Wednesday, 10 October 2007

''War against terror'' is a State terrorists war against oppressed nations and people


Civilians killed in Pakistan battle
At least 45 Pakistani soldiers have been killed during the four days of fierce fighting [AFP]
Dozens of civilians, including women and children, have been killed as Pakistani military jets targeted the positions of tribal fighters in North Waziristan, residents say.
A military spokesman said that "militant hideouts" were hit in Tuesday's air raids but local residents said a market had been hit killing dozens of people.
Up to 250 people have been killed in four days of fighting in the tribal region.
Villagers in Epi, about 4km from the town of Mir Ali where the fighting has been centred, told the Associated Press news agency that about one dozen explosions had destroyed shop and homes. Abdul Sattar, a grocery shop owner, said that he had counted more than 60 dead and 150 injured after the bombings, including civilians.
"Some did not have heads, hands or legs," Sattar said.
'Militant hideouts'
Major General Waheed Arshad, a military spokesman, said: "There were militant hideouts in the area near Mir Ali, aircraft targeted these hideouts on Tuesday but I don't have the number of casualties from that."
Special report
Security officials in the northwestern city of Peshawar said that another 50 fighters linked to the Taliban and al-Qaeda had been killed in Tuesday's attacks and a similar number wounded.
Thousands of families on Tuesday fled Mir Ali - the region's second largest town with about 50,000 inhabitants - and outlying villages, making their way on foot, in tractor trailers and cars. Sher Khan, a resident, told Reuters news agency he estimated that nearly 90 per cent of families had left the town, leaving behind a few men to guard their belongings.
"The main bazaar of Mir Ali is sealed by the army," Khan said. "All shops are closed. We have nothing to eat. That's why I have sent my family to Bannu."
Homes destroyed
Other residents said that most people had abandoned their homes after more than 50 houses were damaged. Faridullah Khan, a local tribesman, said: "Our homes have been damaged severely, most of the families have migrated to relatives' homes in neighbouring towns." Your Views "Pakistan needs a military leader who can control both civil and possible military extremism"
Creative_person01, Islamabad, Pakistan
Send us your views Arshad said air raids earlier destroyed most houses around Essori, a village near Mir Ali where most of the fighting was concentrated.
The military has said that the fierce fighting broke out on Sunday after a roadside bomb detonated next to a lorry carrying paramilitary troops. Many Taliban and al-Qaeda members who fled to the region after US-led forces drove them out of Afghanistan in late 2001 have found support in the tribal areas.
There has been a rise in fighting since tribal groups in the semi-autonomous region scrapped a peace deal with under which they would have taken greater responsibility for security in return for a withdrawal of Pakistani government forces.
Around 90,000 government troops are deployed in the area but have failed to stop the violence.
In neighbouring South Waziristan, more than 200 Pakistani soldiers have been held since late August. Their captors are demanding an end to all military operations in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.
General Pervez Musharraf, the president who is waiting for the supreme court to rule on the legality of his controversial re-election on Saturday, has said "terrorism" is one of the biggest challenges to the country.
But the conflict has reinforced opposition among many Pakistanis, mainly in the conservative northwest, to Musharraf over his support for the US's "war on terror".
Turkey prepares for raids into Iraq
Turkey suspects about 3,000 PKK members are hiding in northern Iraq [EPA]

