Word: waziristan
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Standing at a slight distance, the chaotic scene only makes Fazal Din more nervous. As Pakistani troops advanced into South Waziristan 10 days ago to target the stronghold of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the villager from Karam was fleeing with his family in the opposite direction. After walking for several hours, a bus happened to stop nearby. Parting with whatever cash they had, they bought themselves a ride to this wild and dusty frontier town three days later. "The bombing was hard," Din recalls. "It destroyed five houses near my own." (See pictures of Pakistan's vulnerable North-West...
...Fida, the main refugee support group in the area. "Dera Ismail Khan is already cash-strapped. There is a shortage of schools and water. There is a lot of crime. Some of the locals are growing resentful. They say that troubles will follow the Mehsuds down from South Waziristan." (See pictures of Pakistan beneath the surface...
...attempt to ease its task in South Waziristan, the army has sought to isolate what remains of Baitullah Mehsud's network by striking arrangements with such unsavory groups. Most notably, it has revived non-aggression pacts with two powerful militant leaders from the rival Wazir tribe. As the army advances toward the Baitullah Mehsud network's strongholds from three different directions, Mullah Nazir in western South Waziristan and Hafiz Gul Bahadur in North Waziristan are facilitating its movements. Troublingly for U.S. troops in Afghanistan, both groups still mount cross-border attacks there. To the east, Turkistan Bhittani, a militant leader...
...that claimed responsibility for the attack, it's an indigenous movement. The body of its financing comes from Baluch expatriates, many in the Gulf, and Islamic charities. Its weapons and explosives are readily available in the mountains that span the border between Iran and Pakistan. (Read "Pakistan: Behind the Waziristan Offensive...
...also important that the action in South Waziristan doesn't end with the military operation. In order to fill the power vacuum, the civilian government will have to follow quickly behind with infrastructure, schools, medical clinics and courts - key elements whose absence allowed the Taliban to flourish in the first place. There, too, a lesson can be taken from the Swat experience. Military officials in the Swat Valley recently released thousands of low-level Taliban captives into the custody of local authorities, who have neither the infrastructure to hold nor the facilities to try the militants...