The attack began as Haqqani Network fighters launched rockets and mortars at a small US base in the Zarok district in Paktika province. As the rockets and mortars were fired, a suicide bomber attempted to ram a truck packed with explosives into the combat outpost, but soldiers shot and killed the driver before he could penetrate the base. The attackers also fired assault rifles and machine guns during the assault.

Reports indicate that two US soldiers were killed during the attack. Quqnoos claimed the soldiers were killed when the suicide bomber detonated at the main gate. Other reports indicated the soldiers were killed during the mortar attack. The US military stated that two soldiers were killed during an IED attack, but it is unclear if they were killed during the attack on the base.

The US Army counterattacked with "with counter fire, close air support and attack helicopters," according to a press release. Ten Haqqani Network fighters were killed and one was detained, the US military said. The Afghan Interior Ministry put the number of terrorists killed at 22, while some reports put the number killed at more than 30.

The large number of enemy fighters killed during the counterattack indicates that an assault team was prepared to enter the combat outpost if the suicide bomber created a breach in the wall.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban in eastern Afghanistan, took credit for the attack. Mujahid claimed that more than 8,000 kg of explosives were used in the attack.

In the past, the Taliban, al Qaeda, and allied terror groups have conducted numerous attacks of this nature in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and Yemen.

The rocket attack is designed to cause the defending troops to take cover. The suicide bomber, or in many cases, bombers, is assigned to create a breach in the outer wall so that a backup suicide bomber or an assault team can follow through to overrun the base. The Taliban have had some success in these attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and used this method to penetrate the outer gate of the US embassy in Sanaa, Yemen.

Haqqani Network and Mullah Sangeen behind the attack

Today's attack was carried out by members of the Haqqani Network under the command of Mullah Sangeen Zadran. The assault force may have been backed up by the Shadow Army, or Lashkar al Zil, al Qaeda's paramilitary Army that operates along the Afghan and Pakistani border.

The Haqqani Network has been behind some of the most deadly attacks inside Afghanistan, and it receives direct support from elements within Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence agency and military.

Mullah Sangeen is a senior lieutenant to Sirajuddin Haqqani and is the commander of the Haqqani forces in Paktika province.

Sangeen took credit for the kidnapping of a US soldier who apparently stepped away from his post at a combat outpost in Paktika on June 30. US forces in eastern Afghanistan have launched a massive manhunt for the soldier.

But the soldier may have already been moved into North Waziristan in Pakistan, where the Haqqani Network controls a large swath of territory.

Over the past month, the US military has targeted Siraj, Sangeen, and the Haqqani Network during a series of raids and airstrikes in both Afghanistan and Pakistan [see LWJ report, Coalition strikes at Haqqani Network in eastern Afghanistan].

Sangeen was almost captured during a May 28 raid on a Haqqani fortress in Paktika province, and on June 23, both Siraj and Sangeen were the targets of US Predator airstrikes inside the Taliban-controlled tribal agency of South Waziristan in Pakistan. Since June 27, the US military has killed and captured dozens of Haqqani Network fighters and a mid-level commander during raids and airstrikes in Paktika, Paktia, and Khost provinces.

Unmanned US Predator strike aircraft struck a Taliban training camp in the village of Kotat Khel and a madrassa, or religious school, in the Mantoi region. The 13 Taliban fighters were killed at the Kotat Khel camp, according to reports. The madrassa in Mantoi was reported to have been empty.

A senior trainer of suicide bombers was reported to be among those killed in the Kotat Khel strike.

"The missiles hit an office of Mufti Noor Wali who was once in charge of training militants for suicide attacks," a Pakistani intelligence official told Dawn.

Today's strikes are the first since June 23, when US Predators killed a mid-level Taliban commander loyal to Baitullah Mehsud, then followed up with an attack on his funeral procession. The second strike on June 23 killed 83 Taliban fighters and civilians, according to reports. Along with Baitullah, Qari Hussain Mehsud, a senior commander in Baitullah's network, and Mullah Sangeen Zadran, a field commander in the Haqqani Network in Afghanistan, were the targets of the June 23 strikes. The three Taliban leaders survived the attack.

One week earlier, the US launched a flurry of Predator strikes in South Waziristan that coincided with an important meeting between Baitullah and a senior delegation of Taliban and al Qaeda leaders to discuss the military's operation in South Waziristan. Among those in attendance were Siraj Haqqani, Abu Yahya al Libi, Abdul Haq, and two senior deputies of Mullah Abdullah Zakir. The US appears to have targeted al Qaeda’s senior leadership as it met with Baitullah.

Today's Predator strikes also take place as the Pakistani military is in the opening phase of its operation to destroy Baitullah's network in South Waziristan. The military has conducted air and artillery attacks to soften up Taliban positions and is moving ground troops forward while working to secure the main road in the tribal agency.

The Pakistani military has delayed the launching of the ground operation, and senior Taliban leaders are believed to have fled the region in anticipation of the attack. Baitullah is rumored to have left South Waziristan and is said to be sheltering in Mir Ali in neighboring North Waziristan, under the care of Taliban leader Hafiz Gul Bahadar, who has ended his peace agreement with the government.

South Waziristan is a major focus of the US air campaign against al Qaeda and the Taliban. Of the 26 US strikes carried out in Pakistan this year, 18 of them took place in South Waziristan. Baitullah Mehsud's territory has been hit 10 times and Mullah Nazir's areas have been hit eight times. Both Nazir and Baitullah host al Qaeda training camps and shelter senior leaders of the terror group.

The US is well on its way to exceeding last year's total of 36 airstrikes in Pakistan.

Background on US strikes against al Qaeda and Taliban networks in northwestern Pakistan

US intelligence believes that al Qaeda has reconstituted its external operations network in Pakistan's lawless, Taliban-controlled tribal areas. This network is tasked with hitting targets in the West, India, and elsewhere. The US has struck at these external cells using unmanned Predator aircraft and other means in an effort to disrupt al Qaeda's external network and decapitate the leadership. The US has also targeted al Qaeda-linked Taliban fighters operating in Afghanistan, particularly the notorious Haqqani Network.

As of last summer, al Qaeda and the Taliban operated 157 known training camps in the tribal areas and the Northwest Frontier Province. Al Qaeda has been training terrorists holding Western passports to conduct attacks, US intelligence officials have told The Long War Journal. Some of the camps are devoted to training the Taliban's military arm; some train suicide bombers for attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan; some focus on training the various Kashmiri terror groups; some train al Qaeda operatives for attacks in the West; some train the Lashkar al Zil, al Qaeda's Shadow Army; and one serves as a training ground for the Black Guard, the elite bodyguard for Osama bin Laden, Ayman al Zawahiri, and other senior al Qaeda leaders.

There were 36 recorded cross-border attacks and attempts in Pakistan during 2008, according to numbers compiled by The Long War Journal. Twenty-nine of those attacks took place after Aug. 31. There were only 10 recorded strikes in 2006 and 2007 combined.

During 2008, the US strikes inside Pakistan's tribal areas killed five senior al Qaeda leaders. All of the leaders were involved in supporting al Qaeda's external operations directed at the West.

Abu Laith al Libi, a senior military commander in Afghanistan, was killed in a strike in North Waziristan in January 2008.

Abu Sulayman Jazairi, al Qaeda’s external operations chief, was killed in a strike in Bajaur in March 2008.

Abu Khabab al Masri, al Qaeda's weapons of mass destruction chief, and several senior members of his staff were killed in a strike in South Waziristan in July 2008.

Khalid Habib, the leader of al Qaeda's paramilitary Shadow Army, was killed in a region controlled by Baitullah Mehsud in South Waziristan in October 2008.

Abu Jihad al Masri, the leader of the Egyptian Islamic Group and a member of al Qaeda's top council, was killed in North Waziristan in October 2008.

In 2009, US strikes have killed two senior, long-time al Qaeda leaders. Osama al Kini and his senior aide, Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan, were killed in a New Year's Day strike in South Waziristan. Kini was al Qaeda operations chief in Pakistan. Both men were behind the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; and Nairobi, Kenya, which killed 224 civilians and wounded more than 5,000 others.

US attacks inside Pakistan during 2009:

• 13 Taliban fighters killed in US airstrikes in Pakistan
July 3, 2009
• Scores of Taliban killed in second US strike in South Waziristan
June 23, 2009
• Six killed in US Predator attack in South Waziristan
June 23, 2009
• US strikes target Mullah Nazir in South Waziristan
June 18, 2009
• US kills five in South Waziristan strike
June 14, 2009
• US strikes Taliban, al Qaeda in North Waziristan
May 16, 2009
• US strikes again in South Waziristan
May 12, 2009
• US strike targets Baitullah Mehsud territory in South Waziristan
May 9, 2009
• US strike kills 10 Taliban in South Waziristan
April 29, 2009
• US airstrike targets Taliban training camp in South Waziristan
April 19, 2009
• US Predator kills four in South Waziristan strike
April 8, 2009
• US strikes Haqqani Network in North Waziristan
April 4, 2009
• US launches first strike in Arakzai tribal agency
April 1, 2009
• Latest US strike targets al Qaeda safe house in North Waziristan
March 26, 2009
• US airstrike kills 8 in Baitullah Mehsud's hometown
March 25, 2009
• US launches second strike outside of Pakistan's tribal areas
March 15, 2009
• US missile strike in Kurram agency kills 14
March 12, 2009
• US airstrike kills 8 in South Waziristan
March 1, 2009
• US airstrike in Pakistan's Kurram tribal agency kills 30
Feb. 16, 2009
• US Predator strike in South Waziristan kills 25
Feb. 14, 2009
• US strikes al Qaeda in North and South Waziristan
Jan. 23, 2009
• US hits South Waziristan in second strike
Jan. 2, 2009
• US kills 4 al Qaeda operatives in South Waziristan strike
Jan. 1, 2009

For a summary of US strikes inside Pakistan in 2008, see US strikes in 2 villages in South Waziristan.

Logo for the Hezbollah Brigades from a propaganda video released on the Internet.

The US Treasury Department designated the Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades and a senior aide to Iran's Qods Force as insurgent and militia entities that threaten to destabilize the security of Iraq.

