Dozens of quake survivors have stormed UN helicopters in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, forcing the crews to evacuate them to cities in the region. The UN said the survivors had been stranded in mountains and called the incidents extremely disturbing.

There were two incidents, involving more than 50 people. The survivors fled on arriving at Muzaffarabad and Abbottabad. No-one was arrested. The 8 October quake killed more than 73,000 people and displaced millions.

Since then the UN and dozens of other organisations have remained involved in the emergency relief work.

However, heavy rain and snowfall early this week created new landslides, leaving thousands of people stranded in mountainous regions. The UN refugee agency says winter has come late to Pakistan but with a vengeance, with temperatures falling to -13 Celsius in the highest villages.

Rowdy

United Nations deputy humanitarian coordinator in Pakistan, Larry Hollingworth, said the two helicopter incidents were regrettable. He said in both cases the people were transported to safer places and no-one was detained.

The BBC's Zaffar Abbas in Islamabad says these are thought to be the first such incidents since the earthquake. A senior UN official told the BBC that in one case about 20 people forced their way onto a UN helicopter as it was about to leave the town of Banamula, after dropping food supplies. He said some of the people were rowdy and misbehaved with the UN staff. Eventually the helicopter crew had no choice but to fly them to Muzaffarabad. In the second case, about 35 people stormed a UN helicopter and had to be evacuated to the town of Abbottabad, although it was not clear where the incident started. The UN official said even though no-one was seriously injured, the two incidents were extremely disturbing.

Mr Hollingworth said the UN was in touch with the Pakistani military and civilian authorities and the matter was being investigated.

"I presume they were coming down from the mountains and basically wanted out. It's very cold there," Mr Hollingworth said.

He could not confirm reports that one UN staff member had been punched.

The relief effort is still a huge operation, with helicopters vital in transporting supplies. The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, says that either because of adequate supplies or blocked roads there has been no mass migration yet from upper valleys. However, it says it is prepared to receive 50,000 more people in camps if necessary. - BBC

Three Italian peacekeepers have been slightly injured in an apparent suicide attack in the western Afghan city of Herat, police and Nato officials say. The three members of the Nato-led peacekeeping force were travelling into Herat from the airport when a car drew up alongside their vehicle and blew up.

Officials say at least one man who was in the car died. A man claiming to be a spokesman for the ousted Taleban movement said its members had carried out the attack.

Nato officials said the three Italians had been injured by flying glass in the blast.

"There was a vehicle that pulled up alongside and blew up next to one of our vehicles," International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) spokesman Andy Elmes told AFP news agency. "Three Italian soldiers working with Isaf have been lightly injured."

Reports say there were civilians in the area at the time, but it is not known if there are casualties. The attack is the latest in a string of recent suicide attacks targeting Nato peace-keeping forces in Kabul and Kandahar. Analysts say it is a deliberate strategic move by the Taleban to try to frighten off European countries from becoming part of future Nato forces in Afghanistan.

More troops

Earlier this month, Nato foreign ministers endorsed a plan to expand the alliance's role in Afghanistan, making it the biggest operation outside Europe. It will involve deploying 6,000 more troops in the south of the country, a third of them expected to be British.

The south and east have been the scene of intense violence which has this year left more than 1,400 dead in Afghanistan, the deadliest year since US-led forces ousted the Taleban in 2001. - BBC

Meanwhlie: After doing some crawling to remember the holocaust in Auschwitz oh and visiting CIA/NATO Black sites in Poland, Dick Cheney visited Pakistan's earthquake zone, "underscoring the idea that helping Muslims in times of tragedy is one of the best ways the United States can improve its 'image' overseas."

"It's been an amazing experience to see the extent of the devastation," - Cheney said during a visit to a field hospital being run by the U.S. military near the quake's epicenter in the mountainous area 65 miles northwest of the capital Islamabad.

Rumsfeld also visits the disaster area, commenting that Usama Bin Laden might not be able to lead Al Queda "I'll leave it to the historians to say what happens" he rather cryptically said

In Jan 2006 - a Predator drone [remotely flown via GPS] killed 8 men, 5 women & 5 children many more dead - figures unknown - So NO MENTION that this barbaric attack on innocent people is in the same region where thousands are without adequate heating & shelter

By DOUGLAS JEHL and MOHAMMAD KHAN WASHINGTON, Jan. 13 - An American airstrike carried out on a village in the Bajaur tribal region of northwest Pakistan early Friday was aimed at Ayman al-Zawahiri, Al Qaeda's second-in-command, and Pakistani officials were trying to determine if he had been killed, American and Pakistani officials said Friday. As many as 17 people were killed in the airstrike, Pakistani officials and witnesses said.

The American and Pakistani officials said they believed that the attack had been carried out with a missile launched from a Predator drone aircraft operated by the Central Intelligence Agency.

A C.I.A. spokesman declined to comment, but the attack was described by other American and Pakistani officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the classified nature of the operation.

Villagers and security officials said the aircraft, which they described as American, swept into the Pakistani tribal region from Kunar Province in eastern Afghanistan about 3:15 a.m. local time Friday and fired missiles at residential buildings in Damadola, a village several miles from the border.

CNN and ABC News reported Friday night that Mr. Zawahiri, an Egyptian, might have been killed in the attack, but their reports could not be confirmed. Citing unidentified American sources, CNN said intelligence suggested that Mr. Zawahiri had been in a building that was struck. ABC, citing anonymous Pakistani military officials, said on its Web site that five of those killed were high-level Qaeda figures.

Pakistan has not granted American forces in Afghanistan the right to cross the border, even in pursuit of militants. American-led coalition forces clashing with militants in the mountainous province of Kunar say they have often been frustrated by their foes' use of Pakistan as a sanctuary.

