On September 11, 2001 the United States faced a devastating terrorist attack on its soil. Soon after this attack, the US and its allies declared a War on Terror in Afghanistan with a the objective to make the world safe from the scourge of terrorism. Terrorists initially hid themselves in the mountains of Afghanistan but later on, taking advantage of the border conditions, headed towards the tribal belt of Pakistan in search of a safe haven. Meanwhile, Pakistan as an ally of US played an active role in the war through the efforts of its armed forces and other law enforcement agencies.
The Pakistan Army was able to conduct successful operations in this area and cleanse areas of the tribal belt like Shin Warsak, Azam Warsak, Angoor Adda, Makeen and others, and were successful in denying the use of its tribal belt to foreign terrorists and their local sympathisers for conducting terrorist attacks in the mainland and other countries. The Ladha Operation is among one of the many successful operations. It was carried out by the brave warriors of 1 Wing Dir Scouts.
The following is a narration of the events of operation by Colonel (Rtd) Abdul Kareem, Sitara-e-Basalat, who sheds light on the undaunting tale of the warriors who stood strong in the face of the enemy like an iron wall, despite the challenges of the hard terrain, rough weather and unsympathetic environment offered by the enemies of this country.
The account of this operation given below has been reproduced as narrated by Colonel Kareem to the writer:
The Ladha Fort, now known as Karim Fort, is located in the centre of the Ladha Valley, in North Waziristan. A hill with a low height is situated known as Banna Observation Post (OP), is situation at a distance of 1000 metres from the Ladha Fort. At the time of the, in January 2008, the Eastern side of the road in the region was under the control of the Frontier Corps, while the Western side was under Taliban control. The terrorist in the area were highly motivated due to successful brainwashing, well-trained, and physically as well as mentally ready to engage in attacks. Additionally, since they belonged to the region they possessed detailed information regarding the terrain, which awarded them the capacity to carry out of effective ambushes. Furthermore, the cultural knowledge they possessed allowed them to easily run successful anti-state media campaigns in the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
The Taliban’s adopted methodology of attack against the Pakistan Army was centred around physically attacking isolated and vulnerable posts. To achieve this, they would attack the posts from nearby heights, plant Improvised Explosive Devices, lay ambushes on convoys, kidnap and loot the supply vehicles of civilian contractors, threaten the lives of civilians, acquire advance information about the military move, mislead the locals and carry out suicide attacks. These attacks were largely launched during hours of darkness and hence reduced visibility.
The particular attack on Ladha Fort was conducted by a strength of approximately 250 individuals, which consisted of three firing groups who engaged the target from multiple directions by occupying nearby heights.
On October 24, 2007 our move for Ladha began. My convoy reached Ladha without any obstructions despite mountainous terrain, enormous ambush sites and terrorists’ dominance enroute. Knowing full-well the dangers that awated us, I took along all the necessary weapons, ammo and ration for my stay in that place. After we reached the location a series of fire raids started. First our transformer blew up, then they threw CDs containing videos of brutal activities carried out by their terror network in front of the fort.
However, the real hostility began when the terrorists finally attacked the fort on January 1, 2008. As many as, three rockets were fired simultaneously, targeting my room. I was accompanied by two other individuals at that time. The room nearly filled up with the smell of gun powder and residual smoke, however, by the grace of Allah, all of us survived. Havildar Aqib Wazir who was in the vicinity suffered a minor injury on his right foot and was immediately given first aid. My room, the water tank and the ammo mag were deliberately targeted by the terrorists. However, each of these remained unharmed.
Battling Terror
During this immense period of hostility, the Ladha Fort faced 18 physical attacks – each launched aggressively and each one of them retaliated in a befitting manner. It is not possible to cover details of each attack here, therefore I will cover account of only the vital ones.
The first attack was launched on January 7, 2008. The attack was launched on Banna OP and the Ladha Fort simultaneously. It was a layered attack with the miscreants carrying out the assault in files, one after another. The attack also incorporated suicide attackers who would precede the physical attack. They would approach the walls with the aim to blow them down and create holes in them. As the first attack occurred during the daytime, my snipers efficiently engaged these suicidal attackers. Once these attempts were thwarted, the other method devised by these suicidal attackers was to sneak in, while hiding in the folds and cuttings of the nullahs and get close to the Fort’s wall without being seen by the snipers. I earmarked the best marksmen as snipers at each side of the Fort, with the explicit instructions to shoot the suicide attackers without fail. The terrorists kept pounding in but were efficiently engaged and as a result their files started falling one after the other. This attack continued until 0700 hours the next day but drastically failed and not a single casualty occurred on our side, while the enemy suffered massive casualties.
