Ten paramilitary troops from Pakistan’s Frontier Corps have been killed and eight more are missing after clashes in the Taliban-controlled tribal agency of Mohmand.
The troops were killed in two separate incidents. In the larger attack, the Taliban struck a military convoy with a roadside bomb, killing eight soldiers and wounding two more.
“The soldiers were on a routine patrol” near the town of Safi near the Afghan border, Major Fazal ur-Rehman, a spokesman for the Frontier Corps, told AFP. “The landmine was buried by militants. The explosion damaged the pick-up.”
The second attack took place near the town of Ghanam Shah. Taliban forces ambushed a Frontier Corps column and killed two troops. Eight more of the paramilitary troopers are missing.
The military also reported that 10 Taliban fighters were killed in Mohmand after Army attack helicopters struck at enemy positions.
Military claimed Mohmand was cleared in March
The recent fighting in Mohmand belies the Pakistani military’s claim earlier this year that the tribal agency has been cleared of the Taliban. On March 1, a senior Pakistani officer said the Taliban had been defeated during a series of security operations in Mohmand. Colonel Saif Ullah claimed that the region is “under the control of law enforcement agencies” and that the Taliban had been ejected from Mohmand.
In the months following the military’s declaration of victory, there have been several major battles in Mohmand. The Taliban have carried out several large-scale ambushes and attacks on military outposts, while the military has responded with airstrikes and artillery attacks.
Mohmand under command of able Taliban leader
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Omar Khalid, the Taliban commander of Mohmand agency. |
The Mohmand Taliban are commanded by Omar Khalid, who is a deputy of Hakeemullah Mehsud’s Taliban movement. Khalid is considered one of the most effective and powerful leaders in the tribal areas.
Khalid gained prominence in Mohmand during the summer of 2007 after taking over a famous shrine and renaming it the Red Mosque, after the radical mosque in Islamabad whose followers had attempted to impose sharia in the capital.
The Mohmand Taliban took control of the tribal agency after the Pakistani government negotiated a peace agreement with the extremists at the end of May 2008. The deal required the Taliban to renounce attacks on the Pakistani government and security forces. The Taliban said they would maintain a ban on the activities of nongovernment organizations in the region but agreed not to attack women in the workplace as long as they wore veils. Both sides exchanged prisoners.
The Taliban promptly established a parallel government in Mohmand. Sharia courts were formed and orders were given for women to wear the veil in public. “Criminals” were rounded up and judged in sharia courts. Women were ordered to have a male escort at all times and prevented from working on farms. The Taliban also kidnapped members of a polio vaccination team.
In July 2008, Khalid became the dominant Taliban commander in Mohmand after defeating the Shah Sahib group, a rival pro-Taliban terror group with ties to the Lashkar-e-Taiba. The military claimed it killed Khalid in January of this year, but the Taliban denied the report and he has since surfaced.
The Pakistani government has placed a $123,000 bounty on Khalid’s head.
12 Comments
This is very unfortunate that Pak deploying paramilitary in deadly area. There is an international border why not regular military? Paramilitary should be restricted to cities and towns, never to remote outposts, especially near international border where attack might have come from Afghan side.
Hope the winter will give enough time to consolidate gains. It’s already mid November.
It looks like the Taliban’s winter offensive may be centered in the Mohmand and Arakzai districts. The primary goal would be to put pressure on Peshawar and the Khyber Pass from both sides. The Pakistani army has pushed back in Mohmand, Bajaur, and Khyber several times already. Yet another round appears to be needed
How about assisting Pakistan with more Predator strikes and intelligence on enemy fighters? An investment in Pak Helicopters/Training would go a long way too
Regarding the 8 missing Pakistani troops: is it possible they switched sides? Is this common over there or does anyone think they are prisoners to be used as bargaining chips or killed outright?
The second attack took place near the town of Ghanam Shah. Taliban forces ambushed a Frontier Corps column and killed two troops. Eight more of the paramilitary troopers are missing.
Maybe that should say changed sides.
Who is lying?
Is the Govt of pakistan really telling the truth or is it the Taliban / pashtoon nationals doing a tactical retreat, maintaing just enough fire power to hold and keep the Punjabi troops on edge?
this is the big question that is running through my mind. The solution to all this is just one – Implement Ralph peter plan. Pashtoons have been done a great injustice. Moreover they have historically lorded over the Punjabi’s except for the period of Sikhs( Ranjit singhji), Punjabis hate them and so do they.
In case they want to bring Islam to Pakistan then i see no contradiction and they have full legitimacy. Pakistan, in the very forst place was formed as a homeland for Muslims and in the name of religion, other wise what was wrong with part of secular India. Taliban are just reminding the pakistanis the reason for their existance – to be islamic.
This butchery of innocent pashtoon should stop and West should stop giving lecture on human values and rights, Incase they don’t want to stop.
Are Pakistanis saying that this is a RAW/Mossad/CIA conspiracy too?
Chandrabhan,
“Taliban are just reminding the pakistanis the reason for their existance – to be islamic.”
chandrabhan,
Your comment is quite relevant to the inordinate civilian kills through drone attacks.
but as far as your comment on Punjabis hating Pashtoons is totally incorrect. The Pashtoons are the largest part of the Pakistan Army after Punjabis, and they do not demand a seperate homeland (a demand that annoyed Punjabi Generals). And while Taliban are trying to enforce their ‘brand’ of Islam does not mean Pakistan was made for this brand of Islam to be enforced. The vision and principles that the founder of Pakistan put in is totally different from the Wahhabi ideology the Taliban are propagating. In fact, they are not even propagating any religious principles but merely want to police superficial moral conduct.
naresh,
If you were a part of the RAW/CIA/Mossad, then you would know what conspiracies are.
Blames and counter-blames are the name of the game of every foreign country. KGB was blamed all the time during Cold War. Now the ISI is blamed over everything all the time even in the war on terror. While India also plays along in the ISI bashing games. So there is good reason for an action to have a reaction.
While Pakistan is in a region closer to the world’s most geo-strategic position, it is highly prone to greater attention by intelligence agencies, naturally, for intelligence gathering on the War on Terror as U.S. objectives are very much inter-twined on the Pak-Afghan border question. Plus, CIA agents are on the ground to guide drones as well, so unfortunately Pakistanis have no option than to smell conspiracies which may be true too?
Oh leave the guy alone, sure he’s lost in la-la land thinking the Pashtuns of all things are VICTIMS… but at least he’s got Islam right. Probably because he actually believes in it.
Pakistan in its birth was as a homeland for Muslims, not a fundamentalist homeland, but a homeland for muslims of all sorts, including conservative ones… after ridding the land and Hindu Kush of 600 million Hindus over a millenia.
The actions and foreign policy of the Pashtoons is further to the right than the founders of Pakistan, but essentially the same in spirit except for all the ‘friendly fire’.
Always blame nationalism hmmm? It’s not PC to blame any other religion than Christianity, not even atheism after the fall of the Soviets.
So to conclude I doubt chandrabhan has the faintest clue of what human rights are outside of the notion that it means being unconditionally nice to the Pashtoons and that they, and muslims in general, have the right to do anything to anyone else.
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As for Pakistanis having no option to smell conspiracies… I’m sure there are agents in Pakistan.
I’m also sure the average Pakistani is an avid consumer of the most evil, foolish-minded conspiracies, confirmation biases and have utterly warped knowledge bases.
It is almost entirely their fault and they deserve little excuse, similiar to how many Americans were guilty of helping the credit crisis come along but insist on blaming the big shots.