Operation Black Thunderstorm
Encyclopedia
Operation Black Thunderstorm was an aggressive military operation that commenced on April 26, 2009 conducted by the Pakistan Army
, with the aim of retaking Buner
, Lower Dir, Swat and Shangla districts from the Taliban after the militants took control of them since the start of the year.
in the region once violence had stopped. Muhammad traveled to Swat to discuss peace with Fazlullah and his followers, who agreed to observe the ceasefire. On February 24, 2009 Muslim Khan
, spokeperson of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan
(TTP) publicly announced that his group would observe an indefinite ceasefire. The ANP
, the governing party
of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa sent the bill to President
Asif Ali Zardari
, who delayed signing it into law until "the writ of the government [had] been established."
Soon after that the militants expanded their territory into other districts and by mid-April they took Buner, Lower Dir and Shangla. With the Taliban takeover the militants came within 60 miles (96.6 km) of the capital of Pakistan, Islamabad
. It was the closest that Taliban forces ever got to capturing the Pakistan capital, the Islamabad. This raised the alarm among western countries, particularly the United States
, that a collapse of the country and a Taliban takeover was playing out. The government was highly criticized for making peace deals with the militants. Under pressure from Washington
, the Pakistani government
launched an operation in late April to retake all territory lost in the previous months.
The operation was launched on April 26, after the Taliban, in violation of the peace agreement, attacked security forces and government officials and closed roads for the movement of government and FC convoys. In some villages, the Taliban had looted shops and tortured villagers to gain their support, adding that a jirga had also been forced to back them.
Officials said the forces were gaining ground against the Taliban and their hideouts in Kalkot, Islam Dara and Hoshyari Dara were targeted. Paramilitary troops and helicopter gunships bombed suspected Taliban bases during the operation. Eight soldiers and around 50 militants were killed in two days of fighting. The operation mostly cleared the Lower Dir district of Taliban forces by April 28. However, the military was still fighting with pockets of militant resistance in the coming weeks.
's 1st SOS Squadron flown the No. 6 Squadron Globe Trotters transport aircrafts where hundreds of additional members of 50th Airborne Division, Naval SS Group
, 4th SOS Squadron
, 140th Expeditionary Marines Battalion
and the 1st Commando Yildiram Battalion, SSG jumped off in the dark night of April 31, and landed in different areas of Buner where they had taken the strategic positions. The battle between Airborne Forces and Taliban Forces ended when Taliban had lost large number of their men and suffered heavy human casualties caused by Airborne Forces of Pakistan Armed Forces.
The operation in Daggar came on the third day of the Army's offensive to roll back the Taliban advance that had caused concern not just in Islamabad – which is just 65 miles away – but also in Washington. Major General
Athar Abbas
, a military spokesman, told reporters in Rawalpindi
that the Army and Frontier Corps paramilitary units launched the operation in Buner district, building on a several-day offensive in the region. Abbas said an estimated 450 to 500 Taliban are believed active in Buner, many believed to be engaged in "criminal activities."
The US had been repeatedly pressing the Pakistan government to take action, fearful that the militants were gaining too much ground and might even use Buner as a bridgehead for an attack on the capital city.
On May 2, another 10 soldiers were captured in Buner. The military confirmed that some 87 militants and four soldiers had been killed in fighting in the district between April 28 and May 4. The military also stated that its troops were confronted during the fighting with wave attacks of suicide car-bombers. At least 27 suicide bombers were killed in the fighting. By May 5, troops started to push back the Taliban militants in Buner.
. In more than a month of fighting, by June 15, 106 soldiers and 1,040 militants were killed. Militant fighters were holed up in the emerald mines and in the main town of Swat district, Mingora. The emerald mines were secured by the Army's 50th Airborne division by May 7, but the militants were still holding their positions in Mingora and on a strategic hilltop overlooking the town. Meanwhile, on May 7, in Lower Dir, which was previously declared clear of the Taliban by the military, militants overran a paramilitary fort, killing three paramilitary soldiers and capturing 10 policemen. On the midnight
of May 10, additional airborne troops with small teams of PN
SEALs
jumped off from C-130 transport aircraft, and attacked a Taliban hidden training camp at Banai Baba in Shangla district, which is just east from Swat. In the fighting at Banai Baba the military reported killing 150 militants for the loss of two soldiers. At the same time as the fighting in Shangla, some sporadic fighting was still continuing in Lower Dir where, over four days, 109 more militants were killed. Also, further west, in the Mohmand agency, a group of 300 militants attacked a military outpost; in the fighting that ensued 26 militants were killed and 14 soldiers were wounded. On May 12, Pakistani SSG commandos were inserted by helicopters into the Piochar area, a rear-support base for the militants in the northern part of the Swat valley, to conduct search-and-destroy operations.
