‘Mother of all battles’ raging near Kotkai

Salman Masood, Foreign Correspondent

• Last Updated: October 21. 2009 12:45PM UAE / October 21. 2009 8:45AM GMT

Blood stains the floor at the female students’ cafeteria after a suicide blast yesterday at Islamic International University in Islamabad. Farooq Naeem / AFP

ISLAMABAD // Taliban militants offered stiff resistance to Pakistani army troops trying to seize control of the town of Kotkai in South Waziristan as fighting entered its fourth day yesterday in the embattled tribal region.

At least 12 militants and four soldiers were reported killed in the clashes there, a military spokesman said. Three soldiers were injured.

Army troops had on Monday taken control of tactical heights surrounding Kotkai, which has symbolic importance as the hometown of Hakimullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, and Qari Hussain, a notorious commander who is the organiser of the suicide brigade of the Taliban.

But militants were able to resist further army advances and fired rockets at the troops throughout the night.

In a terrorist attack yesterday the government was quick to link to the insurgents in the north-west, two suicide bombers detonated their explosives-laden jackets inside a university campus in the capital and killed at least five people, including two women. More than 30 students, mostly women, were injured.

There were no claims of responsibility, but Pakistani officials blamed militants based in South Waziristan, the scene of the massive military operation that had been described as a safe haven for the Taliban and al Qa’eda.

“All roads are leading to South Waziristan where the operation is going on right now,” said Rehman Malik, the Pakistani interior minister.

Officials and witnesses said two suicide attackers targeted the campus of the International Islamic University, located on the outer edges of Islamabad.

Educational institutions that were run by armed forces had already been closed for a week because of security concerns.

An Islamic university campus was an unlikely target, however, and many students were shocked as the explosions rattled two blocks yesterday afternoon about 3.15pm.

One suicide attacker detonated his explosives near the women’s cafeteria, where men are not allowed. Another blew himself up in the male Sharia block near the office of the head of the law department.

“The guard tried to stop [him] and then let him go. There is an internal security lapse,” Mr Malik said, referring to one attacker who detonated his explosives near the cafeteria.

“The attackers have proven that they are no well-wishers of Islam. Such an aggression is just to test the nerves of the nation. We are in a state of war,” Mr Malik said, urging the country to stand united.

The blasts left a trail of destruction. Blood stains splattered walls of the campus. Shards of glass were scattered over floors. Shrapnel pocked the walls of the Sharia block; the ceiling of the women’s cafeteria was charred black.

University officials expressed surprise at the suicide attacks and said there had been no warnings.

“There were no threats,” Anwar Hussain Siddiqui, the president of the university, said, adding that security guards and faculty members were on alert nonetheless.

Mr Siddiqui said that apart from local students, about 1,500 foreign students, including 700 Chinese, study at the campus.

In South Waziristan, Pakistani army troops continued to pound militant positions with artillery fire. The army launched a ground offensive against 10,000 militants in their stronghold of South Waziristan last weekend. The offensive came after a series of deadly suicide and gun attacks convulsed the country as militants targeted security installations in three major cities – Islamabad, Lahore and Peshawar.

Media have begun calling the fight in South Waziristan the “mother of all battles”. The rugged, mountainous terrain is where Taliban militants managed to set up their own control and safe havens. The hilly terrain is inhospitable and the local Mehsud tribesmen are reputed to be fierce fighters. They are joined by as many as 1,500 hardened foreign fighters, mainly Uzbeks, the military claims.

More than 28,000 troops backed by artillery and air force fighter jets started their push against the militants in South Waziristan early on Saturday from three directions: from Razmak in North Waziristan towards Makeen in South Waziristan, from Wana and Shakai towards Serwakai on the way to Kaniguram and from Jandola to Spinkai Raghzai, Kotkai and Sararogha.

The Pakistani military claims that its troops are making steady progress. It is impossible to verify the claims of the military or the counterclaims of the militants.

“The militants are trying to put up stiff resistance,” said Mehmood Shah, a retired brigadier and a former chief of security of the tribal areas. “The progress of the troops is slow, but it was expected.”

The troops’ advance has been slow as militants have laid mines and use improvised explosive devices.

Some analysts say the battle could become protracted, as militants would prefer a guerrilla war rather than engage the military head on.

But Mr Shah, who is based in Peshawar, said generally the militants had alienated the population of South Waziristan because of their harsh treatment of locals. “The first requirement of guerrilla war is that the local population should be on your side.”

He added that the local population was so suppressed by the militants that one could expect revenge killings in the future.

As the army tries to squeeze the militants from three sides, reports have emerged that it has struck deals with two influential militant commanders, Hafiz Gul Bahadur and Maulvi Nazir, who have promised to stay neutral. Mr Bahadur is the leader of a militant faction in North Waziristan and Maulvi Nazir wields influence around Wana in South Waziristan. Both belong to the Wazir tribe, which has had a historic rivalry with the Mehsud tribe of South Waziristan. In the past, officials have used one tribe against the other to maintain control of the restive region.

Mr Shah said the strategy made sense as it was “better to divide them first. The military cannot take on everyone at the same time.”



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