Taliban take Pakistani officials hostage

[Texpat]

By Pir Zubair
International Herald Tribune
July 18, 2008

PESHAWAR Pakistan -- The Pakistani Taliban have taken dozens of local officials hostage, including police, paramilitary forces and even state bank officials, and threatened Friday to begin executing them unless the government released four of their comrades captured last week.

The standoff has grown over the past week into one of the most serious recent challenges to the government's resolve to curb the militants' rapid expansion just 10 days before Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani is scheduled to meet President Bush at the White House.

So far, the government has held firm, dispatching hundreds of soldiers to the area, Hangu, in North West Frontier Province, to engage in the first real fighting with the militants since the two sides agreed to a new series of peace deals earlier this year.

The fighting comes as the government faces mounting pressure from the United States to take stronger action against Taliban sanctuaries in Pakistan's lawless tribal areas, which the militants use as a launching pad for attacks against NATO and American troops in southern Afghanistan.

Pakistan's newspapers and television programs have been abuzz the last few days about suggestions in Washington that the United States might take direct action itself in the tribal areas to stop the flow of Taliban fighters into Afghanistan. Such a move would be strongly opposed by most Pakistanis as a violation of sovereignty.

But the militants have also increasingly extended their presence into more settled areas of Pakistan, like Hangu, where provincial police arrested about half a dozen armed Taliban riding in a pickup truck last Saturday.

In revenge, the Taliban kidnapped the officials and are holding them in an undisclosed place. The Taliban said they were holding 49 hostages; the government said there were 29.

The militants' response was so ferocious because one of the Taliban arrested, to the surprise of the police, was a man known as Rafiuddin, a lieutenant of the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Baitullah Mehsud, according to the inspector general of the provincial police, Naveed Khan.

The capture of Rafiuddin led to unusual and repeated demands from the Taliban for his release, Mr. Khan said. "That proves he means something to them," he said.

Another of the Taliban taken into custody goes by the name Anwar, and is one of 18 Taliban who formed the original core of Mr. Mehsud's organization, and who is one of his most cherished comrades, said a Pakistani counterterrorism and intelligence official in Peshawar who could not be identified because his job does not allow his identity to be published.

Anwar was perhaps Mr. Mehsud's most important fighter and had been with him since 2004, the intelligence official said.

The spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, Maulvi Omar, said in a telephone interview Friday that the Taliban were waiting for the results of mediation talks before deciding what to do with the hostages. "If there's no result, we will start killing them," he said.

Rafiuddin, Mr. Omar said, was a "religious scholar" at the sprawling Kahi madrassa in Hangu. "He's not a fighter," he said. "That's why we want him back."

Mr. Omar also demanded the resignation of the new secular provincial government, which was elected in February, to replace a government dominated by religious parties sympathetic to the Taliban. If the government did not resign within five days, Mr. Omar said, the Taliban would take "organized action against the government."

Afrasiyab Khattack, the leader of the Awami National Party, which heads the provincial government, dismissed releasing any of the captured Taliban, a stiffer stance than that taken by previous governments. "The government is not considering the release of anyone, it's only for the courts of law to deal with the situation," he said.

The fighting between the army and the Taliban in Hangu was more serious than an effort by paramilitary forces last month to clear non-Taliban militants from an area of Khyber, a pocket of the tribal region adjacent to Peshawar, where security has collapsed and there is a general fear of the Taliban.

The Khyber operation was given wide television coverage, but appeared to be of little strategic value since the militants were granted plenty of warning to flee deeper into Khyber ahead of the paramilitary.

In more remote Hangu, an area of flat land at the foot of the Orakzai mountains, television cameras and journalists from outside the area have been barred from the conflict zones.

The spokesman for the Pakistani Army, Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, said Friday that the provincial government had asked for a battalion of soldiers — 700 men — to be dispatched to Hangu from the army garrison in the town of Thal. The goal, he said, was to "clear the area of Hangu of the Taliban."