Treasury designated Abu Mahdi al Muhandis and the Hezbollah Brigades under Executive Order 13438. Earlier today, the US Department of State also designated the Hezbollah Brigades as a terrorist entity under Executive Order 13224. Both executive orders allow the US to block financial transactions, freeze assets, and prosecute for terrorist activities.

Abu Mahdi al Muhandis is an adviser to Brigadier General Qassem Suleimani, the commander of Iran's Qods Force, the special operations branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Qods Force backs terror groups such Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Mahdi Army and the assortment of Special Groups in Iraq, and Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the Palestinian Territories.

As a senior Qods Force operative, Muhandis created a group of trainers to support the Mahdi Army Special Groups, such as the Asaib al Haq, or the League of the Righteous. "The groups received training in guerilla warfare, handling bombs and explosives, and employing weapons--to include missiles, mortars, and sniper rifles," according to the Treasury press release.

Muhandis established smuggling networks to funnel weapons to the Mahdi Army Special Groups. He has supplied the deadly armor-piercing explosively formed projectiles, rockets, mortars, and sniper and assault rifles to the Iranian-backed Shia terror groups operating in Iraq. He is said to have directly aided the Mahdi Army during the Spring 2008 uprising against Iraqi and US forces in Sadr City, Maysan, and Basrah.

The Hezbollah Brigades, or Kata'ib Hezbollah, receives funding, training, logistics, guidance, and material support from the Qods Force.

For over two years, the Hezbollah Brigades has been active in and around Baghdad. The terror group has increased its profile by conducting attacks against US and Iraqi forces, using explosively-formed penetrators and improvised rocket-assisted mortars, which have been described as flying improvised explosive devices. The Hezbollah Brigades has posted videos of these attacks on the Internet.

Muhandis and the Hezbollah Brigades are the latest Iranian entities to be sanctioned by the US. In September 2008, the US sanctioned Abdul Reza Shahlai, a deputy Qods Force commander, and Akram Abas al Kabi, the leader of the League of the Righteous, along with three other individuals and two Iranian corporations for backing terror activities in Iraq. Qods Force was labeled a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity in October 2007.

Iranian activity in Iraq

Both the Iraqi government and the US military have said Iran has backed various Shia terror groups, including elements of the Mahdi Army. While the Iranian government has denied the charges, Iraqi and US forces have detained dozens of Iranian Qods Force officers and operatives, captured numerous Shia terrorist leaders under Iranian command, and have found ample documentation as well as Iranian-made and Iranian-supplied weapons.

US and Iraqi forces have captured several high-level Qods Force officers inside Iraq since late 2006. Among those captured are Mahmud Farhadi, one of the three Iranian regional commanders in the Ramazan Corps; Ali Mussa Daqduq, a senior Lebanese Hezbollah operative; Qais Qazali, the leader of the Qazali Network, which is better known as the Asaib al Haq or the League of the Righteous; and Azhar al Dulaimi, one of Qazali's senior tactical commanders. The US has imposed sanctions on Major General Ahmad Foruzandeh, the former Qods Force commander, and Abdul Reza Shahlai, a deputy commander in Iran's Qods Force, for backing Shia terror groups inside Iraq.

Since mid-October 2008, Iraqi and US forces have killed one Qods Force operative and captured 14 during raids throughout southern and central Iraq.

Qods Force, the special operations branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, has supported various Shia militias and terror groups inside Iraq, including the Mahdi Army. Qods Force helped to build the Mahdi Army along the same lines as Lebanese Hezbollah. Iran denies the charges, but captive Shia terrorists admit to having been recruited by Iranian agents and then transported into Iran for training.

Immediately after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, Iran established the Ramazan Corps to direct operations inside Iraq. The US military says Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah have helped establish, fund, train, arm, and provide operational support for Shia terror groups such as the Hezbollah Brigades and the League of the Righteous. The US military refers to these groups, as well as the Iranian-backed elements of the Mahdi Army, as the "Special Groups." These groups train in camps inside Iran.

US military officers believe that Iran is ramping up its operations inside Iraq after Iran's surrogates suffered a major defeat at the hands of the Iraqi military during the spring and summer of 2008. Iraqi troops went on the offensive against the Mahdi Army and other Iranian-backed terror groups in Baghdad, Basrah, and central and southern Iraq. More than 2,000 Mahdi Army members were killed and thousands more were wounded. The operation forced Muqtada al Sadr to agree to a cease-fire, disband the Mahdi Army, and pull the Sadrist political party out of the provincial elections. Sadr's moves caused shock waves in the Mahdi Army, as some of the militia's leaders wished to continue the fight against US forces in Baghdad and in southern and central Iraq.

The League of the Righteous is a splinter group that broke away from Muqtada al Sadr's Mahdi Army after Sadr announced in June 2008 that he would disband the Mahdi Army and formed a small, secretive military arm known as the Brigade of the Promised Day to fight Coalition forces. The Brigade of the Promised Day is said to number roughly 200 followers. There are few reported instances of attacks against US forces by the Brigade of the Promised Day.

Sadr loyalist Qais Qazali was commander of the League of the Righteous up until his capture in 2007. It is now under the command of Akram Abas al Kabi, a former Sadr loyalist.

The League of the Righteous receives funding, training, weapons, and direction from the Qods Force. The League of the Righteous conducts attacks with explosively formed projectiles as well as with the more conventional roadside bombs.

The size of the League of the Righteous is unknown, but hundreds of members of the group were killed, captured, or fled to Iran during the Iraqi government offensive against the Mahdi Army from March to July of 2008, according to the US military.

Sadr is looking to pull the rank and file of the League back into the fold of the Sadr political movement. Earlier this year Sadr issued a message rejecting the US-Iraqi security agreement and said he "extends his hand to the mujahideen in the so-called Asaib but not their leaderships who have been distracted by politics and mortal life from the [two late] Sadrs and the interests of Iraq and Iraqis."

The US military has confirmed a solider has been missing since June 30 and believes he has been captured by the Taliban.

"A US Soldier, who has been missing since June 30 from his assigned unit, is now believed to have been captured by militant forces," US Forces Afghanistan said in a press release.

"We are exhausting all available resources to ascertain his whereabouts and provide for his safe return," the US military continued. "We are not providing any further details at this time in order to protect the welfare of the Soldier."

The soldier apparently walked away from a small combat outpost in Paktika province and was quickly captured by Haqqani Network fighters driving in a truck, Stars & Stripes reported.

The US military has launched a massive manhunt in eastern Afghanistan, and has devoted one to two platoons per battalion to the search operation.

“All activities in the region other than force protection have ceased because the effort now is to find our soldier," Major Jose Aymat, the executive officer at Camp Clark in Khost province, told Stars & Stripes.

Haqqani Network behind the kidnapping

Mullah Sangeen Zadran, a senior lieutenant to Sirajuddin Haqqani who controls Paktika province, took credit for capturing the US soldier and said his fate is in the hands of Sirajuddin and the Taliban leadership.

"The case will be referred to Sirajuddin Haqqani and other Taliban top leadership," Sangeen told CBS News. "They have to decide the future of the US soldier, but we would not mind a prisoner exchange in this case."

Led by the respected mujahedeen commander Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Siraj, the network is well-organized in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Haqqani Network has been behind some of the most deadly attacks inside Afghanistan, and it receives direct support from elements within Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence agency and military.

Over the past month, the US military has targeted Siraj, Sangeen, and the network during a series of raids and airstrikes in both Afghanistan and Pakistan [see LWJ report, Coalition strikes at Haqqani Network in eastern Afghanistan].

Sangeen was almost captured during a raid on a Haqqani fortress in Paktika province, while both Siraj and Sangeen were the targets of US Predator airstrikes inside the Taliban-controlled tribal agency of South Waziristan in Pakistan. Since June 27, the US military has killed and captured dozens of Haqqani Network fighters and a mid-level commander.

Late last year, the Haqqani Network kidnapped a reporter for the New York Times and brought him to North Waziristan in Pakistan. The reporter escaped from the compound last month.

Lashkar-e-Taiba leaders Arif Qasmani, Mohammed Yahya Mujahid, and Nasir Javaid, and al Qaeda operative Fazeel-A-Tul Shaykh Abu Mohammed Ameen Al Peshawari have been designated as terrorists under Executive Order 13224. The designation permits the US to freeze their assets, prevents them from using financial institutions, and allows for prosecution for their terrorist activities.

The Lashkar-e-Taiba is a Pakistan-based terror group that shares the same goals and ideology as al Qaeda. Lashkar-e-Taiba has an extensive organization and runs numerous humanitarian organizations, schools, and hospitals. The group is supported by Pakistan's military and intelligence services.

The four terrorists have been active in supporting the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as the Lashkar-e-Taiba in India.

The Treasury Department described Arif Qasmani as "the chief coordinator for Lashkar-e-Taiba's dealings with outside organizations." Qasmani has provided financial support to al Qaeda and served as a facilitator for the organization.

Qasmani has helped move foreign fighters into and out of Afghanistan and has compensated the families of fighters killed in battle. He has been directly linked to the July 2006 train bombing in Mumbai, India, and the February 2007 Samjota Express bombing in Panipat. Qasmani received funds from underworld and terror boss Dawood Ibrahim to carry out the deadly 2006 Mumbai attack.

Mohammed Yahya Mujahid is listed as the chief of Lashkar-e-Taiba's media department as well as a chief spokesman. He is described as being "influential among the LET [Lashkar-e-Taiba's] central leadership." Mujahid is known to operate openly in Kashmir.

Nasir Javaid is an operations chief and a military commander and trainer in Pakistan. "In mid-2001, Javaid assumed command of an LET training center in Pakistan," the Treasury reported.

Fazeel-A-Tul Shaykh Abu Mohammed Ameen al Peshawari is an al Qaeda facilitator, financier, and recruiter. He has supported Taliban and al Qaeda operations in Afghanistan by providing cash, suicide vests, military equipment, and recruits.

Pakistan remains a breeding ground for terror groups

One day prior to the US' designation of three leaders of the Lashkar-e-Taiba as terrorists, a Pakistani government report obtained by the BBC stated that terror groups are thriving in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.

