12 troops ambushed near Wana
Tuesday March 23, 2004-- Safar 01, 1425 A.H.

WANA: Attackers ambushed a Pakistan Army convoy on Monday, killing 12 soldiers and wounding 22 more, as tribal elders tried to persuade encircled "al-Qaeda fighters" to surrender.

The army, which says it has trapped hundreds of militants and their Pakistani tribal allies in rugged territory near the Afghan border, held fire on Monday to let a delegation of elders talk peace.

However, a convoy heading for the town of Wana to support the operation against the militants was ambushed by fighters with rockets. "There were 12 dead and 22 wounded," one government official told Reuters. "The army has blocked the road from both ends and no one is allowed to go in." There was no information on casualties among the attackers.

The battle, involving 5,000 troops, is the biggest Pakistan has ever waged in its semi-autonomous tribal area and is part of a major push to try and sweep foreign militants from the Afghan border region and catch al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. US forces are hunting on the other side of the border. The twin operations come amid heightened worldwide anxiety over al-Qaeda attacks. The fighting in the fiercely independent tribal region of South Waziristan erupted on Tuesday last after security forces moved in to hunt al-Qaeda suspects and their tribal allies.

Officials said some of the militants could have escaped through a series of tunnels connecting the mud-walled fortresses in the area, although others show no sign of giving up. Pakistan had been coming under pressure from Washington for not doing enough to root out militants from its remote mountains.

The mediating tribal elders returned to Wana, the town nearest the fighting, on Monday without making much headway. Earlier, a delegation of some 20 tribal elders flew white flags from their cars as they travelled into Kalosha and Shin Warsak villages where a siege has left at least six people dead.

They were trying to persuade the local Yargulkhel clan, a fierce Pashtun sub-tribe which has been sheltering and fighting alongside the militants, to hand over the fighters along with 12 soldiers and two officials taken hostage.

Local officials have said about 30 soldiers and a similar number of militants have been killed since Tuesday. At least 13 civilians have died, and anger about the offensive is simmering. In Wana, hundreds of tribesmen abandoned their homes and hearths on Monday amid fears that the military was planning a second offensive in the area, residents said.

The exodus of shopkeepers from Wana, the main town in tribal South Waziristan, took place as thousands of troops called off a ceasefire in their siege of hundreds of fighters in villages 15 kilometres away.

Pakistani forces have been bombarding the al-Qaeda-linked fighters, believed to be sheltering a "high value target", for the past week. Members of the Yargulkhel tribe, blamed for sheltering foreign al-Qaeda loyalists, started vacating their shops in Wana early Monday and some 300 shops in several shopping complexes were empty by the afternoon, witnesses said.

"There is an unprecedented panic and chaos, people are using trucks, pick-ups and tractors to move their belongings to safer places," they said. Wana has several multi-storey buildings housing hundreds of shops where the tribesmen run medical, grocery and stationary stores.

"We fear the fighting may intensify, that is why we are taking out the stocks," a Yargulkhel shopkeeper told AFP. Authorities in the area have been working to obtain the handover of the militants for some time, warning tribesmen that if they did not hand over the wanted men the authorities would demolish their homes and shops.

Local administration official Rehmatullah Wazir confirmed that the government reserved the right to "take action against the shops and homes of Yargulkhel tribesmen at any time." Agencies

Javed Aziz Khan adds from Peshawar: Firing between the army jawans and miscreants in the troubled Wana area continued as the authorities discovered a two-kilometre long tunnel between houses of two wanted men, Sharif and Naik Mohammad on Monday.

"There is no report about any casualty from our side in last night’s firing," Secretary (Security) FATA, Brigadier (retd) Mahmood Shah told newsmen during a briefing about the latest situation in South Waziristan. He added that the two kilometre long tunnel has many channels, leading outside from the area and it is suspected that some people might have fled via these subways. The official also informed mediamen about discovering a telephone exchange in the area.

Shah said that the government has sent a tribal jirga to mediate with the locals to accept three conditions put forward by the political administration. He argued that there was no ceasefire but the fire was on hold. The political authorities had not placed much expectations with the jirga and were of the view that the chances of its success were very few.

The government had placed three conditions to the jirga for stopping the ongoing operation in Wana. One, release all the missing/held officials of FC and political administration. Two, hand over all the wanted criminals, to the authorities. And three, hand over the foreigners, ask them to leave the area or point out their hideouts if the tribesmen can’t put a hand on them.

About demolition of houses, Shah told media that 13 houses have been destroyed that were suspected as hideouts of the criminals. He also added that six bodies have been sent to Islamabad for DNA test.

"No comment" was the answer of the official when asked about the presence of Ayman Al-Zawahri among the six dead foreigners. Secretary Security for FATA said that a total of 123 people have been arrested so far. "68 are those who are in custody of the political administration while the rest are with the Army," Mahmood Shah remarked. He also said that there were three separate lists of wanted people and their number was from 100 to 124. "Those who have been arrested would be compared with all these lists," he opined. Brigadier Shah was of the view that journalists have not been banned from entering the area. About the deployment of Army in FATA, the official said that there was no agreement against the sending of troops to the tribal areas.

Source:
www.jang.com.pk