Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
My Profile
Top News
Reuters top ten news stories delivered to your inbox each day.
Subscribe
You are here:
Home
>
News
>
International
>
Article
Home
Business & Finance
News
U.S.
Politics
International
Technology
Entertainment
Sports
Lifestyle
Oddly Enough
Health
Science
Special Coverage
Video
Pictures
Your View
The Great Debate
Blogs
Weather
Reader Feedback
Do More With Reuters
RSS
Widgets
Mobile
Podcasts
Newsletters
Your View
Make Reuters My Homepage
Partner Services
CareerBuilder
Affiliate Network
Professional Products
Support (Customer Zone)
Reuters Media
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
Pakistani forces launch air attack on Taliban
Wed Aug 26, 2009 6:02am EDT
Email | Print |
Share
| Reprints | Single Page
[-]
Text
[+]
By Hafiz Wazir
WANA, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani helicopter gunships stepped up attacks on Taliban positions in the South Waziristan region on Wednesday, a day after militants confirmed that their leader was dead and announced his successor.
Pakistani and U.S. officials had been saying for days that Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a missile strike by a CIA-operated drone in his South Waziristan stronghold near the Afghan border on August 5, but the Taliban had been denying it.
Baitullah, an ally of al Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban, was accused of a series of attacks in Pakistan over the past couple of years including the 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
Western governments with troops in Afghanistan are watching to see if a new Pakistani Taliban leader will shift focus from fighting the Pakistani government to aiding the Afghan insurgency.
Security forces have made significant gains in an offensive against the Pakistani Taliban in the Swat valley, northwest of Islamabad, since late April, and have also been attacking Mehsud's men in South Waziristan.
Helicopter gunships attacked militant hideouts in Madi Jam, an area 20 km (12 miles) east of South Waziristan's main town of Wana, on Wednesday after Taliban attacked a military convoy, killing two soldiers, intelligence officials and residents said.
Residents in Wana saw armoured personnel carriers heading toward Madi Jam.
"Helicopters dropped leaflets asking people to leave the fighting area," Mohammad Aslam, a resident of Madi Jam, told Reuters by telephone.
Military spokesmen were not available for comment.
Pakistan and U.S. officials had been saying the militants appeared to be in disarray since Mehsud's death.
Analysts saw the Taliban's earlier denials that Mehsud was dead as an attempt to hide divisions over who should take charge of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), or Taliban Movement of Pakistan, alliance of about 13 militant factions.
RIVALRY
Hakimullah Mehsud, an aide to Baitullah, and another senior militant, Wali-ur-Rehman, told the BBC on Tuesday that Baitullah was dead. Hakimullah said he had been chosen as the new TTP leader.
Analysts have been expecting the government to exploit the disarray with the militants' ranks but a senior military commander said last week the army would need months to prepare for an all-out assault in South Waziristan.
Hakimullah told the BBC that while he had been appointed overall head of the TTP, Rehman would lead Mehsud's estimated 10,000 to 20,000 men in South Waziristan. Continued...
View article on single page
Share:
Del.icio.us
Digg
Mixx
Yahoo!
Facebook
LinkedIn
Also On Reuters
Full Coverage: Sen. Edward Kennedy, 1932-2009
Analysis: U.S. bank stocks on a roll, but for how long?
Slideshow
Slideshow: The world's ethnic and religious minorities
More International News
Karzai leads in Afghan poll, run-off indicated
| Video
Abbas to call election if talks with Hamas fail
Iran's Khatami says trial confessions invalid
Two Koreas hold rare talks on split families
Iraqi Shi'ite party leader dies, successor eyed
More International News...
More News
Pakistani Taliban confirm leader is dead: report
Tuesday, 25 Aug 2009 01:22pm EDT
Editor's Choice
Slideshow
A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. Slideshow
Most Popular on Reuters
Articles
Video
Senator Edward Kennedy dies at age 77 | Video
CIA memo details procedures for breaking detainees
Fidel Castro says racist right-wingers fight Obama
UPDATE 5-White House, CBO debt forecasts challenge Obama
Kennedy death puts family dynasty in doubt
Farmers issue warning after fatal cow attacks
Kennedy death puts family dynasty in doubt
U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy dies at age 77
UPDATE 2-Fannie, Freddie soar on opportunistic day traders
CIA memo details procedures for breaking detainees
Most Popular Articles RSS Feed
Video
Ex-Guantanamo inmate speaks of abuse
Semenya returns home amid gender row
Early Afghan results show tight race
UK PM "repulsed" by bomber welcome
Sen. Edward Kennedy dies
Truck bomb wounds 42 in Thailand
Propofol killed Jackson
Nigeria gunmen surrender weapons
Propofol OD killed Jackson -coroner
Japanese PM Aso casts vote
Most Popular Videos RSS Feed
Afghanistan and Pakistan
Pakistanis rally to support refugees
Pakistanis rally to help those fleeing the Tabliban, in one of the biggest internal displacements in recent times. Full Article
Aid workers hit hard by Pakistan's "asymmetrical war"
Pakistan's displaced lament Ramadan in camps
Beyond the Afghan election
Pakistan says it has no favorite and only wants stability in its western neighbor, but analysts said it would prefer to see a victory for incumbent President Hamid Karzai. Full Article
Slideshow: Afghans at the polls
Video
Women seek refuge in Afghanistan
Patooni Muhanna, who works at a women’s shelter in Kabul says that despite some positive changes, domestic violence and self-immolation are still concerns. Video
Reuters.com:
Help and Contact Us |
Advertise With Us |
Mobile |
Newsletters |
RSS |
Labs |
Journalism Handbook |
Archive |
Site Index |
Video Index
Thomson Reuters Corporate:
Copyright |
Disclaimer |
Privacy |
Professional Products |
Professional Products Support |
About Thomson Reuters |
Careers
International Editions:
Africa |
Arabic |
Argentina |
Brazil |
Canada |
China |
France |
Germany |
India |
Italy |
Japan |
Latin America |
Mexico |
Russia |
Spain |
United Kingdom |
United States
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.