According to the report, Lashkar-e-Taiba, along with the allied Jaish-e-Mohammad and the Harkatul Mujahideen, have expanded their operations in Muzaffarabad, the main city, and are opening new madrassas, or religious schools, where young boys are indoctrinated.

"'No officials are allowed to enter these premises to gather any sort of information,'" the report says, according to the BBC. "'We fear these madrassas [are] maybe a cover for furthering militant activities,'" the report continued.

The terror groups are said to be strong in the district of Neelum, where they have begun to clash with the local administration. The report "goes on to say that the authorities should take up the matter with the intelligence agency responsible for the militants," stated the BBC.

"The report says officials from that agency should relocate the militants to some area near the border, otherwise clashes with locals could take place," the BBC summary continued.

While "the intelligence agency responsible for the militants" was not identified, Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence agency is known to back Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, and the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, despite these groups' activities in support of al Qaeda and the Taliban.

After strong evidence emerged that Lashkar-e-Taiba was behind the November 2008 terror assault on Mumbai, the Pakistani government claimed to have cracked down on the group. But today nearly all of the group's leaders remain free.

In June, Indian intelligence claimed that the Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, and the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami operate 42 training camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Pakistan's Northern Areas.

The Pakistani Army dropped pamphlets in Miramshah, the main town of the Taliban-controlled tribal agency, announcing that it "does not want any operation in the area," according to Geo News.

The Army signaled that it would only retaliate for attacks against its forces via punitive strikes, and blamed the violence on a small segment that wanted to sabotage the peace agreement.

The military said it "preserves the right to take action against the miscreant elements, who would be held fully responsible for the operation," the news agency reported. The Pakistani military often uses the term "miscreant" to refer to foreign or al Qaeda fighters.

But Hafiz Gul Bahadar, the senior Taliban leader in North Waziristan, was responsible for ending the peace agreement, and his forces attacked the Army convoy last weekend. The ambush resulted in the deaths of 27 soldiers and 10 Taliban fighters.

On June 29, Ahmadullah Ahmadi, a spokesman for Bahadar, said the peace agreement was off unless the military withdrew from North Waziristan and the government halted the US Predator airstrikes that have targeted senior al Qaeda and Taliban commanders.

The military has sought to keep Bahadar and a host of Taliban leaders in North and South Waziristan [see list below] on the sidelines as it takes on overall Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud in his strongholds in South Waziristan.

Earlier this year, Bahadar united with Baitullah and South Waziristan Taliban leader Mullah Nazir to form the United Mujahideen Council. The group was formed at the behest of Osama bin Laden, Mullah Omar, and the Haqqanis. The three leaders of the newly-formed Council vowed to oppose the Pakistani military government, repel any government incursion into the tribal areas, and continue to support Taliban operations in Afghanistan.

Senior Taliban and al Qaeda leaders operating in North Waziristan

Hafiz Gul Bahadar: Bahadar is the senior Taliban leader in North Waziristan and one of the most prominent commanders in Pakistan. Bahadar is a direct descendant of Mirza Ali Khan, the tribal leader who fought the British and the Indians in the early twentieth century. Bahadar chairs the North Waziristan Shura, or executive council. His forces have defeated the Pakistani Army in 2006 and 2007. Bahadar is considered a "pro-government Taliban" leader.

The Haqqani Network: The Haqqani Network is run by Jalaluddin and his son Sirajuddin. It operates both in Pakistan and across the border in eastern Afghanistan, primarily in the provinces of Khost, Paktika, and Paktia. The network is responsible for some of the most deadly attacks in Afghanistan, and has the backing of Pakistan's military and intelligence services.

Saddiq Noor: Noor is a senior Taliban leader and military commander who hosts Taliban and al Qaeda meetings from his offices in Miramshah. Noor administers a Taliban shadow government in Miramshah and supports the Haqqani Network's operations in Khost. In early 2008, the Pakistani military signed a peace agreement with Noor, Bahadar, and Haqqani.

Maulana Abdul Khaliq Haqqani: Abdul Khaliq Haqqani is a senior Taliban leader and military commander. He provides support for the Haqqani Network and other Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.

Abu Kasha al Iraq: Abu Kasha is the key link between al Qaeda's Shura Majlis (main Shura or consultative body) and the Taliban. Kasha is an Iraqi Arab who is based out of Mir Ali. He has two local commanders, Imanullah and Haq Nawaz Dawar, who administer his local offices. Kasha has a working relationship and close communication with the Uzbek terror groups and also serves as a commander in al Qaeda's Shadow Army.

Najimuddin al Uzbeki: Najimuddin commands the Islamic Jihad Group or IJG, an offshoot of the Tahir Yuldeshav Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. The IJG is a a Specially Designated Global Terrorist organization. The IJG is also known as the Ijaz Group. The Taliban use the IJG as drug and arms smugglers.

The US military reported that "more than a dozen militants" were killed during a series of airstrikes against "a pair of command bunkers" in a mountainous region in Khost province near the border of Pakistan.

Targeted in the airstrikes were senior Haqqani Network leaders who are "responsible for aiding in the movement of foreign fighters through the Khost-Gardez Pass and throughout Afghanistan."

Yesterday's airstrikes have been accompanied by a series of raids against the Haqqani Network.

Today Afghan police detained 11 Haqqani Network fighters during an operation in the Sabari district in Khost. Six of the fighters were captured wearing burqas while trying to escape.

On June 27, US and Afghan forces conducted a pair of operations in the mountainous Musa Khel district. US forces targeted a Haqqani Network commander in an airstrike. It is unclear if any fighters were killed. In a separate raid, Coalition forces detained six Haqqani Network fighters.

Also on June 27, Afghan and Coalition forces detained Said Marjan Jawed, a mid-level Haqqani Network tactical commander, and three of his fighters during a raid in the Zirok district in Paktika province. Jawed is "responsible for planning and leading ambushes and attacks in Paktika province," the US military said.

The Haqqani Network took another hit yesterday when nine of its fighters, including three "foreign nationals" were killed in an explosion at an IED factory in the Yousuf Khail district in Paktika province.

Targeting the Haqqani Network

The US military has heavily targeted the Haqqani Network over the past month. Led by the respected mujahedeen commander Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Siraj, the network is well-organized in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Haqqani Network has been behind some of the most deadly attacks inside Afghanistan.

Over the past month, the US military has targeted Siraj and also Mullah Sangeen Zadran, a senior deputy, several times in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

On May 28, US and Afghan forces assaulted a heavily defended fort in the mountains in the Wor Mamay district in the eastern province of Paktika near the Pakistani border. Twenty-nine Haqqani Network fighters, including six failed suicide bombers, were killed during the raid. Sangeen, who was the target of the raid, escaped.

Siraj and Sangeen were also the targets of two recent US airstrikes inside Pakistan. In mid-June, the US conducted several strikes in South Waziristan. The strikes occurred after the US received information that Siraj was attending a high-level al Qaeda and Taliban meeting to advise a Pakistani Taliban leader on his options against the Pakistani military [see LWJ report Senior Taliban leaders targeted in yesterday's Predator strikes].

Sangeen was also one of several senior Taliban leaders, including Baitullah and his deputy Qari Hussain Mehsud, targeted in an airstrike at the funeral of a mid-level Taliban commander in South Waziristan.

The US military has identified the Haqqani Network as one of the most dangerous outfits in Afghanistan. The US government placed a $5 million bounty on Siraj earlier this year [see LWJ report, US places bounty on senior Taliban and al Qaeda leaders].

Just as the US has finally admitted that Taliban leader Mullah Omar and his senior commanders are running their Afghan operations from Quetta in Pakistan, the Haqqanis have been labeled as operating from Pakistan's tribal areas.

"The Haqqani network remains one of the most lethal Taliban organizations operating out of Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas," the US military admitted in its latest press release.

The Taliban shura, or council, in North Waziristan decided to terminate the 16-month-old peace agreement because the Taliban's demands that the government withdraw troops from the tribal agency and end the US-led and Pakistan-supported Predator campaign have not been met.

"We will attack forces everywhere in Waziristan unless the government fulfills these two demands," said Ahmadullah Ahmadi, a spokesman for the Taliban.

The announcement took place just one day after the Taliban ambushed a military convoy in the town of Wacha Bibi near the main town of Miramshah in North Waziristan. The military claimed that 16 soldiers and 10 Taliban fighters were killed in the ambush, but security officials put the number at 27 soldiers killed, according to a report in Dawn.

"The place where the convoy had been attacked was littered with wrecked army vehicles," local tribesmen told Dawn.

In early 2008, the government signed a peace agreement with North Waziristan Taliban leader Hafiz Gul Bahadar, Saddiq Noor, and the powerful Haqqani family after the Army was defeated by Baitullah Mehsud in neighboring South Waziristan.

Under the agreement, the government withdrew forces from the tribal agency and returned weapons to the Taliban. In exchange, the Taliban promised to halt attacks against security forces, prevent al Qaeda from sheltering in the region, and end cross-border attacks into Afghanistan. The Taliban did not live up to the agreement.

Military's plan to isolate Baitullah Mehsud in doubt

The Taliban's dissolution of the North Waziristan pact may have damaged the Pakistani military's strategy to isolate and attack Baitullah Mehsud.

The military and the government have signaled from the onset of the operation in South Waziristan that Baitullah was the target, while they have ignored Bahadar, the Haqqanis, and South Waziristan commander Mullah Nazir [see LWJ report, Analysis: Waziristan operation to focus on Baitullah Mehsud]. Just yesterday, the government issued bounties for Baitullah and 11 of his deputies, but did not list Bahadar, the Haqqanis, or Nazir among the wanted.

Today the military publicly stated that Baitullah was the only target of the operation, despite the fact that he, Nazir, and Bahadar openly formed an alliance to defend against military incursions into the tribal areas. In February of this year, the three Taliban warlords formed the United Mujahideen Council at the behest of Osama bin Laden, Mullah Omar, and the Haqqanis.

"When we do move in, it must be only against Baitullah and his group. We cannot afford to provoke a tribal uprising," Major General Athar Abbas, the chief military spokesman, told the Washington Post.