By May 15, the Army claimed that Buner was finally completely cleared of Taliban forces, however artillery bombardment of Taliban positions in the hills was still ongoing. And it was reported that the Taliban were more dug in and in larger numbers in Buner than the military previously assumed. Meanwhile, the Pakistani military continued with their push up the Swat valley. As the military approached Mingora, the Taliban were digging in for a "bloody urban battle" against the Pakistani army's airborne forces in a hotly disputed city in the north-western part of the country. The Taliban began concentrating forces in Mingora - digging trenches, laying mines and taking positions on rooftops.
Stratfor
, a private firm that describes itself as a global intelligence company, mentioned that it is not clear if the Pakistani military is trained and even equipped to go into a situation like that, adding that even the United States military "would have to think twice" about such an offensive. Pakistani military spokesman Major General
Athar Abbas
, who is the spokesman for Pakistan's military said "the military intends to drive the Taliban out of the contested area, even if the kind of fighting resembles that of the Battle of Stalingrad
". He said that the whole resolve of the government and the military is to once and for all finish the Taliban from the Swat valley. The army has about 15,000 troops on the ground and is estimated that there are still over 5,000 Taliban fighters in the area.
On May 17, heavy street fighting started in the towns of Kanju and Matta and the Army was slowly advancing towards Mingora. Also, a few days later fighting started in the area of the Takhtaband bridge for control of this crossing point. On May 20, a key town in Buner was captured by the Army. The Army captured Sultanwas in fighting which, according to the military, killed one soldier and 80 militants, another nine soldiers were wounded. By May 23, Kanju, Matta and the Takhtaband bridge had been secured by the military, but fighting was still going on in Takhtaband itself and the Buner and Dir districts, where nine more militants were killed. Meanwhile, the military was surrounding the main militant base in the Peochar Valley.
and the APC Talha-B. The street fighting was heavy, intensified, and it was street-to-street and hand-to-hand combat battle. Taliban Fighters had dug themselves into bunkers built into hotels and government buildings. Pakistan's SSG and Army Rangers had fought the Taliban fighters hand-to-hand inside the buildings and hotels. The Taliban pushed the battle more intensified as they had taken the positions in local streets. On the first day of the tiring and long battle, fighting was mainly in the center of the city, at the central bus terminal and along the main road near the city's primary gateway. By the next day early morning, the military captured several intersections and three squares, including Green Square, which had been known as "Bloody Intersection", because the Taliban were dumping bodies of people who they executed at that location. Intense fighting was going on in the Nawa Kilay neighbourhood and the western suburb of Qambar.
By May 27, the military took control of 70 percent of the city, including the city's airport, and Taliban forces across Swat were in retreat, but fighting was still continuing. At the same time, in continuing battles in Lower Dir and Shangla, three more soldiers and eight militants were killed.
On May 29, the Army cleared Aman Kot and the Technical Institute College on the Mingora-Kokarai road in Mingora. On the same day, the village of Peochar in the Peochar Valley, as well as the town of Bahrain in the north of Swat, had been taken by the military.
On May 30, the Pakistani military had taken back the city of Mingora from the Taliban, calling it a significant victory in its offensive against the Taliban. However, some sporadic fighting was still continuing on the city's outskirts. Also, sporadic fighting was continuing in the rest of Swat and in the Shangla district where on June 2, two soldiers and five militants were killed.
In the battle for Mingora 286 militants were killed.
, the founder of Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi
or TNSM, was arrested in Amandarra along with other militant leaders. In the coming days there was confusion over this claim since the Taliban themselves said that Muhammad was missing. However, several days later it was confirmed that Muhammad was not captured and was in hiding, while two of his aides were captured by the Army. Those two aides, Muhammad Maulana Alam and Ameer Izzat Khan, were killed when militants attacked the prison transport they were in on June 7. On 26 July 2009, the government confirmed the arrest of Sufi Mohammad for encouraging violence and terrorism.
. After a bomb explosion in Hayagai Sharki village's masjid in Dir, which killed 38 civilians, local tribesmen, between 1,000 and 1,500, formed a Lashkar
(citizen's militia) and retaliated against the Taliban and TNSM by taking up arms and surrounding almost 300 militants. In support of the Lashkars, the Pakistan Military sent its helicopter
gunships to the villages of Shatkas and Ghazi Gai where the heaviest fighting was ongoing. Paramilitary soldiers also set up mortars on high ground above the villages.
On June 12, troops captured the town of Chuprial in Swat in a major battle that left 39 militants and 10 soldiers dead. This was the last major battle, and one of the most bloody, of the operation.
