Pakistan Security Brief

Pakistan Security Brief – November 4, 2009

The Pakistani military says it know controls Sara Rogha and has been encountering fierce opposition in street fighting in Ladha; in Bajaur, two female teachers were ambushed by militants and two militant commanders surrendered to security forces; two suspected suicide bombers accidently blew themselves up near Kohat; four suspected militants were killed in Hangu by security forces; US Secretary of State Clinton says the US is responsible for al-Qaeda’s presence in FATA.

  • The Pakistani military is now in its nineteenth day of its operation against the Pakistani Taliban in South Waziristan.  Fierce street fighting has been reported in Ladha as the security forces say they now control the key town of Sara Rogha.  The government has reported that it has killed a total of three hundred and ninety militants while only loosing thirty-seven soldiers.  These counts remain impossible to verify due to continued press-restrictions in the area (click here for more detail on operation in SWA).[1]

  • Two militant commanders surrendered to Pakistani security forces in Bajaur Agency.  The commanders surrendered in Khar town in Salarzai Tehsil.  Five other militants were apprehended nearby.  Meanwhile, two women teachers were also killed in Bajaur on Wednesday when they were ambushed as they to their school in Khar.[2]

  • Security forces killed four suspected militants in Hangu district near Kurram Agency.  Officials say that this prevented an attack on security forces.  Elsewhere, two suspected suicide bombers prematurely detonated their explosives as they rode a motorcycle towards Kohat city.[3]

  • In an interview with Fox News, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton admitted that the United States was in part responsible for allowing al-Qaeda militants to flee into FATA at the beginning of the United States operations in Afghanistan in 2001 and 2002.  She stated that “If we (the United States) had done a better job going into Afghanistan and capture the people who had attacked us or killed them you know, we would be in a different position.”[4]


[1] “Street battles as Pakistan troops advance on Taliban”, AFP , November 4, 2009. Available at http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/091104/world/pakistan_unrest_northwest_military   
[2] “Militant commanders surrender in Bajaur”, The News, November 4, 2009. Available at http://thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=206761 “Militants kill two women teachers in Bajaur: officials”, Dawn, November 4, 2009. Available at http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/11-militants-kill-two-women-teachers-in-bajaur--officials--il--08
[3] “Attack foiled in Hangu; four militants killed”, Dawn, November 4, 2009. Available at http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/provinces/04-attack-foiled-hangu--qs-07
[4] Anwar Iqbal “US allowed Al Qaeda to enter Fata: Hillary”, Dawn, November 4, 2009. Available at http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/us-allowed-al-qaeda-to-enter-fata-hillary-419
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