Soldiers battle Taliban in Swat hub

[BlueJessamine]

Source: The Australian

PAKISTANI soldiers were last night waging a brutal street battle with Taliban fighters in the main Swat Valley town of Mingora in what the military says is a crucial phase in the war against Islamic insurgents.

Pakistani forces secured several key areas in the Taliban-held town of 30,000, officials said.

Pakistani sources said they had taken control of several important intersections and three squares in Mingora, including the notorious Green Square, where the Islamist extremists reportedly carried out beheadings late last year.

"Security forces are engaged in clearing landmines. They are also conducting search operations in the areas under their control," a security official said.

Pakistan said up to 15,000 troops were taking on 4000 militants in Swat.


Read more: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25530937-31477,00.html

[MasonJar]

1. i guess the Pakistani government got message that Bibi didn't. The

Taliban must be eliminated; their treatment of women is abominable and cruel. They pretend to be righteous, but are nothing but poppy propped up scum, whose whole reason for being is murder and mayhem.

[bemildred]

2. Pakistan Says It Cleared Key Areas from Taliban

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The Pakistani Army said Sunday that it had captured the central square of Mingora, the largest city in the contested Swat Valley, as it appears to be making slow but steady gains against the Taliban there.

Ten militants and six Pakistani troops were killed in fierce street battles in the city on Sunday, according to a statement released by the Pakistani Army. Another six soldiers were wounded.

Meanwhile, helicopter gunships pounded what were said to be militant hide-outs in a nearby tribal region, The Associated Press reported, killing at least 18 people.

The army’s capture of the central square, known as Green Square, carried symbolic weight. Under the Taliban, it had gained notoriety as “Slaughter Square.” Beheaded bodies — often of people accused of spying or of

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/25/world/asia/25pstan.html?ref=asia

[bemildred]

3. Iran summit vows to fight drugs, extremism

TEHRAN (AFP) — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his counterparts from Afghanistan and Pakistan on Sunday declared their joint commitment to battling Islamist extremism and drug smuggling in the region.

Ahmadinejad, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistan's Asif Ali Zardari signed a document -- the Tehran Declaration -- under which they will work towards bringing security to the region.

"All three nations, by relying on their strengths, good organisation and cooperation, can solve these issues," Ahmadinejad said at the summit's closing session, referring to Islamist extremism and narcotics smuggling.

"The Tehran Declaration is a serious declaration of comprehensive cooperation towards achieving the interests of all three nations."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ivVeaUal12w2tzjhALaWj5HcsG8g

[bemildred]

4. Iran completes gas pipeline deal with Pakistan

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) Iran's official news agency says the country has completed a major gas pipeline deal with Pakistan that could be extended in the future to take Iranian gas to India.

The IRNA news agency says Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Pakistani counterpart, Asif Ali Zardari, watched the signing of the agreement Sunday.

The project, known as the Pipeline of Peace, was initially expected to include India, but the country has stayed out of the deal because of concerns about the pipeline's security. India also objected to the transit fees that Pakistan asked for.

The 1,300-mile (2,100-kilometer) line will deliver 60 million cubic meters of gas a day to Pakistan. The deal was reach after several years of negotiations.

http://www.kxmc.com/News/380039.asp

[pscot]

8. There goes our motivation

It has been credibly rumored that our interest in Afghanistan is prompted by the proposed TAPI pipeline (Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India). If Iran goes ahead with this deal, our presence in Afghanistan becomes moot. There was a long and interesting article on this extremely complicted subjest in the Asia Times a couple weeks back. No link, but a search on TAPI would probably turn it up. If you read it, do so with tinfoil hat firmly in place. Apparently Kissinger and associates are working with the BP/Amoco group that want to build this Iran pipeline. The Great Game goes on.

[bemildred]

10. I imagine Turkmenistan would still want to sell its gas & oil to somebody.

As far as I know they haven't settled their differences with Russia yet. Of course, China would no doubt to be glad to help too. But all of this depends on political stability, which seems as distant as ever.

[pscot]

11. Here'sa link to that Asia Times piece

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/KE14Ag01.html

The writer has an annoying, smart-alek style, but he seems to know what he's talking about.He sketches the background of the tangled super-power relations in the region. It's a worthwhile read.

[bemildred]

12. I've read it, I didn't care for it that much.

The problem is that the guys running "super-power relations" are pretty ordinary, so getting worked up about what they thought and intended doesn't usually get you that far. I do like Pepe, post him all the time, but he tends to drink the Koolaid now and then too.

Edit: I think Obama is genuinely concerned about terrorist attacks, pipelines are not the issue. That doesn't mean nobody in the US government is concerned about pipelines, but I don't think that's Obama's primary agenda, another "9/11" would be a real kick in the nuts.

[ohio2007]

5. When is the Pak govt going to retake a 'real city' like Peshawar ?

<crickets>
the truth is;
The local "awakening" tribal counsels of that small city turned on the Taliban .

Going to take REAL $ from congress to do something like driving Pak tanks up to the front doors of Peshawar city hall

[L0oniX]

6. Gee ...now if only they could manage to fight Al Qaeda we'd all be safe ...huh.

[bemildred]

7. With Summit, Iran Demonstrates Its Regional Clout

CAIRO — Iran hosted its first three-way summit meeting on Sunday with Pakistan and Afghanistan to discuss cooperation on regional issues, the latest sign of Iran’s emergence as a regional power.

With Pakistan and Afghanistan fighting to hold back the rising tide of radical, Islamic insurgencies led by the Taliban, the meeting in Tehran seemed intended by Iran to assure its neighbors that working together the three could solve their problems without having to rely on the West.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran suggested that the United States was the main problem when he described “others who are alien to the nations and culture of our nations.” It was a not-too-subtle swipe, but still one that Washington’s allies from Pakistan and Afghanistan did not rebut. That served as another sign that Iran was increasingly seen as less of a threat to the West, and the region, than the prospect of the Taliban’s controlling Pakistan or Afghanistan.

“If we can save Pakistan and Afghanistan from these problems, from extremism,” President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan said in comments broadcast in Iran, “then such trilateral meetings are meaningful.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/25/world/middleeast/25iran.html?ref=global-home

[xchrom]

9. i thought it said they were fighting in a hot tub. nt