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ISLAMABAD, May 19: More than 8,000 Pakistani army troops have been deployed in the tribal belt of Waziristan to check infiltration of Taliban and Al Qaeda men and to capture those who may have taken refuge there, sources told Dawn on Saturday.
Pakistani authorities won their right to patrol the ‘no-go areas’ of Waziristan in their biggest US anti-terror operation within Pakistan on the condition that Americans will not be directly involved in the ground attacks and that the government will immediately undertake billion-rupee development projects, these sources maintained.
Intelligence sources in Islamabad said more than 8,000 Pakistani troops were stationed last week in the North and South Waziristan agencies. Their mandate is to seal the porous border with Afghanistan which according to Pakistani authorities has 46 major crossing points including Torkham and Chamman. The unfrequented routes run in hundreds.
Informed sources disclosed these troops will conduct raids and ground attacks on targets identified by the American Central Command (CENTCOM) operations from Tampa (Florida) and cleared by the Pakistani military authorities. The CENTCOM is providing technical intelligence to direct this operation.
“The tribal leaders have not only permitted access to Pakistan army personnel but have also assured Islamabad of help in tracking down Al Qaeda and Taliban members who found refuge there,” these sources said.
Dawn also learned from officials involved in the operation that the tribal elders have given the government their commitment “that no one in the area would host any Al Qaeda or Taliban fighters.”
The tribal leaders have stipulated a fine of Rs500,000 against any one affording refuge to Al Qaeda or Taliban suspects and have also informed all tribals that any house used to shelter Al Qaeda or Taliban suspects will be put on fire. Another intelligence source said that the numbers of Pakistani troops assigned the task was growing and that additional posts had been established only the other day for the additional Frontier Constabulary (FC) men called in to seal the border North and South of Waziristan.
The troops operating from inside Waziristan comprise a 3000-strong brigade with equal number of FC personnel, some 2000 army engineers and 100 commandos from the Special Services Group (SSG). Members of the army engineering corps will have the dual task of carrying out development work in the area and apprehending fleeing Al Qaeda and Taliban men.
The massive mobilization of troops in the area last week was on the insistence of Americans who believe suspected Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters are now re-grouping in the area, sources said on Saturday.
All operations are planned and coordinated by the Joint Staff Headquarters (JSH) in Rawalpindi with CENTCOM, the US Central command.
The CENTCOM has been providing information with satellite maps and sketches of some suspected Al Qaeda and Taliban militants to concerned agencies in Pakistan based on its intelligence- gathering network.
Based in Florida, CENTCOM is the United States security command for South, Central and South West Asia. A CENTCOM representative based in Islamabad provides lists of targets with maps in daily meetings at the JSH. The list is then forwarded to the concerned agencies who whet and verify information before it is relayed to the operational heads for combined covert action in pockets of tribal area.
When queried about the level and nature of the US involvement in the Waziristan operations, the US embassy spokesman said a couple of days back that he was not in a position to comment. Instead he gave the CENTCOM contact number in Florida saying that since they were handling these operations it was best to talk to them.
Federal government sources say that the US authorities had requested Pakistan that their commandos be allowed to take part in the search and raid operations in the tribal belt and that American air power be deployed in the area but President Musharraf turned down the request.
These sources said that it was agreed between the Pakistan and US authorities that American presence will remain on the margins of tribal area and their role confined largely to technical intelligence, intelligence sharing and communications levels.
