Word: waziristan
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...similar arrangement in 2007 with two different and more powerful militant leaders proved disastrous. When Maulvi Nazir of the rival Ahmedzai Wazir tribe in South Waziristan took on Mehsud and Uzbek groups aligned to al-Qaeda, the Pakistan army backed him. After his men killed 250 Uzbek fighters, the army entered a nonaggression pact with Nazir and his associate Hafiz Gul Bahadur. But Nazir continued to attack U.S. forces across the border, and was targeted in air strikes. Enraged, Nazir and Bahadur shed their differences and formed a new alliance with Mehsud earlier this year. Now, all three groups could...
...Given the profusion of militant groups that operate in South Waziristan and the tribal areas, the Pakistan wants to avoid having them all arrayed against it at once, which would drain resources to fight on multiple fronts. Already, there are grave doubts about launching an operation against Baitullah Mehsud when gains made in Swat and neighboring districts have not been consolidated...
...Almeida, assistant editor at Dawn newspaper. "There are two ways of doing it. The lashkar route [local anti-Taliban militias] is one of them, which means supporting a genuine form of rebellion. The other route has been making deals with these unsavory characters like Qari Zainuddin. Unfortunately, in South Waziristan, the state has decided to use the short-cut route of just propping up the latter...
...Taliban commander with whom Ludin had arranged meetings several times before. It was yet another reminder of the dangerous unpredictability of reporting the Afghan war. With negotiations for their release at a stalemate, Rohde and Ludin jumped the wall of the compound where they were being held, in North Waziristan, while guards were asleep...
...fallout and be prepared for it." Hussain also says the fighting could lead to a further 1.5 million people being displaced, in addition to the nearly 3 million who already have been. But other observers put the number lower, at around half a million, given that many residents of Waziristan have already fled as word of a looming military operation spread in recent weeks...