004-03-18

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan : March 18 (PNS): US Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived here Wednesday to hold talks with Pakistani leaders on wide range of subjects including Pak-U.S. relations, peace initiatives between Pakistan and India and nuclear proliferation.

The US Secretary of State is in Pakistan on the last leg of his visit including India and Afghanistan. Powell is also to discuss the ongoing war on terror with particular stress on operation to apprehend on the run fugitives on the Pak-Afghan border. Powell will meet President General Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali and Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri on Thursday before departing for Middle East. This is Powell's fourth visit to Islamabad. He is accompanied among others by Under Secretary of Economics, Business, and agriculture affairs Allen Larson and Christina Rocca.

Lindaloo · #3 Postby **Lindaloo** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 1:16 pm

They believe it may be OBL or his man right under him!! Whatever it is this is a high value target that Al Q is protecting. Major gun battle going on right now!! Our troops have them surrounded!!

Hope it is OBL!!!

#4 Postby **Stephanie** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 1:18 pm

Lindaloo wrote:They believe it may be OBL or his man right under him!! Whatever it is this is a high value target that Al Q is protecting. Major gun battle going on right now!! Our troops have them surrounded!!

Hope it is OBL!!!

I hope so too!!!!

Anonymous · #5 Postby **Anonymous** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 1:21 pm

AP now believes it could be Ayman Al-Zawahiri, the #2 man of Al Qaeda. Either way, a capture would be huge news. And you never know if OBL is nearby.

Lindaloo · #6 Postby **Lindaloo** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 1:24 pm

AP can't know for sure.

Anonymous · #7 Postby **Anonymous** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 1:25 pm

The AP news is based on what they've heard from Pakistani officials.

stormraiser · #8 Postby **stormraiser** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 1:25 pm

Get 'em boys. And hang him high before sundown

:blowup:

Lindaloo · #9 Postby **Lindaloo** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 1:25 pm

How can the officials know when the battle is still happening?

Anonymous · #10 Postby **Anonymous** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 1:32 pm

LOL new we're getting conflicting reports...but the majority are still saying it could be one of the top leaders.

#11 Postby **cycloneye** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 1:35 pm

The pentagon can't confirm this news the reporter for FOX NEWS says from there.

Anonymous · #12 Postby **Anonymous** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 1:37 pm

From another forum.........

This was posted on one of the jihad forums within the last five minutes, it looks like they think it's Al-Zawaheri as well. Interesting, I would still rather get OBL.

peace
neosgirl

-----------start post-----------------------

An urgent ....Pakistan claims Al-Zawaheri 's blockade

The Pakistani government claimed since little that it besieges the sheikh Al-Zawaheri 's by in a region and Waziristan .....And Allah know

But he is in the good of whether a district or a free or captive martyr then from he left for God sake that do not stray and do not suffer

Lindaloo · #13 Postby **Lindaloo** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 1:42 pm

Well a Pakistani Journalist just told FoxNews that it is neither OBL or Ayman Al-Zawahiri. Paksitani officials are saying that this is a Chechnyan (SP?) leader.

#14 Postby **cycloneye** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 1:45 pm

That is right Lindaloo FOX NEWS and also I saw MSNBC can't confirm it is the #2 figure of Al-Qaeda.

Anonymous · #15 Postby **Anonymous** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 1:48 pm

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A senior Pakistani government official said on Thursday al Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahri may have been surrounded near the Afghanistan (news - web sites) border.

"A pitched battle is going on there. The way these people are resisting, we think there is someone important over there. We think al-Zawahri may be holed up there," the official told Reuters.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=s ... n_qaeda_dc

Lindaloo · #16 Postby **Lindaloo** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 1:50 pm

But what I do not get is why the Pakistani President has chosen to go World Wide with this "high value target" statement if it were not one of the two or both.

#17 Postby **cycloneye** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 1:53 pm

The key words there are MAY and WE THINK about surrounding the #2 guy of Al-Qaeda and those words are not definitive but the words WE GOT HIM is more authentic or IS surrounded instead of MAY BE surrounded.

GalvestonDuck · #18 Postby **GalvestonDuck** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 1:57 pm

Well, good! Kick his arse and post the pics!

Last year, I got to celebrate my b-day with SHOCK AND AWE!

This year, I'll take seeing post-mortem pics of #2 or, better yet, #1 scum of the earth!

Die, b@$+@rd, DIE!

stormraiser · #19 Postby **stormraiser** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 2:05 pm

Just got this in my inbox

WANA, Pakistan - Pakistani officials said Thursday that they believed their troops had the No. 2 leader of the al-Qaida terrorist network, Ayman al-Zawahri

No sources

southerngale · #20 Postby **southerngale** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 2:07 pm

I agree Lindaloo. Even though it's still "may" and "we think", I don't think he'd go world wide with this if he didn't REALLY think. Let's hope & pray it's true!

Pakistani Troops Surround High Value Target

Pakistani Troops Surround High Value Target

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