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Did Taliban Seize US Helicopters?
Local Taliban fighters reportedly seized parts of three US helicopters — Chinook, Black Hawk and Cobra — while being shipped to neighboring Afghanistan.
"Yes, this is true," a Pakistani intelligence official told IslamOnline.net on Wednesday, requesting anonymity for the sensitivity of the issue.
"That happened in the first week of June in Jamrud area when dozens of militants attacked the convoy guarded by Pakistani paramilitary troops," he added.
Jamrud is a small town of Kyber agency, located some 40 Kilometers north of Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan’s North Western Frontier Province, which borders war-hacked Afghanistan.
According to the intelligence sources, US forces were transporting helicopters in unassembled form in containers, which landed at Karachi port and traveled by road to Peshawar and then entered the tribal areas for onward journey to Afghanistan.
"When the convoy entered the Khyber Agency, Baitullah Mehsud-led local Taliban intercepted the convoy near Jamrud and opened fire on the Pakistani paramilitary troops, who were guarding the convoy," said the intelligence official.
He said several Pakistani soldiers were killed in the attack.
Mehsud, Pakistan's most wanted man, is the head of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, an umbrella organization of all pro-Taliban militant groups operating in the 700-kilometer tribal belt along the Afghanistan border.
Intelligence sources believe Mehsud commands between 8000 to 10,000 trained militants.
One American diplomat stationed in Islamabad refused to either confirm or deny the report.
"We have only heard about that," he told IOL on condition of anonymity.
"We are not in a position to confirm that until unless we hear anything officially from State Department or the Pentagon."
Blow
The Pakistani intelligence official said the shipment convoy was not heavily guarded.
"The US and Pakistani officials had agreed that the convoy should not be prominent because of the sensitive material it was carrying," he said.
"That was why heavy security was not provided."
Interestingly, the incident happened in the same area where Pakistan's Ambassador to Afghanistan Tariq Azizuddin was kidnapped in February this year before being freed months later.
Some sources suggested that the recent US air strike in Mohmind agency, which killed 11 Pakistani soldiers and several civilians, was targeting a place where the unassembled parts of the three helicopters were said to be stored.
More
"That happened in the first week of June in Jamrud area when dozens of militants attacked the convoy guarded by Pakistani paramilitary troops," he added.
Jamrud is a small town of Kyber agency, located some 40 Kilometers north of Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan’s North Western Frontier Province, which borders war-hacked Afghanistan.
According to the intelligence sources, US forces were transporting helicopters in unassembled form in containers, which landed at Karachi port and traveled by road to Peshawar and then entered the tribal areas for onward journey to Afghanistan.
"When the convoy entered the Khyber Agency, Baitullah Mehsud-led local Taliban intercepted the convoy near Jamrud and opened fire on the Pakistani paramilitary troops, who were guarding the convoy," said the intelligence official.
He said several Pakistani soldiers were killed in the attack.
Mehsud, Pakistan's most wanted man, is the head of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, an umbrella organization of all pro-Taliban militant groups operating in the 700-kilometer tribal belt along the Afghanistan border.
Intelligence sources believe Mehsud commands between 8000 to 10,000 trained militants.
One American diplomat stationed in Islamabad refused to either confirm or deny the report.
"We have only heard about that," he told IOL on condition of anonymity.
"We are not in a position to confirm that until unless we hear anything officially from State Department or the Pentagon."
Blow
The Pakistani intelligence official said the shipment convoy was not heavily guarded.
"The US and Pakistani officials had agreed that the convoy should not be prominent because of the sensitive material it was carrying," he said.
"That was why heavy security was not provided."
Interestingly, the incident happened in the same area where Pakistan's Ambassador to Afghanistan Tariq Azizuddin was kidnapped in February this year before being freed months later.
Some sources suggested that the recent US air strike in Mohmind agency, which killed 11 Pakistani soldiers and several civilians, was targeting a place where the unassembled parts of the three helicopters were said to be stored.
More
For more information:
http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satelli...
Add Your Comments
§Taliban to sell chopper parts to Israel?
If the Talibans are smart businessmen, they would do well to sell those chopper parts to Israel, who are in dire need of such made-in-USA WMDs. With any luck, the chopper parts made by the war profiteers in the Evil Empire will be of such low quality that they would soon fall apart and ground many of those Zionist war birds, thus helping the World to a LOSE/LOSE situation--Evil Empire loses choppers, and Israel loses its ability to sow mass destruction on Palestinian civilians! Bravo.
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