On June 14, the operation ended with Pakistani troops consolidating their positions in the four districts and going after the remaining pockets of resistance, primarily in the Swat valley.
revealed on The Daily Show
to Jon Stewart
that Pakistan’s decision to strike a peace deal with Taliban militants earlier, which effectively ceded control of large swathes of the country’s northwest, was all part of a cunning plan to fool the Taliban, which is now coming to fruition with the commencement of Operation Black Thunderstorm. The ambassador mentioned to Jon Stewart that President Asif Ali Zardari
's signing of the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation, which was the Swat peace deal, was nothing more than a trick to lure the Taliban from the mountains and countryside to the main towns where it would be much easier for the Pakistani military to kill or capture them.
The Swat peace-deal was heavily criticised by Hillary Clinton when she accused Pakistan's government of abdicating to the Taliban in agreeing to impose Islamic law in the Swat valley. However, Clinton was unaware that the Pakistani Government was simply using "reverse psychology
," as Jon Stewart phrased it, on the Taliban.
. Many Pakistani defence analysts and experts had publicly accused India
and Afghanistan
of aiding the Taliban to destabilize Pakistan
. On May 19, 2009, the Pakistan Army captured three foreign fighters from Mingora District. According to the Pakistani Army, all these foreign fighters were Libyan
nationals. The Pakistani Army also captured five Saudi nationals during the search operation.
In Khybar Pass, a police raid on a local house resulted in the arrest of 20 Tajik nationals. In heavy fighting in Malakand Division, Pakistani commandos killed five Uzbek
fighters. Many Pakistani political parties, such as PML-N, accused India
, of providing economic and financial support to the Taliban. According to a White house press release, the United States and NATO were working with Pakistan to find out who's providing the financial support and what routes were they using to smuggle the weapons. According to the Daily Jang's investigative report, a large amount of Afghan National Army's weapons was stolen by the Taliban, and also the report claimed that there is no formal security for their weapons depos. Daily Jang also cited that a large number of Uzbeks
and Tajiks were freely crossing Afghanistan's border into Pakistan to fight against Pakistan.
Parliamentarian
Khawaja Muhammad Asif
of PML-N held a press conference in the Parliament
media lounge, where he warned Afghan
President
Hamid Karzai
. He said that "Karzai became President with the support of Pakistan
". He also warned him that Afghanistan
should not play with Pakistan's security. After the convincing evidence, Pakistan
, along with United States
and NATO, found out the significant routes that were using to supply heavy weaponry to Talibans. Pakistan blocked the routes successfully. On May 17, M.I.
learnt that a large numbers of Taliban fighters with a number of foreign fighters, were presented in Khyber Pass, and possibly, were planning to re-take the Swat from the Army.
On May 20, 2009, in Khyber Pass
, Pakistan Army sent a small teams of Special Service Group (SSG) Commandos
, along with small teams of Army Rangers's Ninth Wing Company. As the teams progressed, the Pakistani commandos had confronted a large numbers of foreign fighters with a full-backing support of Taliban militant fighters. The battle was day long and an intensified heavy fighting, outnumbered Pakistani Black Storks Commandos (Special Service Group) and Ranger's Ninth Wing Company, killed a large number of Taliban and foreign fighters and Taliban leadership had repeatedly suffered heavy human casualties as well as Taliban had lost large number of their fighters.
The various media reports stated that foreign fighters were Uzbek
and Tajik nationals. Pakistan
i Commandos
also recovered a large amount of weaponry in a trucks. During the battle, Pakistani special forces also successfully secured NATO's supply-line trucks that were constantly targeted by the Taliban fighters. After a day long battle, Taliban began to flee from the area at night, but while trying to escape, the SSG and the Ranger teams had intercepted their hiding locations. An ambush led by the Pakistani special forces, the SSG and Ranger's Ninth Wing Company, killed large number of the remaining Taliban fighters. After weeks of heavy fighting, the Taliban had suffered heavy losses and lost many key leaders and territories in Swat and Khyber Pass. The final battle concluded as Pakistan Army as victorious and eliminating the major Taliban leadership from the war theater.
Pakistan Army
The Pakistan Army is the branch of the Pakistani Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The Pakistan Army came into existence after the Partition of India and the resulting independence of Pakistan in 1947. It is currently headed by General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. The Pakistan...
, with the aim of retaking Buner
Buner
Chinglai Buner may refer to:* Buner Valley in Pakistan.* Buner District in Pakistan....
, Lower Dir, Swat and Shangla districts from the Taliban after the militants took control of them since the start of the year.
Background
A temporary ceasefire was called in the Malakand region on February 16, 2009. The provincial government agreed to allow the implementation of ShariaNizam-e-Adl Regulation 2009
The Nizam-e-Adl Regulation was a controversial act, passed on April 13, 2009, of Pakistan's central government that formally established Sharia law in the Malakand division.-Background:...
in the region once violence had stopped. Muhammad traveled to Swat to discuss peace with Fazlullah and his followers, who agreed to observe the ceasefire. On February 24, 2009 Muslim Khan
Muslim Khan
Muslim Khan was a spokesman for the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan of Swat. He was born in Kabal Tehsil of Swat.In an interview with New England Foundation for the Arts, when asked about his usage of American-styled English and pronunciation, he revealed that he had lived for some time in Boston...