The Pakistani military appears to be limiting the operation to preserve its option of "strategic depth" as well as out of concerns of overstretching the military.

Bahadar, the Haqqanis, and Nazir are considered "pro-government Taliban" because they focus their operations against Coalition forces in Afghanistan.

The government has also refused to deploy additional troops from the eastern border with India, despite an ongoing offensive in the Swat Valley that has occupied tens of thousands of troops.

"We cannot and will not do it," Qamar Zaman Kaira, the Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, said at a press conference, referring to moving forces westward.

Kaira also attempted to play down recent comments by President Asif Ali Zardari, who said that India is no longer a threat to Pakistan.

The Taliban fighters hit the convoy with IEDs, then opened fire with a coordinated assault of rocket-propelled grenades. The military said that 12 soldiers were killed in the initial attack, but a Taliban spokesman claimed more than 60 soldiers were killed.

The military said 10 Taliban fighters were killed after its forces engaged the attackers in an extended gunfight.

The ambush took place in tribal areas run by Hafiz Gul Bahadar, the powerful warlord who is the Taliban commander in North Waziristan. Bahadar has demanded the military end the operation in the Jani Khel and Baka Khel tribal areas in the neighboring district of Bannu, and has threatened to attack government forces.

The Pakistani government has decided not to target Bahadar and senior Taliban commanders Siraj Haqqani and Mullah Nazir. Earlier today, the government issued bounties for Baitullah and his 10 most senior deputies. Noticeably absent from the wanted list were Bahadar, Sirah, and Nazir.

The military is also conducting operations in South Waziristan. Earlier today, the military killed 11 Taliban fighters in airstrikes in the towns of Kaniguram, Shah Alam, and Raghhzai.

The airstrikes took place after Taliban forces under the command of Baitullah Mehsud attacked two military forts near Wana. Two soldiers were killed and four more were wounded in the attacks.

Yesterday the military claimed 16 Taliban fighters and four al Qaeda operatives were killed in airstrikes in South Waziristan, and another 13 Taliban fighters were killed in the Arakzai tribal agency.

The military also leveled the Bazaar in Jandola in the district of Tank. More than 700 shops run by the Bhittani tribe were destroyed in the punitive operation. Turkistani Bhittani, a senior member of the tribe and a Taliban commander, has sided with the government against Baitullah.

The government announced the bounties in an advertisement in Pakistani newspapers.

Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Tehrik-e-Taliban, or the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, topped the list at an estimated price tag of $615,000.

Faqir Mohammed, the leader of the Taliban in Bajaur, came in second at $181,000.

Hakeemullah Mehsud and Qari Hussain Mehsud of South Waziristan, Omar Khalid and Qari Shakeel of Mohmand, and Commander Tariq Afridi of Darra Adam Khel each command a $123,000 bounty [see list below].

Qari Zia Rahman and Waliur Rahman of Bajaur, Fazal Saeed Utezai of Kurram, and Mufti Ilyas of Darra Adam Khel rounded out the list at $61,500 each.

The bounties for Baitullah and his deputies come a month after the government issued bounties for Swat Taliban leader Mullah Fazlullah, his deputy Shah Doran, spokesman and military commander Muslim Khan, and 18 other leaders from the region. So far, those bounties have not led to the arrest or capture of the leaders.

Both Fazlullah and Shah Doran are rumored to have been killed, but the reports have not been confirmed. The government has arrested Falzullah's family.

Siraj Haqqani, Hafiz Gul Bahadar, and Mullah Nazir are absent from the wanted list

Baitullah is the primary target of an ongoing operation in South Waziristan [see LWJ report, Analysis: Waziristan operation to focus on Baitullah Mehsud]. In its briefings, the military has singled out Baitullah and has not mentioned important Taliban leaders Mullah Nazir and Hafiz Gul Bahadar or the powerful Haqqani family. Siraj Haqqani, the son of respected Mujahideen commander Jalaluddin, commands the Haqqani network's military.

Nazir, Bahadar, and the Haqqanis are not included in the operation even though each host their share of training camps and safe houses for al Qaeda and allied terror movements and conduct attacks against Pakistani security forces. The groups also conduct cross-border attacks against Coalition and Afghan forces in Afghanistan.

Nazir and Bahadar's forces fight mainly in the southern and southeastern Afghanistan provinces of Helmand, Kandahar, Zabul, Ghazni, and Uruzgan, while the Haqqanis are active in Khost, Paktika, and Paktia. Siraj Haqqani, the son of famed mujahedeen commander Jalaluddin, is one of the most wanted men in Afghanistan, as his network has been responsible for some of the most deadly attacks in the country.

Nazir and Bahadar have formed an alliance with Baitullah at the behest of Osama bin Laden, Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar, and Jalaluddin Haqqani. In February, Nazir, Bahadar, and Baitullah formed the United Mujahideen Council and vowed to pool forces to fight the Pakistani state if the military moved into the tribal areas. The council also agreed to continue the jihad in Afghanistan and to strike at the US and India.

Because they have opposed fighting the Pakistani military and prefer to focus their attention on Afghanistan, Nazi and Bahadar are considered "pro-government Taliban" by the Pakistani military and government. The military has cut peace deals with Nazir and Bahadar in the past. Despite the formation of the United Mujahideen Council and the declaration against the Pakistani state, these deals are still in effect. The Pakistani military also openly supported Nazir as he sought to eject elements of the Islamic Jihad Union, an Uzbek terror group, from his tribal areas.

The Haqqanis have been virtually untouchable. The group operates openly in North Waziristan and runs a network of madrassas in the region.

And the Haqqanis are widely supported by the Pakistani military. In May 2008, General Ashfaq Kayani, Pakistan's senior military officer, was overheard by the CIA referring to Jalaluddin Haqqani as "a strategic asset." The CIA also found evidence linking the Pakistani military and intelligence service to last summer's suicide attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul.

The Haqqanis are well-respected by all of the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban groups. The Haqqanis have mediated tribal disputes between Baitullah and Nazir and Bahadar, as well as settled the contentious issue between Nazir and the Uzbeks.

The Pakistani military is seeking to cut deals with Nazir, Bahadar, and the Haqqanis to keep them on the sidelines as the Army takes on Baitullah's forces in the upcoming operation.

The bounties and their targets

$615,000 Bounty:

Baitullah Mehsud is the overall leader of the Pakistani Taliban. He has led a campaign of suicide and military attacks against the Pakistani military, government, and civilians for more than two years. His forces have defeated the Pakistani Army during two offensives in South Waziristan since 2007.

$181,000 Bounty:

Faqir Mohammed is a senior deputy to Baitullah and leads the Taliban in Bajaur. His forces have defeated the Pakistani Army in Bajaur in two offensives in 2008 and fought the military to a stalemate earlier this year. He is a close ally to Ayman al Zawahiri, and Bajaur serves as an al Qaeda command and control center for operations in northeastern Afghanistan.

$123,000 Bounty:

Hakeemullah Mehsud is a senior deputy in Baitullah Mehsud's Pakistani Taliban movement, and is a candidate to be his successor. He commands Taliban forces in Arakzai, Kurram, and Khyber agencies. He has taken credit for several high-profile terror attacks in Lahore, Peshawar, and other major cities.

Qari Hussain Mehsud is Baitullah’s deputy and cousin. He runs suicide training camps for children in Spinkai in South Waziristan. The military destroyed one of these camps during a brief operation in January 2008 but Qari reopened the camp months later. He is considered a candidate to take over the Pakistani Taliban in the event of Baitullah's death.

Commander Tariq Afridi leads the Commander Tariq group. He is a deputy to Hakeemullah and leads what is considered the most powerful force in the city of Darra Adam Khel. His group was behind the kidnapping and the eventual beheading of a Polish engineer earlier this year.

Omar Khalid, who is also known as Abdul Wali, leads the Taliban in Mohmand. He is a deputy in Baitullah Mehsud's Taliban movement. He is considered one of the most effective and powerful leaders in the tribal areas after Baitullah and Hakeemullah Mehsud.

Qari Shakeel is a deputy commander to Omar Khalid in the Mohmand tribal agency.

$61,500 Bounty:

Qari Zia Rahman is an al Qaeda leader who operates in Pakistan’s Bajaur tribal agency as well as in Afghanistan’s Nuristan and Kunar provinces. He is allied with Faqir Mohammed, the leader of the Taliban in Bajaur, as well as with overall Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud and Osama bin Laden. Rahman's fighters are from Chechnya, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and various Arab nations. He commands a brigade in al Qaeda's paramilitary Shadow Army, or the Lashkar al Zil, US intelligence officials have told The Long War Journal.

Waliur Rahman is a deputy military commander to Faqi Mohammed in Bajaur. He leads the Jaish-i-Islami Pakistan, a Taliban subgroup. He has led negotiations with the tribes and also is reported to have been named as a possible successor to Baitullah.

Fazal Saeed Utezai is a deputy to Hakeemullah and leads Taliban fighters in the Kurram tribal agency. His forces have been behind some of the worst sectarian violence against the Shia tribes.

Mufti Ilyas commands Taliban forces in Darra Adam Khel and is a deputy to Hakeemullah Mehsud. He formed a group that is assigned to assassinate Shia leaders.

Baitullah, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban movement, narrowly escaped the attack, as he left the funeral just minutes before the airstrike, US intelligence officials involved in the hunt in Pakistan's tribal areas told The Long War Journal.

"We think we almost had him," one official said, referring to Baitullah. "It was close."

Qari Hussain Mehsud and Mullah Sangeen Zadran also dodged the US air blitz, according to US intelligence officials and reports in the Pakistani press.

Qari Hussain is a senior Taliban commander and possible successor to Baitullah. He runs suicide training camps in South Waziristan and recruits young boys to serve as suicide bombers.

Sangeen is senior deputy to Siraj Haqqani and a field commander for the Haqqani Network in eastern Afghanistan. Sangeen has led pitched battles against US and Afghan forces in Paktika province in Afghanistan.

