September 30, 2008	Tuesday	Ramazan 29, 2008

ISLAMABAD, Sept 29: Operations against militants had been a mixed bag of success and setbacks and no timeframe could be given about the ongoing campaigns, sources in the military said in a media briefing on Monday.

“It is a continual operation. It is not going to end in 2008 and it is not going to end in 2009. Don’t be optimistic, as far as the timeframe is concerned. It is a different ground and it will take some time,” military officials said.

These sources were optimistic that Operation “Sherdil” was well on course to achieving its objective of gaining control over the Bajaur tribal region.

The Swat district was a different story altogether as Operation Rah-i-Haq II had had its setbacks following the NWFP government’s peace agreements with militants in May, the sources said.

In Bajaur, they added, the militants had been putting up stiff resistance, improving tactics and communications, reinforcements and heavy weapons from across the border.

In Bajaur, the security forces have lost 69 men and 230 men have been wounded since the beginning of the operation last month.

The sources declined to give an exact figure for militant casualties, but hazarding a guess, put the toll in the region of 600.

“Those who have been telling us to do more, we turn around and ask them to do more. Stop the reverse flow into Bajaur. It’s coming. Heavy weapons are coming. The militants are coming,” a security official remarked in a veiled reference to persistent US calls for more action by Pakistan.

“The militants are coming and their travel starts from Central Asia; they cover the entire track of Afghanistan. You are not stopping them and they are coming into our country.

“We are in touch with the Isaf (International Security Assistance Force) to make sure that no movement takes place,” the military source said.

These sources said there was now no doubt about the involvement of elements from across the border in the Bajaur fighting.

“People themselves saw 200 men, mostly carrying rocket launchers, coming from Afghanistan to Pakistan. We have no doubt that they are supporting the fighters in Bajaur,” they said.

The officials were confident that despite stiff resistance, the operation would be taken to “its logical end”.

They said the military operation had been fully supported by tribal people in Bajaur.

The sources described Bajaur as the “centre of gravity” and “magnet” of militant resistance because of a heavy presence of foreign militants.

While the Salarzai tribe had supported the military operation, the Mamund tribe had “huge sensitivity” as most of the Arabs had married off their daughters to locals and settled down in the region.

But the sources were confident that Mamund too would take a cue from the Salarzais and rise up against militants.

Quoting from unconfirmed reports, they said militant commander Faqir Muhammad had left Bajaur and taken shelter in Mohmand, while Afghan Taliban commander Qari Ziaur Rehman, who was leading 1,000 militants, had moved back to Afghanistan.

“If these reports are correct, it would boost our chances of success,” the sources said.

“The situation is not as bad as it appears to be. If the operation in Bajaur succeeds -- and we are confident that it will -- then it will resolve many problems. It will have a ripple effect.”

SWAT OPERATION: The sources said the security forces had tamed militants in Swat following the Operation Rah-i-Haq I in November last year.

But after the February elections, the ANP-led coalition government opted to give peace a chance and signed an agreement with the militants, the sources said.

“The intent of the provincial government was not wrong,” the sources said.

“But in our view the peace agreement was not signed from a position of strength and it allowed the militants to regroup and reorganise,” the sources said. “The efforts of the military were compromised.”

They said that the peace agreement had led to a loss of public confidence, caused heavy casualties to security agencies and setback the operation to clear Beochar and Biha valleys of militants.

The sources insisted that the military operation would continue till Beochar was cleared and Swat was brought under control, sounding confident that the onset of winter would not cause any disruption.

“The NWFP government has allowed us to take the operation to its logical end,” the sources said.

ENGAGEMENTS: The rules of engagement are absolutely clear, they said. Any presence of foreign intrusion in air or on the ground “has to be engaged by troops on the ground”, they said.

The sources were responding to questions regarding the Sept 3 Angoor Adda incident in which, according to the military, 40 to 50 US Special Operation Forces raided a village, killing 25 civilians.

The problem with Predators, the officials added, was that Pakistan’s radar system was not sophisticated enough to detect the spy planes.

INTELLIGENCE SHARING: Militaries operating on both sides of the Pak-Afghan border exchange information, but there is no intelligence sharing. “There is no intelligence sharing with field formations as such.”

Often the information called “actionable intelligence” was outdated, the sources said.

They made it clear the Pakistan military’s sequence of operations did not tally with the one followed by the US army.

The military has decided to work out its own priorities in view of its “limitations and capabilities”.

“We have deployed over 100,000 soldiers and hundreds of vehicles and guns on the borders and it has affected our conventional capability,” the sources said.

ISI ROLE: The sources denied that the Inter-Services Intelligence was operating independently and supporting some of the militant groups.

“Eighty per cent of officers in the ISI come from the same formations which are fighting in the tribal areas. It’s unthinkable that these officers would be supporting militant groups to get their own soldiers killed.”

They said that 1,368 security personnel had been killed since 2001 while 3,348 had been wounded.