Solsticewitch13's BOS: [unitedstatesaction.com news] October 17, 2009 - AfPak News

October 17, 2009 - AfPak News - UnitedStatesAction.com

compiled by Gary H. Johnson, Jr.
http://theafpakreader.wordpress.com/

(Pakistan) Pakistan Begins offensive Against Taliban
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125576028630991845.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLTopStories

(Pakistan) Kayani, Pasha brief top politicians on security
--Full scale SWA operation imminent
--All parties support govt decision
--Army chief warns of rising urban terror attacks during operation
--Action to involve fewer ground troops

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C10%5C17%5Cstory_17-10-2009_pg1_1

(Pakistan) Pakistan makes thrust into Taliban territory

--A civilian exodus of the area is ongoing, and more than 200,000 are
believed to have fled their homes since August
http://features.csmonitor.com/globalnews/2009/10/17/pakistan-makes-thrust-into-taliban-territory/

(Pakistan) South Waziristan operation underway, troops face resistance
--It
will be a very swift operation bearing in mind the weather conditions.
Soon there will be a complete change in the weather and maybe snowfall.
We will try to complete it before snowfall,’ said the military official.

‘Ground and air forces are moving. The objective is to clear all kinds
of miscreants from South Waziristan,’ Tariq Hayat, a senior government
official in Pakistan’s semi-autonomous tribal belt, told AFP, referring
to the militants

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/07-curfew-imposed-in-south-waziristan-ahead-of-operation-ha-01

(Pakistan) Waziristan Operation given go-ahead
--Security
sources said it was going to be a three-pronged operation supervised by
the corps commander concerned with the aim to block all routes of
militants present in the region, particularly the Mehsud area.

The operation will be supported by the air power, including helicopter
gunships and jet bombers. The army has reportedly sent two divisions
totalling 28,000 men and blocked different routes in the area.
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/04-waziristan-peration-iven-o-ahead-qs-12

(Pakistan) Operation against militants begins in S Waziristan
--According
to reports, two security men were killed and five wounded seriously in
attacks on security forces in North and South Waziristan.
--fighter jets pounded militants’ hideouts in tehsil Ladha and Sarokai at the start of the operation

http://www.geo.tv/10-17-2009/51132.htm

(Pakistan) Pakistan assaults Islamic militants' frontier stronghold
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/77345.html

(Pakistan) 9th Major attack in 12 days
--15 killed in Peshawar CIA (Criminal Investigation Agency) suicide bombing
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C10%5C17%5Cstory_17-10-2009_pg1_2

(Pakistan) UN closes offices until Monday
--several
embassies and consulates had asked the ministries of Foreign Affairs
and Interior for security. The Interior Ministry had assured them that
foolproof security would be provided at the Diplomatic Enclave. The
closure would affect relief activities in the NWFP

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C10%5C17%5Cstory_17-10-2009_pg1_3

(Pakistan) Latest in a String of Attacks Kills At Least 11 in Northwest Pakistan

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/16/AR2009101600791.html?hpid=topnews

( Pakistan) On the trail of Punjabi Taliban

--“Earlier, the Punjab-based sectarian and jihadi groups, which were
either involved in Kashmir or in sectarian killings within the country,
used to only facilitate militants coming from tribal areas of the NWFP
by providing them logistical support for carrying out terrorist
operations. Now they have become entwined with militants operating
under the banner of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan and changed their
strategy.

“They are pursuing a different agenda, which is to challenge the
state (of Pakistan) and pull it down, and are actively involved in the
terrorist acts as indicated by their involvement in terror raids on Sri
Lanka team and Manawan police training centre earlier this year (and
multiple attacks on security installations this week),” Lahore-based
defence and political analyst Dr Hasan Askari Rizvi said.

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/on-trail-of-punjabi-taliban-709

(Pakistan) 36 terrorists arrested in countrywide search
--After
disclosures of Aqeel alias Dr. Usman, GHQ attack lone surviving
terrorist, the security agencies on the basis of mobile phone records
used by the terrorists captured 35 terror suspects from various cities
of the country.

http://www.thearynews.com/english/newsdetail.asp?nid=35860

(Pakistan) Peshawaar takes yet another hit; 15 killed
--It was the fourth suicide blast in the limits of the provincial capital over the past 20 days.

Twelve people were killed when a bomb went off on Fakhr Alam Road on
Sept 26. Fifty-four were killed in the Khyber Bazaar blast on Oct 9.
A
boy was killed in a car bomb blast at an officers’ block in
Gulshan-i-Rehman Colony on Thursday. More than 80 people were killed
and 250 injured in the four blasts.