Baitullah, Qari Hussain, and Sangeen were in the town of Makeen to attend the funeral of Khwaz Ali Mehsud, a mid-level commander of the Taliban in South Waziristan. Khwaz Ali, who was close to Baitullah, had been killed in a Predator strike earlier that morning.

Close aides to Qari Hussain said reports that their commander had been killed were false and he was not present at the funeral. Dawn claimed Qari Hussain was killed in the strike, but did not say if the report came from the Taliban or Pakistani intelligence officials.

Sangeen confirmed he survived the attack. In a phone call to The News, Sangeen denied being in South Waziristan.

"We have nothing to do with internal fighting in Pakistan," Sangeen said. "Our job is to fight Jihad against the occupation forces in Afghanistan."

A spokesman for Sangeen said his commander would release a videotape to prove he survived the attack. "Reports about Sangeen Zadran’s death are baseless and his video statement will be released within two days," a Taliban leader named Noorullah who is based in Miramshah in North Waziristan told Dawn.

Three low-level Taliban leaders were reported killed in the strike. The commanders were identified as Maulvi Bilal, Khushdel, and Shabir Khan. Taliban sources claim that 30 Taliban fighters and 45 civilians were killed in the attack on the funeral.

South Waziristan is a major focus of the US air campaign against al Qaeda and the Taliban. The US has been targeting al Qaeda's external network, which is tasked with hitting against targets in the West.

Of the 24 US strikes carried out in Pakistan this year, 16 of them took place in South Waziristan. Baitullah Mehsud and Mullah Nazir's areas have been hit eight times each this year. Both Nazir and Baitullah host al Qaeda training camps and shelter senior leaders of the terror group.

Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud; Qari Hussain Mehsud, a senior commander in Baitullah's network; and Mullah Sangeen Zadran, a field commander in the Haqqani Network in Afghanistan, were targeted in the Predator attack in Pakistan's lawless tribal agency of South Waziristan.

The attack took place in the Ladha region as scores of Taliban leaders and fighters were attending the funeral of Khwaz Ali Mehsud, a mid-level commander in Baitullah's network. The initial attack on the funeral procession was followed up with strikes on Taliban vehicles as they attempted to flee the attack site.

Khwaz was killed in a Predator airstrike in Makeen earlier that morning. The attack killed five other low-level Taliban fighters.

Khwaz was "beloved" by Baitullah, a senior US military intelligence official told The Long War Journal. The News described Khwaz as one of Baitullah's "close and trusted commanders." Senior Taliban leaders were expected to attend Khwaz's funeral to pay their respects.

Reports from Pakistan indicated Sangeen and Qari Hussain may have been killed in the strike. But an aide to Sangeen said his commander was not in attendance. Qari Hussain spoke to the media and confirmed he was alive. Baitullah has not been reported killed, and he is thought to be in Mir Ali to sit out the military's operation in South Waziristan.

Qari Hussain is a senior lieutenant to Baitullah, and is believed to be his successor. He runs suicide training camps in Spinkai, where he indoctrinates young boys between 9 and 12 years old. These children have been used to conduct some of the most deadly attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The military destroyed one of these camps during a brief operation in January 2008, but Qari reopened the camp months later.

Qari Hussain is also described as a leading ideologue for the Taliban. He has a large following among Arab, Uzbek, and Afghan fighters.

The Pakistani military claimed Qari Hussain was killed during the January 2008 operation in South Waziristan. But he later gave a press conference in Peshawar in which he mocked the military.

Sangeen, who is also known as Fateh, has been a major target of the US military in Afghanistan. He serves as a senior lieutenant and military commander to Siraj Haqqani in eastern Afghanistan. The US military said Sangeen planned and coordinated the movement of al Qaeda senior leaders and hundreds of their foot soldiers from Pakistan to Afghanistan through the Spreah district.

The US military targeted Sangeen one month ago during a raid on what was described as an "enemy encampment" in the Wor Mamay district in the eastern province of Paktika near the Pakistani border. US and Afghan forces fought a pitched battle at the Haqqani Network fort, which was reinforced with fighting positions, bunkers, and tunnels. During the assault, 29 Haqqani Network fighters, including six suicide bombers, were killed, but Sangeen slipped the net.

In December 2007, the US military reported that Sangeen was killed during a raid, but the US later found out he survived the attack. The US military had previously offered a $20,000 reward for information that could lead to his capture.

The Predator strike aircraft fired three Hellfire missiles as Taliban fighters gathered for a funeral of Khog Wali, a leader in Baitullah's army in South Waziristan who was among six Taliban fighters killed in the first US airstrike earlier today.

Commander Sangeen, a Taliban commander from Afghanistan, was reported to be among those killed in the strike at the funeral. Predators are said to have fired on Taliban vehicles as they attempted to leave the scene of the attack, Dawn reported.

The attack took place in the town of Makeen, a stronghold of Baitullah Mehsud, according to Geo News. The US has hit Taliban facilities in the Makeen region three times since June 14. The Pakistani Air Force has also launched several attacks in the region.

These attacks coincided with an important meeting between Baitullah and a senior delegation of Taliban and al Qaeda leaders to discuss the military's operation in South Waziristan. Among those in attendance were Siraj Haqqani, Abu Yahya al Libi, Abdul Haq, and two senior deputies of Mullah Abdullah Zakir. The US appears to have targeted al Qaeda’s senior leadership as it met with Baitullah.

Today's Predator strikes also take place as the Pakistani military is in the opening phase of its operation to destroy Baitullah's network in South Waziristan. The military has conducted air and artillery attacks to soften up Taliban positions and is moving ground troops forward while working to secure the main road in the tribal agency. Baitullah is rumored to have left South Waziristan and is said to be sheltering in Mir Ali in neighboring North Waziristan, under the care of Taliban leader Hafiz Gul Bahadar.

South Waziristan is a major focus of the US air campaign against al Qaeda and the Taliban. Of the 24 US strikes carried out in Pakistan this year, 16 of them took place in South Waziristan. Baitullah Mehsud and Mullah Nazir's areas have been hit eight times each this year. Both Nazir and Baitullah host al Qaeda training camps and shelter senior leaders of the terror group.

Today's two attacks are the fourth and fifth US air incursions inside Pakistan since June 14. The uptick in strikes indicates the US has re-launched its campaign against the training camps and the networks that host al Qaeda's external operations branch, the unit assigned to attack US and Western allies.

Prior to the June 14 Predator attack against Baitullah in his stronghold of Makeen, there had been a month-long lull since the US last targeted Taliban or al Qaeda leaders or camps in Pakistan. The US has been under pressure to halt the attacks due to civilian casualties. The Pakistani government denounces the attacks while it secretly supports the operations.

The US is set to exceed last year's total of 36 airstrikes in Pakistan.

Click map for full view. Taliban presence, by district and tribal agency, in the Northwest Frontier Province, Punjab, and the Federally Administered Tribal Agencies. Information on Taliban presence obtained from open source and derived by The Long War Journal based on the presence of Taliban shadow governments, levels of fighting, and reports from the region. Map created by Bill Raymond for The Long War Journal. Last updated: April 24, 2009.

Background on US strikes against al Qaeda and Taliban networks in northwestern Pakistan

US intelligence believes that al Qaeda has reconstituted its external operations network in Pakistan's lawless, Taliban-controlled tribal areas. This network is tasked with hitting targets in the West, India, and elsewhere. The US has struck at these external cells using unmanned Predator aircraft and other means in an effort to disrupt al Qaeda's external network and decapitate the leadership. The US has also targeted al Qaeda-linked Taliban fighters operating in Afghanistan, particularly the notorious Haqqani Network.

As of last summer, al Qaeda and the Taliban operated 157 known training camps in the tribal areas and the Northwest Frontier Province. Al Qaeda has been training terrorists holding Western passports to conduct attacks, US intelligence officials have told The Long War Journal. Some of the camps are devoted to training the Taliban's military arm; some train suicide bombers for attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan; some focus on training the various Kashmiri terror groups; some train al Qaeda operatives for attacks in the West; some train the Lashkar al Zil, al Qaeda's Shadow Army; and one serves as a training ground for the Black Guard, the elite bodyguard for Osama bin Laden, Ayman al Zawahiri, and other senior al Qaeda leaders.

There were 36 recorded cross-border attacks and attempts in Pakistan during 2008, according to numbers compiled by The Long War Journal. Twenty-nine of those attacks took place after Aug. 31. There were only 10 recorded strikes in 2006 and 2007 combined.

During 2008, the US strikes inside Pakistan's tribal areas killed five senior al Qaeda leaders. All of the leaders were involved in supporting al Qaeda's external operations directed at the West.

Abu Laith al Libi, a senior military commander in Afghanistan, was killed in a strike in North Waziristan in January 2008.

Abu Sulayman Jazairi, al Qaeda’s external operations chief, was killed in a strike in Bajaur in March 2008.

Abu Khabab al Masri, al Qaeda's weapons of mass destruction chief, and several senior members of his staff were killed in a strike in South Waziristan in July 2008.

Khalid Habib, the leader of al Qaeda's paramilitary Shadow Army, was killed in a region controlled by Baitullah Mehsud in South Waziristan in October 2008.

Abu Jihad al Masri, the leader of the Egyptian Islamic Group and a member of al Qaeda's top council, was killed in North Waziristan in October 2008.

In 2009, US strikes have killed two senior, long-time al Qaeda leaders. Osama al Kini and his senior aide, Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan, were killed in a New Year's Day strike in South Waziristan. Kini was al Qaeda operations chief in Pakistan. Both men were behind the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; and Nairobi, Kenya; which killed 224 civilians and wounded more than 5,000 others.