The second attack was launched within a day’s gap at about 0040 hours. The attack was preceded by intense firing on the Fort and OP simultaneously. The miscreants were desperate by that time to capture Banna OP and blow up the Fort’s walls to have some gap, which could serve as an entry point to the Fort. Although, they had succeeded to create certain gaps through recoilless rifles and SPG-9 fires, those gaps were immediately covered by autos as a makeshift barricade and were subsequently closed with sand bags. Once again, the terrorists faced fierce retaliation and suffered heavy causalities and this second attack also failed.
January 13, after a four-day gap, the third attack was launched at about 2330 hours. Every successive attack launched by Taliban was more severe than the previous one. By then the enemy had also deployed snipers who were very accurate, well hidden and would carry out sniping throughout the day. From our side, artillery fire from Shakai and Landai Noor gun positions was also available by that time. After the utmost effort of the miscreants, they succeeded in capturing the Banna OP. However, this victory was short-lived as the brilliant pushback by Pakistan Army soldiers compelled them to retreat. In this attack, miscreants reportedly suffered over 40 casualties. A few days later, on January 16, the weather had become extremely cold, and the situation further aggravated due to heavy snow. During this time the miscreants launched attacks simultaneously on the Ladha Fort and Banna OP at about 1830 hours. Again, the attack was repelled very well, inflicting approximately 34 casualties on miscreants, whereas none were caused to us.
As the enemy could not succeed in capturing Banna OP and Ladha Fort, they attacked Sararogha, Chagmalai and Siplatoi Forts instead on January 17. Their initial success in capturing Sararogha Fort gave a lead to the terrorist, encouraging them to attack the rest of the forts which unfortunately managed to capture as well. The capture of these three forts naturally had demoralising effects on troops in Ladha who were trapped and surrounded by terrorists. Moreover, a common propaganda technique used by miscreants was to send a message on the same frequency we used where they would announced that soon the Ladha Fort would also fall and everyone will be slaughtered brutally. However, my comrades were motivated and encouraged to fight against the enemy, and fight they did. Owing to the shortage of manpower I asked for reinforcement, which was badly required, but due to the blockade it could not be materialised.
In the next phase of their attack, which began on January 18 and lasted until February 11. During this time Taliban had managed to integrate locals in their attacks on the plea of collateral damage due to artillery shelling. The remaining attacks, therefore, were fiercer and heavier in nature. The long-awaited reinforcement arranged through aviation helicopter landed on Ladha helipad through a 3-minute touch-and-go landing in which a Medical Officer, a Captain and 18 Soldiers of the 61 Punjab Regiment were disembarked. As a result, all the attacks launched by the enemy were beaten back in a befitting manner by the brave sons with requisite zeal and fervor. Their services were beyond the call of duty. On January 24, air support was provided as well as more reinforcements comprising one officer – an artillery observer – one JCO and ten soldiers from 61 Punjab Regiment transported. Meanwhile, six casualties and the bodies of 10 martyrs were dispatched to Peshawar through the same helicopter. The miscreants’ resolve was nearly shattered by our resilience.
The last assault was launched on February 13, at about 2200 hours, which was yet again responded by us fervently. This time the response by us was so severe that it silenced the enemy’s guns and compelled them to surrender at dawn. The inhabitants of Ladha raised white flags from nearly every house in the region. A jirga comprising notables and elders of the area arranged for a peace agreement. After that no attack came on our position and a kind of ceasefire was observed with effect from February 15. On February 16, six out of the twenty captured prisoners were handed over to the jirga as a gesture of goodwill. The battle was over on a high note where we were able to defend our Fort despite numerous, fierce attacks by the Taliban.
It was the steadfastness and the sheer valour of the sons of the soil that led us to our success. By the grace of Allah, we never gave up and compelled the Taliban to abandon their attacks. In the process all those who embraced martyrdom with their dedication, courage and devotion to duty would never be forgotten.
