Afghan Press Author: Rooh-ul-Amin

Nine people including two women and three children lost their lives in an air strike from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) under the operation of US Air Force in North Waziristan. A drone equipped with most sophisticated air-to-surface (ASM) guided missile targeted the house of a local resident Muhammad Yousuf Wazir in Toll Khail village killing nine members of one family. The ill-fated family came under the strike around at 5:30 AM early at morning after they have had their Sihri (breakfast early at morning for fasting). The deadly attack left no one alive and engulfed the entire family. The recent series of attacks by the ISAF commandoes and pilot less detective drones inside the Pakistan territory have left a lasting rancorous feeling and hatred for US across FATA that is likely to provoke pro-Taliban sentiments. It is 7th in the recent series of attacks in tribal belt and US since its invasion in 2001 has infringed 58 attackes into trial belt.

Till yet Pak Army has been denying such incursions by SU led forces and its for the first time that Major Murad Khan, military spokeman confessed this one as by US.When he added exposed that they had informed the government and central command in Rawalpindi of the cross-border raid.

No more details were milked out of him but the security officials in the area said that 14 people have been died and 12 others inured.

As the area is under the attackes from both the sides–means Pak Army and US led coalition forces. The militants could not retalaited the IASAF immidaitely but it fired rockets in Mir Ali and Miran Shah at security forces posts but no loss has been reported till now.

When there is an up surge in insurgency in Afghanistan the US-led coalition forces accelerate its operation in tribal belt. In this connection US president alleged that terrorists from Pakistan’s tribal areas are attacking Afghanistan when he was speaking to an audience at National Defence University.

He declared that 8000 troops from Iraq will be withdrawn and 4500 will be sent to Afghanistan to combat terror.

A gushing insurgency in Afghanistan has raised fears about the US interests in Afghanistan after seven years of Taliban ouster.

That worry has compounded pressure on Pakistan to go after militants operating from shelters on its side of the border, including in North Waziristan. The Pakistan Army has lost around eleven hundred soldiers as a result of their active participation in the north of their country—bordering area of Afghanistan.

At present more than 400,000 civilians of the seven Agencies of FATA are directly suffering from this tremor of terror. The life of 450,000 people of the four districts of the NWFP including Dir, Swat, Hangu, and Tank have also become adverse because of the current operation of Pak-Army against miscreants. 80,000 Frontier Corps and 400,000 infantry troops are manning 1100 check posts, which are under the strict duty of police.

Security forces stepped up offensives in two areas in August, the Bajaur region on the Afghan border and the Swat Valley in North West Frontier Province.

Hours after Friday’s missile strike, a roadside remote controlled bomb hit a security convoy in Qutab Khail, seriously wounding three soldiers. Security personnel in the convoy opened fire after the blast, wounding four civilians, residents said. Fears about Afghanistan’s future and frustration with Pakistani efforts to tackle the militants have led to more U.S. missile attacks by drone aircraft in Pakistan. Yet the US president is not happy with role of his henchmen in Pakistan and directed a new strategy of direct actions in Pakistan avoiding this time the order of “do more” as he das been ordering in past. It shows that now he has lost his confidence in the operation carried out by the Pak military against the militants.

About a dozen strikes this year have killed scores of militants along with some civilians as well.

But in addition to missile strikes, helicopter-borne US commandos carried out a ground assault in South Waziristan last week, the first known incursion by US troops into Pakistan since the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan.

Pakistan condemned the raid the one according to officials claimed 20 lives, including women and teenagers.

The US military raised fears of more incursions on Wednesday, saying it was not winning in Afghanistan and would revise its strategy to combat militancy within Afghanistan and trans border as well.

Amid this uproar and tumult Army chief General Ashfaq Kayani said in a strongly worded statement that Pakistan would not allow foreign troops onto its soil and Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity would be defended at all costs. Kayani also dismissed speculation of a clandestine deal allowing US forces to attack in to Pakistan territory. But instead that for the past three nights American detective aircrafts hovered the entire tribal area at night and the Pak Army, though it had convened a meeting earlier could shot down any of the detective drones while violating the frontiers of Pakistan.

The US press reported on Thursday that President Bush had secretly approved orders in July that allowed US special forces for the first time to carry out ground assaults inside Pakistan without the approval of the Islamabad.

On the other hand, the twenty one members peace committee continued its meeting on the third consecutive day in the office of the political agent.

The officers of Pakistan Army also attended the meeting and representatives of the political administration but no details of the meeting were exposed to media.

A widespread panic has gripped the area and there is no more any hustle and bustle in the marketplaces of the agency despite the fact that people buy food and other necessities in large quantities in this fasting month of Ramadhan. Moreover a website bbcurdu.com has added that US drones have bombarded a school building where the families of alleged Taliban were staying.

Residents of the locality said that most of the killed were local Taliban and not Alqaida against US allegation that it has safe hideouts in FATA and their bodies had been trapped under debris of the building.

According to them Taliban reached the area soon after the attack and cordoned off the entire locality and also shifted the dead bodies to some hidden location.

In the current week, the seminary of Jalaluddin Haqqani a spirirual leader of the Haqqani network and legendary figure in the Afghan War against the Soviet in the 1980’s was also attacked in Dandi Darpa Khail, leaving 20 people dead while 12 civilians had lost their lives in a similar attack a few days back in an attack of the same nature.