, spokeperson of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan , alternatively referred to as the Pakistani Taliban, is an umbrella organization of various Islamist militant groups based in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas along the Afghan border in Pakistan. Most, but not all, Pakistani Taliban groups coalesce under the TTP...
(TTP) publicly announced that his group would observe an indefinite ceasefire. The ANP
Awami National Party
The Awami National Party is an Pashtun nationalist, socialist, centre-left political party in Pakistan affiliated with Socialist International...
, the governing party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa sent the bill to President
President of Pakistan
The President of Pakistan is the head of state, as well as figurehead, of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Recently passed an XVIII Amendment , Pakistan has a parliamentary democratic system of government. According to the Constitution, the President is chosen by the Electoral College to serve a...
Asif Ali Zardari
Asif Ali Zardari
Asif Ali Zardari is the 11th and current President of Pakistan and the Co-Chairman of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party . He is also the widower of Benazir Bhutto, who served two nonconsecutive terms as Prime Minister....
, who delayed signing it into law until "the writ of the government [had] been established."
Soon after that the militants expanded their territory into other districts and by mid-April they took Buner, Lower Dir and Shangla. With the Taliban takeover the militants came within 60 miles (96.6 km) of the capital of Pakistan, Islamabad
Islamabad
Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...
. It was the closest that Taliban forces ever got to capturing the Pakistan capital, the Islamabad. This raised the alarm among western countries, particularly the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, that a collapse of the country and a Taliban takeover was playing out. The government was highly criticized for making peace deals with the militants. Under pressure from Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, the Pakistani government
Government of Pakistan
The Government of Pakistan is a federal parliamentary system, with an indirectly-elected President as the Head of State and Commander in Chief of the Pakistani Armed Forces, and an indirectly-elected Prime Minister as the Head of Government. The President’s appointment and term are...
launched an operation in late April to retake all territory lost in the previous months.
Attack on Lower Dir
Operation Toar Tander-I (Black Thunderstorm-I) began in Lower Dir as the Frontier Corps (FC) killed 26 Taliban, including key commanders Maulana Shahid and Qari Quraish.The operation was launched on April 26, after the Taliban, in violation of the peace agreement, attacked security forces and government officials and closed roads for the movement of government and FC convoys. In some villages, the Taliban had looted shops and tortured villagers to gain their support, adding that a jirga had also been forced to back them.
Officials said the forces were gaining ground against the Taliban and their hideouts in Kalkot, Islam Dara and Hoshyari Dara were targeted. Paramilitary troops and helicopter gunships bombed suspected Taliban bases during the operation. Eight soldiers and around 50 militants were killed in two days of fighting. The operation mostly cleared the Lower Dir district of Taliban forces by April 28. However, the military was still fighting with pockets of militant resistance in the coming weeks.
Buner Assault
The second phase of the operation started the same day as fighting in Lower Dir was dying down. The Pakistan Army's push to retake control of Buner, which was only 100 kilometres (62.1 mi) away from the capital city Islamabad, started. Special Forces members belonging to Pakistan Army's 50th Airborne Division and the Pakistan Army's SS Group swarmed down ropes from helicopters to enter the town of Daggar, which lies in the strategically important Buna valley to the northwest of Islamabad, killing nearly 50 militants. Pakistan Army leaders hoped to trap about 500 militants in between the 50th Airborne forces and SSG Division's teams that is advancing on the ground towards Taliban positions at the valley's entrance. The fate of 75 police officers taken hostage by the Taliban in Buner the previous night remained unclear. 18 were rescued the next day but the others were still prisoners. The troops belonging to 50th Airborne Division jumped first on April 30 in Buner City between 00:48 and 01:40. The Pakistan Air Force's SS WingSpecial Service Wing
The Special Service Wing, codename the SS Wing, or previously known as 312th Special Service Wing or Maroon berets, is an special operations aerospace unit of the Pakistan Air Force . The SS Wing or Maroon Berets are an elite special operations force based upon United States Air Force's Special...
's 1st SOS Squadron flown the No. 6 Squadron Globe Trotters transport aircrafts where hundreds of additional members of 50th Airborne Division, Naval SS Group
Special Service Group Navy
The Special Service Group Navy, codename SSG, are the Pakistan Navy's elite principal special operations naval force component. Together with the PAF 312th SS Wing, Special Service Group, Pakistan Marines, and Rangers, they form Pakistan Special Operations Command under the joint administrative...