United States military spokesmen in Afghanistan and at the Pentagon said they had no reports of American aircraft active in the area at the time of the explosions. Asked if a pilotless Predator aircraft might have been operating in the area, Maj. Todd Vicion, a public affairs officer at the Pentagon, said he did not know. "Those are operational details that we don't track," he said. Predators are operated by the Central Intelligence Agency, not the United States military.

In the cat-and-mouse game between United States forces and Qaeda leaders, there have been attempts over several years to kill Osama bin Laden, Al Qaeda's leader, and Mr. Zawahiri, with rumors that Mr. Zawahiri has been killed, or nearly killed. In March 2004, Pakistan's government indicated that in a battle between Pakistani soldiers and militants Mr. Zawahiri had been surrounded. But they later backed away from their statements, and within days there was a new taped message said to be from Mr. Zawahiri, calling for President Pervez Musharraf to be ousted.

[Pakistan's information minister, Sheik Rashid Ahmed, said in a telephone interview early Saturday that the government was investigating the attack and that he knew that 14 to 15 people had been killed, "mostly civilians." But asked if Mr. Zawahiri was a target of the attack, he said, "We have no confirmation of that."]

Witnesses from Damadola said 14 of the dead belonged to one family and included several women and children. Sahibzada Haroon Rashid, a member of Parliament who lives in a village near Damadola, said he saw a drone surveying the area hours before the attack.

"The drone has been flying over the area for the last three, four days, and I had a feeling that something nasty was going to happen," he said in a telephone interview. "I was awakened from deep slumber by the noise of the drone and then, together with thousands others who too had been woken up by the plane's noise, saw jets targeting the area," he said. "One plane circled the area and dropped illuminating flares and the other planes fired missiles. There were loud explosions." He said the planes' targets were three houses, all belonging to jewelry dealers. "The houses have been razed to the ground," said Mr. Rashid, who said he had visited the scene. "There is nothing left. Pieces of the missiles are scattered all around. The impact of the explosions have been huge. Everything has been blackened in a 100-meter radius."

A spokesman for the Pakistani military, Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, said he did not know the cause of the blasts. "People heard explosions and as a result, there were a number of casualties," he said. "My information is that 11 to 14 people have been killed."

This is the second report of an American attack on civilians in a Pakistani tribal region in recent days. Eight people, including women and children, were reported killed last Saturday when a helicopter fired at the house of a local cleric in North Waziristan close to the Afghan border. Pakistan lodged a strong protest with coalition forces on Monday, but said it was still investigating whether the missiles had been fired from Pakistani airspace or from Afghan territory.

Douglas Jehl reported from Washington for this article, and Mohammad Khan from Peshawar, Pakistan. Carlotta Gall contributed reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan. - news.ft.com

By RIAZ KHAN, Associated Press 14 Jan 2006 - DAMADOLA, Pakistan - Pakistan on Saturday condemned a deadly airstrike in which the U.S. reportedly targeted al-Qaida's second-in-command, as villagers whose homes were destroyed denied the militant was ever there and thousands of Pakistanis protested the attack.

The statement came after U.S. networks, citing unnamed American intelligence officials, reported that a CIA-operated Predator drone aircraft carried out the missile strike Friday and that it was aimed at Ayman al-Zawahri in the Bajur tribal region of northwestern Pakistan. Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed did not directly blame the U.S. for the attack, which killed at least 17 people, but he said the government wanted "to assure the people we will not allow such incidents to reoccur."

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Jan 19, 2006

Pakistani intelligence sources on Thursday identified three of four al Qaeda members believed to have been killed by a U.S. airstrike last week, though they have yet to recover the bodies.

One of the dead was said to be Abdul Rehman Al-Misri al Maghribi, a son-in-law of al Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri. Maghribi was responsible for al Qaeda’s media department. Another was Midhat Mursi al-Sayid ‘Umar, an expert in explosives and poisons who carried a $5 million U.S. bounty on his head under the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Rewards for Justice programme.

Pakistani officials gave a slightly different spelling for the name, but the FBI says ‘Umar ran a training camp at Derunta in Afghanistan and since 1999 had proliferated training manuals containing crude recipes for chemical and biological weapons.

The third man identified was Abu Obaidah al Misri, al Qaeda’s chief of operations in Afghanistan’s eastern Kunar province, where U.S. and Afghan forces regularly come under attack from militant groups. The Pakistani intelligence officers said they were still trying to identify a fourth al Qaeda member who was also believed to have been killed in last Friday’s airstrike.

“Their bodies are unaccounted for and this information is based on intelligence,” one of the Pakistani agents told Reuters.

DRONE STRIKES

The men were believed to have been among a group of al Qaeda militants invited to attend a feast in the village of Damadola, in Pakistan’s semi-autonomous Bajaur tribal agency on the border with Afghanistan, to mark the Eid al Adha festival last week. Officials say the bodies were removed from the scene by pro-militant Muslim clerics.

Zawahri had been the main target of the attack, according to U.S. officials, but Pakistani intelligence sources say he was not present.

Eighteen villagers were also killed in the airstrike.

Friday’s missile strike was the third believed to have been carried out by CIA-operated Predator drone aircraft in Pakistani tribal lands near the Afghan border since May.

Abu Hamza Rabia, an Egyptian said to have been al Qaeda’s No. 3 commander was killed in December, and a known al Qaeda bombmaker, Haitham al-Yemeni, was killed last May.

In both cases Pakistan denied the men were killed by U.S. missiles, though witnesses found U.S. missile parts at the scene and in Rabia’s case said they saw the thin white drone aircraft. Despite the diplomatic protest, intelligence sources believe the United States has Pakistan’s tacit agreement to conduct such operations on its territory.

President Pervez Musharraf made no mention of the attack in Bajaur during a televised address to the nation on Tuesday. Musharraf infuriated Islamist militant groups -- several of which previously had backing from Pakistani intelligence -- when he dropped support for the Taliban militia ruling Afghanistan after it refused to surrender al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States in 2001.

