Operation Khyber
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Khyber is the code-name for a military offensive being conducted by Pakistan's military in the Khyber Agency in two phases Khyber-1 and Khyber-2.
Khyber Agency is among Pakistan’s seven semi-autonomous tribal districts near the Afghan border, rife with homegrown insurgents and foreign militants. Terrorist organisations including Al Qaeda also have a presence there. The plains of Bara hold strategic significance for militant groups as they connect the agency to the outskirts of Peshawar. The key area also straddles the NATO supply line into Afghanistan. The region has been long fought over by a mix of militant organisations, including the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Ansarul Islam and Mangal Bagh’s Lashkar-e-Islam.
Background
After negotiations with militant groups, Khyber Agency political agent Shahab Ali Shah said that the time for negotiations with militant groups operating in the restive Tehsil was over and that militants had no option but to either lay down arms or face a military crackdown. The operation began with airstrikes against Lashkar-e-Islam hideouts in areas under the Mangal Bagh-led group’s control in Tirah and Bara, killing 21 militants and destroying their three key bases. Sources said the main aim of the operation was to clear Khyber from Bara to the border of Tirah valley, following which the second phase of the operation will begin.[1]
Belligerents
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Lashkar-e-Islam (Urdu: لشكرِ اسلام), (LI or LeI) literally Army of Islam) is a militant organization active in and around Khyber Agency, Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Pakistan. LeI was founded in 2004 by Mufti Munir Shakir. Currently the organization is headed by Mangal Bagh. LeI had control in Tirah and Bara.
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar is a militant Islamist group that split away from the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan in August 2014.[2] On 9 November 2014, JuA spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan confirmed that Abu Jandal was leading a contingent of 50 fighters in battle against the Pakistani security forces in Tirah. He further said that 50 more fighters would soon be on their way to the valley.[3]
Tehrik-i-Taliban is an umbrella organization of various Islamist militant groups based in the northwestern Federally Administered Tribal Areas along the Afghan border in Pakistan. Mangal Bagh is reported to have requested TTP and other militant groups to send their fighters to the Tirah valley to support LI. The TTP had announced it would send fighters to join LI.[4]
The United States government has attacked and killed many militants in Khyber Agency, during Operation Khyber, using unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) controlled by the Central Intelligence Agency.[5][6]
Preparations
Pakistan's security forces had blocked all entry and exit points of Bara at least two days ahead of the Khyber-1 military operation.
Timeline
- On October 16, 2014, twenty-one suspected militants were killed and five hideouts were destroyed in air strikes on the militant group Lashkar-e-Islam in the Akkakhel area.[7]
- On October 17, 2014, at least nine suspected militants were killed and 10 others were injured in an operation in the Bara area.[1]
- 25 October
- 18 militants were killed in Pakistani air strikes in Khyber Agency's Khyber district near the Afghan border.[8]
- 29 October
- Twenty militants were killed and eight others were injured in airstrikes by Pakistan Air Force in Akka Khel area of the Khyber Agency.[9]
- On November 9, 2014, at least 27 militants were killed and two soldiers died as security forces carried out strikes in Akakhel and Tirah areas. Those killed included a key militant commander and two suicide bombers. Ten militant hideouts and an ammunition depot were also destroyed, according to ISPR.[10]
- On November 11, 2014, at least nine militants were killed and 12 others injured in a clash between security forces and militants in the Akakhel area of Bara Agency. Four key militant commanders also surrendered to authorities.[11]
- On November 12, 2014, at least 19 militants were killed during air strikes in Sandapal and Akakhel areas of Khyber Agency. According to the ISPR, an important militant commander was also killed. Furthermore, the air strikes destroyed at least five militant hideouts and an ammunition depot in the area.[12]
- On November 21, 2014, at least twenty-two militants were killed in airstrikes against militant hideouts in various parts of Tirah valley of Khyber Agency, according to ISPR.[13]
- On November 28, 2014 at least 11 suspected militants were killed and five hideouts were destroyed in airstrikes in Tirah valley.[14]
- On November 29, 2014, Two Taliban commanders were killed in a clash with the security forces in Jamrud Tehsil of Khyber Agency. Official sources said that the clash occurred in Lashora area of Jamrud which left militant commanders of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, Abubakar and Wajid, dead.[15]
See also
References
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