Taliban take Pakistani officials hostage - International Herald Tribune

***

Guess those freedom fighters had to go somewhere.
Fortunately for the dozen taken hostage, the Pakistan government is level-headed and sympathetic to these Talibanis that their safety is all but assured.

[machangezi]

It is not the first time they kidnapped officials and obviously not the last time. Desperate times, desperate measures.

[Panda]

Wasn't Pakistan a pariah state and a danger to the free world. And also the subject of US sanctions because of its nuclear programme?

Oh, yea. All was forgiven after 9/11. The USA is so consistent isnt it?
Friend today and enemy tomorrow, and visa versa.

"Trust us we are Americans"


"Wednesday, October 17, 2001, updated at 09:14(GMT+8)World

US House Removes Last Pakistan Sanctions

The US House voted Tuesday in Washington to lift the last remaining economic sanctions against Pakistan.

The voice vote in the House came after the Senate approved the legislation on October 4. President George W. Bush must sign the bill before it takes effect.

The bill allows Bush to waive sanctions that restrict economic and military aid to Pakistan for the fiscal years 2002, which began on October 1, and 2003.

Bush dropped sanctions last month that were imposed on Pakistan and India after the two countries tested nuclear weapons in 1998. The sanctions barred economic and military assistance.

The move is the latest in a series of steps the United States has taken to boost relations with Pakistan, which has emerged since the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington as a key ally in the hunt for suspected mastermind Osama bin Laden and the campaign against neighboring Afghanistan's Taliban.

Bush has already promised Islamabad US$100 million in economic aid.

The United States and Pakistan have also signed an agreement recently to reschedule 379 million dollars in Pakistani debt."
US House Removes Last Pakistan Sanctions

[machangezi]

Fresh operation in Swat; five troops, 25 militants killed -DAWN - Top Stories; July 31, 2008


^ A little update for Texpat, the worried friend of Pakistan.

Actually Pakistan army is playing with the U.S because last time when Pakistan did as the U.S wanted, it got sanctions as thank you! Pakistan knows that finishing the Job is not the way to deal with the U.S and it is better to keep negotiating. Hey! we got all sanctions removed in this "WAR on TERROR". When the Soviet empire was defeated the U.S just walked out leaving Pakistan to deal with 4 million Afghan refugees and economic sanctions.

Afghanistan was left in the hands of war lords armed to their teeth and it didn't took them long to start slaughtering each other for power. Years of civil war took the country back to the stone age and the people were desperate for a change. The word "Talib" means "Seeker" in "Pashto" and "Taliban" is the plural form. They were religious students who promised change and led by a fanatic known as Mullah Umar. One particular incident in Afghanistan in Kandahar city, two brothers were kidnapped by the soldiers of a local war lord, they were raped and brutally tortured to death. Their bodies were thrown near a mosque where Mullah Umar and his Talibs (Students) used to reside. This outraged the locals and Mullah Umer along with his students captured the local war lords nerest check post and killed the two soldiers considered responsible. The people started thinking of Umar as a promise of justice and relief and so began the reign of Umer and Taliban.

In my opinion America should have helped Afghanistan when it was the right time.

P.S: Texpat, I know you don't give a flying fuck about what I said and you wont even read what I babbled above but if you do know that, Pakis are one smart and cunning cun'ts . You can fuck with us but be sure that we will follow you. Just ask the Brits we are about to out run Brits in Britain.

[machangezi]

Swat action to continue till peace restored, says govt -DAWN - Top Stories; August 02, 2008

and they say we are doing nothing......

[machangezi]

MIRAMSHAH, Sept 13: The Pakistan Air Force started reconnaissance flights in areas on the border with Afghanistan on Saturday in the wake of increased airspace violations by US drones and incursions by coalition forces into tribal areas.

A US spy plane was seen in the skies above North Waziristan earlier during the day, but it disappeared as soon as Pakistani fighters appeared. The jets, which were seen for the first time after a series of US attacks in the tribal belt, reconnoitred the region for an hour.