General Musharraf, who came to power in 1999 at the head of a bloodless military coup, has narrowly survived several assassination attempts since abandoning support for the Taliban, and helping the United States to hunt down hundreds of al Qaeda. - FT.com

UK troops are operating in areas run by warlords [my note: CIA & MI6!]

The UK is expected to send 3,500 extra troops to Afghanistan, bringing the total number in the country to about 4,000, the BBC has learned. Defence Secretary John Reid is to address the Commons on Thursday. He told MPs on Wednesday any number had to be agreed by Cabinet before being announced and said media speculation could "be right...or very, very wrong". The UK troops are expected to leave for Afghanistan in April or May. There are currently about 850 in the country.

Reconstruction

Mr Reid was speaking in response to an Urgent Question from shadow defence secretary Liam Fox. The UK takes control of Nato forces in Afghanistan in May, with soldiers due to oversee reconstruction efforts. Most of the troops are expected to go to Helmand province in the south, where the Taleban and drug traffickers are active.

Mr Reid told MPs that before a decision was made British military configuration had to be "sufficient to meet the task in hand" , and that aid to Afghan farmers had to be "sufficient to offer alternative livelihoods and development if we are to tackle narcotics". Mr Reid said he was satisfied over these two aspects but was "not satisfied" yet about the "Nato configuration of military troops around us". He denied there had been any Ministry of Defence leak to the press, after newspaper reports suggesting a decision had been taken to send a further 4,000 troops. "There is nothing more important to me and this government than the need for Parliament and my Cabinet colleagues to hear of our plans before anyone else and certainly before the media," he said.

Nato's International Security Assistance Force mission currently numbers about 9,200 troops. It is expected to increase the overall number to about 15,000. - BBC

By NADIA ABOU EL-MAJD, Jan 30 2006 CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri said in a videotape aired Monday that President Bush was a "butcher" and a "failure" because of a deadly U.S. airstrike in Pakistan targeting the bin Laden deputy, and he threatened a new attack on the United States.

A U.S. counterterrorism official, speaking on condition of anonymity in compliance with office policy, said there was no reason to doubt the authenticity of the tape, which U.S. intelligence officials were analyzing. The official said the message broadcast by Al-Jazeera showed al-Qaida believed it was important to convey that al-Zawahri is alive.

In Washington, FBI Special Agent Richard Kolko said the bureau would ask agents around the United States to review ongoing cases and tips in light of the new tape, especially with two major events this week - the State of the Union in Washington and the Super Bowl in Detroit.

Al-Zawahri, shown in the video wearing white robes and a white turban, said a Jan. 13 airstrike in the eastern village of Damadola killed "innocents," and he said the United States had ignored an offer from al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden for a truce.

"Butcher of Washington, you are not only defeated and a liar, but also a failure. You are a curse on your own nation and you have brought and will bring them only catastrophes and tragedies," he said, referring to Bush. "Bush, do you know where I am? I am among the Muslim masses."

The airstrike hit a building in Damadola, where U.S. intelligence believed al-Zawahri had been attending an Islamic holiday dinner. The strike killed four al-Qaida leaders - including a man believed to be al-Zawahri's son-in-law - but intelligence officials said later they believe al-Zawahri sent his aides to the dinner in his place. Thirteen villagers also were killed in the strike, angering many Pakistanis. The attack was believed to have been launched by a Predator drone from Afghanistan, where some 20,000 U.S. troops are based.

"The American planes raided in compliance with Musharraf the traitor and his security apparatus, the slave of the Crusaders and the Jews," he said, referring to Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf. "In seeking to kill my humble self and four of my brothers, the whole world has discovered the extent of America's lies and failures and the extent of its savagery in fighting Islam and Muslims."

The video was al-Zawahri's first appearance since the airstrike and came 11 days after the latest audiotape by bin Laden. The U.S. counterterrorism official noted that the video was disseminated quickly, demonstrating al-Zawahri's ability to get his message out even faster than bin Laden. That suggests the two are not hiding together and bin Laden may be in a more remote location than his deputy, the official said.

On Jan. 19, Al-Jazeera broadcast an audio message from bin Laden in which he referenced a secret British government memo disclosed in a Nov. 22 newspaper story. But al-Zawahri's message Monday references the attack that took place just more than two weeks ago. The last video from al-Zawahri came Jan. 6, when he called the U.S. decision to withdraw some troops from Iraq a victory for the Islamic world.

The Al-Jazeera newscaster said Monday the network was airing excerpts from the al-Zawahri tape, and it showed two short segments. It was not immediately known how long the entire tape was.

In the video, al-Zawahri spoke before a black background. No automatic weapon was visible, unlike past videos by the al-Qaida deputy in which a gun often appeared leaning next to him. In the bottom left corner, the video had the logo in Arabic and English of Al-Sahab, an al-Qaida video production company that made some past videos by bin Laden and al-Zawahri.

"My second message is to the American people, who are drowning in illusions. I tell you that Bush and his gang are shedding your blood and wasting your money in frustrated adventures," he said, speaking in a forceful and angry voice. "The lion of Islam, Sheik Osama bin Laden, may God protect him, offered you a decent exit from your dilemma. But your leaders, who are keen to accumulate wealth, insist on throwing you in battles and killing your souls in Iraq and Afghanistan and - God willing - on your own land." Al-Zawahri then vented more fury at the United States and Britain, its main coalition partner in Iraq. "Your leaders responded to the initiative of sheik Osama, may God protect him, by saying they don't negotiate with terrorists and that they are winning the war on terror. I tell them: You liars, greedy war mongers, who is pulling out from Iraq and Afghanistan? Us or you? Whose soldiers are committing suicide because of despair? Us or you?" he said. "You, American mother, if the Pentagon calls to tell you that your son is coming home in a coffin, then remember George Bush. And you, British wife, if the Defense Department calls you to say that your husband is returning crippled and burnt, remember Tony Blair."

