..High-Value Prisoners Killed in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Militants ambushed a military convoy that was carrying two high-value prisoners on Saturday, killing the two prisoners and a soldier, highlighting the reach the militants still have north of the capital, a month after a military campaign against them began.
The prisoners, captured during the military’s campaign in the Swat Valley, were important part of the leadership of the area. They were deputies of Sufi Muhammed, the spiritual leader whose son-in-law Fazlullah, leads the Taliban there.
Mr. Muhammed leads a banned group called Tehrik-i-Nafaz-i-Shariah-Muhammadi, or TNSM, which was closely linked to the Taliban. He was the leader who concluded a controversial peace deal with the Pakistanis government in February, seen as a capitulation to militants. His deputies were Muhammed Alam and the group’s spokesman, Amir Izat Khan, the military and locals said.
A spokesman for Pakistan’s military, Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, said by telephone that the attack happened at 5 a.m. near a village called Sakha Kot just north of Peshawar, the regional capital. A convoy of about six military vehicles was stopped when it hit a bomb in the road, General Abbas said.
General Abbas said it was still unclear what the reason for the ambush was, and why the prisoners themselves were killed during the course of it. Five soldiers were also wounded.
“I would say that it’s premature to conjecture that they were out to rescue them or to kill the security forces,” he said.
The attack seemed to underscore the continued vulnerability of Pakistan’s security forces, as they continue to fight a campaign against the Taliban. Military commanders have said the fight would be over within days, but since that announcement, a suicide bomber has struck and the ambush took place.
The United States has been pressing Pakistan to take action against its spreading Islamic insurgency, and strongly supports the military campaign. On a three-day visit to Pakistan, Richard C. Holbrooke, the Obama administration’s top envoy to Pakistan, praised the military’s efforts, as a fresh start in the fight.
The military has conducted two previous campaigns against militants in the area, but neither were successful, in part because it pulled back before completing the job.
“I am personally quite convinced that they are utterly serious about this issue,” Mr. Holbrooke said at a news conference in Islamabad on Friday.
NYT
The prisoners, captured during the military’s campaign in the Swat Valley, were important part of the leadership of the area. They were deputies of Sufi Muhammed, the spiritual leader whose son-in-law Fazlullah, leads the Taliban there.
Mr. Muhammed leads a banned group called Tehrik-i-Nafaz-i-Shariah-Muhammadi, or TNSM, which was closely linked to the Taliban. He was the leader who concluded a controversial peace deal with the Pakistanis government in February, seen as a capitulation to militants. His deputies were Muhammed Alam and the group’s spokesman, Amir Izat Khan, the military and locals said.
A spokesman for Pakistan’s military, Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, said by telephone that the attack happened at 5 a.m. near a village called Sakha Kot just north of Peshawar, the regional capital. A convoy of about six military vehicles was stopped when it hit a bomb in the road, General Abbas said.
General Abbas said it was still unclear what the reason for the ambush was, and why the prisoners themselves were killed during the course of it. Five soldiers were also wounded.
“I would say that it’s premature to conjecture that they were out to rescue them or to kill the security forces,” he said.
The attack seemed to underscore the continued vulnerability of Pakistan’s security forces, as they continue to fight a campaign against the Taliban. Military commanders have said the fight would be over within days, but since that announcement, a suicide bomber has struck and the ambush took place.
The United States has been pressing Pakistan to take action against its spreading Islamic insurgency, and strongly supports the military campaign. On a three-day visit to Pakistan, Richard C. Holbrooke, the Obama administration’s top envoy to Pakistan, praised the military’s efforts, as a fresh start in the fight.
The military has conducted two previous campaigns against militants in the area, but neither were successful, in part because it pulled back before completing the job.
“I am personally quite convinced that they are utterly serious about this issue,” Mr. Holbrooke said at a news conference in Islamabad on Friday.
NYT
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