Pakistan strikes Bhutto assassin stronghold

By Associated Press
Monday, January 21, 2008 - Updated 4h ago

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - The Pakistani military pounded an extremist stronghold yesterday near the Afghan border where a rebel leader blamed for the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is believed to be hiding, officials and witnesses said.

The strikes came after authorities said Saturday they had arrested a 15-year-old boy in northwestern Pakistan alleged to have been involved in the Dec. 27 slaying of Bhutto, an

opposition leader critical of rising Islamic extremism in the country.

The central government has never had much control over South Waziristan, a tribal area where several top al-Qaeda terrorists, Taliban and Pakistani extremists are believed to live. They included Baitullah Mehsud, a Pakistani accused by the government and the CIA of masterminding the killing of Bhutto.

Officials said the boy had confessed to taking part in a plot to kill Bhutto in a gun and suicide bomb attack in the garrison town of Rawalpindi. His role in the mission to kill Bhutto was as a backup in case the shooter or the suicide attacker failed, according to an intelligence official who has seen his interrogation records.

The boy said the slaying was organized by Mehsud, who has previously denied any involvement in the attack, according to the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.

Authorities say the boy received terrorist training in neighboring Afghanistan before taking part in the mission. He told interrogators he trained for 40 days in a camp run by Mehsud in the Kotai area of South Waziristan before going to Helmand province Afghanistan in 2007 for another 40 days of “practical training.”

Meanwhile, Sunni extremists fired small arms and mortars at a Shiite procession commemorating Ashoura, a Shiite Muslim holiday that is often scarred by sectarian violence, the military said in a statement. Nine civilians and three security troops were injured in the incident in northwestern Hangu town, which ended after troops fired tear gas from a helicopter, it said.

Fighting in South Waziristan in recent days has killed more than 100 soldiers and militants.

The violence comes as the nuclear-armed country prepares for Feb. 18 elections that many predict will weaken President Pervez Musharraf’s grip on power.

SOURCE:

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WANA, Pakistan (AFP) — Pakistani helicopter gunships and artillery pounded militant positions in a restive tribal area bordering Afghanistan, residents and officials said.

The military said they fired artillery after coming under attack in Ladha village of restive South Waziristan district, where a Taliban commander linked to the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto is said to be hiding.

Ladha Fort

"At 0100 hours miscreants fired 12.7 millimetres gun from old Ladha to Ladha observation post. Security forces retaliated with artillery guns fire," a military statement said, but gave no casualties.

Ladha Fort

Residents however said that shells fired from six helicopter gunships killed two people and left seven others wounded, but officials were not immediately available to confirm the deaths.

The military said Saturday that troops captured 50 Islamist militants in an operation in the rugged Chaghmalai and Ladha areas of South Waziristan.

The clashes started after hundreds of heavily armed militants overran a Pakistani paramilitary fort on Wednesday, killing seven soldiers and leaving another 15 troops missing, presumed kidnapped.

The fierce clashes were the latest in a series to rock the tribal region, the stronghold of wanted Islamist warlord Baitullah Mehsud and his Al-Qaeda and Taliban allies.

Militants have stepped up attacks on troops in the region since Bhutto was killed in a gun and bomb attack last month.

Pakistan was already on high alert for the Muslim festival of Ashura, being observed on Sunday.

Pakistan gunships pound militant stronghold: residents

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bY VANCOUVER:( sorry had wrong link up, fixed now )

........ It's interesting that Ayman al-Zawahari's "town hall meeting" video is overdue by at least three days, and there is no longer a banner about it at Ekhlaas. The production might have been destroyed, or at least interrupted, in the recent fighting in Waziristan.

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