The Hindu : Target eludes Pakistani forces in Al-Qaeda operations

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Mar 22, 2004

International

International

Target eludes Pakistani forces in Al-Qaeda operations

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, MARCH 21. The much talked about `high-value target' eluded Pakistani forces as they continued the offensive in search of Al-Qaeda suspects for the fourth day in South Waziristan Tribal Agency bordering Afghanistan.

According to the Director-General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Shaukat Sultan, there has been a decline in resistance from the suspected foreign militants sheltered in the region.

An estimated 400 to 500 alleged terrorists are still hiding there.

Maj. Gen. Sultan told Pakistan Television (PTV) that experts of various agencies were interrogating 100 odd suspected foreign militants and those who provided them shelter to ascertain details of their identity and purpose of their mission.

"They are a mixed bag of locals, Chechens, Uzbeks, there could be Arabs, but since they do not carry any identification on them and there is no one to identify who is who, this can only be confirmed after interrogations," he said.

Though the degree of resistance from the fighters is much less today, military and paramilitary forces are not making any assumptions.

One view is that the fighters could have deliberately slowed down to lure the forces deep inside the tribal areas for a hand-to-hand combat.

The Pakistan Government today chose to reopen the route of negotiations with the tribal leaders to persuade them to work on the militants and force them to surrender. A s(conclave) of 1,000 elders was held with representatives of the Government to discuss the strategy.

The fact that authorities have decided to involve elders once again suggests that the militants are well entrenched and perhaps enjoy the support of local people.

Given the fierce resistance they have put up in the last few days, a lot of bloodshed could be expected if the operations continue.

The elders have asked the forces to declare a two-day ceasefire to give them an opportunity to negotiate a surrender deal. But it is doubtful if the military would agree to the proposal as such negotiations in the past did not yield any results.

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