Posted by Wymark on 10/29/2009, 4:12 pm, in reply to "Re: Pakistani military operation in South Waziristan."
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'The army has declared South Waziristan a closed military zone until the operation ends. Journalists and human rights monitors are barred from entering. The area is under indefinite curfew, lifted briefly to allow civilians to move to safer areas. However, many civilians have been unable to leave, or have stayed behind to care for the sick or elderly or to protect property. Telephone links to the rest of the country have been severed since October 17'.
And:
'Previous military operations in the tribal areas have resulted in massive civilian displacement, extrajudicial executions, mass arrests, house demolitions, and arbitrary detentions. Human Rights Watch has received reports of civilian deaths and the destruction of property during the Pakistani military's current operations'.
Ali Dayan Hasan, senior South Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch:
'People trying to get away from the fighting are already reporting civilian casualties and food shortages. The approaching winter is only going to make a bad situation worse, especially for those left behind, unless aid reaches them . . . If the aid agencies can't reach the people trapped in the fighting, it could be a catastrophe . . . Unfortunately, the Pakistani military's conduct in previous operations in the tribal areas does not inspire confidence in its ability to safeguard human rights and ensure civilian protection . . . The Pakistani government should do everything possible to hold the Taliban accountable for crimes against civilians, but in a way that minimizes the risk to and suffering of local residents'.
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/10/28/pakistan-get-aid-civilians-caught-fighting
Meanwhile:
'Even as the Pakistani government plays down the American role in its military operations in Taliban-controlled areas along the border with Afghanistan, the United States has quietly rushed hundreds of millions of dollars in arms, equipment and sophisticated sensors to Pakistani forces in recent months, said senior American and Pakistani officials.
During preparations this spring for the Pakistani campaigns in Swat and South Waziristan, President Obama personally intervened at the request of Pakistan’s top army general to speed the delivery of 10 Mi-17 troop transport helicopters. Senior Pentagon officials have also hurried spare parts for Cobra helicopter gunships, night vision goggles, body armor and eavesdropping equipment to the fight.
American military surveillance drones are feeding video images and target information to Pakistani ground commanders, and the Pentagon has quietly provided the Pakistani Air Force with high-resolution, infrared sensors for F-16 warplanes, which Pakistan is using to guide bomb attacks on militants’ strongholds in South Waziristan'.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/29/world/asia/29weapons.html?th&emc=th
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