The video comes after bin Laden warned that al-Qaida is preparing attacks in the United States but offered a truce "with fair conditions" to build Iraq and Afghanistan. The al-Qaida leader did not spell out conditions for a truce in the excerpts aired by Al-Jazeera.

U.S. officials said after the bin Laden tape that they had no sign that al-Qaida was preparing an imminent attack in the United States.

In an Arabic transcription of the entire tape on the Al-Jazeera Web site - but not aired - bin Laden made an oblique reference to how to prevent new attacks on the United States but did not specify if those were conditions for a truce. The tape was the first message from bin Laden in more than a year. The CIA authenticated the voice on the tape as that of bin Laden. Al-Jazeera said the tape was recorded in the Islamic month that corresponds with December.

The White House firmly rejected bin Laden's suggestion of a negotiated truce.

"We don't negotiate with terrorists," Vice President Dick Cheney said at the time. "I think you have to destroy them."

During the year of silence from bin Laden, al-Zawahri issued several video and audiotapes, including one claiming al-Qaida responsibility for the July 7 London bombings. - news.yahoo.com

Mike Blanchfield - The Ottawa Citizen - Friday, February 24, 2006

NATO is now in the business of fighting terrorism in Afghanistan and around the world -- a mission with no end in sight -- to prevent more 9/11-style attacks in Europe or North America, two of the transatlantic alliance's top generals said yesterday.

"This fight against radical extremists is not going to end with Iraq or Afghanistan," U.S. Gen. Lance Smith, NATO's ranking North American commander, told a small gathering of journalists. "These guys are not going to give up. They are committed zealots. And we're going to be fighting them globally for a long time."

Gen. Smith's comments reveal a fundamental shift in the mission of NATO, which was formed during the Cold War as a static group of land forces in Europe to defend against the Soviet Union. Now the 26-country transatlantic alliance sees itself as a global military force focused on restoring security around the world.

"Clearly going from a Cold War military to fighting irregular warfare is a huge transition," Gen. Smith said yesterday prior to a major conference on NATO and Canada's role in the alliance.

The key test of that new mandate is in Afghanistan, where Canada is playing a key role in NATO's first major mission outside its traditional European boundaries. In the past 15 years, NATO was focused on disintegration of the former Yugoslavia, which included the Bosnian War and the air bombardment to liberate ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

NATO is currently expanding its presence in southern Afghanistan to 6,000 combat troops from Britain, the Netherlands and Canada to take on Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgents.

"NATO certainly has resources, infrastructure. They have a lot of things that are at risk," said Gen. Smith, who is also the head of U.S. Joint Forces Command, which oversees 1.16 million U.S. troops.

"Hopefully ... we can make sure we don't have 9/11 kind of things going on in Europe and other places that we all have interests in," Gen. Smith added.

Canadian Gen. Ray Henault, the chairman of NATO's military committee in Brussels and a former chief of the Canadian Forces, agreed that terrorism will be a serious ongoing threat, but noted the organization still does not have all the necessary equipment it needs for its pivotal mission in Afghanistan, including attack helicopters and other aircraft.

"NATO recognizes how clearly this threat is to the way of life which we enjoy," said Gen. Henault said prior to the conference.

"I wouldn't say that's our only mission but it certainly is one of the clear missions," added the general, who was in Canada for meetings with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other officials for the first time since taking over the top NATO military post last spring.

New defence minister Gordon O'Connor agrees that the Afghan mission is in Canada's security interest, and he too invoked the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., that killed 3,000 people, including 25 Canadians.

"I can assure you that we in Canada will not be intimidated or deterred by terrorists," Mr. O'Connor told the Conference of Defence Associations annual gathering yesterday in his first major speech since being sworn in less than three weeks ago. "On Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists attacked North America and Canadians were killed. Let me be clear: when terrorists attack Canadians, Canada will defend itself. That's why we're in Afghanistan."

Mr. O'Connor also pledged to offer a full explanation to Parliament about the long-term implications of Canada's commitment to the Afghan mission, which is being bolstered this month to 2,300 combat troops and a nine-month stint commanding the multinational mission in Kandahar, the most violent part of the country.

Despite the fact NATO's credibility is riding on its ramped-up efforts in Afghanistan, Gen. Henault admitted yesterday the alliance is still plagued by the same problem that has continually dogged it there: a shortage of equipment to do the job, especially attack helicopters.

Gen. Henault said he is "encouraging very forcefully" NATO members to come up with the resources but he would not name specific countries.

Canada does not have attack helicopters, but that is something new defence chief, Gen. Rick Hillier, was able to convince the last Liberal government to fund through its last federal budget. As a NATO commander in Afghanistan in 2004, Gen. Hillier also complained about a shortage of helicopters.

When a suicide bomber killed Canadian diplomat Glyn Berry and injured three soldiers last month in Kandahar, survivors had to be airlifted by a U.S. helicopter.

Along with Mr. Berry, who was the head of Canada's provincial reconstruction team in Kandahar, eight Canadian soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since troops were first deployed there four years ago. - canada.com

Agencies KABUL, 23 February 2006 - An outbreak of bird flu among birds in Afghanistan is virtually unavoidable, a UN agency warned yesterday, calling for immediate steps to tackle the threat. With cases of the deadly disease detected in neighboring Iran and India, Afghanistan is practically surrounded, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization said.

“Today we can say that an outbreak of the disease among birds in Afghanistan is virtually unavoidable,” FAO representative Serge Verniau, said in a speech near a lake used by migrating birds on the outskirts of Kabul.

Meanwhile, a bomb fixed to a bicycle struck a convoy of NATO peacekeeping troops in Afghanistan yesterday, killing two people and wounding 13 others including a German soldier, officials said. Police said the bomb exploded near vehicles belonging to the International Security Assistance Force in the center of the northern city of Kunduz.

