Confusion shrouds Chakwal shootout incident

There is mass confusion among locals and the media as to what transpired in the recent shootout near Chakwal that left 5 intelligence personnel, including a Major of the Pakistan Army, dead alongside around 4 terrorists.

From what we can gather, the terrorists had set up base at a remote shrine in the area, on top of a hill. They came down from time to time to get supplies and carry out various activities.

“The men had been moving around for about a year and had local contacts; they even used cell phones for maintaining food and water supplies to the hilltop,” said a police official at Pind Dadan Khan.

“But it is strange to note that the officials were reportedly going up in a double cabin. Even if the terrorists did not have any prior information, such movement can be seen from a safe distance due to the terrain,” the police official said.

At the site of the shootout not many clues were to be found, indeed even to suggest that a fire fight had taken place. Also, the fact that a double cabin was used to go up to the shrine suggests that the personnel might not have been expecting a fight, it certainly wasn’t a stealth operation.

The site itself is so remote that it is not even listed in the records of the revenue department.

“Undoubtedly, it is a very old place but there is no mention of it in our records,” said the local patwari.

Local folk though regularly make the short pilgrimage uphill to pay tribute to the saint.

The terrorists, who might have been affiliated with the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, had been active in the area for a little while and were trying to setup an extortion racket. Locals reported an incident around 6 months back when one of the terrorists arrived at a market to demand money from local businesses.

“As the market people gathered, the man had to flee by firing in the air, leaving the motorcycle behind which was set on fire.”Police officials from Pind Dadan Khan in Jhelum and Choa Syedan Shah in Chakwal said they did not have the manpower, equipment and even the authority to launch an operation against such men holed up in the hills.

“Had these criminals/terrorists not killed police personnel, nobody would have taken the issue seriously,” said a police officer from Pind Dadan Khan.

No terrorists have been reported as captured and many fear that the long route to the shrine could have given them the chance to escape.

“It leaves enough time for the criminals and militants to disappear and may be not all the some three dozen men are at one place; they might be moving individually.” a policeman said.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=3625

Posted by Ali Ahmed on Nov 15 2011. Filed under Latest News, National. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry