Pakistan army takes control of al-Qaeda cave network on Afghan border

[bemildred]

Source: Times UK

Pakistani forces have taken control of a warren of caves that served until recently as the nerve centre of the Taleban and al-Qaeda and sheltered Ayman al-Zawahiri, the second-in-command to Osama bin Laden.

“It was the main hub of militancy where al-Qaeda operatives had moved freely,” Major-General Tariq Khan, the Pakistan regional commander, said as he gave journalists a tour of Damadola yesterday.

The village, nestling among snow-capped peaks in the Bajaur region along the Afghan border, has been fought over for 16 months. It is the first time that the Pakistani Army has set foot in the village, which had long been dominated by the insurgents operating on the both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

“Al-Qaeda was there. They had occupied the ridges. There were 156 caves designed as a defensive complex,” said General Khan, head of the Frontier Corps responsible for Pakistan’s counter-insurgency campaign in the region. He said that his forces had killed 75 foreign and local militants and cleared a zone up to the Afghan border, and that the campaign against the insurgents was in its final stage.

Read more: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article7047285.ece

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Dang, that Ayman al-Zawahiri got away again.

[HereSince1628]

1. Like the wind they move on...

No matter how important the cave or overhanging rock.
They pick up and they move to yet undisputed spot.
We have their latrines
We have the piles of their refuse.
They run with their yet warm blood
power for the dispute.

[bemildred]

2. Hey, not everybody has a cave network.

Cave networks are not just everywhere. And we mean to keep it too, it's going to be another permanent outpost of freedom, a bastion.

[htuttle]

10. Freedom Holes!

[madokie]

5. If the truth was known I doubt that much of the story we hear is actually true

I'm so sick of being lied to by everyone of the politicians. They all seem to be a bunch of lying sob's save for a few, Whitehous, Sanders, Alan Grayson is all that come to mind right now.

[Ex Lurker]

3. The Taliban hold on the NW Frontier seemed unassailable

they were on the verge of taking over major cities, Within a few months the tide has completely turned. Which begs the question, what made the Paks finally get serious?

[bemildred]

4. Maybe it had something to do with the part about being "on the verge of taking over major cities".

[Mike 03]

6. This is a post I will stay tuned to. Kick and Rec. NT

[bemildred]

8. Hey Mike.

I don't know that it really means all that much.
:hi:

[NJmaverick]

7. More good news- K&R

[bemildred]

9. More Afghan Taliban Members Arrested by Pakistan

Pakistani officials say they have captured at least seven senior members of the Afghan Taliban hiding in Pakistan. The militants are known to have been hiding in the Pakistani city of Quetta near the Afghan border and are known as members of the "Quetta Shura". The biggest catch was Mullah (Abdul Ghani) Baradar, the Afghan Taliban's top military commander. He was captured in the Pakistani city of Karachi in a joint operation of U.S. and Pakistani agents. Experts discuss what the arrests mean for Pakistan-US relations and President Obama's new strategy for Afghanistan.

Pakistan continues its fight against Pakistani Taliban in the northwestern tribal areas.

And U.S. drone attacks continue to target hideouts of Afghan Taliban who have crossed into Pakistan.

http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/asia/Arrests-of-Afghan-Taliban-by-Pakistan--85981782.html

[Robb]

11. Considering our own track record with that particular village

...I'll wait for the full wrap on this before celebrating.