War Escalation : "Operation Lion Heart" in Pakistan and Afghanistan

By Aamir Latif, IOL Correspondent

Six people were killed in the Bannu strike, the first US missile attack outside the rugged tribal regions. (Reuters)

ISLAMABAD — American, Pakistani and Afghan troops are conducting a coordinated operation to hunt down Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants along the Afghan border.

"Pakistan doesn’t have the drone technology. Therefore, we have to depend on them (US forces)," a senior Pakistani government official told IslamOnline.net, requesting anonymity for the sensitivity of the issue.

The latest such attack targeted a house in the northwestern Bannu district, the first US missile strike outside the rugged tribal regions.

"The attack is part of a coordinated operation jointly launched by Pakistani and US forces along Pak-Afghan border," confirmed the government official.

"It killed six foreigners, including key Al-Qaeda leader Abdullah Azam."

Secret Pakistan-US Deal

The latest strike came five days after two missiles fired from a US drone aircraft killed 10 alleged militants in the North Waziristan region.

The American army has conducted nearly 39 drone attacks inside Pakistan during the past ten months killing hundreds of tribesmen, including children and women.

Colonel John Spiszer, who commands the 1st Infantry Division’s 3rd Brigade, told reporters in Kabul that the operation, codenamed Lion heart, takes cooperation between US, Afghan and Pakistani forces to "the next level."

The Pakistani government official confirmed that the joint operation is part of a clandestine tactic agreement between Islamabad and Washington.

The deal, reportedly clinched after President Asif Zardari’s first official visit to Washington in September, allows US drones to strike targets inside the restive tribal belt where suspected Al Qaeda and Taliban militants are reportedly taking shelter.

Under the understanding, Pakistan will continue to publically complain about the strikes and Washington would never acknowledge them.

The Pakistani government denies any such deal insisting that Pakistan is a sovereign country and no body would be allowed to attack its soil.

No Limits

"If Pakistan does not take any serious action then we should get ready for the drone attacks on Islamabad," warns Yusufzai.

Sources claim that under the ongoing joint operation, the ISAF forces based in Afghanistan have the right to attack inside Pakistani territory on "cogent information."

However, Major General Ather Abbas, the Director General of the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), denies any permission to the ISAF forces to attack on Pakistani territory.

"Only Pakistani troops will conduct any operation within our territory. No other country will be allowed to do that."

Pakistani and ISAF officials came up with different versions on a US drone attack on Angoor Adda area of South Waziristan on Sunday, November 16.

An ISAF statement said that after its post in the northeastern Paktika province had come under two separate rocket attacks from a location within Pakistan it attacked the "enemy position" in Pakistan.

The Pakistani army spokesman refutes the story.

"The ISAF had engaged the fleeing militants on the Afghan side of the border and informed a Pakistani post on the Pakistan-Afghan border."

But defense and security analysts do not buy the government’s claim that the operation Lion Heart binds US troops to operate within Afghanistan.

"The Bannu attack has proved that this operation has no limits," Rahimullah Yusufzai, a Peshawar-based expert on Afghan affairs, told IOL.

"They (US troops) will strike wherever they want. They don’t give any importance to Pakistan’s protest because they know that it will take no action except issuing statements."

Yusufzai sees the first ever US strike outside the restive border area as a worrying sign.

"This is very dangerous. Earlier, they were attacking the tribal areas only, but now they have revealed their intentions. If Pakistan does not take any serious action then we should get ready for the drone attacks on Islamabad."

The expert suggest Pakistan should follow Syria and taken a serious action against US strikes on its soil.

"Just compare the tone of the Syrian government and our government. Both governments have protested US attacks on their respective territories, but their tone was totally different," he said.

"The Pakistani government instead of taking any concrete step is busy defending US attacks on its own soil.

"The US does not give any weight to our protest because it knows that it will not do anything against it."