Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Idea Of The Day -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote (47954)	3/5/2005 5:55:11 PM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 50167

Qaeda suspects killed, 11 arrested in Waziristan * Weapons will be seized if not surrendered by tribesmen: Brig Shah By Iqbal Khattak PESHAWAR: Two suspected Al Qaeda militants were killed and 11 others, mostly believed to be foreigners, were arrested during a military operation in North Waziristan Agency, a military spokesman said on Saturday. Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan, director general of the Inter-Services Public Relations, told Daily Times that security forces launched an operation west of Miranshah on Saturday morning after intelligence reports indicated militants were hiding in Devgar village on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. “Two foreign militants were killed in the ensuing fight. Eleven others, mostly foreigners, were arrested,” he added. Witnesses in Devgar village told reporters that security forces moved into the small village after midnight and surrounded a mud-brick house where the militants were hiding. One witness said the fight took place early in the morning and lasted for more than two hours. Maj Gen Sultan also confirmed the fight between security forces and militants. “A woman and at least three security personnel were also injured,” the witness added. Maj Gen Sultan said the foreigners’ nationalities could not be known. “I can’t says where the arrested people are from,” he said. An administration official in Miranshah believed the dead militants were Arabs. “Two Sudanese and one Qatari were among the arrested suspects,” he said, adding that several “Punjabi-speaking” militants were also arrested and weapons seized. The arrested men were handcuffed and taken to an unidentified location for interrogation, a senior administration official told Daily Times. “Special Services Group personnel (commandos) were choppered in for the operation,” the official added. Meanwhile, Brig (r) Mehmood Shah, the security chief of the tribal areas, said on Saturday that the authorities would seize heavy weapons belonging to tribesmen if they were not surrendered in a government buy-back programme meant to disarm militants in the region, AFP reported. The government wanted to purchase anti-aircraft guns, missiles, mortars, rocket launchers, landmines, hand-grenades, light machineguns and assault rifles from tribesmen, he added. “We are waiting a response from tribesmen and if no one comes up to sell these weapons, we will work out a strategy to confiscate them,” he said. “A committee has been set up in each tribal region to execute the government’s policy on keeping such lethal arms away from the people,” Brig (r) Shah added. Tribesmen, however, could keep some small arms for personal protection, he said. He did not say how many estimated heavy weapons were in the tribal regions or how much money the government had put aside for the buy-back deal. dailytimes.com.pk