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/metropolitan/04-blast-in-peshawar1-qs-07

(Pakistan) Over 100 suspects held in countrywide crackdown
--Punjab
police arrested four terrorists from Lahore and Multan. Police sources
claimed the arrest of Bilal Engineer – an “important terrorist” who is
said to be an expert in making suicide jackets and a member of the TTP
faction that claimed responsibility for the Lahore attacks. Bilal later
divulged “some important information” on three other terrorists who
were arrested from Sherakot in Lahore

--Police arrested three alleged terrorists from Faisalabad, and seized suicide jackets.
--Kashmore police arrested 19 Afghan and Tajik nationals from passenger buses.
--Karachi police arrested 38 “suspected terrorists” – including 33 clad in FC uniforms – from Sharafi Goth area

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C10%5C17%5Cstory_17-10-2009_pg1_4

(Pakistan/US) Will Taliban attacks in Pakistan sway Obama's war decision?

--The most important initial need is to fix the Afghan elections," says
Bruce Riedel, a South Asia expert at the Brookings Institution in
Washington who advised Mr. Obama on Afghanistan last spring. "If there
is a second round, it has to be a second round not marred by fraud and
corruption like the first one."

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1017/p02s01-usfp.html

(US/Pakistan) Pentagon ramps up direct military aid to Pakistan
--Some
$200 million worth of equipment and services already in the pipeline
for Pakistan had started to arrive but officials declined to provide
full details, saying many of the more sophisticated items were
classified.

--Direct military aid from the Pentagon, officials said, would come
on top of the equipment that Pakistan receives through normal foreign
military sales overseen by the State Department. Officials said those
sales vary year to year but generally total around $300 million
annually. A special counterinsurgency fund approved by Congress earlier
this year gave the Pentagon the authorisation to speed delivery of
military equipment to the Pakistan Army.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C10%5C17%5Cstory_17-10-2009_pg1_6

(Pakistan) 19 Taliban killed in military operations

--12 people were killed during the third day of bombings in South
Waziristan while 18 others were injured. They said six terrorist
hideouts had been destroyed and several houses had been damaged.
--helicopter
gunships killed 10 Taliban during raids on suspected terrorist bases in
Bajaur Agency, officials told the AFP. Also in Bajaur, three more
terrorists were killed and two injured during a clash between security
forces and the Taliban in the Salarzai area, local sources said.
Residents of South Waziristan have also started migrating to safer
regions, including closer to the Pak-Afghan border

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C10%5C17%5Cstory_17-10-2009_pg1_7

(Pakistan) 'Thick' Security blanket around Adiala Jail

--keeping in view an increase in terror strikes in the country the jail
administration had proposed deployment of Rangers and Elite Force to
ensure the safety of over 5,700 prisoners including high profile terror
suspects.

--the jail housed around 6,000 prisoners including 100 high profile
terror suspects being tried for involvement in former premier Benazir
Bhutto assassination and Mumbai, Marriott, POF Wah and former president
Pervez Musharraf attacks cases.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C10%5C17%5Cstory_17-10-2009_pg11_1

(Pakistan) Police get seven-day remand of two terror suspects

--The police presented the suspects, Mubashir Mehboob alias Zain son of
s/o Mehboob Hussain resident of Gujar Khan and Hafiz Abdul Hafeez alias
Abdullah resident of Batagram, before the court.
--explosive
jackets, hand grenades, detonators, pellets and pistols were seized
from their possession. He said during the initial investigation, the
accused confessed that they were working for Baitullah Meshud group and
Mehboob was a close aide of Meshud.

--the accused disclosed that they were going to hit police offices at F-8 Markaz and a police station of Islamabad
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C10%5C17%5Cstory_17-10-2009_pg11_8

(Pakistan/US) Obama signs Kerry-Lugar bill into law
--US
Senator John Kerry and Congressman Howard Berman on Wednesday gave
Qureshi a document stating that the plan did not impose any conditions
on Pakistan or infringe on its sovereignty.

The lawmakers said a statement clarifying some points in the
legislation would be entered into the congressional record. The bill
itself will remain unchanged.
Qureshi
called the explanatory statement ‘historic’ and a step forward in
bilateral relations. He said he would convey to the Pakistani
parliament that the US aid bill was a sign of friendship and not a
threat to the country’s sovereignty.

