internally displaced persons

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Pakistan Launches Ground Offensive in South Waziristan

October 17, 2009 in Foreign Aid, IDPs, Pakistan, Violence | No comments

Pakistan launched its much anticipated ground offensive today into South Waziristan, the Pakistani Taliban’s stronghold.

http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-10-17-voa9.cfm

http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-10-17-voa9.cfm

The army started moving in from three different areas — Razmak to the north, Jandola to the east and Shakai in the west — in an attempt to squeeze the militants.

Click here for the story.

The Pakistani military has put South Waziristan under siege for months with its forces concentrated in bases both in and around the tribal area.  It also has repeatedly launched air and artillery strikes on suspected militant positions there.

The tribal area bordering Afghanistan is a remote and mountainous region.  I spoke today with the head of the United Nations’ Office for Coordinating Humanitarian Affairs in Pakistan.  He said his office is working closely with Pakistani agencies to help civilians displaced by the violence get through the area’s harsh winter, which is just a few weeks away.

He said a major concern for those displaced is sanitation and adequate water, especially for those taking shelter in nearby Dera Ismail Khan.  He also said his office expects more than 200,000 to flee South Waziristan.

Check out my earlier blog post about the IDPs (internally displaced persons) in the area.

As I spoke to analysts about today’s events, I found that a few believed the United States was using its recent aid package to the country as leverage to get Pakistan to launch its offensive.

Check out my story from yesterday for background.

In any event, if this operation is successful, it wouldn’t surprise me if we hear Washington asking Islamabad about when they are going to tackle the Afghan Taliban in North Waziristan.  The Haqqani network based there is responsible for attacks against NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Check out my earlier blog post to read why Pakistan might not be so quick to engage them.

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Week in Review, Oct 5-9

October 9, 2009 in Afghanistan, Foreign Aid, IDPs, Pakistan, Terrorism, Week in Review | 1 comment

http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-10-09-voa5.cfm

http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-10-09-voa5.cfm

The week ended as it began… with a suicide bombing.  The violence moved from the capital westward to the North West Frontier Province city of Peshawar.

Click here for the story.

It was the deadliest attack in Pakistan in more than six months.  I know several people from that area, and they say the market where the blast occurred is in the center of the city and at a major crossroads for people either traveling to Afghanistan or Islamabad.

Following the explosion, Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the government has “no option” but to go on the offensive against the militants, specifically in South Waziristan.

In this week’s “Reporter’s Notebook” radio talk show, I discuss today’s attack and how it may affect the government’s response toward militants in the tribal regions.  I also break down the Kerry-Lugar bill, Pakistan’s response toward it and I give a quick react from Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistan’s ruling political party regarding President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize.  (Click here for that story.)

Click here for my “Reporter’s Notebook” segment.

Looking ahead, Afghan election officials are expected to formally declare a winner in Afghanistan’s presidential election by late next week.

I spoke earlier to Dan McNorton, a U.N. spokesman in Kabul.  We discussed the The Washington Post’s article, which quoted confidential U.N. data that allegedly shows voter fraud, mainly in favor of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Click here for the story.

Unofficial vote tallies indicate Mr. Karzai leads with 54-percent.  If his lead falls below 50 percent, he could face his top challenger Abdullah Abdullah in a runoff.  There is a lot of uncertainty — both political and regarding security — as we head into next week.  Stay tuned…

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Beware the Uzbeks in Pakistan

October 2, 2009 in Pakistan, Terrorism | No comments

http://enews.ferghana.ru/article.php?id=2167

http://enews.ferghana.ru/article.php?id=2167

Pakistani intelligence officials say they believe a suspected U.S. missile strike in late August killed Uzbek militant leader Tahir Yuldashev in the South Waziristan tribal region.

Click here for the story.

Officials say Yuldashev had links to al-Qaida.  If authorities can confirm his death, this would be a major blow to the militants and a huge success for Pakistani forces fighting for control in the area.

But why are we talking about Uzbeks in Pakistan?  Uzbekistan is nearly 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) away.  And why do officials always mention the fearsome reputation of these Uzbek fighters?

Yuldashev was the leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.  He began fighting against the Uzbek government in the 1990s with the goal of creating an Islamist state in Central Asia.  Analysts believe Uzbek authorities pushed Yuldashev to the border area of Tajikistan and northern Afghanistan, where the Taliban gave him refuge.

But following the U.S.-led invasion in 2001, analysts say Yuldashev fled to Pakistan’s tribal areas.  Now this is where it gets tricky…

Yuldashev was still under the Taliban’s protection while in Pakistan.  At this time, analysts say the Pakistani government was largely ignoring the Taliban in its territory because the militants were focused on fighting in Afghanistan.  But Yuldashev’s fighters started making problems for the Taliban by launching attacks in parts of Pakistan.

Ultimately, the Pakistani military moved in and took on the Pakistani Taliban, which analysts say was sheltering Yuldashev’s men.

The miltary is now closing in on militant strongholds.  While the Pakistani Taliban is fighting for its land, the Uzbeks are fighting for their basic survival.  They have nowhere else to go.  They can’t go home to Uzbekistan.  They can’t flee to Afghanistan and into the arms of the coalition forces.  They can’t even go elsewhere in Pakistan.  Uzbeks can’t really blend in among Pakistanis, and they’ve already annoyed their caretakers by causing problems.

Basically, they are a cornered with no other option but to fight, and they’ve been fighting for nearly two decades.  They have nothing to lose here, which makes them particularly dangerous.

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