However, it was unclear if a man riding the bicycle was aware that it was carrying a bomb, Kunduz province police commander Mohammad Razaq told AFP. “The man and a bystander were killed, 12 local people were injured and one ISAF (soldier) was injured,” he said. The ISAF headquarters in the capital Kabul said the attack was caused by an improvised explosive device and was not a suicide blast. - arabnews

By BASHIRULLAH KHAN MIRAN SHAH, Pakistan (AP) -Mar 5- Hundreds of Pakistanis lugging bags and bundles of clothes fled a northwestern town Sunday after pro-Taliban tribesmen and foreign militants battled security forces in clashes near the Afghan border that left at least 53 people dead.

The fighting, which started Saturday and largely died down early Sunday, was the worst in two years in the lawless North Waziristan region, where well-armed, fiercely independent tribes have long resisted government control.

Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan said sporadic gunfire broke out Sunday afternoon in Miran Shah, the main hotspot of the unrest. But the fighters retreated from government buildings they had occupied, and soldiers controlled the town again, he said.

Sultan said foreigners involved in the fighting had come from neighboring Afghanistan and would be "confronted and eliminated."

The fighting came as President Bush made a 24-hour visit Saturday to the capital of Islamabad, about 190 miles northeast of North Waziristan, and declared his solidarity with Pakistan in the war on terror.

Sultan said at least 46 fighters and five soldiers were killed in the fighting.

Miran Shah's hospital said two civilians were killed - a 25-year-old man who died when a shell hit his home and a 50-year-old homeless man.

The fighting came just days after the army attacked a suspected al-Qaida camp in the village of Saidgi near the Afghan border.

Mark Smith, A-P correspondent: Smith reports as the president was leaving Pakistan, the government was reporting a clash with tribal militants near Afghanistan.

Waziristan is known as a hotbed of al-Qaida and Taliban militants who draw support from the local Pashtun tribal people. Many of the rebellious tribesmen involved in Saturday's unrest are believed to be Islamic students, referred to as "local Taliban," reflecting their sympathies with the hardline militia in Afghanistan.

Miran Shah's streets and bazaars were empty. Smoke billowed from a bank building hit by an artillery shell. Another shell tore a hole in the home of a doctor who lived on the premises of a state-run hospital. Shells also pocked the side of the hospital.

Both sides were using mortars and other heavy weapons, and it was not known who hit the buildings or whether they were targeted or hit by accident.

Security forces fortified themselves inside a heavily guarded base Sunday after the fighting died and troops fired into the air if anyone came within 300 yards.

Hundreds of villagers - men, women and children - were seen fleeing Miran Shah on foot Sunday, carrying suitcases and bundles of clothes. Vehicles weren't allowed in or out of the town, so they had to walk nine miles to a security checkpoint, where they could find transport.

Noor Nawaz, 25, who runs a shop selling auto parts, said he and his family spent a sleepless night because of the fighting. Mortar and artillery fire thundered overnight, and helicopters could be heard flying until dawn.

"People are extremely scared. Nobody has slept. Children were crying," he said as he fled from the town with his wife and three children. His veiled wife was carrying their 3-year-old son.

Intercepts of radio communications between militants Saturday in Miran Shah and nearby Mir li suggested 80 or more fighters had died, security and intelligence officials said.

A man who claimed to speak for the militants called The Associated Press by satellite phone from an undisclosed location and said that fighters killed 55 soldiers and captured 14 others, but that could not be verified.

The purported spokesman, Maulvi Abdul Ghafoor, warned that fighting will spread to other areas of the region if troops do not withdraw.

Pakistan has deployed about 80,000 security forces along the Afghan frontier, but has failed to assert the government's control in these tribal regions which have resisted outside influence for centuries. - assoc press

ISLAMABAD: President General Pervez Musharraf has said that evidences on the conspiracies of Afghan defence ministry and intelligence have been handed over to the President Bush during his visit to Pakistan.

He said this while talking to the senior journalists and editors of print and electronic media in Army House Rawalpindi on Monday. He reiterated that the allegations leveled by Afghanistan that some groups from Pakistan are involved in infiltration are absolutely baseless. President expressed resentment that two thirds of list given by Afghanistan to Pakistan on suspected terrorists was old and outdated. This list was also presented before media while there was no need of it. By doing so the government of Afghanistan has tried to denigrate Pakistan in the world.

" I have raised this issue before President Bush and told him that the accusations brought by Afghan government against Pakistan can affect war on terror. General Abizaid will also be coming to Pakistan on Wednesday (tomorrow) on my request to resolve this issue", president informed.

Responding to a question, President Musharraf said India was also talking about such things. The issues related to Afghanistan are being raised deliberately. Such moves will lead to worsen the situation and these can impact relations between Pakistan and India, he cautioned. He went on to say that some functionaries of Afghan government and miscreants were involved in stirring trouble in Pakistan. They are doing so on the behest of external forces. This can affect peace and stability. If any attempt is made to destabilize Pakistan, it will affect the peace of the region, he warned.

On bilateral investment accord with US he said " I don't agree with it that we got nothing out of President Bush visit to Pakistan. There were differences on some points of investment agreement, which would be removed within a few days and the agreement would be signed. US would provide Rs 10 billion for the development of tribal areas besides setting up zones for reconstruction. " We will seek assistance from US for economic development", he remarked.

Citing to Kashmir issue he said, I have told President Bush about four points solution to Kashmir issue which include geographical demarcation, common control, self governance and demilitarization of Kashmir. President Bush has evinced keen interest in this solution and US would not play role of mediator in this issue. However, it will continue to play the role of facilitator and due to it Kashmir issue will head towards resolution.

About Dr Qadeer, he reiterated Pakistan would not allow access to any one to Dr Qadeer . The information extracted from Dr Farooq and Jaffri were being shared with US.

On Miranshah situation President said over one thousand Uzbak, Chechans, Chinese and Arab militants are still present in the area. Action is being initiated against them.

