Taliban kidnap dozens of Pakistani security forces

[Nikos]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...wVTmAD97S8SH80

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani airstrikes killed dozens of Taliban fighters in a fierce struggle to drive them from a district near the capital, while the militants took over police stations and kidnapped more than 50 security forces, the army said Wednesday.
One member of the security forces also died, the top military spokesman said.
Also Wednesday, a suspected U.S. missile killed at least five alleged militants in South Waziristan tribal region near Afghanistan, while shootouts in the volatile southern Pakistani city of Karachi killed at least 20 people.
Pakistan is acting under intense U.S. pressure to take a tougher line against Islamist militants expanding from the strongholds along the Afghan border, where al-Qaida leaders including Osama bin Laden may also be hiding.
Government forces have begun trying to force the Taliban back into the Swat Valley, from where they had pushed out in the direction of an increasingly nervous Islamabad under the cover of a controversial peace process.
Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said helicopters inserted commandos into the main town in Buner, a once-peaceful farming region in the northwest, on Wednesday morning just as ground troops fought their way in from three directions against an estimated 450-500 militants.
Militants were putting up stiff resistance and detonated three roadside bombs near the Ambela Pass, a key gateway to the mountainous region. Three more troops were injured, he said.
After warplanes struck late Tuesday, attack helicopters engaged "miscreants" and killed more than 50, Abbas told reporters in Rawalpindi, south of Islamabad.
Rather than fleeing, militants seized three police stations in the north of Buner on Tuesday and kidnapped 70 police and paramilitary troops, he said. Eighteen of the troops were "recovered" Wednesday, he said, giving few other details.
Security forces prevented some reporters from entering the area and telephone services were interrupted, making it hard to verify the army's account of the fighting.
The Taliban advance into Buner brought them to within 60 miles (100 kilometers) of the capital, Islamabad, raising concern about the stability of the nuclear-armed country. The army also says troops have killed scores of militants in recent fighting in Lower Dir, another area neighboring Swat.

Black eye for the Pakistani army. What an embarrassment. Just more proof that Pakistan is unable to deal with the threat from the Taliban and other extremists on it's own.

[Mithie]

Black eye for the Pakistani army. What an embarrassment. Just more proof that Pakistan is unable to deal with the threat from the Taliban and other extremists on it's own.

I think that's a foregone conclusion, but I wouldn't say it's an embarrassment. It's a war; things like this happen.

[Nikos]

I think that's a foregone conclusion, but I wouldn't say it's an embarrassment. It's a war; things like this happen.

It's a huge embarrassment. A supposedly modern and well trained military getting kidnapped by Guerillas.

[Babur]

It's a huge embarrassment. A supposedly modern and well trained military getting kidnapped by Guerillas.

Trained to fight India

[Mithie]

It's a huge embarrassment. A supposedly modern and well trained military getting kidnapped by Guerillas.

The Taliban are not guerillas and the Pakistani army are not modern and well trained by any stretch of the imagination.

[Babur]

The Taliban are not guerillas and the Pakistani army are not modern and well trained by any stretch of the imagination.

well it has consumed a fair chunk of Pakistan's budget for the past decades.

[Mithie]

well it has consumed a fair chunk of Pakistan's budget for the past decades.

It's not big to begin with, and after filtering out leakage due to corruption and internal strife, and how much of it went down the drain from splinter after splinter, the Pakistani army is a little better than a guerilla force by itself, frankly.

[Nikos]

The Taliban are not guerillas and the Pakistani army are not modern and well trained by any stretch of the imagination.

The Taliban are a Guerilla force and I said the Pakistani army is supposedly well trained and modern.

[Panzerbear]

The Taliban are a Guerilla force and I said the Pakistani army is supposedly well trained and modern.

trained and modern, according to which standards, Pakistani?

[Mithie]

The Taliban are a Guerilla force and I said the Pakistani army is supposedly well trained and modern.

Perhaps they are in Afghanistan but they are certainly more than that in Pakistan. They have a huge amount of territorial control in tribal Pashtun, enjoys a regular influx of recruits, and has on multiple instances attacked Pakistani forces head-on. These are not trademarks of a guerilla force.

Well yeah thanks to people like Zardari, but I wouldn't call the Pakistani army a guerilla force,hell some of my family in Pakistan have served in it .

Well, to be fair, I said it was slightly better than one. There's really nothing wrong with the army on the troop level - the Pakistani army has performed excellently in many UN operations (under Musharraf); it's the current leadership that's problematic, and unfortunately, with the current fractured echelon, the Pakistani army cannot be considered modern or well trained.

[ODST]

It's a huge embarrassment. A supposedly modern and well trained military getting kidnapped by Guerillas.

These aren't regular army soldiers that were captured, these were policemen and local paramilitary forces. I highly doubt any police force in the world (never mind Pakistan's police force) would be able to put up a fight against the Taliban.

[Panzerbear]

as I said few times before, my money is on Taliban .

[André Masséna]

as I said few times before, my money is on Taliban .

How you can say that with a smile is just astonishing. Perhaps you're right, but how is that a good thing?

[removeduser_052420]

How the is this even supposed to come as a surprise to anybody? First of all, these weren't soldiers that the Taliban captured, these were policemen. Secondly, when the PA army invaded lower dir, what do you expect the taliban to do? wait until the army can meet up with the policemen? hell no, if they can take hostages, then they'll take hostages.

[Treize]

So the Pakistani army is a bunch of noobs?

[removeduser_052420]

So the Pakistani army is a bunch of noobs?

no. It's the police officers that were kidnapped, not soldiers.

[Gertrudius]

So the Pakistani army is a bunch of noobs?

Not the army, they were policemen. And it's doubtful that the police would be able to take on Taliban forces without army support.

Take it easy,

Edit: pspguy123 beat me to the punch.

[Panzerbear]

but Pakistani police still have guns in that volatile region, no? if anything, I'd be more inclined to believe that a professional police officer with a gun is more equipped to handle terrorist raids than a Pakistani army 19 year old grunts.

[Rapax]

Sure, Pakistan's spear tip in the fight against the Taliban.

[removeduser_052420]

but Pakistani police still have guns in that volatile region, no? if anything, I'd be more inclined to believe that a professional police officer with a gun is more equipped to handle terrorist raids than a Pakistani army 19 year old grunts.

What the hell? These are low paid, under-trained, under-equipped policemen we're talking about. A "19 year-old grunt" will almost always be better trained than these police. And how can you compare these police, who do their job for the pay, to the battle-hardened taliban, who kill people and wage war for a living? you can't.