Locals welcomed the PAF move as reassuring. “The presence of Pakistani fighter planes gave a sense of security to the people,” one man said.

Twelve people were killed and 14 others injured when a US drone hit the building of a non-functional school in Toolkhel area of North Waziristan on Friday.

Last week, US-led forces had carried out a ground assault in Angoor Adda, near the Afghan border, killing over 50 people. Tribesmen welcomed the “timely reaction” by Chief of the Army Staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, to the US action.

A group of tribal elders said at a press conference at the Miramshah Press Club on Saturday that “we shall fight shoulder to shoulder with the Army and shall never hesitate to sacrifice our lives”.

“If missile attacks and bombing of our houses and markets do not stop, a tribal lashkar will launch a counter-attack inside Afghanistan.

“We will not allow the aggressors to kill our children and women and destroy our homes. We will fight back and defend our frontiers,” they added.

Linky: PAF jets in flights over North Waziristan -DAWN - Top Stories; September 14, 2008


When will the US stop pissing all the world for their fucking interests?? Those tribes were fighting shoulder to shoulder with the Pakistani army so that the area would be cleared of militants but now they swear revenge and that IMO is a pretty serious thing.

I would like the Pakistani army to engage the U.S army inside Pakistan......go alimighty America go.......victory awaits you.

[pai nai ma]

Rafiuddin, Mr. Omar said, was a "religious scholar" at the sprawling Kahi madrassa in Hangu. "He's not a fighter," he said. "That's why we want him back."

mmmmm..............

[machangezi]

A nicely written article by one of the famous Pakistani columnist Mr. Mahir Ali which I found to be quite interesting and factual.....

THE presidential race in the United States kicked off such a long time ago that for months on end it seemed interminable. Now, at long last, the Hollywoodised spectacle of the party conventions is over.

There are still eight weeks or so to go before the final reckoning on Nov 4, and it’s far from clear who will carry the day. The extent to which it will matter isn’t obvious either.

Tomorrow, on the seventh anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Barack Obama and John McCain are scheduled to make a joint appearance at commemorative gatherings in New York. It is extremely unlikely that either of them will refer in his speeches to the US policies that propelled the catastrophe of Sept 11, 2001. Primary responsibility for that day’s murderous assaults undoubtedly rests with the planners and the perpetrators. At the same time, it seems almost criminally negligent to ignore the background to those attacks.

To do otherwise, however, would complicate the narrative, and the received wisdom is that complex narratives are anathema to most Americans. Which makes it more or less inevitable for monumental historical mistakes to be repeated. A clearer vision of the recent past would make it easier to appreciate why Washington’s pursuits in the seven years since 9/11 have sullied the US brand and made the world an even more dangerous place. Yet even those who recognise the stupendous folly of marching into Iraq in 2003 tend to look upon the war in Afghanistan as justifiable aggression, and to see its increasingly bitter consequences as something that can be tackled simply by increasing the level of firepower.

For more: DAWN - Mahir Ali Corner; September 10, 2008

[keda]

Imho the Germans did the right thing and today's spineless West would do well to follow their example. Ok, I can understand Western knobs wetting themselves just thinking about it, but surely not the Pakis.

I'm referring of course to them turning a blind eye as the Baader Meinhof group committed suicide at the same maximum security prison in 4 separate cells on the same strip in a single night, two with guns they just happened to have, one a knife with which she managed to miss her heart but died later, and another by hanging, coincidentally just as the Peacelovers were bartering a hijacked Lufthansa plane for their release.

By contrast, what did the Brit wimps do with Leila Khaled after nabbing her? That's right, prisoner exchange, less than a month later, AND allowed here to return to the UK for speech engagements.

[Khack]

^ What??

[keda]

Imho the Germans did the right thing and today's spineless West would do well to follow their example. Ok, I can understand Western knobs wetting themselves just thinking about it, but surely not the Pakis.

