Wednesday, August 13, 2008 - Page updated at 12:59 a.m.
Taliban kill 14, declare "open war" in Pakistan
By Seattle Times news services

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - In retaliation for Pakistan's aggressive air assault on the tribal region this week, the Taliban declared "open war" and bombed a minibus Tuesday carrying 18 Pakistani air-force personnel on a major road in Peshawar. Up to 14 people were killed.

The flurry of violence continued late Tuesday, as Pakistani military and intelligence officials said a missile strike on a suspected militant training camp near the Afghan border killed at least nine people. The officials said at least four missiles struck in the South Waziristan tribal region.

The site of the earlier airstrikes, Bajur, is a rebel sanctuary north of Peshawar along the rugged Afghan-Pakistan frontier where Taliban and al-Qaida forces are particularly strong. It is reckoned to be a possible hiding place for Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri.

It also abuts Kunar province in Afghanistan, where U.S. forces have suffered greater casualties in the past two months as they have confronted an increasingly tenacious Taliban insurgency.

Pakistani security officials said their recent airstrikes had broken the Taliban's siege around Khar, the capital of Bajur, where emboldened rebels had been digging trenches in an apparent effort to encircle the town and overrun it. The offensive killed dozens and forced tens of thousands to flee to camps farther north.

On Tuesday, Pakistani army helicopter gunships continued to fire on suspected Taliban positions in Bajur.

"It is an open war between us and them," Pakistani Taliban spokesman Maulvi Umar said Tuesday. "If these kinds of operations continue against us in ... the tribal areas, we will continue this."

The bomb hit the air-force truck as it crossed a bridge on the outskirts of Peshawar. It blew a crater in the road some 10 feet wide.

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Al-Qaeda Said to Use Regional Strife to Tighten Grip in Pakistan
By Joby Warrick
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 13, 2008; Page A07

Al-Qaeda has exploited recent political turmoil in Pakistan to strengthen its foothold along the country's border with Afghanistan, a top U.S. counterterrorism official said yesterday in an assessment that also warned of a heightened risk of attack during the upcoming U.S. election season.

Despite the loss of key leaders to U.S. strikes, Osama bin Laden continues to enjoy a haven in the border region and has managed to deepen alliances with a wide range of Islamist groups from South Asia to the Middle East, said Ted Gistaro, the national intelligence officer for transnational threats and an al-Qaeda expert. With the help of such allies, al-Qaeda is seeking to position terrorist operatives in the United States and other Western countries, Gistaro said.

"We assess that al-Qaeda's intent to attack the U.S. homeland remains undiminished," Gistaro said in a speech at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.