, 4th SOS Squadron
Special Service Wing
The Special Service Wing, codename the SS Wing, or previously known as 312th Special Service Wing or Maroon berets, is an special operations aerospace unit of the Pakistan Air Force . The SS Wing or Maroon Berets are an elite special operations force based upon United States Air Force's Special...
, 140th Expeditionary Marines Battalion
Pakistan Marines
The Pakistani Marines , are the Marine Corps and amphibious corps service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The Pakistani Marines are a special military operations service branch of the Pakistani Navy and part of Pakistani Armed Forces, responsible for providing force projection from the sea,...
and the 1st Commando Yildiram Battalion, SSG jumped off in the dark night of April 31, and landed in different areas of Buner where they had taken the strategic positions. The battle between Airborne Forces and Taliban Forces ended when Taliban had lost large number of their men and suffered heavy human casualties caused by Airborne Forces of Pakistan Armed Forces.
The operation in Daggar came on the third day of the Army's offensive to roll back the Taliban advance that had caused concern not just in Islamabad – which is just 65 miles away – but also in Washington. Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
Athar Abbas
Athar Abbas
Major General Athar Abbas is a two-star general and the current military spokesperson for the Pakistan Defence Forces who replaced Major General Waheed Arshad as the new Director General of Inter Services Public Relations on January 14, 2008....
, a military spokesman, told reporters in Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi , locally known as Pindi, is a city in the Pothohar region of Pakistan near Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, in the province of Punjab. Rawalpindi is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad...
that the Army and Frontier Corps paramilitary units launched the operation in Buner district, building on a several-day offensive in the region. Abbas said an estimated 450 to 500 Taliban are believed active in Buner, many believed to be engaged in "criminal activities."
The US had been repeatedly pressing the Pakistan government to take action, fearful that the militants were gaining too much ground and might even use Buner as a bridgehead for an attack on the capital city.
On May 2, another 10 soldiers were captured in Buner. The military confirmed that some 87 militants and four soldiers had been killed in fighting in the district between April 28 and May 4. The military also stated that its troops were confronted during the fighting with wave attacks of suicide car-bombers. At least 27 suicide bombers were killed in the fighting. By May 5, troops started to push back the Taliban militants in Buner.
Operation Rah-e-Rast
On May 5, the third phase of the operation started as airborne troops boarded on C-130 transport aircraft, jumped off and stormed the militant-held valley of Swat. The name of this sub-operation of Black Thunderstorm has been referred to as Operation Rah-e-Rast in UrduUrdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
. In more than a month of fighting, by June 15, 106 soldiers and 1,040 militants were killed. Militant fighters were holed up in the emerald mines and in the main town of Swat district, Mingora. The emerald mines were secured by the Army's 50th Airborne division by May 7, but the militants were still holding their positions in Mingora and on a strategic hilltop overlooking the town. Meanwhile, on May 7, in Lower Dir, which was previously declared clear of the Taliban by the military, militants overran a paramilitary fort, killing three paramilitary soldiers and capturing 10 policemen. On the midnight
Midnight
Midnight is the transition time period from one day to the next: the moment when the date changes. In the Roman time system, midnight was halfway between sunset and sunrise, varying according to the seasons....
of May 10, additional airborne troops with small teams of PN
Pakistan Navy
The Pakistan Navy is the naval warfare/service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. Pakistan's Navy is responsible for Pakistan's coastline along the Arabian Sea and the defense of important civilian harbors and military bases...
SEALs
Special Service Group Navy
The Special Service Group Navy, codename SSG, are the Pakistan Navy's elite principal special operations naval force component. Together with the PAF 312th SS Wing, Special Service Group, Pakistan Marines, and Rangers, they form Pakistan Special Operations Command under the joint administrative...
jumped off from C-130 transport aircraft, and attacked a Taliban hidden training camp at Banai Baba in Shangla district, which is just east from Swat. In the fighting at Banai Baba the military reported killing 150 militants for the loss of two soldiers. At the same time as the fighting in Shangla, some sporadic fighting was still continuing in Lower Dir where, over four days, 109 more militants were killed. Also, further west, in the Mohmand agency, a group of 300 militants attacked a military outpost; in the fighting that ensued 26 militants were killed and 14 soldiers were wounded. On May 12, Pakistani SSG commandos were inserted by helicopters into the Piochar area, a rear-support base for the militants in the northern part of the Swat valley, to conduct search-and-destroy operations.
By May 15, the Army claimed that Buner was finally completely cleared of Taliban forces, however artillery bombardment of Taliban positions in the hills was still ongoing. And it was reported that the Taliban were more dug in and in larger numbers in Buner than the military previously assumed. Meanwhile, the Pakistani military continued with their push up the Swat valley. As the military approached Mingora, the Taliban were digging in for a "bloody urban battle" against the Pakistani army's airborne forces in a hotly disputed city in the north-western part of the country. The Taliban began concentrating forces in Mingora - digging trenches, laying mines and taking positions on rooftops.
