Islamic Militants Kill 8 Tribal Leaders in Northwestern Pakistan

Islamic Militants Kill 8 Tribal Leaders in Northwestern Pakistan

www.foxnews.com

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan  —  Suspected Islamic militants fatally shot eight tribal leaders involved in efforts to broker a cease-fire between security forces and insurgents in Pakistan's volatile northwest, authorities said Monday

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Seeing the way development in Pakistan are evolving, does anyone here thinks that may be Al-Qaeda or some other extreme group has an inminent attack in the works?

And I'm referring to a 9-11 style attack, all these developments remind me to what took place in Afghanistan months and weeks before 9-11, a big rival of the extremist got killed in Afghanistan (Ahmed Shah Massoud) and various Afghani tribal leaders were killed just prior to 9-11.

In Pakistan you have a big political and extremist rival killed and now tribal leaders also being killed, the way I see it something might be in the works here, not necessarily against the US, but still.

www.foxnews.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Is it just my imagination (or too much coffee...) or does it seem that someone is trying to play both sides of the coin? Bhutto killed by someone wanting to pin the blame on al queda, tribal-heatland chiefs killed by someone wanting to pin the blame on alqueda...a case of creating unity against a common foe with the mantra of 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' kinda thing??

reply to post by citizen smith


I feel you! The way the situation is developing it might be Musharraf trying to stay behind power by creating all this chaos and the blaming the extremist.

Originally posted by citizen smith
Is it just my imagination (or too much coffee...) or does it seem that someone is trying to play both sides of the coin? Bhutto killed by someone wanting to pin the blame on al queda, tribal-heatland chiefs killed by someone wanting to pin the blame on alqueda...a case of creating unity against a common foe with the mantra of 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' kinda thing??

Yes, a common enemy has been created. Hopefully this will finally allow Pakistan to get a grip on the Warizstan area. Unfortunatly this will simply result in the Taliban and AQ shifting their Ops back to Afghanistan.


The new deal in Warizstan

8/28/06 Hellmutt started a thread called Gwdar Watch. The thread is about a new deepwater Port and related infrastructure being constructed in Pakistan, and financed by China. During that time the local tribes rebelled in an attempt to create their own fiefdom in the area. His third post in the thread notified us that Pakistan President Musharraf was having difficulty getting the region back under control because he was already fighting another front in Warizstan.

Then Hellmutt started a new thread to cover that. It reported that Musharraf cut a deal with the Taliban in Warizstan. The deal basically turned over control of Warizstan to the locals. The locals were allowing Taliban and AQ from Afghanistan to stay there and perform operations from the area. This deal allowed the Pakistan military to focus on Baluchistan in order to put down the rebellion there. That would enable the completion of the Gwdar Port on time.

The deal was successful from the point of view that the rebellion in Baluchistan was put down, and the Gwdar Port opened on time. The person most responsible for putting down the rebellion was the Governor of the territory, Owais Ahmed Ghani. It turns out that he is very good at double talk. He offered the hand of peace on one hand, and war on the other. While talking peace, he managed to have the military kill the leader of the rebellion, Nawab Akbar Bugti. There were some reprisals after his death, but basically that ended the fighting in Baluchistan, and the rebels and Taliban moved their operations to the Helmand area of Afghanistan, and up to Warizstan.

The architect of the Warizstan deal, (called the Warizstan Accords), firmly believed that this deal would allow Warizstan to be more easily controlled without the need for the military. He felt that the locals would be able control and contain the Taliban. This would result in a more peaceful Pakistan.

However, as we have all seen, the accords failed. The locals have unable or unwilling to control the Taliban. They continued and escalated operations in both Afghanistan, and Pakistan. They took control of South Warizstan, and expanded operations in North Warizstan. Recently their extended operations managed to take over complete control of the Swat valley.

During this time Musharraf has resigned as head of the Pakistan military. This has had the effect of allowing Musharraf to focus more on politics, and allow the new military leader to focus on restoring order. The difference is now becoming clear.

As reported back in September, 2007, the military had begun a push of 90,000 soldiers into the area, and reprisals were to be expected because of this. They have seemed have gotten bogged down though, or at least holding back due to political pressure, since they did not make much progress. But recently, the tribal leader, Baitullah Meshud, has been accused of being invlolved in the assasination of Mrs. Bhutto, and is currently being pursued by the military. Since the death of Bhutto, the climate has changed even more dramatically.

A few days after the death of Bhutto, the Governor of the Warizstan territory, (the broker of the Warizstan Accords), resigned his position. The new Governor is now Owais Ahmed Ghani, the man who put down the rebellion in Baluchistan via the murder of that rebel leader.

Now the military seems to be fully re-engaged on several fronts in Warizstan despite the fact that they are not really looking for OBL. Military attacks are not the only tactic being used. Elecrtical power, and food deliveries have been brough to a standstill in many areas.

In the Swat valley they have almost regained control. Bombing and taking over rebel strongholds, bringing much needed supplies to the area, and capturing key rebels. Even so, Taliban leaders are telling their people to attack the military in order to regain the ground.

The push by the military has caused some of the rebels to move out of the area, back to South Warizstan, and thousands of people are fleeing the fighting by returning to Afghanistan. Recent reports speculate that the military is preparing to take over more areas, and begin building more bases to enable maintaining order in the area. The rebels have fought back, and demanded that military operations cease within 2 days or there will be all out war.

In keeping their promise, the militants have attacked military outposts. As pointed out by the article posted in this thread, tribal elders who attempt to negotiate with the military are being killed, suicide bombers attack checkpoints, and kidnappings have increased.

In short, the old deal is completely null and void. The gloves are off. The new deal is a focused military occupation of the territories, now that Baluchistan is stable. You can expect to hear many more reports of captures, deaths, and kidnappings in the very near future.

I hope NATO in Afghanistan are aware and prepared for the influx of Taliban/AQ. They will certainly leave the Warizstan territory and shift operations back to Afghanistan to escape the new war. Thats how its been done for years.



[edit on 1/7/08 by makeitso]