[How can the Pak Army seriously make claims of waging war against militants in Kurram Agency, when Operation Koh-i-Sufaid has only killed twenty terrorists in the last nine days? In the first three days of the alleged offensive they reported 40 terrorists killed, yet nine days of “fighting” has produced only twenty more kills. This cannot be called an offensive, when it is obviously more of a manhunt, or a scare campaign. Today’s great “victory” at Monato mountain is actually just a big game of “musical chairs,” with the Pak Army merely occupying the seats vacated by the long gone militants. Wake-up, Pakistan!]

Manato in Kurram Agency falls to Pakistan Army

Zahir Shah
Friday, 15-July-2011

MANATO, Kurram Agency: A stronghold and symbolic headquarters for militants in central Kurram Agency, Manato fell to advancing security forces July 14. The victory comes in the second week of Operation Koh-i-Sufaid, which began July 3. Troops are expelling militants from central Kurram, which borders three Afghan provinces and Pakistan’s tribal Orakzai and Khyber agencies. Militants are fleeing a five-sided offensive and are heading for the Afghan border and tribal areas in Upper Orakzai Agency and the Tirah Valley (Khyber Agency), the military claims. More than 60 insurgents have been killed and five troops have been injured in the operation. Victory would deprive insurgents of a suspected rest and reinforcement centre and the safest transit route to Afghanistan and to other tribal areas. “We … moved our troops swiftly, capturing important features and heights in the first three days around Manato,” Brig. Muhammad Basharat, sector commander for the South West and officer in charge of the Kurram offensive, told Central Asia Online. The army has deployed almost an entire division, tanks, artillery and Cobra gunship helicopters, he said, adding it has used the air force when necessary. “Militants … have disguised themselves in Frontier Corps and army uniforms,” he said. “They don’t follow any rule of law, but we have dislodged them … and they are fleeing.” The insurgents have about 600 hardcore fighters in the area, including about 250 locals, he estimated. They might have reinforcements from adjoining Orakzai, Khyber and North Waziristan agencies, he said, adding some foreign fighters could be involved. Complexity, cost won’t daunt government The offensive will free an oppressed local population, Lt. Gen. Asif Yasin Malik, commander of the 11th Corps, said. “Restoration of peace in Kurram Agency is a multi-pronged strategy,” Malik said. “Starting from the Murree Peace Accord (of October 2008), about Rs. 1.7 billion (US $19.8m) has been released for compensation of tribal conflict victims in Sadda and Para Chinar, besides the military offensive.” “This operation is not against any Sunni or Shia sect; it’s against the miscreants who were fanning violence in the Kurram region,” he added. The government plans decisive action throughout Kurram Agency. “Our aim is establishment of the government’s writ in the agency, and besides the military offensive … a peace process among the rival tribes is also continuing under the Murree Peace Accord,” Kurram Agency Political Agent Shahab Ali Shah told Central Asia Online. A top priority is to open the Thall-Teri Mangal road, he said, adding that the government is also assessing how to rehabilitate affected Sadda and Para Chinar families. The Central Kurram offensive could displace 70% of the 112,000 civilians living in the Ali Sherzai, Chinarak, Ali Dad Khel and Manato areas, Shah added, saying officials have opened camps in Durrani, Lower Kurram Agency, and in Togh Sarai, Hangu District, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Durrani Camp has about 600 families, he said. Another 6,000 families are living with host families and in government buildings elsewhere, according to the FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) Disaster Management Authority (FDMA). “A primary school has been established in the camp to facilitate the displaced kids,” Shah said. Medical care and clean drinking water are being provided, he said. Militant sites reclaimed for business Despite the hardships, Lower and Central Kurram residents are praising the offensive. The main Sadda Bazaar, formerly a hub of militant activity, is back in business. The Ajab Khan Square (Chowk) in that bazaar, which, according to locals, formerly had corpses hanging in the morning, has become a thriving business centre again. “Earlier there was bloodshed and tyranny and people were tortured publicly, but … we don’t have many problems now,” said Sadda Bazaar grocer Ashiq Khan. Authorities have renamed Ajab Khan Square, the site of executions by insurgents, to Amir Mavia Square, Army Lt. Col. Sajjad Haider told Central Asia Online. “Before our arrival people were hanged (here)… and no one dared to remove (the bodies),” Haider said, pointing to Amir Mavia Square. “The militants controlled the surrounding buildings, where they used to issue fatwas, but now you can see normality all around.” The locals still feel threatened when they remember the reign of torture and bloodshed in Ajab Khan Square,” said pharmacist Alam Khan. “But the government has to ensure that peace prevails and the tribesmen don’t get coerced by militants again.”