Stratfor
Stratfor
Strategic Forecasting, Inc., more commonly known as STRATFOR, is a global intelligence company founded in 1996 in Austin, Texas by George Friedman who is the founder, chief intelligence officer, and CEO of the company...
, a private firm that describes itself as a global intelligence company, mentioned that it is not clear if the Pakistani military is trained and even equipped to go into a situation like that, adding that even the United States military "would have to think twice" about such an offensive. Pakistani military spokesman Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
Athar Abbas
Athar Abbas
Major General Athar Abbas is a two-star general and the current military spokesperson for the Pakistan Defence Forces who replaced Major General Waheed Arshad as the new Director General of Inter Services Public Relations on January 14, 2008....
, who is the spokesman for Pakistan's military said "the military intends to drive the Taliban out of the contested area, even if the kind of fighting resembles that of the Battle of Stalingrad
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southwestern Russia. The battle took place between 23 August 1942 and 2 February 1943...
". He said that the whole resolve of the government and the military is to once and for all finish the Taliban from the Swat valley. The army has about 15,000 troops on the ground and is estimated that there are still over 5,000 Taliban fighters in the area.
On May 17, heavy street fighting started in the towns of Kanju and Matta and the Army was slowly advancing towards Mingora. Also, a few days later fighting started in the area of the Takhtaband bridge for control of this crossing point. On May 20, a key town in Buner was captured by the Army. The Army captured Sultanwas in fighting which, according to the military, killed one soldier and 80 militants, another nine soldiers were wounded. By May 23, Kanju, Matta and the Takhtaband bridge had been secured by the military, but fighting was still going on in Takhtaband itself and the Buner and Dir districts, where nine more militants were killed. Meanwhile, the military was surrounding the main militant base in the Peochar Valley.
Battle for Mingora
On May 23, the battle for the capital of Swat, Mingora, started as the small teams belonging to SSG Division accompanied with Army Rangers stormed the city. The Ranger and SSG Division's teams were entered in the city from two different phases. The SSG Division's team at first entered the city from the air as they were parachuted. At same time, the Army Rangers and additional SSG Division's teams were entered the city as they were boarded on M113CM113 armored personnel carrier
The M113 is a fully tracked armored personnel carrier that has formed the backbone of the United States Army's mechanized infantry units from the time of its first fielding in Vietnam in April 1962. The M113 was the most widely used armored vehicle of the U.S...
and the APC Talha-B. The street fighting was heavy, intensified, and it was street-to-street and hand-to-hand combat battle. Taliban Fighters had dug themselves into bunkers built into hotels and government buildings. Pakistan's SSG and Army Rangers had fought the Taliban fighters hand-to-hand inside the buildings and hotels. The Taliban pushed the battle more intensified as they had taken the positions in local streets. On the first day of the tiring and long battle, fighting was mainly in the center of the city, at the central bus terminal and along the main road near the city's primary gateway. By the next day early morning, the military captured several intersections and three squares, including Green Square, which had been known as "Bloody Intersection", because the Taliban were dumping bodies of people who they executed at that location. Intense fighting was going on in the Nawa Kilay neighbourhood and the western suburb of Qambar.
By May 27, the military took control of 70 percent of the city, including the city's airport, and Taliban forces across Swat were in retreat, but fighting was still continuing. At the same time, in continuing battles in Lower Dir and Shangla, three more soldiers and eight militants were killed.
On May 29, the Army cleared Aman Kot and the Technical Institute College on the Mingora-Kokarai road in Mingora. On the same day, the village of Peochar in the Peochar Valley, as well as the town of Bahrain in the north of Swat, had been taken by the military.
On May 30, the Pakistani military had taken back the city of Mingora from the Taliban, calling it a significant victory in its offensive against the Taliban. However, some sporadic fighting was still continuing on the city's outskirts. Also, sporadic fighting was continuing in the rest of Swat and in the Shangla district where on June 2, two soldiers and five militants were killed.
In the battle for Mingora 286 militants were killed.
Alleged capture of Sufi Muhammad and other leaders
On June 4, it was reported that Sufi MuhammadSufi Muhammad
Sufi Muhammad bin Alhazrat Hassan, born in Dir, is the founder of Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi , a Pakistani militant organisation with Wahabi and Deobandi learnings vying for implementation of Sharia in Pakistan. It operates mainly in the Dir, Swat, and Malakand districts of...
