Pakistan's border raids target terror suspects
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistani troops backed by helicopters launched an offensive yesterday to capture suspected Al Qaeda fugitives hiding in the mountains along the Afghan border, thought to be a possible refuge for Osama bin Laden.
The operations follow a bloody series of attacks this week in Afghanistan suspected to be the work of Taliban and possibly Al Qaeda fighters, amid new calls by bin Laden in his latest taped message for Muslims to attack US forces and their allies.
General Shaukat Sultan, spokesman for Pakistan's army, would not say whether the operation underway in Wana, across the border from Afghanistan's Paktika province, was launched to capture bin Laden or any other Al Qaeda leader. "This operation is part of our campaign in the war on terror," Sultan said. "So far, no foreigner has been arrested, but we are questioning some local tribesmen."
The US military in Afghanistan declined to comment whether bin Laden might be in the area targeted by the Pakistani operation.
In Washington, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said he was pleased the Pakistani army "began operations this morning that relate to that challenge" of combating terrorism.
Zalmay Khalilzad, US ambassador to Afghanistan, said he welcomed the announcement that a major operation was underway "in Waziristan against Al Qaeda and terrorists, and I hope it will succeed in apprehending senior members of Al Qaeda and the Taliban."
Pakistani troops recently increased operations in tribal areas along the border, where the central government traditionally has little control. The region is suspected of being a haven for Al Qaeda fugitives and fighters of Afghanistan's ousted Taliban regime. A Pakistani intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said authorities received a tip Monday that 15 to 20 armed men thought to be foreigners were taking refuge in three compounds in the village of Kalosha, near Wana, in the tribal area of South Waziristan.
Tribal elders were contacted and asked the men to surrender, but they refused, prompting a raid by helicopters and soldiers at 3 a.m. yesterday in which gunfire was exchanged, the official said. The soldiers used loudspeakers to urge villagers to leave.
There was no word about casualties or arrests. The three Pakistanis who owned the houses were being hunted and a compound was bulldozed after a search found no one, said Brigadier Mehmood Shah, a military commander in the area.
Shaukat said the operation was continuing but declined to elaborate.
The closest American base is at Shkin, across the border in Paktika province in Afghanistan. Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Beevers, a spokesman for the US military in Kabul, said US soldiers at firebases such as Shkin were carrying out "routine" operations, such as vehicle checks and patrols.
"Our operations in the south and east are always very aggressive," Beevers said. "We watch the border very closely."
South Waziristan is one of the main suspected hide-outs for bin Laden and other top Al Qaeda fugitives.
The ousted militia has staged several ambushes and frequently fires rockets at US bases in the area, with fighters retreating into Pakistan afterward.
Bin Laden urged Muslims in an audiotape message broadcast Sunday by the Al-Jazeera TV network to "liberate the Islamic world from the military occupation of the crusaders," referring to US troops and their allies.
