ANGOR ADDA, Pakistan, 3 October 2003 — Pakistan’s army launched its largest-ever offensive against Al-Qaeda and other militants in a rugged tribal region bordering Afghanistan yesterday, killing at least 12 suspects and arresting 10.
An Associated Press reporter at the scene saw four bodies and Maj. Gen. Ameer Faisal, the commander of the operation, said eight others were lying in an area about 100 meters away that was too dangerous to enter. Ten Al-Qaeda suspects, blindfolded and with their hands tied behind their backs, were led away from the area.
Army officials said one Pakistani soldier was killed and two wounded in the operation.
The AP reporter was shown a massive cache of anti-tank mines, grenades, rockets and machine guns seized from the hideout.
Faisal said the majority of those killed and captured in the operation in South Waziristan appeared to be foreigners. It was not immediately clear if any top-ranking Al-Qaeda operatives were among them. Osama Bin Laden and his alleged No. 2, Ayman Al-Zawahri, are believed to be hiding somewhere along the long border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Taleban fighters are also believed to use the area as a staging ground to launch attacks inside Afghanistan. On Monday, a US soldier was killed in a gunbattle with anti-coalition forces near a base at Shkin, a town in Afghanistan’s Paktika province, just across the border from South Waziristan.
Faisal said the battle was ongoing, and that some 200 troops took part. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, an army spokesman, said it was the army’s largest-ever offensive against Al-Qaeda, and the largest army operation to date in the fiercely autonomous tribal areas.
The fighting began at about 5:30 a.m., shortly after Fajr prayers, Faisal said. He said the two Pakistani soldiers were hurt when the suspects threw grenades at them as they first approached the hideout.
At least nine hours later, gunfire could be heard coming from a group of compounds where Faisal said other Al-Qaeda suspects had taken refuge. At least four Pakistani helicopters circled the area.
“Al-Qaeda people have taken refuge in these five big compounds. We do not know how many people are hiding there,” Faisal said.
Maj. Gen. Faisal Alavi said Pakistani forces had been tracking some 40 fighters crisscrossing the porous frontier between Angor Adda and Afghanistan’s Shkin town.
Maulana Fazlur Rahman, a pro-Taleban politician in Islamabad, condemned the operation. “This operation is not in the interest of the nation. Al-Qaeda may be against America, but they are certainly not against Pakistan and Muslims,” he said.
