2008.09.29: September 29, 2008: Headlines: COS - Pakistan: Figures: COS - Morocco: Journalism: Bloomberg News: James Rupert writes: U.S. Raids on Pakistan Will Strengthen Taliban, Officials Say
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2008.09.29: September 29, 2008: Headlines: COS - Pakistan: Figures: COS - Morocco: Journalism: Bloomberg News: James Rupert writes: U.S. Raids on Pakistan Will Strengthen Taliban, Officials Say
James Rupert writes: U.S. Raids on Pakistan Will Strengthen Taliban, Officials Say
"For us, the Taliban and America are the same,'' said Malik Munasib Khan, a leader of the Bajaur, Pakistan-based Salarzai tribe, on Sept. 26. "We are against anyone who disturbs the peace of our area,'' he told hundreds of armed Salarzai tribesmen who had formed a local militia to fight the Taliban. The Pakistan army's battle for Bajaur aims to reverse a Taliban takeover of the border district 115 miles west of the capital, Islamabad, which poses "a strategic threat'' to the state, said army spokesman, Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas. U.S. raids across the border this month have weakened popular support for the government's offensive, residents said. "The best way to unite and strengthen the Taliban movement would be for the United States to continue these attacks,'' said Mahmood Shah, a retired army brigadier and former government security chief in the region. Pakistan protested to the U.S. over a Sept. 3 raid far south of Bajaur by helicopter-borne commandos it said were Americans. That raid came in the Taliban's main stronghold, the border district of South Waziristan. The raid, and at least five U.S. missile attacks reported by residents of the border zone, followed a July order by President George W. Bush authorizing Special Forces raids into Pakistan, according to U.S. officials cited by the New York Times and other news organizations. The Bush administration says Pakistan isn't doing enough to curb militants in its northwestern tribal region. Journalist James Rupert, head of Newsday's international bureau in Islamabad, Pakistan began his career abroad as a Peace Corps volunteer, teaching mechanics and welding in Morocco.
James Rupert writes: U.S. Raids on Pakistan Will Strengthen Taliban, Officials Say
U.S. Raids on Pakistan Will Strengthen Taliban, Officials Say
By James Rupert
Sept. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan says a two-month-old battle on its Afghan border has killed as many as 1,000 Islamic militants and is the new focus of its war against the Taliban. Cross-border attacks by U.S. forces may jeopardize that fight, according to tribal leaders and government officials.
"For us, the Taliban and America are the same,'' said Malik Munasib Khan, a leader of the Bajaur, Pakistan-based Salarzai tribe, on Sept. 26. "We are against anyone who disturbs the peace of our area,'' he told hundreds of armed Salarzai tribesmen who had formed a local militia to fight the Taliban.
The Pakistan army's battle for Bajaur aims to reverse a Taliban takeover of the border district 115 miles west of the capital, Islamabad, which poses "a strategic threat'' to the state, said army spokesman, Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas. U.S. raids across the border this month have weakened popular support for the government's offensive, residents said.
"The best way to unite and strengthen the Taliban movement would be for the United States to continue these attacks,'' said Mahmood Shah, a retired army brigadier and former government security chief in the region.
Pakistan protested to the U.S. over a Sept. 3 raid far south of Bajaur by helicopter-borne commandos it said were Americans. That raid came in the Taliban's main stronghold, the border district of South Waziristan.
U.S. Raids
The raid, and at least five U.S. missile attacks reported by residents of the border zone, followed a July order by President George W. Bush authorizing Special Forces raids into Pakistan, according to U.S. officials cited by the New York Times and other news organizations. The Bush administration says Pakistan isn't doing enough to curb militants in its northwestern tribal region.
Bajaur, a district of farming valleys and craggy mountains, has been the front line of Pakistan's fight against militants since August. The Taliban this year consolidated its control, setting up a parallel government, running vehicle checkpoints and levying taxes.
The Taliban's control of Bajaur let them leapfrog half the distance from their old stronghold, Waziristan, to the capital. "The threat from the Taliban here radiates in all directions, because Bajaur has good road connections to the rest of Pakistan,'' while Waziristan does not, Abbas said, as he escorted journalists on a visit last week.
The army has seized control of Bajaur's main town Khar, but parts of the town and surrounding villages have been abandoned by residents who fled to makeshift refugee camps in nearby districts. As much as 30 percent of Bajaur's one-million population is homeless, officials said.
House-to-House
In mud-brick farming villages, troops are fighting house to house, according to Major General Tariq Khan, commander of the military's Pashtun border force, the Frontier Corps. Taliban fighters still hold Bajaur's mountainous south and west, and Khan said they have brought hundreds of reinforcements from Waziristan and Afghanistan. "It's a very dirty war,'' he said.
The army has killed between 500 and 1,000 guerrillas while losing 63 troops, he said. Khan played down almost daily press reports of civilians killed, saying everyone had fled.
Still, the half-ruined village of Tang Khata, four miles (seven kilometers) southwest of Khar, underscored how the intense fighting has shattered the lives of an unknown number of people. Cobra helicopters swooped over nearby villages and the air quivered with the staccato thump of heavy machine gun fire.
Village homes stood empty or lay in rubble on Sept. 26. An army mortar crew listened to a nearby battle, and watched some flustered pigeons and wailing cats left behind by fleeing farmers. A tank stood marooned on the road, blown open by a rocket.
To contact the reporter on this story: James Rupert in Islamabad at jrupert3@bloomberg.net.
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