Regarding Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri he said " we don't know where they are. Had we known about their location we would have arrested them far earlier.

To another question, he said that some Baloch tribal chiefs are behind worsening Balochistan situation. The evidences have been made available on the involvement of some Baloch tribal chiefs in the killings of 3 Chinese engineers.

On his uniform, he said his staying in uniform is not unconstitutional. Constitution has allowed him to do so. General elections will be held in 2007. Then I will think about my uniform. I have not thought about it so far", he noted.

Progressive political forces don't t mean only two persons. Political parties and people are progressive in large number in Pakistan.

Replying to a question the President said Pakistan does not need nuclear deal with US nor we have made any request to President Bush in this respect. " We have however talked about nuclear plant of 1000 megawatt capacity to meet our energy requirements.

On another question, he said President Bush had not talked about gas pipe line project with Iran and we would complete this project.

Regarding war against terrorism, he said we are fighting this war in the national interest and for the stability in the region.

He told 150 out of 300 high profile terrorists have been arrested. If we don't eliminate terrorists within next five or six years, country will have to face warlords Dostum like problems, he cautioned. - onlinenews

For both energy hungry India and its swiftly growing neighbor, Pakistan, the need for natural gas is more pressing than ever. Pakistan has one of the world's fastest growing populations and its demand for gas will expand significantly over the next two decades. India's gas demand will almost double by 2015 and due to the decline of its reserves it will be forced to import increasing amounts of gas. As the world's second largest gas reserve, Iran is the most geographically convenient supplier of gas to both countries.

India considered three transport routes for gas from Iran: shipping it through the Arabian Sea on board tankers in the form of LNG, sending it through a deep sea pipeline, or alternatively transporting it on land via a 1700-mile pipeline from Iran's South Pars field to India. The latter option means 475 miles of the pipeline will pass through Balochistan in southern Pakistan.

A land based pipeline would be four times cheaper than any other option, even after taking into account transit fee payments to Pakistan. But for a long time political tensions between India and Pakistan made it difficult for Delhi to accept an energy project that would create dependence on a neighbor with whom its relations are far from stable. Recent improvement in the relations between the two neighbors has bought India to finally consider joining forces with Pakistan for the mutually beneficial pipeline project, estimated to cost around $4 billion. A third of the gas would be delivered to Pakistan and the rest to India.

For Iran, India's participation in the project is of paramount importance. In addition to a broader market for its gas Iran hopes to gain political support from India as it is facing strong international pressure to terminate its nuclear program. In return for India's agreement to buy large quantities of gas, Iran has awarded Indian gas companies major service contracts and also granted them participation in refining and other energy related projects to the tune of $40 billion. Iran's relations with Pakistan are also strategically important. With American troops stationed in neighboring Afghanistan and Iraq, Iran is trying to check U.S. influence in the region by strengthening its ties with Pakistan, one of America's most needed allies in the war on terror. The Pakistanis, for their part, would like to see their territory used as a transit route to export natural gas to India. This would not only guarantee a source of income for them but also increase stability in the region. Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline is "a win-win proposition for Iran, India, and Pakistan," that could serve as a durable confidence-building measure, creating strong economic links and business partnerships among the three countries.

But this win-win proposition seems to be threatened by terrorists. A few days after Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh arrived in New Delhi to discuss the future of the pipeline, terrorists in Pakistan blew up two gas pipelines sending a message to all parties involved that the "pipeline of peace" might be anything but peaceful.

The area of the Balochistan-Punjab border where the pipeline is supposed to run is one of Pakistan's poorest areas and its most restive province. In recent years it has been a battleground of private militias belonging to Baloch tribes. Sporadic armed clashes resulted in attacks against water pipelines, power transmission lines and gas installations. Yet, the region strategically important due to its large reserves of oil and gas. But these riches did little for the Baloch tribesmen. Over the years Islamabad has failed to provide a fair share of the oil and gas wealth. Lack of economic progress and a deep sense of disaffection has contributed to the distrust between the federal government and the Baloch people. As a result, the tribes now oppose any energy projects in their area. In January 2003, sabotage of a gas pipeline from Sui cut off supply to the Punjab. Later, in June, a wave of attacks against gas installations caused the government to send troops to protect the installations. For the rest of 2003 and the following year the confrontation was defused but the underlying grievances of the local population were not addressed. To calm the area Islamabad recently added carrots to its policy of sticks by increasing investment in regional development projects. However, it seems that violence has resurfaced and the region is sliding into a near war situation.

On the night of January 8 terrorists belonging to the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) fired rockets at the pipeline and exchanged gunfire with the security forces for several hours. During the fire exchange the pipeline caught fire, disrupting supply to a power plant. Six people were killed. In a separate incident the BLF launched an attack on the pipeline close to Sui township, 250 miles north of Karachi. This area alone produces about 45 percent of Pakistan's total gas production. Some rockets also exploded close to the main pipeline supplying gas to Sindh and Punjab provinces but did not cause any damage. On January 11 Baloch gunmen stormed facilities operated by state-run Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (PPL) in Sui. The gunmen overpowered the guards and damaged pipelines and a purification plant. Gunmen also Kidnapped 10 employees of the Water and Power Development Authority (APDA), Pakistan's main water and power utility. The attacks disrupted gas and power production as well work in fertilizer and chemical plants.

Many in the region believe that the recent attacks in Balochistan province are meant to sabotage the pipeline project as well as other projects connecting Sui gas installations with the Turkmenistan gas fields. If true, these pipeline attacks are unsettling and will raise to the surface India's concerns about the reliability of the project. The possibility of sabotage of the proposed Iran-India pipeline by militant groups in Pakistan is becoming increasingly feasible as terrorists learn from their allies in Iraq about the strategic gain in conducting a sustained sabotage campaign against oil infrastructure. This is especially true after last month's exhortation by Osama bin Ladin to his cohorts to target oil pipelines in the Persian Gulf. In the next few weeks India will have to make a final determination if it wants to join the pipeline project. If Pakistan truly wants India to share the burden of the project it should demonstrate to Delhi that it can ensure security and stability along the pipeline route.