US attacks inside Pakistan during 2009:

• Seventeen Taliban killed in second US strike in South Waziristan
June 23, 2009
• Six killed in US Predator attack in South Waziristan
June 23, 2009
• US strikes target Mullah Nazir in South Waziristan
June 18, 2009
• US kills five in South Waziristan strike
June 14, 2009
• US strikes Taliban, al Qaeda in North Waziristan
May 16, 2009
• US strikes again in South Waziristan
May 12, 2009
• US strike targets Baitullah Mehsud territory in South Waziristan
May 9, 2009
• US strike kills 10 Taliban in South Waziristan
April 29, 2009
• US airstrike targets Taliban training camp in South Waziristan
April 19, 2009
• US Predator kills four in South Waziristan strike
April 8, 2009
• US strikes Haqqani Network in North Waziristan
April 4, 2009
• US launches first strike in Arakzai tribal agency
April 1, 2009
• Latest US strike targets al Qaeda safe house in North Waziristan
March 26, 2009
• US airstrike kills 8 in Baitullah Mehsud's hometown
March 25, 2009
• US launches second strike outside of Pakistan's tribal areas
March 15, 2009
• US missile strike in Kurram agency kills 14
March 12, 2009
• US airstrike kills 8 in South Waziristan
March 1, 2009
• US airstrike in Pakistan's Kurram tribal agency kills 30
Feb. 16, 2009
• US Predator strike in South Waziristan kills 25
Feb. 14, 2009
• US strikes al Qaeda in North and South Waziristan
Jan. 23, 2009
• US hits South Waziristan in second strike
Jan. 2, 2009
• US kills 4 al Qaeda operatives in South Waziristan strike
Jan. 1, 2009

For a summary of US strikes inside Pakistan in 2008, see US strikes in 2 villages in South Waziristan.

Three strike aircraft are reported to have fired Hellfire missiles at a compound in the Ladha region of South Waziristan, a region run by Pakistan Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud. Six people have been reported killed in airstrike. No senior al Qaeda or Taliban leaders have been reported killed or wounded at this time.

Today’s Predator attack occurs as the Pakistani military is gearing up for a major offensive against Baitullah’s forces in South Waziristan. The opening phase of the ground offensive has begun as Pakistan troops are working to secure the Wana-Jandola road and have also moved artillery forward to pound Taliban positions. The Air Force, Army, and Frontier Corps have been pounding Taliban positions in Baitullah’s tribal areas. The military claimed scores of Taliban fighters have been killed in these strikes.

South Waziristan is a major focus of the US air campaign against al Qaeda and the Taliban. Of the 23 US strikes carried out in Pakistan this year, 15 of them took place in South Waziristan. Eight of this year's attacks took place in Taliban leader Mullah Nazir's territories; seven took place in Baitullah's tribal areas. Both Nazir and Baitullah host al Qaeda training camps.

Last week, the US carried out three Predator strikes against strongholds run by Baitullah and Taliban chieftain Mullah Nazir. The Pakistani Air Force also launched attacks against Baitullah’s strongholds.

These attacks coincided with an important meeting between Baitullah and a senior delegation of Taliban and al Qaeda leaders to discuss the military's operation in South Waziristan. Among those in attendance were Siraj Haqqani, Abu Yahya al Libi, and Abdul Haq. The US appears to have targeted al Qaeda’s senior leadership as it met with Baitullah.

The strike in Ladha is the fourth US air incursion inside Pakistan since June 14. Prior to the June 14 Predator attack against Baitullah in his stronghold of Makeen, there had been a month-long lull since the US last targeted Taliban or al Qaeda leaders or camps in Pakistan. The US has been under pressure to halt the attacks due to civilian casualties. The Pakistani government denounces the attacks while it secretly supports the operations.

The US is set to exceed last year's total of 36 airstrikes in Pakistan.

Click map for full view. Taliban presence, by district and tribal agency, in the Northwest Frontier Province, Punjab, and the Federally Administered Tribal Agencies. Information on Taliban presence obtained from open source and derived by The Long War Journal based on the presence of Taliban shadow governments, levels of fighting, and reports from the region. Map created by Bill Raymond for The Long War Journal. Last updated: April 24, 2009.

Background on US strikes against al Qaeda and Taliban networks in northwestern Pakistan

US intelligence believes that al Qaeda has reconstituted its external operations network in Pakistan's lawless, Taliban-controlled tribal areas. This network is tasked with hitting targets in the West, India, and elsewhere. The US has struck at these external cells using unmanned Predator aircraft and other means in an effort to disrupt al Qaeda's external network and decapitate the leadership. The US has also targeted al Qaeda-linked Taliban fighters operating in Afghanistan, particularly the notorious Haqqani Network.

As of last summer, al Qaeda and the Taliban operated 157 known training camps in the tribal areas and the Northwest Frontier Province. Al Qaeda has been training terrorists holding Western passports to conduct attacks, US intelligence officials have told The Long War Journal. Some of the camps are devoted to training the Taliban's military arm; some train suicide bombers for attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan; some focus on training the various Kashmiri terror groups; some train al Qaeda operatives for attacks in the West; some train the Lashkar al Zil, al Qaeda's Shadow Army; and one serves as a training ground for the Black Guard, the elite bodyguard for Osama bin Laden, Ayman al Zawahiri, and other senior al Qaeda leaders.

There were 36 recorded cross-border attacks and attempts in Pakistan during 2008, according to numbers compiled by The Long War Journal. Twenty-nine of those attacks took place after Aug. 31. There were only 10 recorded strikes in 2006 and 2007 combined.

During 2008, the US strikes inside Pakistan's tribal areas killed five senior al Qaeda leaders. All of the leaders were involved in supporting al Qaeda's external operations directed at the West.

Abu Laith al Libi, a senior military commander in Afghanistan, was killed in a strike in North Waziristan in January 2008.

Abu Sulayman Jazairi, al Qaeda’s external operations chief, was killed in a strike in Bajaur in March 2008.

Abu Khabab al Masri, al Qaeda's weapons of mass destruction chief, and several senior members of his staff were killed in a strike in South Waziristan in July 2008.

Khalid Habib, the leader of al Qaeda's paramilitary Shadow Army, was killed in a region controlled by Baitullah Mehsud in South Waziristan in October 2008.

Abu Jihad al Masri, the leader of the Egyptian Islamic Group and a member of al Qaeda's top council, was killed in North Waziristan in October 2008.

In 2009, US strikes have killed two senior, long-time al Qaeda leaders. Osama al Kini and his senior aide, Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan, were killed in a New Year's Day strike in South Waziristan. Kini was al Qaeda operations chief in Pakistan. Both men were behind the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; and Nairobi, Kenya; which killed 224 civilians and wounded more than 5,000 others.

US attacks inside Pakistan during 2009:

• Six killed in US Predator attack in South Waziristan
June 23, 2009
• US strikes target Mullah Nazir in South Waziristan
June 18, 2009
• US kills five in South Waziristan strike
June 14, 2009
• US strikes Taliban, al Qaeda in North Waziristan
May 16, 2009
• US strikes again in South Waziristan
May 12, 2009
• US strike targets Baitullah Mehsud territory in South Waziristan
May 9, 2009
• US strike kills 10 Taliban in South Waziristan
April 29, 2009
• US airstrike targets Taliban training camp in South Waziristan
April 19, 2009
• US Predator kills four in South Waziristan strike
April 8, 2009
• US strikes Haqqani Network in North Waziristan
April 4, 2009
• US launches first strike in Arakzai tribal agency
April 1, 2009
• Latest US strike targets al Qaeda safe house in North Waziristan
March 26, 2009
• US airstrike kills 8 in Baitullah Mehsud's hometown
March 25, 2009
• US launches second strike outside of Pakistan's tribal areas
March 15, 2009
• US missile strike in Kurram agency kills 14
March 12, 2009
• US airstrike kills 8 in South Waziristan
March 1, 2009
• US airstrike in Pakistan's Kurram tribal agency kills 30
Feb. 16, 2009
• US Predator strike in South Waziristan kills 25
Feb. 14, 2009
• US strikes al Qaeda in North and South Waziristan
Jan. 23, 2009
• US hits South Waziristan in second strike
Jan. 2, 2009
• US kills 4 al Qaeda operatives in South Waziristan strike
Jan. 1, 2009

For a summary of US strikes inside Pakistan in 2008, see US strikes in 2 villages in South Waziristan.

Qari Zainuddin Mehsud, a rival to Baitullah Mehsud, was shot and killed in Dera Ismail Khan. Image from Geo News.

While the Pakistani military is carrying out its offensive in South Waziristan, Baitullah Mehsud succeeded in murdering his main tribal rival.

Qari Zainuddin Mehsud, a clansman of Baitullah, was shot and killed in Dera Ismail Khan. An aide to Zainuddin was wounded during the attack.

Zainuddin was killed by a man named Gulbadeen Mehsud, according to Geo News. Gulbadeen escaped after shooting Zainuddin and his aide. Gulbadeen is from Makeen in South Waziristan, the main base for Baitullah's Taliban movement.

Zainuddin made a splash in the international media over the last month after he and his ally Haji Turkistani Bhittani voiced opposition to Baitullah. Zainuddin granted numerous interviews in which he declared that Baitullah's targeting of the Pakistani state was against Islam. He also claimed that Baitullah killed his predecessor, Taliban commander Abdullah Mehsud.

“The whole Muslim world should come together because all infidels have come together against Islam. Whether it is Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Chechnya, Muslims must protect ourselves,” Zainuddin told The Telegraph earlier this month. “But we cannot go to Afghanistan these days because we have had to deal with Baitullah.”

The Pakistani state supported Zainuddin and is reported to have provided him weapons even though he vowed to continue fighting against Coalition forces across the border in Afghanistan.

Both Zainuddin and Bhittani claimed they had more than 3,000 Taliban fighters under their command and were attempting to recruit more in Tank and Dera Ismail Khan, two districts that border South Waziristan. But a senior US military intelligence official told The Long War Journal that Zainuddin was inflating his influence and capabilities.

In his recruiting campaign, Zainuddin used images of Abdullah Mehsud on posters. Zainuddin took control of Abdullah's forces after he was killed in a shootout with Pakistani security forces in Zhob. Abdullah was released from the US detention facility at Guantanmo Bay and shortly after began fighting US forces in Afghanistan.

Zainuddin and Bhittan battled with Baitullah's Taliban forces in Tank and Dera Ismail Khan in a tit-for-tat murder campaign. Reports indicate Zainuddin's fighters killed 30 of Baitullah's men, including his brother. Zainuddin claimed to have driven Baitullah's followers from Tank and Dera Ismail Khan.

