Pak Army has scored 'straight A' in Waziristan operations: Ex-envoy

[pkd]

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Pak Army has scored 'straight A' in Waziristan operations: Ex-envoy

Islamabad, Feb.18 (ANI): Presentations often reveal as much about the thought processes and intellect and the professional competence of the presenter as the choice of words do his communication skills, says a former Pakistan ambassador.

According to Zafar Hilaly, former Pakistan ambassador to the US and France, the Chief of Army Staff, General Asfaq Pervez Kayani, has scored "straight "A's" on all four counts.


In an article for The News, Ambassador Hilaly says that General Kayani's powerpoint presentation on South Waziristan operations was very effective.

"From the briefing we deduced that in contrast to how some other armies are faring across the border, in less difficult terrain and against resistance that was desultory, the army's performance has been excellent," he said.

"For example, in South Waziristan the enemy had a long time to prepare and forge a battle plan. They had a surfeit of weapons and were well stocked with ammunition. Their fortifications were strong, well dug in and with interconnecting tunnels. And yet, such was the tactical surprise the army achieved, that they were routed," he says.

He says that apparently, the enemy had prepared to fight along roads and valleys, in other words, the traditional battlegrounds in mountainous areas, whereas the army moved at night and along sharp ridges.

"Such tactics completely unhinged the enemy," Hilaly adds.

"The impact of the success of these operations on the morale of our troops can be gauged by the fact that the South Waziristan operation that was scheduled to take ten weeks was concluded in five. The soldiers are single-minded, convinced of their cause and supremely confident. The enemy now knows that the army has the measure of them," he said.

"One significant impact of the army's success is the greater support the army is now receiving from local tribesmen as it pursues insurgents who have fled from South Waziristan and are hiding in North Waziristan. Arms caches are being unearthed on the basis of fresh intelligence supplied by locals, and further searches are being conducted," he said.

The challenges that the army faces are many, such as the need to retain public support and for the people to own the solutions being proffered. Success could not be measured in the number of enemies killed, actually those numbers are immaterial, he says. (ANI)

[dk33]

Another article on Pakistan's COIN progress.

'Gotterdammerung' in Pakistan?

Thursday, February 18, 2010
Ikram Sehgal

While Pakistan is in the midst of a full-blown political crisis, the security situation, which had reached its worst point in April 2009, when the Pakistani version of the Taliban took over Swat and adjacent areas, has taken a turn for the better after the military's success in counter-insurgency.

The abject surrender by the National Assembly in sanctioning, almost without debate, that the Taliban could administer territory where the laws of Pakistan would not apply, came to its natural conclusion in April 2009, when Sufi Muhammad proclaimed that he did not believe in the Constitution, or the Supreme Court of Pakistan or the High Courts.

From here on, in terms of the "domino theory," it was only a matter of time before the precedent was emulated in other areas in Pakistan. Sufi Muhammad's brutal son-in-law Fazlullah proceeded to enforce his own brand of Islam over the hapless people of Swat.

What the army has done in Swat, and since than in South Waziristan Agency, has been nothing short of magnificent, though at grievous human cost to itself. A calculated risk was taken in surrendering the element of surprise and announcing the military operations in advance, which created a mass exodus of two-million-plus internally displaced persons. This substantially limited the civilian collateral damage, preventing it turning into the tragedy it could have become. Using overwhelming force the army raced against time to accomplish in six weeks what most military analysts had expected would take six months, or even longer. Within two months most IDPs were back. These tactics were duplicated again in mid-October against the fortified Al-Qaeda stronghold in South Waziristan. With underground tunnels for storage of arms, ammunition and explosives, and for field hospitals, these militant bases were considered impregnable. The denial of such space has made militant leaders vulnerable, Mullah Baradar's recent capture in Karachi being a case in point. Our military planners should be satisfied that Gen Stanley McChrystal is following the same tactics in Morjah in Helmand province, publicly announcing impending military operations to contain civilian collateral damage while dominating space, an absolute must in trying to win the hearts and minds of the populace.

The change in military command in November 2007 changed the military mindset from its comfortable peacetime ceremonial role, a 180-degree turnaround in transforming themselves mentally to take on the mission. Democracy (of sorts) gave the army the public support that is a necessity in counter-insurgences, without that the military effort could never have succeeded.

Countering insurgency is far different from countering terrorism. We do not have the capacity or the capability within the civilian law enforcement agencies to counter terrorism. Alienating the population in such an exercise, the army will lose the goodwill it has gained through great sacrifice. Because of Shia-Sunni trouble, the Afghan War and the freedom struggle in Kashmir, militants have strong roots in many urban and rural areas throughout Pakistan. Terrorist cells of many different kinds proliferate throughout the country. Money, material and human resources abound in quite some numbers, it will take dedicated and concentrated effort by a wholly separate entity, well-equipped, well-trained and well-led, to destroy their capacity and potential to spread harm and grief.

In the 1980s and 90s poppy cultivation and drug smuggling across the Durand Line had become a menace to the state. Set up with the help of the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) has had phenomenal success targeting drug lords and dismantling their vast empires. Having its own inherent intelligence setup, the ANF should be fast-tracked into the nucleus of a Counter-Terrorism Force (CTF). Since drug money plays a big part in sustaining terrorist forces, and organised crime-skills are necessary to obtain fake documents, money-laundering, etc., there is an unholy nexus with terrorism that makes the ANF route a potent one...

'Gotterdammerung' in Pakistan?

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BTW, the original Zafar Hilay piece (first post) is posted here:http://www.defence.pk/forums/land-fo...ez-kayani.html

[H2O3C4Nitrogen]

Now dough that the whole ops reflect professionalism..!
PA Zindabad .. !

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

Dependable Army with Superb generals and command & control - calling the shot

[ameer219]

Man,the Pakistan army have so much soul in them..I will always be proud of you guys!

[pkd]

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In a leighter vein RAW by now would have been tasked to get a copy of that presentation