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf warned the Baloch tribesmen to stop their violence, threatening to use force: "Don't push us... it is not the 1970s, and this time you won't even know what has hit you," he said, referring to a crackdown in the 1970s on separatists in the area. As we have seen in other parts of the world where pipelines are under attack, ending the onslaught may well prove to be mission impossible. Nevertheless Islamabad has already indicated that the pipeline project will be pursued even were India to decide not to join.

Energy Security

URL: source Date: 15/3/2006 Agency: INS

Kabul: US AND Nato forces are following up reports that the Taliban has received vital component parts for American shoulder-fired Stinger missiles from Pakistani officials enabling them to be used against helicopters in Afghanistan.

It is claimed that the missiles - originally supplied to the Afghan Mujaheddin by the US during the war against the Russians - have been fitted with new battery packs allegedly provided by the Pakistani intelligence service, ISI, in the last four months.

Western sources say they are not sure whether the supplies, needed to make the American-made missiles operational, were provided by rogue elements within the Pakistani secret service or approved at a high level.

However, the effect of rearming the Stingers could be to make Nato aircraft vulnerable at a time when Britain is carrying out the deployment of a force of almost 6,000 in southern Afghanistan.

It is believed that the battery packs had been fitted to between 18 and 20 heat-seeking Stingers which can hit targets at around 12,000 feet.

They are reported to have been handed over in the Quetta region in Pakistan, known to be used by the Taliban to launch attacks in southern Afghanistan.

US and Nato forces have carried out a series of searches along the border areas in the hunt for the missiles with one large-scale operation taking place a month ago.

No British forces were involved in the raid. It is not known whether any of the Stingers have been recovered. The Pakistan government yesterday denied accusations it was involved as "baseless".

"Pakistan has lost more security personnel in the fight against terror than any other country," a spokesman said. "We make no distinction between al-Qa'ida and the Taliban. These [allegations] are just rumours, unsubstantiated allegations and innuendo."

The Pakistan government also rejected suggestions of involvement by ISI rogue elements. "Our military and security services are disciplined forces," the spokesman said.

Reports that the batteries being fitted to the missiles began to surface at the end of last year along the border areas between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Taliban fighters have yet to successfully use anti-aircraft missiles against US and Nato forces. One American helicopter has been brought down in the conflict, but that was through the use of a rocket-propelled grenade.

However, both US and British pilots report that ground to air missiles have been fired at them. Western diplomats and military are extremely sensitive about the Stinger allegations as it comes at a time when Afghanistan and Pakistan are engaged in an escalating feud over insurgent attacks inside Afghanistan. The director of the US Defence Intelligence Agency, Lieutenant General Michael Maples, recently claimed that a resurgent Taliban were now at their most powerful since the official end of the war five years ago.

by Gareth Harding - UPI Chief European Correspondent Brussels (UPI) Mar 28, 2006

The British government has failed to honor its pledge to compensate Afghani farmers for eradicating poppy crops, causing widespread anger in the volatile south of the country and leading to increased support for Taliban insurgents, a new report by the Senlis Council think tank claims.

Afghanistan is the world's leading producer of opium. Ninety percent of the heroin found on the streets of Europe and the United States can be traced to poppy crops in the mountains of the war-torn central Asian state.

After the Taliban government was removed by U.S. forces following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks Britain was put in charge of the international community's counter-narcotics effort in Afghanistan. Although thousands of acres of poppies have been destroyed, the former Soviet vassal state now produces more opium than ever.

The Senlis Council, a respected international security and development think tank with offices in Kabul, says Britain is to blame for pursuing counter-productive anti-drugs policies that have alienated local farmers and fueled support for Taliban and al-Qaida insurgents in the south of the country.

Based on interviews with farmers in the Helmand province, where 3,300 British troops will arrive over the coming months, the group claims that U.K. counter-narcotics officers promised local farmers $350 for every fifth of a hectare of poppies they destroyed.

"These farmers kept their side of the deal and eradicated their crops, but the British Government did not keep their word," said Mohammad Gull, a local representative from the Sharwali District in Helmand who was involved in the initial negotiations with the British representatives. "In our culture this is very dishonorable and we are very angry."

Gull told the Senlis Council he had over 400 checks in his possession which farmers had been unable to cash because of insufficient funds in the account. In total, the farmers allege they are owed $21 million and are planning to sue the British government for the money that was promised them.

British soldiers have started arriving in the south of the country as part of a 21,000-strong NATO peacekeeping force that is slowly fanning out from the capital Kabul. Securing the lawless province of Helmand is key to the reconstruction process in Afghanistan, not only because it is one of the main poppy-growing regions but because of the strong Taliban presence.

The Senlis Council, which Sunday released a report on the escalating security crisis in Afghanistan, believes British troops are in for a rude reception from furious locals when they arrive.

"The farmers of Helmand province are telling us that they mistrust the British and that they are angry at not being paid as promised," said Executive Director Emmanuel Reinert. "This makes the latest British plan for securing Helmand a military and political fantasy. They will not gain support from local farmers due to the wholesale elimination of any good will for the British presence there as a result of this bad debt."

The security situation in the south of the country, where Taliban and al-Qaida forces have re-established strongholds four years after they were almost crushed by U.S. forces, has worsened dramatically in recent months. In the last year, over 1,500 people have been killed by the hardline Islamist groupings, with suicide bombings increasingly used to bring death and destruction. Most of the victims have been Afghan soldiers and civilians, but American and European troops are also being targeted with increasing frequency. Earlier this month, a roadside bomb killed four U.S. marines on patrol in eastern Afghanistan.