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/11-obama-signs-kerry-lugar-bill-into-law--il--08

(Pakistan/US) Parliament should decide fate of aid bill, says Nawaz
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/06-parliament-should-decide-fate-of-aid-bill-says-nawaz-rs-09

(Pakistan/US) Qureshi allays MPs' fears over US aid bill
--Foreign
Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Friday allayed fears over the
Kerry-Lugar bill, telling parliamentarians that America’s recent
explanatory statement does not seek a “compromise over our national
sovereignty, [or] micromanagement and infringement in our civil and
military affairs”.

--Qureshi said the US statement would be part of the Kerry-Lugar bill –
which became a law after being signed by US President Barak Obama.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C10%5C17%5Cstory_17-10-2009_pg7_1

(Pakistan) Qureshi defends Kerry-Lugar bill in NA
--The
minister said the bill would also encourage other international donors
to help Pakistan. ‘This is a signal. The international financial
institution and many countries who want to support Pakistan were
waiting to see what signal does the United States give. And the signal
has given the right nod to financial institutions of the world and to
other democrats and other industrialised countries of the world to come
to Pakistans assistance….’

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/04-kerry-lugar-bill-supports-all-stated-policies-pakistan-qs-05

(Pakistan) Roadside bomb kills three soldiers in North Waziristan
--Taliban
militants detonated the remote-controlled device as a military convoy
was leaving the Ramzak military base, killing three soldiers and
wounding four others.

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/provinces/14-roadside-bomb-kills-two-soldiers-in-north-waziristan-zj-02

(Pakistan) 38 'security guards' held for carrying illegal arms
--Some
33 from the 38 were clad in uniforms of Frontier Constabulary and the
police claimed to have seized seventeen different kinds of weapons
including Kalashnikovs, 222 rifles and MP-5 and five walkie-talkies as
well.

--According to the arrested persons, they are the security guards of
a private security company named Freedom, who were asked by the tobacco
company’s owner to use his place.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C10%5C17%5Cstory_17-10-2009_pg12_10

(Pakistan) No answers for escalating Pakistan guerilla war

--LAHORE: A recent avalanche of attacks killing more than 160 people
has opened the flood gates to a widening guerrilla war in Pakistan that
the government has no strategy to counter, analysts say.
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/04-no-answers-for-escalating-pakistan-guerrilla-war-qs-03

(Pakistan) Suicide bombers attack police in Peshawar, kill 14
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/10/suicide_bombers_atta.php

(Pakistan) Analysis: What lies ahead in Waziristan
--A
military offensive in Waziristan will pit Pakistani troops against the
best fighters the Taliban have to offer. The military has been defeated
four times in South Waziristan since 2004, and has signed a series
humiliating peace agreements in an effort to keep the Taliban at bay.
Instead, the Taliban insurgency has metastasized throughout the tribal
areas and into the Northwest Frontier Province.

--There are three main roads leading to the Makeen/Ladha region: from
Ramzak in the North (in North Waziristan), Wana in the Southwest, and
Jandola in the Southeast. The military maintains brigade-sized
garrisons in these three towns, which will be important hubs for the
operation.

The Taliban will operate in small units, melt into the population, and
focus on ambushing supply and troop columns on these three roads in an
attempt to cut off and kill Army and Frontier Corps units. The Taliban
will also attempt to hit the military in Ramzak, Jandola, and Wana ot
prove it can strike where the military is mustering. The Pakistani
military will attempt to control the roads, occupy the high ground, set
up garrison in the towns, and starve out, freeze out, and bomb out the
Taliban.

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/10/analysis_what_lies_a.php

(Afghanistan) Afghan economy stumbles amid election uncertainty

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/77336.html

(Afghanistan) French Troops were killed after Italy hushed up 'bribes' to Taleban
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/Afghanistan/article6875376.ece

(Afghanistan) Taleban fighter tells of deal struck with Italian soldiers in Afghanistan
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/Afghanistan/article6877125.ece

(Afghanistan) Italy denies bribing the Taliban
http://www.longwarjournal.org/threat-matrix/archives/2009/10/italy_denies_bribing_the_talib.php

(Afghanistan) Karzai Aide Casts Doubt on Findings of Electoral Panel
--If
a runoff is called, it is supposed to be held within two weeks, but
many here say that the logistical and security hurdles are too large
for that to happen. If delays stretch into winter, severe weather could
make voting impossible for months.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/16/AR2009101603389.html?hpid=topnews

--Runoff Expected In Afghan Election

Fraud Probe Reduces Karzai's Share of Vote to about 47%
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/15/AR2009101502449.html