Pakistan forces hit militants on Afghan border

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani helicopter gunships and ground forces attacked a militant hideout near the Afghan border on Wednesday killing up to 30 people, according to a senior official in the North Waziristan tribal region.

Sayed Zaheerul Islam, the top government administrator in North Waziristan, said between 25 and 30 foreign fighters and tribal militants had been killed and more wounded in the assault on Danda Saidgai, a village about 15 km (10 miles) north of Miranshah, the region's main town.

~snip~

But a witness at Danda Saidgai said he saw helicopters attack houses where women and children lived. Others said a backlash against the army action was brewing in Miranshah, the region's main town.

There has been mounting anger among Pashtun tribes over the conduct of the war on terrorism which has resulted in Pakistani deaths and occasionally violations of Pakistani territory like the U.S. airstrike on the Bajaur tribal agency that killed 18 people in early January.

The latest Pakistani military operation came hours before U.S. President George W. Bush made a stop in Afghanistan at the start of trip that will also take him to India and Pakistan.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060301/wl_nm/pakistan_attack_dc;_

Wonder if there is any connection to * earlier statements about OBL.

My take is that the newspaper editors are sensitized to certain stories for completely odd reasons. * is in S Asia. Therefore, they must run stories from the area. This is a large strike, but they happen every few weeks. They run more often in the Pakistani press.

Musharraf has no love for the militants in the area. They've made at least one attempt on his life, and create lots of grief.

You might find it an interesting article.

He's Welcome in Pakistan

Pakistan's a mess, but when you look at all the options, it's just a question of what position to be in when you're screwed.

The areas where the militants established themselves were, and are, pretty much backwards xenophobes where pashtunwali reigns supreme: distinguishing it from Islam after 1000 years of interaction is pretty tough. Pakistani troops had never entered the area, and pashtunwali said that jihadis and good Muslims were welcome and protected. Pitch in some money, and voila: you've bought and paid for them, and get wives in return. America and the Jews and the secularists are all enemies: they'd reduce the clans' power, infringe on their land, and violate the customs and religion that must be universal--and if people haven't reverted to Islam yet, well, they need help, it could only be a conscious choice.

Drugs are a big no-no. But, hey, Muslims won't use them, sort of by definition. So who cares?

Send in outsiders to get the militants: the locals go more extremist. Don't send in outsiders to get the locals: you go more extremist. Find the kinds of people that *could* go in without alienating the locals and send *them* in, and all you've done is ship more extremists into the area. The way they do it: go in and kill a few, put on pressure for the militants to declare a truce, one that can be repudiated at will, sucks.

I haven't seen a suggestion that would seem to work; the best bet, IMHO, is to track down the militants, kill them, and then let the anger rage until it dies down. If you get a new generation of militants, well, you're no worse off. But that's a really sucky solution, and I think it's "best" only because the other choices are even worse.

All timed for Bush's visit to the area.