The security situation in the south of the country, which provoked a lengthy debate in the Netherlands about whether to send 1,200 troops to the Uruzgan province, risks becoming worse before it becomes better.

The senior Taliban commander in the Helmand province has vowed to unleash a brigade of 600 suicide bombers against the British Army when it arrives. "We are happy that they are coming to Helmand," Mullah Razayar Noorzai told Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper. "It is both a trial and a great honor for all Muslims. We will now get a fair chance to kill them."

In a telephone interview from Kabul, Jane Francis, Director of Communication at the Senlis Council, described the security situation in the south of Afghanistan as "terrible."

"People say they are totally against the idea of Westerners coming in. There is total mistrust and they think the troops are just arriving to destroy their crops and bomb them. British soldiers will find themselves in a pretty volatile situation when they arrive in Helmand."

The Taliban has picked up support from the local population by pledging to protect the opium trade and the farmers whose livelihoods depend on the sale of poppies. "Men are coming to sign up to fight at the frontline," claimed Mullah Razayar. "Women are bringing their sons, and giving us their jewelry to sell and buy weapons to enable us to fight these infidel invaders. We have so much support here from the locals -- more, probably, than the British soldiers have back in London."

Francis believes the Afghan government and the NATO countries that enthusiastically back it are making a historical mistake by focusing on opium eradication at all costs. "It is counter-productive to take people's livelihoods away from them and not give them anything in return. It is a policy that just doesn't work."

The think tank, which also has offices in Brussels, Paris and London, favors a policy of licensing opium crops for medicinal use, as in many Western countries. If regulated strictly, the group says the policy could lead to cheaper morphine supplies for developing countries, steady incomes for Afghan farmers and less heroin in European and American cities.

The British Ministry of Defense was asked to comment on the Senlis Council's allegations of broken promises to Afghan farmers but failed to reply. - UPI via spacewar.com

By NOOR KHAN Associated Press Writer LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (AP) -- A U.S.-leased plane carrying counternarcotics officials crashed into a nomad settlement Monday while trying to avoid a truck on a runway during landing, killing two people aboard and two young girls on the ground, authorities and relatives said.

At least 13 people were reported injured, including some Americans.

The Russian-made, twin-engine An-32 aircraft was landing at Bost airport in Lashkar Gah, capital of the southern province of Helmand, but overran the airstrip after trying to lift over a truck that drove across the runway, a Canadian military spokesman, Maj. Quentin Innis, said.

Two of the 16 people on the plane died, Innis said. Two Afghan women, whose homes were destroyed by the crash, said they each lost a young daughter.

"We were sitting eating our lunch when I heard a loud noise, and then turned to see a big plane sliding along the ground from the airstrip before it smashed into our homes," said Lal Bibi, 40.

She said her 2-year-old daughter, Palwasha, was killed when the plane struck the mud brick room where she was sleeping.

Another woman, Janat Gul, said her 3-year-old daughter, Safaida, died when the plane's nose crushed their home.

Five other villagers were injured. Casualties could have been worse if the settlement's males had not left earlier to work picking opium poppies at a nearby farm, the women said.

Innis said eight people on the plane suffered minor injuries and were flown by military helicopters to a hospital run by the U.S.-led military coalition in the city of Kandahar, about 75 miles to the east.

Innis declined to specify the nationalities of the people on the plane. U.S. Embassy spokesman Lou Fintor in Kabul said several Americans were injured, but declined to say how many.

The plane, which seats about 20, was leased by the State Department and was carrying a team from the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Innis said. The bureau is helping Afghan authorities conduct opium eradication campaigns across southern Afghanistan.

Fintor said the plane left the Afghan capital, Kabul, early Monday and had made a stop in Kandahar before setting off for Lashkar Gah.

It was the first reported crash of a nonmilitary aircraft in Afghanistan since November 2005, when a Pakistani-owned plane carrying cargo for the coalition slammed into mountains near Kabul, killing at least eight people.

On Feb. 3, 2005, a plane on a domestic flight belonging to Kam Air, Afghanistan's only private airline, also crashed into mountains near Kabul due to bad weather, killing all 104 people on board. - AP wires

Defence Secretary John Reid has said there may be occasions where British troops are used to seek out and kill Taleban and al-Qaeda terrorists. But on a visit to meet British forces in Afghanistan he stressed their main job was to help reconstruction efforts.

Mr Reid spent Sunday with politicians in the capital Kabul before travelling to volatile Helmand in the south, where 3,300 UK soldiers are being deployed. He has warned terrorists are out to destroy rebuilding efforts.

"Although our mission to Afghanistan is primarily reconstruction, it is a complex and dangerous mission because the terrorists will want to destroy the economy and the legitimate trade and the government that we are helping to build up," he told the BBC from Kandahar airbase in Afghanistan. "Of course, our mission is not counter-terrorism but one of the tasks that we may have to accomplish in order to achieve our strategic mission will be to defend our own troops and the people we are here to defend and to pre-empt, on occasion, terrorist attacks on us. "If this didn't involve the necessity to use force we wouldn't send soldiers."

He said UK forces would be providing security for the reconstruction of Helmand, which could take three years.

Reconstruction

He has denied being asked to provide extra troops for the mission.

On Sunday, Mr Reid met Afghan defence minister Rahim Wardak to discuss next month's deployment of British troops. At a press conference he denied the number was not enough and said the task was to "help and protect" the Afghan people's reconstruction aim. British troops are to take over the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) from the US forces in Helmand.

Mr Reid told reporters it was "absolutely and completely untrue" that he had received requests from Army commanders for 600 more troops. "Just in case there had been a request from any quarter which I had not yet received, I clarified the position this morning with the commander of British forces here." He said the role of the British forces in Helmand was fundamentally different to that of the US forces elsewhere in Afghanistan. He said: "We are in the south to help and protect the Afghan people construct their own democracy. "We would be perfectly happy to leave in three years and without firing one shot because our job is to protect the reconstruction."

'Danger'