Word: waziristan
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...search-and-destroy mission. The quarry: top Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters believed to be hiding out in tribal lands since being routed from Afghanistan three years ago by U.S.-led coalition forces. Some optimists even thought Osama bin Laden might be plotting his next attacks from Waziristan and could be snared there. But after several weeks of ambushes and the shelling of villages, the campaign was abandoned as the army death toll mounted in the face of fierce resistance from Wazir defending their homes. At least 63 Pakistani soldiers were killed (although unofficial accounts put military casualties at more...
...fears that a prolonged campaign could escalate into a full-blown tribal uprising all along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. There was never a sign of bin Laden, nor was there a sighting of his No. 2, Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahiri, rumored, wrongly as it turned out, to be in Waziristan...
...Privately, Pakistanis grumble that the U.S. and its coalition partners are pushing too hard and as a result the Pakistani army rushed headlong into Waziristan unprepared for the resistance it faced. "Yes, we're impatient," conceded one Western diplomat in Islamabad. "But we're operating against the unknown deadline of a major terrorist attack in the U.S. That's what drives us." Another Islamabad-based diplomat claimed that lately Western intelligence was picking up "lots of chatter" from its electronic eavesdropping and informants that "something very nasty was being planned out of Pakistan...
...ancient, pre-Islamic code that exalts honor, revenge and giving sanctuary?even if it's your worst enemy who is asking. And for the Wazir, al-Qaeda weren't enemies; they were considered fellow Muslims fighting the infidel. "These al-Qaeda," marvels clergyman Maulana Hafta Khan in Jandola, southern Waziristan, "they love death like a drunkard loves his wine...
...does the U.S. expect the Wazir to have a change of heart and kick al-Qaeda warriors out of their impoverished villages, because the foreigners bring in money. One tribal official in Jamrud told TIME he knew of an al-Qaeda fighter living in the hills of Waziristan who was paying $750 a month for a simple, mud-walled house that ordinarily rented for less than $80. Mohammed and his tribesmen also earn cash selling supplies to other Muslim militants?Arabs, Chechens and Uzbeks, according to the official?and by providing al-Qaeda with fresh recruits and guides to assist...