Turkey is preparing for a possible incursion into northern Iraq as the government says it is willing to take all necessary measures against Kurdish separatists it suspects of hiding there.
The decision by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister, follows a series of deadly attacks by the rebel PKK group on Turkish security forces.
"To put an end to the terrorist organisation operating in the neighbouring country [Iraq], the order has been given to take every kind of measure, legal, economic, political, including also a cross-border operation if necessary," Erdogan's office said in a statement on Tuesday. Kurdish rebels have killed 15 soldiers in separate attacks in the past two days.
There is increasing anger in the country over the rebels' ability to find refuge in neighbouring Iraq.
Shelling claims
The military said on Sunday it had shelled an area near Iraq to try to stop PKK members from escaping across the border after an attack in the southeast province of Sirnak that killed 13 soldiers.
However, residents in northern Iraq claim the Turkish shelling is landing well within their territory. Kurdish farmers displayed craters on Tuesday they said were left by artillery shells that hit close to the border.
"I am not sure that unilateral incursions are the way to go, the way to resolve the issue"
Sean McCormack, US state department Ankara has not confirmed any shelling of Iraqi territory.
Local officials in the Iraqi Kurdish-run northern region, feared the shelling was a sign of more to come.
In the city of Arbil, 350km north of Baghdad, the Kurdish governor warned Turkey on Tuesday that its troops would sustain heavy losses if they began operations in the region.
Nozad Hadi, the region's governor, said: "If the Turkish troops decided to enter into the Iraq's Kurdistan territories, their decision would be wrong and they would sustain heavy casualties and material losses."
Turkey's parliament would have to authorise any large-scale military operation into Iraq, but troops could pursue rebels over the border in smaller, so-called "hot pursuit" operations without such authorisation.
Ankara has long claimed the right to stage such limited operations under international law as legitimate self-defence and claims about 3,000 PKK fighters are currently in northern Iraq.
Turkey blames the PKK for the deaths of more than 30,000 people since the group began its armed campaign for a homeland in the southeast of the country in 1984.
Public pressure
The US said it supported Turkey and Iraq in their efforts to combat the PKK but warned against military incursions from Ankara.
"If they have a problem, they need to work together to resolve it and I am not sure that unilateral incursions are the way to go, the way to resolve the issue," Sean McCormack, a spokesman for the US state department, said on Tuesday.
Asked whether Washington had urged restraint on both sides, McCormack said sovereign states had to make their own decisions about how best to defend themselves.
"We have counselled both in public and private for many, many months the idea that it is important to work cooperatively to resolve this issue," he said.
Al Jazeera's Yusuf Sharif in Ankara says Turkey is unlikely to send troops into its neighbour in the near future given that it is due to host a regional conference next month with Iraqi representatives among the attendees.
Sharif also said that the government in Baghdad wants time for a recent security agreement signed with Turkey to take effect.
Yusuf Kanli from the Turkish Daily News said while there was public pressure on the Erdogan government to show it was able to deal effectively with PKK rebels it needed to differentiate between the group and the wider Kurdish issue.
"You can not end this kind of terrorism through military action, there are other factors to consider such as political, and social elements that intermingle," he told Al Jazeera.
"But Turkey can not in any way ignore the need to provide security for its country. They have to differentiate between PKK and the Kurdish problem."
France and Russia 'closer' on Iran
Sarkozy was optimistic about reaching a compromise with Putin on Iran and Kosovo [Reuters]

The French president says talks with his Russian counterpart have brought them closer to common ground on the issue of Iran's nuclear programme. "On Iran, I have the impression that our positions have firmly moved closer together," Nicolas Sarkozy said after a three-hour meeting with Vladimir Putin late on Tuesday.
"There is a very clear convergence of views on the analysis of the state of Iranian nuclear research," he added. Sarkozy said Putin agreed that Iran was capable of acquiring nuclear weapons but they differed on whether Tehran would want to do so. France's call for tougher sanctions against Iran had earlier met with some resistance from Russia.
"On Iran, I have the impression that our positions have firmly moved closer together"
Nicolas Sarkozy, French president
A Russian newspaper quoted Sarkozy as saying that France would push to tighten sanctions to "bring Iran to its senses".

Putin is scheduled to travel to Iran next week.

The UN Security Council has twice slapped sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme, which Western governments believe is a cover for a bomb-making project, a claim Tehran denies.

Russia, which is helping Iran build its first nuclear power plant, has used the threat of its veto in the council to water down sanctions, saying further penalties would be counterproductive.

Kosovo compromise

Putin and Sarkozy also discussed Kosovo, whose push for independence Russia is opposed to.

Moscow blames the European Union and the US for causing strife in the Balkans by backing the ethnic Albanians by carving up Serbia, a Russian ally.

The French president said Putin was not "closed" to a compromise that would allow for the issue to be resolved while addressing Serbian sensitivities.

"I found a desire in Mr Putin to not close the door to a solution that would allow humiliation to be avoided," Sarkozy said.

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