Zainuddin's influence in the Mehsud tribe was inflated. He met with tribal leaders in an effort to get them to drop support for Baitullah. But his plea was rejected by the Mehsud elders. Zainuddin was seen as an instrument of the Pakistani state, and his willingness to back the government after it killed his predecessor raised serious questions.

While Zainuddin fancied himself a major player in the Taliban movement, both he and Bhittani were excluded from meeting with a senior delegation of Taliban and al Qaeda leaders to discuss the military's operation in South Waziristan. Among those in attendance were Siraj Haqqani, Abu Yahya al Libi, and Abdul Haq.

Since Sunday, more than 30 Taliban fighters and civilians have been reported killed during air and artillery strikes in Baitullah's tribal areas. Most of today's strikes were in response to Taliban military assaults on bases in both North and South Waziristan.

The Taliban used mortars, rockets, heavy machine guns, and assault rifles, "and even an anti-aircraft gun," Pakistani officials told The Associated Press. The Pakistani security forces did not report any casualties during the Taliban assaults on the unidentified bases.

The Army and Air Force responded today by striking in six villages in South Waziristan. Eleven Taliban fighters were reported to have been killed during airstrikes in the village of Kaniguram. A compound run by a local Taliban leader named Malik Ameer was the target of the attack.

In the Ramzak region along with border between North and South Waziristan, two Taliban fighters, three women, and three children were killed when fighter-bombers struck a compound. Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters used the compound run by Jalal Afghani as a safe house.

Yesterday, the Air Force launched strikes in the Makeen and Wergeen regions in South Waziristan. Seven Taliban fighters were killed in Makeen and five more were killed in Wergeen. Makeen is Baitullah's main base of operations, and has been targeted by both Pakistani F-16s and US unmanned Predator strike aircraft this past week.

Tahir Yuldashev, the leader of the Taliban and al Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, is thought to have been wounded in an attack last week that coincided with a meeting between Baitullah and senior al Qaeda and Taliban leaders.

Pakistani artillery is also reported to have hit a compound in Wana run by South Waziristan Taliban warlord Mullah Nazir. The attack reportedly occurred while the military was working to secure a portion of the Wana-Jandola road, the main artery into South Waziristan that has been under Taliban control for three years. No casualties were reported.

The military and the government have signaled that the Waziristan offensive will focus on Baitullah's Taliban faction. There is no indication that Nazir or North Waziristan warlords Hafiz Gul Bahadar and Siraj Haqqani will be be targeted.

The bombing took place at around 8:30 a.m. local time as Yevkurov's armored convoy was driving down the road leaving Nazran's city center, heading toward Magas. A suicide car bomber drove out onto the road, rammed into Yevkurov's convoy, and immediately detonated the explosives. Yevkurov was wounded and two of his body guards were killed.

There are a varying reports on the President's condition, from statements by Yevkurov's spokesman claiming he only suffered minor wounds, to reports from doctors that he is in critical condition with brain injuries and serious burns.

Today’s suicide attack comes on the fifth anniversary of the infamous raid on Nazran, when Chechen and Ingush insurgents poured into the city and executed approximately 88 officials from the Federal Security Service, border guards, and policemen.

The latest wave of attacks

The latest attack against President Yevkurov is the fourth high-profile assassination bid by Islamist insurgents in recent weeks, not including many other less prominent assassinations of government officials in the region. It is also the third suicide bombing attack in the north Caucasus since Doku Umarov officially revived the Riyad-us-Saliheen martyr brigade in April. There have also been an increasing number of attacks against security forces in recent months, and many of these attacks are showing greater use of various explosive devices.

These attacks signal a revival of terror tactics harking back to the era of the second Chechen war, when the now-deceased warlord Shamil Basayev led the movement's overall military wing.

On May 15 this year a suicide bomber killed two policemen after failing to enter the Interior Ministry in Chechnya's capital, Grozny. This attack came just a month after Russia had ended counterterrorism operations in the area and Chechen President Kadyrov had declared that the insurgency was crushed and defeated.

Among the most detrimental of the recent attacks until now was the June 5 sniper assassination that killed Lieutenant General Adilgerei Magomedtagirov, the head of the interior ministry of Dagestan. The sniper murdered Magomedtagirov as he was leaving a wedding. This prompted Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to travel to Dagestan to showcase the Kremlin's campaign to bring calm to the North Caucasus.

Another very high-profile assassination took place on June 10, when insurgents shot and killed Aza Gazgireyeva, the deputy head of Ingushetia's supreme court. She was killed inside a public mini bus when it came under fire in the town of Nazran, Ingushetia. She had been heavily involved in the investigation of the June 2004 Nazran raid.

Three days later, gunmen shot and killed Bashir Aushev. He was the Ingush interior minister before becoming deputy prime minister. Aushev resigned the deputy prime minister position in late 2008. More recently he had worked for the regional government, according to Interfax news agency. His exact job title at the time of his death is not currently clear.

Doku's recent decrees in relation to militant activity

Recent attacks in the Caucasus follow the late-April Internet video statements by Doku Umarov, the leader of the Caucasus Emirate. He signaled that the jihadist movement would revert back to the use of terror tactics, including suicide bombings. He even attempted to justify the killing of Russian civilians [See LWJ: Caucasus jihad: Terror tactics back on the horizon?].

The Caucasus Emirate’s return to terror tactics may be an attempt to portray the governing elites as illegitimate and incapable of effective rule over the region, in response to Moscow's claims that the insurgency is officially defeated.

In Doku's video statement of April 25, he extolled the re-emergence of the Riyad-us-Saliheen martyr brigade. “Insha’Allah, now there is a great number of Mujahideen among us, who are joining Jamaat of Riyad-us-Saliheen, who want to conclude, at the cost of their lives, the bargain with Allah, Who promised them Paradise in exchange for their Jihad."

The Riyad-us-Saliheen brigade was commanded by the infamous warlord Shamil Basayev before his death in June 2006. This brigade carried out suicide attacks and the most deadly attacks in the Caucasus and in Russia, including the Beslan school hostage crisis, the destruction of commercial airlines, and the theater siege in Moscow. The Riyad-us-Saliheen brigade also conducted the assassination of the Russian-imposed Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov in 2004. That attack mirrored today’s assassination attempt against President Yevkurov.

Doku stated that the revival of the infamous Riyad-us-Saliheen brigade signals this year will be “the offensive year." Statements from mujahedeen leaders are often mere propaganda and exaggerations. Recent events demonstrate, however, that Doku's decrees are a serious and sincere indication of an insurgency that is not only active, but potentially even more deadly in its logistical capabilities and more determined to employ suicide bombings and other terrorist tactics against civilian as well as other targets.

While joint counter-terror operations still taking place in the forests of Chechnya and Ingushetia show no signs yet of quelling the insurgency, the Kremlin may find it difficult to convince the public that the insurgency is indeed crushed. The recent claims that the war is “officially” over are starting to look no better than a hampered symbolic gesture to promote notions of stability and improved security that are simply not present.

Mullah Omar.

Senior al Qaeda and Afghan Taliban leaders are reported to have met with Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud to advise him to move his group's operations into Afghanistan and halt attacks against the Pakistani state.

Several meetings were said to have been held last week after an 11-man delegation of al Qaeda and Taliban heavy hitters arrived in Waziristan to deliver a request from Mullah Omar, the Amir al Mumineen, or the leader of the faithful in Pakistan and Afghanistan, according to a report in The Nation.

The Taliban dispatched Sirajuddin Haqqani, the powerful military commander of the Haqqani Network, and Abdul Hakeem Sharaee and Mir Ahmad Jan Hashemi, two senior deputies of Mullah Abdullah Zakir, the Taliban's senior-most military commander in southern Afghanistan who was released from Guantanamo Bay.

Al Qaeda sent Abu Yahya Al Libi, one of al Qaeda's senior ideologues and a representative of the religious committee, and Abdul Haq Turkistani, the leader of the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Party, an al Qaeda-linked group that is made up of Uighurs who fight the Chinese government. Abdul Haq serves on al Qaeda's Shura Majlis, or executive council.

The joint Taliban and al Qaeda delegation reportedly advised Baitullah to halt the Pakistani Taliban's attacks against the military and government and to focus his energy in Afghanistan. The leaders believe Baitullah's terror attacks against the Pakistani state are putting undue pressure on the Taliban in both Pakistan and Afghanistan and threaten to damage the overall Taliban movement.

The Taliban and al Qaeda leadership are concerned that even a limited Pakistani military offensive in the tribal areas will put their training camps and safe houses throughout the border regions at risk as the Afghan Taliban is gearing up for a major fight with Coalition and Afghan forces.

Baitullah Mehsud from a recent Taliban video.

Baitullah was reportedly advised to dodge the nascent Pakistani Army offensive in South Waziristan and move the bulk of his forces into Afghanistan to carry out attacks against Afghan and Coalition forces.

The Taliban and al Qaeda delegation was also reported to have advised North Waziristan Taliban leader Hafiz Gul Bahadar to provide safe passage for Baitullah and his Taliban army.

Baitullah is said to have rejected the request from Mullah Omar, responding, "Mullah Omar is our Amir but like Afghanistan, they [the Pakistani Taliban] are determined to continue resistance in Pakistan."

Baitullah also met with the shura of the United Mujahideen Council, the alliance with South Waziristan Taliban warlord Mullah Nazir and powerful North Waziristan leader Hafiz Gul Bahadar. Nazir, who is being pressured by the Pakistani government to sit out the operation against Baitullah, is said to have not attended, according to the Islamabad Ausaf, a pro-jihadi Urdu-language newspaper. Bahadar offered Baitullah safe passage through to Afghanistan, as advised by the al Qaeda and Taliban delegation.

US strikes as meetings underway

US and Pakistani forces struck inside South Waziristan three times during the same week that the high-level al Qaeda and Taliban leaders met with Baitullah. The meetings are said to have begun early last week and ended on June 16, while US and Pakistani warplanes struck on June 14, 15, and 18.

US intelligence officials refused to comment on the targets of the strikes. But the target of these strikes appears to have been the Taliban and al Qaeda delegation gathering in Waziristan.