, the founder of Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi
Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi
Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi is a Pakistani militant group whose objective is to enforce Sharia law in the country. The rebel group took over much of Swat in 2007...
or TNSM, was arrested in Amandarra along with other militant leaders. In the coming days there was confusion over this claim since the Taliban themselves said that Muhammad was missing. However, several days later it was confirmed that Muhammad was not captured and was in hiding, while two of his aides were captured by the Army. Those two aides, Muhammad Maulana Alam and Ameer Izzat Khan, were killed when militants attacked the prison transport they were in on June 7. On 26 July 2009, the government confirmed the arrest of Sufi Mohammad for encouraging violence and terrorism.
Sporadic fighting
By this point, the Pakistan Military was in control of much of Swat, however sporadic fighting still continued, especially in the Upper Dir DistrictUpper Dir District
Upper Dir is one the 24 districts in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan. The district was formed in 1996, when Dir District was divided into Upper Dir and Lower Dir.-Location:...
. After a bomb explosion in Hayagai Sharki village's masjid in Dir, which killed 38 civilians, local tribesmen, between 1,000 and 1,500, formed a Lashkar
Lashkar
Lashkar , a Persian word for army, may refer to:* Lascar, a type of sailor or Militiaman employed by the British in South Asia.* A town in Madhya Pradesh that is now part of the Gwalior municipality in India...
(citizen's militia) and retaliated against the Taliban and TNSM by taking up arms and surrounding almost 300 militants. In support of the Lashkars, the Pakistan Military sent its helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
gunships to the villages of Shatkas and Ghazi Gai where the heaviest fighting was ongoing. Paramilitary soldiers also set up mortars on high ground above the villages.
On June 12, troops captured the town of Chuprial in Swat in a major battle that left 39 militants and 10 soldiers dead. This was the last major battle, and one of the most bloody, of the operation.
On June 14, the operation ended with Pakistani troops consolidating their positions in the four districts and going after the remaining pockets of resistance, primarily in the Swat valley.
Casualties
In all, according to the military, 128 soldiers and at least 1,475 militants were killed and 317 soldiers were wounded during operation Black Thunderstorm. 95 soldiers and policemen were captured by the militants, 18 of them were rescued while the fate of the others remained undetermined. 114 militants were captured, including some local commanders. At least 23 of the militants killed were foreigners.Later revelations about the Swat deal
On May 13, 2009, Pakistan's ambassador to the United States Husain HaqqaniHusain Haqqani
Husain Haqqani or Hussain Haqqani is the former Pakistan Ambassador to the United States, appointed by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani in April 2008 and was resigned on November 22, 2011...
revealed on The Daily Show
The Daily Show
The Daily Show , is an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on July 21, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 1998...
to Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart is an American political satirist, writer, television host, actor, media critic and stand-up comedian...
that Pakistan’s decision to strike a peace deal with Taliban militants earlier, which effectively ceded control of large swathes of the country’s northwest, was all part of a cunning plan to fool the Taliban, which is now coming to fruition with the commencement of Operation Black Thunderstorm. The ambassador mentioned to Jon Stewart that President Asif Ali Zardari
Asif Ali Zardari
Asif Ali Zardari is the 11th and current President of Pakistan and the Co-Chairman of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party . He is also the widower of Benazir Bhutto, who served two nonconsecutive terms as Prime Minister....
's signing of the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation, which was the Swat peace deal, was nothing more than a trick to lure the Taliban from the mountains and countryside to the main towns where it would be much easier for the Pakistani military to kill or capture them.
"[President Zardari] did something very smart. When he was with President Obama recently, he explained it. He actually told the American government that I’m going to do this deal to try and prove to those within Pakistan, and in Pakistan’s state apparatus, who think that these guys can be negotiated with — I will negotiate with them only to prove that you can’t negotiate with them, because they will break the deal. And as soon as they broke the deal, the army is back in, the fighting is going on, and you can see the results."
The Swat peace-deal was heavily criticised by Hillary Clinton when she accused Pakistan's government of abdicating to the Taliban in agreeing to impose Islamic law in the Swat valley. However, Clinton was unaware that the Pakistani Government was simply using "reverse psychology
Reverse psychology
Reverse psychology is a technique involving the advocacy of a belief or behavior that is opposite to the one desired, with the expectation that this approach will encourage the subject of the persuasion to do what actually is desired: the opposite of what is suggested...
," as Jon Stewart phrased it, on the Taliban.
Foreign Involvement and Aftermath
Pakistan's foreign office spokesman had confirmed that there was a heavy influx of foreigners aiding the Taliban and that weapons were coming from the adjacent country of AfghanistanAfghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
. Many Pakistani defence analysts and experts had publicly accused India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
of aiding the Taliban to destabilize Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. On May 19, 2009, the Pakistan Army captured three foreign fighters from Mingora District. According to the Pakistani Army, all these foreign fighters were Libyan
Libyan
A Libyan is a person or thing of, from, or related to Libya in North Africa.The term Libyan may also refer to:* A person from Libya, or of Libyan descent. For information about the Libyan people, see Demographics of Libya and Culture of Libya. For specific persons, see List of Libyans.* Libyan...
nationals. The Pakistani Army also captured five Saudi nationals during the search operation.
