VZCZCXRO4318
OO RUEHLH RUEHPW
DE RUEHIL #0939/01 1211239
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O 011239Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2550
INFO RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL PRIORITY 0208
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 0231
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 4828
RUEHKP/AMCONSUL KARACHI PRIORITY 1559
RUEHLH/AMCONSUL LAHORE PRIORITY 7163
RUEHPW/AMCONSUL PESHAWAR PRIORITY 6098
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 000939 
 
NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/01/2019 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR PK PREL PTER
SUBJECT: MALAKAND DIVISION: BUNER OPERATIONS IN FOURTH DAY 
AND PEACE TALKS RESUME 
 
REF: A. ISLAMABAD 887 
     ¶B. ISLAMABAD 901 
     ¶C. ISLAMABAD 912 
 
Classified By: CDA Gerald Feierstein for reasons 1.4 (b), (d). 
 
¶1. (S/NF) Summary. On May 1, Pakistan military operations in 
Buner District (Malakand Division, Northwest Frontier 
Province (NWFP)) entered their fourth day.  Security forces 
cut a major militant supply line to the Ambela pass and 
established a Frontier Corps (FC) headquarters in Daggar on 
April 30.  FC ground elements continue to meet heavy 
resistance and directed vehicle-borne explosive attacks as 
they push through various strategic lines to Daggar.  In a 
May 1 meeting Pakistan Military 11th Corps and U.S. Special 
Operations Command - Forward (SOC-FWD) Chief agreed to 
establish an intelligence fusion cell for the 11th Corps and 
to train operators for better information sharing and imagery 
capabilities. 
 
¶2. (SBU) TNSM chief Maulana Sufi Mohammad attended a meeting 
with NWFP government officials on May 1 in Timergara, Lower 
Dir.  Following the meeting, NWFP and TNSM spokesmen held a 
joint press conference and announced that the dialogue had 
resumed and the parties continued to work toward the 
formation of the Darul Qaza (appellate courts) as promised in 
the Nizam-e-Adl.  Awami National Party (ANP) senior leader 
Afrasiab Kattak announced on April 30 that the NWFP 
government would support the Nizam-e-Adl in Malakand Division 
for two more days before the government took strong action 
against those taliban who did not lay down arms.  End Summary. 
 
MILITARY OPERATIONS IN BUNER 
---------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (S/NF) On May 1, Pakistani military operations in Buner 
District (Malakand Division, NWFP) entered their fourth day. 
Ground forces cut a major militant supply line to the Ambela 
pass and established a Frontier Corps (FC) headquarters in 
Daggar (main city within Buner) on April 30.  In a May 1 
meeting with Frontier Corps Inspector General Major General 
Tariq Khan, U.S. Special Operations Command - Forward 
(SOC-FWD) Chief was informed that the FC plan to move south 
of Daggar, with the hope of keeping the fight out of the 
populated urban centers.  Khan reported that his ground 
troops have been experiencing significant resistance and 
coming in contact with increased levels of explosive-laden 
vehicles and suicide attacks.  Additional reinforcements have 
been sent to Daggar to assist the 3rd Commando Division of 
the Special Security Group (SSG) currently holding Daggar. 
 
¶4. (SBU) In a late afternoon press conference on May 1, 
Pakistani Military Director General for the Inter Services 
Public Relations office, Major General Athar Abbas announced 
that approximately 55 militants had been killed by security 
forces over the last 24 hours and at least 50 militant-owned 
vehicles, four of which were laden with explosives, had been 
destroyed.  Abbas also reported that life in Buner was 
beginning to return to normal, with roads and shops being 
reopened and the district-wide curfew being relaxed. 
 
¶5. (S/NF) In a separate May 1 meeting with SOC-FWD Chief, 
11th Corps Chief of Staff Brigadier General Riaz Aamar 
accepted a U.S. offer to assist the 11th Corps in 
establishing an intelligence fusion cell at their 
headquarters in Peshawar.  SOC-FWD will start training on the 
various imagery and communications equipment for the 
designated operators as soon as senior 11th Corps leadership 
officially approves the Cell. 
 
TNSM-NWFP TALKS RESUME 
---------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) On April 30, Tehreek-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi 
(TNSM) chief Maulana Sufi Mohammad reemerged in public for 
the first time since April 25 and announced that talks with 
the NWFP government would remain stalled as long as the 
military operations in Buner and Lower Dir continued.  He 
further stated that these military operations violated the 
Swat peace agreement and would only further the 
talibanization of the Malakand Division.  However, on May 1, 
Sufi resumed talks in Timergara, Lower Dir, meeting with NWFP 
 
ISLAMABAD 00000939  002 OF 002 
 
 
Information Minister Mian Iftikhar to discuss the "law and 
order" situation in Malakand Division and the formation of 
the Darul Qaza (appellate courts), the formation of which 
Sufi has publicly linked to ushering peace in Malakand. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Following the meeting, TNSM spokesman Ameer Izzat 
and Iftikhar held a joint press conference to announce that 
the deadlock over the appointment of the qazis (judges) for 
the Darul Qaza had been broken, and the two sides were closer 
to establishment of the courts under the Nizam-e-Adl 
regulation.  When asked by press, Izzat reiterated the TNSM 
stance that these courts will bring peace and shari'a law 
throughout all of Malakand Division.  Additionally, he 
assured press that once these courts were operational, any 
militant who raises a weapon will be considered a "rebel" and 
against the writ of the government.  Both spokesmen said a 
second round of talks will be held with the District 
Commissioners throughout the Malakand Division and district 
political party leaders, date undetermined. 
 
OPERATIONS IN SWAT? 
------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Awami National Party (ANP) senior leader Afrasiab 
Kattak announced on April 30 that the NWFP government would 
support the existence of the Nizam-e-Adl in Malakand Division 
for two more days before the government would take strong 
action against those taliban who did not lay down arms. 
Media reports indicate that crime and militant activity in 
and around Mingora continues to rise and the citizens are 
preparing for a rumored upcoming Pakistani military 
operation.  ANP leader Afzal Zala, who remained in Swat 
throughout the taliban takeover, was medivaced for treatment; 
local observers saw this as a sign of expected Army action. 
 
AL QAIDA WEIGHS IN 
------------------ 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Meanwhile, the press covered reports of a 29-page 
"Call to Arms" by al Qaida Commander, Abu Yahya al-Libi, 
directed at Pakistanis. In his message, he encouraged the 
Muslims of Pakistan to prepare to fight the Pakistan military 
and those that support them. 
FEIERSTEIN