Islamic jihadists kill dozens, sack Pakistani fort

Hundreds of Islamic jihadists kill dozens, sack Pakistani fort near border with Afghanistan, led by notorious are warlord

Agence France Press reported Wednesday, Jan. 16, on a swarming jihadist hoard that day overrunning a Pakistani paramilitary fortification near the Afghanistan border.

Pakistani army sources referred to the hoard as “miscreants” and their own dead as “embracing martyrdom” and claimed up to 50 attackers and seven soldiers died.

Another 20 troops were missing - insurgents armed with rocket launchers and assault rifles shot their way into the remote outpost at Sararogha town in the rugged South Waziristan tribal district.

The area is purportedly a stronghold of tribal warlord Baitullah Mehsud, allegedly linked to Al-Qaeda. Pakistan accuses Mahsud of plotting opposition leader Benazir Bhutto’s assassination.

"Around midnight 400 miscreants attacked the Frontier Corps at Sararogha,“ chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said.

“The fort was captured by militants, we are taking stock of the situation,“ Abbas added. “There are reports of 40 to 50 dead miscreants, while seven personnel embraced martyrdom."

The attack is believed to be the first time Pakistan has lost one of its tribal area forts. It highlights growing unreast ahead of February 18 planned elections impacted because of Bhutto's death.

Military sources said the Islamic fighters besieged the remote post in darkness before blowing up part of the walls using explosives, storming inside and taking control of the building.

Abbas said soldiers responded with artillery before fleeing.

Of 42 troops manning the fort, 15 had escaped to a separate base while the whereabouts of the remaining "stragglers" was not known, he added.

The army said it repulsed a similar attack by some 300 militants in South Waziristan last week, killing about 50 of them. Seven troops and 23 rebels died in a separate Monday clash…

Mehsud denies any role in Bhutto's assassination.

Militants also took over swathes of the Swat valley, also in northwest Pakistan, and proclaimed Islamic law before being chased into the mountains by troops.

They “proclaimed” Islamic law? This is a political ideology at work; many factions pursue various forms of “Islamic law” - some counter-terrorism experts say the movement for Islamic law is best described as “Islamo-fascism.” 

---

Add Comments

Join Our E-Mail list

E-Mail to a Friend

400,000 Copies Now in America's Homes

 

Order your copy of our "Jihad in America!" pamphlet