2ND LEAD - US "War on Terror" Leaves 310 Pakistani Soldiers Dead in Wana Operation

THE MUSLIM WEEKLY 2004
Tanveer Ahmed
Exclusive report from Pakistan

Army sources verified by local tribesmen reveal that over 300 Pakistani soldiers have been sacrificed in their attempt to capture members of 'Al-Qaeda' in the tribal belt, an autonomous region sitting within Pakistan's North West Frontier province and bordering Afghanistan-described by some as 'no-mans land'.

This operation had echoes of the ongoing 'Operation Mountain Storm' (On the Afghanistan side of the border) which has America's elite Delta force trying to combat Taleban/Al Qaida forces without apparent success. BBC also reported that they encountered daily opposition from resentful locals and fighters broadly identified as ‘Taleban sympathisers.’

The origin of the 'Wana Operation' stemmed from spying sources leading Pakistan's Frontier Corps to the village of Kalosha where they were informed that 'Al-Qaida' symapthisers were hiding there with foreign militants (including high-value targets-i.e.Zawahiri, Bin Laden?). However, to their surprise, they were ambushed and the flow of casualties ensued.

This pattern of events has been the general feature of Pakistan's incursion into the tribal areas over the past few weeks. Although the area has always fiercely maintained its independence since time immemorial, the Pakistani army has from time to time (particularly post 9/11) forcibly entered on the pretext of hunting foreign militants who they purport to be on the wrong side of the US-led 'War on Terrorism'

In their eagerness to achieve success, the Pakistani Army has used wide-ranging and varied tactics from trying to muster support amongst local tribesmen to co-operate with them (ARY reported the killing of at least 15 civilians in a local market place in cold-blood by a passing Army convoy, allegedly to intimidate the local populace into submission), to using high-tech surveillance equipment including ground sensors that can monitor vehicle movements and not to forget the helicopter gunships that have pelted missiles into various parts of the region.

All these events have still to convince certain elements of the Bush administration about Pakistan's sincerity and usefulness. Indeed, the US ambassador to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad has been very candid about his opinion on how effective Pakistan has been, suggesting that US troops may have to enter Pakistan to crush 'insurgents.'

Unsurprisingly, his comments sparked a seething outcry from Islamabad.