In Khybar Pass, a police raid on a local house resulted in the arrest of 20 Tajik nationals. In heavy fighting in Malakand Division, Pakistani commandos killed five Uzbek
Uzbeks
The Uzbeks are a Turkic ethnic group in Central Asia. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, and large populations can also be found in Afghanistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Pakistan, Mongolia and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China...
fighters. Many Pakistani political parties, such as PML-N, accused India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, of providing economic and financial support to the Taliban. According to a White house press release, the United States and NATO were working with Pakistan to find out who's providing the financial support and what routes were they using to smuggle the weapons. According to the Daily Jang's investigative report, a large amount of Afghan National Army's weapons was stolen by the Taliban, and also the report claimed that there is no formal security for their weapons depos. Daily Jang also cited that a large number of Uzbeks
Uzbeks
The Uzbeks are a Turkic ethnic group in Central Asia. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, and large populations can also be found in Afghanistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Pakistan, Mongolia and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China...
and Tajiks were freely crossing Afghanistan's border into Pakistan to fight against Pakistan.
Parliamentarian
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
Khawaja Muhammad Asif
Khawaja Muhammad Asif
Khawaja Muhammad Asif , is a Pakistani lawmaker and politician of the center-right conservative democratic party PML-N. Khawaja Muhammad Asif previously served as the Pakistani Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources, with additional portfolio of Sports Ministry in the PM Yousaf Raza Gillani...
of PML-N held a press conference in the Parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
media lounge, where he warned Afghan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
President
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai, GCMG is the 12th and current President of Afghanistan, taking office on 7 December 2004. He became a dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001...
. He said that "Karzai became President with the support of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
". He also warned him that Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
should not play with Pakistan's security. After the convincing evidence, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, along with United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and NATO, found out the significant routes that were using to supply heavy weaponry to Talibans. Pakistan blocked the routes successfully. On May 17, M.I.
Military Intelligence of Pakistan
In Pakistan Defence Forces, the Directorate-General for the Military Intelligence , is a Pakistan Defence Forces intelligence agency and that is responsible for the military counter-intelligence. It also refers specifically to the intelligence components of the Pakistan Armed Forces. Unlike the...
learnt that a large numbers of Taliban fighters with a number of foreign fighters, were presented in Khyber Pass, and possibly, were planning to re-take the Swat from the Army.
On May 20, 2009, in Khyber Pass
Khyber Pass
The Khyber Pass, is a mountain pass linking Pakistan and Afghanistan.The Pass was an integral part of the ancient Silk Road. It is mentioned in the Bible as the "Pesh Habor," and it is one of the oldest known passes in the world....
, Pakistan Army sent a small teams of Special Service Group (SSG) Commandos
Commandos
Commandos is a stealth-oriented real-time tactics game series, available for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. The game is set in the Second World War and follows the escapades of a fictional British Commandos section. It leans heavily on historical events during WWII to carry the plot...
, along with small teams of Army Rangers's Ninth Wing Company. As the teams progressed, the Pakistani commandos had confronted a large numbers of foreign fighters with a full-backing support of Taliban militant fighters. The battle was day long and an intensified heavy fighting, outnumbered Pakistani Black Storks Commandos (Special Service Group) and Ranger's Ninth Wing Company, killed a large number of Taliban and foreign fighters and Taliban leadership had repeatedly suffered heavy human casualties as well as Taliban had lost large number of their fighters.
The various media reports stated that foreign fighters were Uzbek
Uzbeks
The Uzbeks are a Turkic ethnic group in Central Asia. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, and large populations can also be found in Afghanistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Pakistan, Mongolia and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China...
and Tajik nationals. Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
i Commandos
Commandos
Commandos is a stealth-oriented real-time tactics game series, available for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. The game is set in the Second World War and follows the escapades of a fictional British Commandos section. It leans heavily on historical events during WWII to carry the plot...
also recovered a large amount of weaponry in a trucks. During the battle, Pakistani special forces also successfully secured NATO's supply-line trucks that were constantly targeted by the Taliban fighters. After a day long battle, Taliban began to flee from the area at night, but while trying to escape, the SSG and the Ranger teams had intercepted their hiding locations. An ambush led by the Pakistani special forces, the SSG and Ranger's Ninth Wing Company, killed large number of the remaining Taliban fighters. After weeks of heavy fighting, the Taliban had suffered heavy losses and lost many key leaders and territories in Swat and Khyber Pass. The final battle concluded as Pakistan Army as victorious and eliminating the major Taliban leadership from the war theater.