On June 14, US predators struck in Baitullah's hometown of Makeen in South Waziristan. The next day, Pakistani Air Force also struck in Makeen. Tahir Yuldashev, the leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, was reported to have been wounded in the attack. Three days later, US Predators conducted attacks in two towns in Mullah Nazir's territory in South Waziristan.

Yuldashev is a senior leader in al Qaeda's allied network in Pakistan's tribal areas, and is a close ally to both Baitullah Mehsud and Mullah Nazir. He likely was to attend the meeting with Baitullah.

The timing of last week's attacks points to an attempt to target al Qaeda and the Taliban's senior leadership. Prior to the June 14 Predator strike, the last US attack inside Pakistan's tribal areas took place on May 16. The US has been under internal and external pressure to end the airstrikes in Pakistan.

Baitullah and Fazlullah may be in North Waziristan

While Baitullah has said he would not end attacks against the Pakistani state, a report indicates he may have partially followed the delegation's advice and moved from South Waziristan to take shelter in Mir Ali, an al Qaeda and Taliban stronghold in North Waziristan.

Baitullah was accompanied in Mir Ali by Swat Taliban leader Mullah Fazlullah and his spokesman and military commander Muslim Khan, The Nation reported. Fazlullah and Khan fled to Makeen in South Waziristan after the Pakistani military moved into Swat to oust the Taliban. They have since relocated to Mir Ali with other Taliban leaders after the government telegraphed the South Waziristan operation.

US military intelligence officials contacted by Long War Journal are concerned that Baitullah may leave Pakistan and move his forces into eastern Afghanistan to fight Coalition forces.

Fazlullah and the other 20 senior-most Taliban leaders in Swat have so far evaded the Pakistani military’s attempts to round them up.

Meeting provides insights on inner workings of al Qaeda and the Taliban

A composite image of Siraj Haqqani; Siraj has not allowed his photograph to be taken.

The high-level meeting between Baitullah and the Afghan Taliban and al Qaeda leaders sheds more light on the close relationship of the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban, and their dealings with al Qaeda.

The delegation went to Pakistan to forge a consensus with Baitullah in order to get him in line with the overall organization's goals. Siraj is said to still be working to convince Baitullah to accede to Omar's wishes. Baitullah was pressured to redirect his energies towards Afghanistan, but he was not ordered.

Siraj Haqqani's role as a mediator between the groups also highlights his prominent role within the overall movement. Siraj and his father have close links to the senior leadership of both the Taliban and al Qaeda. His network operates on both sides of the border, and has significant pull in the Taliban affairs in both countries.

Siraj played a similar role back in 2007 when he and Mullah Dadullah Akhund, the former Taliban military commander in Afghanistan, and Baitullah negotiated a truce between Mullah Nazir and Uzbeks allied with the Islamic Jihad Union.

The meeting also dispels a slew of reports that have cropped up since late 2007 that claimed Baitullah was expelled from the Taliban movement. These rumors still floated even as Baitullah allied himself with Nazir and Bahadar and continued to shelter al Qaeda and support the Afghan Taliban.

Finally, the meeting highlights the relative unimportance of two Pakistani Taliban leaders in opposition to Baitullah. Qari Zainuddin Mehsud and Haji Turkistan Bhittani both were excluded from the meeting, even though they claim to be close to Mullah Omar and say they are the true Taliban representatives in South Waziristan.

Despite reports of the growing influence of Zainuddin and Turkistani, the Mehsud tribal leaders are hesitant to back them as they are seen as being in bed with the government. The Pakistani government has been supporting Zainuddin and Turkistani despite their promises to wage jihad in Afghanistan, and not Pakistan. Zainuddin even put up recruiting posters in the district of Tank with photos of Abdullah Mehsud, his predecessor and a former detainee at Guantanamo Bay who fought in Afghanistan. Pakistani security forces killed Abdullah during a raid in Zhob in Baluchistan province.

Mehsud tribal leaders put little stock in Zainuddin’s value. The leaders believe that if Baitullah is killed, his deputy Qari Husain Mehsud will take his place. Qari Husain is notorious for recruiting and training children for suicide attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

More than 30 Taliban fighters have been reported killed in separate engagements in South Waziristan. Pakistani forces, backed by Air Force F-16 fighter-bombers, attack helicopters, and artillery, have begun to engage Baitullah's forces in earnest.

The clashes "should be read as the formal launch of an offensive against Baitullah," Pakistani intelligence officials told AFP.

Heavy fighting broke out when Pakistani forces advanced into the towns of Barwand and Madijan, which are controlled by Baitullah's followers. The military is reported to have moved artillery units forward into these two towns.

Fighting broke out along the Wana-Jandola road after Taliban forces attempted to block Pakistani troops near the town of Sarwaki. The Wana-Jandola road is the main route into South Waziristan. The Taliban have controlled the road for the past three years. The military plans to secure the road before launching "a full-fledged assault on Baitullah Mehsud and his supporters," Dawn reported.

Helicopter gunships also pounded Taliban positions in the Kund Serai, Wara, and Serwekai. The military attacked a Taliban training camp, two madrassas, and three Taliban safe houses, the military said.

The military has been moving forces into regions just outside of Baitullah's tribal areas the past week. Large numbers of soldiers accompanied by tanks and armored vehicles have been seen passing through the neighboring district of Tank. Military bases in Jandola and Manzai are said to be the staging areas for the offensives. Upwards of 20,000 Pakistani troops are reported to have been moved into the region to execute the offensive.

The military began conducting air and artillery strikes in South Waziristan in earnest this week in preparation for the assault. A June 16 airstrike in Baitullah's home town of Makeen is reported to have wounded Tahir Yuldashev, the leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. Yuldashev is said to lead more than 4,000 Uzbek and Central Asian fighters along the Afghan-Pakistani border. He is closely allied with Baitullah, as well as with South Waziristan Taliban commander Mullah Nazir and Osama bin Laden.

The US also weighed in against Baitullah with a June 14 Predator strike in Makeen. Five Taliban and al Qaeda fighters are said to have been killed in the attack.

The Pakistani government has signaled the offensive in South Waziristan will focus exclusively on Baitullah and his followers. Mullah Nazir, who also shelters al Qaeda and hosts their training camps, and North Waziristan's Hafiz Gul Bahadar and the Haqqani family, who also sponsor al Qaeda in their tribal areas, have not been identified by the Pakistani government as targets of the operation.

The focus on Baitullah to the exclusion of Bahadar, Nazir, and the Haqqanis may prove costly to the Pakistani military. Baitullah has an alliance with Nazir and Bahadar, which was created at the urging of Mullah Omar, Osama bin Laden, and the Haqqanis. There are rumors that Bahadar and Nazir may sit on the sidelines for the operation, but Bahadar has reportedly offered safe passage for Baitullah and his followers to move into Afghanistan.

Sufi Mohammad.

The Pakistani government has detained the senior-most leader of the pro-Taliban group that was behind the Malakand Accord, the agreement that put the Taliban in control over a wide region of Pakistan’s northwest.

Sufi Mohammed, the leader of the banned pro-Taliban Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammed [TNSM or the Movement for the Enforcement of Mohammed's Law], and his wife were reportedly detained some time ago. The government kept the arrest secret “until it decides on role for Mohammed,” according to a report in Adnkronos International.

Sufi may be used for future negotiations in Swat and the wider Malakand Division, where an operation to oust the Taliban is winding down after nearly eight weeks of fighting. The military claims that more than 1,500 Taliban fighters and 100 soldiers have been killed during fighting in Swat, Dir, and Buner.

“This could be the beginning of a new round of a dialogue as the military operation so far failed to get the government any place,” AKI reported.

While Sufi’s arrest has not been confirmed, the government has sought to round up the senior leadership of the TNSM. Four of the senior-most members of the group have been detained since early June.

Muhammad Alam, the deputy leader of the TNSM, Maulana Said Wahab, a member of the group's ruling shura, and spokesman Ameer Izzat Khan were detained in Dir on June 4. Sufi and two of his sons were reportedly arrested with these TNSM leaders, but the government denied the reports.

Two days later Alam and Khan were killed during a Taliban ambush on a police column that was transporting the men to Peshawar. On June 9, Iqbal Khan, the leader of the TNSM in Swat, was arrested in Peshawar.

While security forces have had success in rounding up the TNSM’s senior leadership, the senior leaders for the Taliban continue to elude them. Of the 21 senior Swat Taliban leaders identified by the Pakistani government as wanted, none have been killed or captured. The military claims the second and third tier leaders of the Swat Taliban have suffered significant losses.

TNSM responsible for the failed peace agreement

Sufi Mohammed and the TNSM are responsible for the failed peace agreement under which the Pakistani government ceded control of a large swath of northwestern Pakistan to the Taliban, but which resulted ultimately in the ongoing military operation that has displaced more than 2 million people.

The agreement, known as the Malakand Accord, called for the withdrawal of the Pakistani Army from Swat, the release all Taliban prisoners, the withdrawal of any criminal cases against Taliban leaders and fighters, and the imposition of sharia in the Malakand Division, a region that encompasses more than one-third of the Northwest Frontier Province, including Swat, Dir, Buner, Chitral, and Malakand.

The TNSM is a front group for the Taliban. Mullah Fazlullah, the leader of the Swat Taliban, is Sufi’s son-in-law, and the TNSM has fought US forces inside Afghanistan. The Musharraf government banned the TNSM and put Sufi under arrest. Sufi was released in late 2007 to negotiate a peace agreement with Taliban.

In April, the TNSM spokesman admitted that the group can control the Taliban's actions. "We have not asked the Taliban to take up arms, but the government would be held responsible for any resurgence of violence in Swat," Izzat said while discussing the peace negotiations.

Sufi, who is supposed to be the impartial arbiter of the peace agreement, shed the façade of impartiality after defending the Taliban following a series of Taliban attacks and kidnappings on government security forces and government officials.

"The Taliban are doing nothing wrong," Sufi said after the Taliban killed two soldiers in March. "The government is responsible for violations."

The government continued to negotiate with Sufi and the Taliban, and unilaterally implemented legislation that allowed for the imposition of sharia, despite the Taliban's repeated violations of the ceasefire.