I'm referring of course to them turning a blind eye as the Baader Meinhof group committed suicide at the same maximum security prison in 4 separate cells on the same strip in a single night, two with guns they just happened to have, one a knife with which she managed to miss her heart but died later, and another by hanging, coincidentally just as the Peacelovers were bartering a hijacked Lufthansa plane for their release.

By contrast, what did the Brit wimps do with Leila Khaled after nabbing her? That's right, prisoner exchange, less than a month later, AND allowed here to return to the UK for speech engagements.

[keda]

go figure...

[ItsRobsLife]

You can fuck with us but be sure that we will follow you.

Just ask the Brits we are about to out run Brits in Britain.

Keep dreaming mate. How many Pakis in the British Army?

[keda]

Must be the only time I've ever agreed with the donkey shagger, they'll breed and bleed the country dry, take what they can prise from the system and squawk for more because they feel deprived by getting only what others get instead of being treated as minorities should be in Britland.

And it'll work, not because they're particularly bright but because the Brits are rather dim like that.


Back on topic, I say top whoever hostage takers want released. Do it once, twice, a dozen times, and even the thickest muslim terrorist might twig the West is finally wising up.

The Germans did it with Baader Meinhoff, no negotiating, oops they're dead and it worked didn't it? Can't be bothered to search, but pretty sure nobody's since taken hostages demanding their release.

[ItsRobsLife]

they'll breed and bleed the country dry

Another dreamer.

There's a big difference between taking the country over and outpopulating the white working class out of the ghettos.
Sure, Pakis are welcome to the ghettos and all the crap jobs in sandwich factories.

There's a big difference between being part of the country by doing something worthwhile and living in an alternate universe in financial and mental poverty.

Pakis in England are aggressive, arrogant, ignorant and deluded, nobody likes them.

Blacks, Seikhs, Indians, they all realised that to stake a claim in this country you have to do something worthwhile for it. Not just breed.

For all the talk of jihad and taking over, the truth is the Pakis are shit scared.

I'm not a racist, I just don't like Pakis. (apart from you of course Macha sometimes you make sense, just those really dumb Pakis)

[keda]

I fully agree with your description of the Paki, at least in UK, but shit scared are they? Of what, and who's the dreamer?

Also can't agree that you've lumped in blacks with Seikhs and Indians, who are diligent by nature and traditional upbringing not only in UK but wherever else they relocate.

With blacks, no matter what you do the bottom line has you as white and you’re going to get shafted, eventually, and one way or another; might be something to do with their culture. Farangs living in Thailand may understand, with the usual exceptions even at the lower end, that they will always be the farang.

Maybe I’ve connected with the wrong blacks or the right Indians, but from my own experience I’d say they’re more astute than the blacks. They’re also more family oriented, more business oriented, more reliable, more receptive to education, and less likely to dirty a relationship for a small benefit today rather than greater over the long haul.


Disclaimer for the pc squawkers...not every black or Thai is like that, and there are also nasty Indians, omg and also honkies.

[machangezi]

but from my own experience I’d say they’re more astute than the blacks. They’re also more family oriented, more business oriented, more reliable, more receptive to education, and less likely to dirty a relationship for a small benefit today rather than greater over the long haul

So what you are saying is that your experience tells you that blacks are lesser than Indians?? Can't it be possible that you and your experience suck big time??

[machangezi]

You can fuck with us but be sure that we will follow you.

Just ask the Brits we are about to out run Brits in Britain.

Keep dreaming mate. How many Pakis in the British Army?

How many Brits are in the army??

BTW, it was a joke and you definitely missed the smiley.

[machangezi]

I'm not a racist, I just don't like Pakis. ( just those really dumb Pakis)

Me too.

[ItsRobsLife]

Glad we agree..

Apologies for being a twat! Drunken posting.

[machangezi]

Apologies

Accepted.