There have been tell tale signs that there will be a major effort to deal with the last major Islamo Fascist sanctuary in Pakistan’s Tribal region, which is where al-Qaeda and similar Jihad fighters have been massing since their defeat in Iraq. One sign was a recent visit to the region by a top level US military commander:

Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, made a surprise visit to Pakistan at the weekend, fuelling speculation the US was poised to step up attacks on Islamic militants in the tribal areas along the Afghan border.

Admiral Mullen met senior Pakistani military leaders including General Ashfaq Kiyani, the chief of army staff, according to US and Pakistani officials who declined to further comment.

A Pakistani government official yesterday said Admiral Mullen’s visit was “related to the growing tensions” along the border.

Other indications came from the Pakistan government itself:

Pakistani Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani Monday expressed his concerns about attacks similar to the 9.11 attack if foreign extremists continue to interfere in Pakistan’s tribal regions.

Endorsing the concern of the United States on Pakistan’s tribal areas, Gilani said, “it is a matter of concern that extremists from Chechnya, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan arrive in the tribal areas.”

“These people are disturbing our peace,” Gilani told reporters after awarding certificates to the motorway police here.

Recently I noted reports of intensified UAV activity over the tribal regions, in what seemed to me to be gathering of a final target list in preparation for something big.

Even more telling was a recent meeting of our enemies in the region, who made a commitment to fight America and its allies where ever we are and until we leave all Muslim lands:

In early June, about 300 fighters of various jihadi groups gathered in Rawalpindi for a secret gathering and agreed to resolve their differences and commit more fighters to Afghanistan.

“The message was that the jihad in Kashmir is still continuing but it is not the most important right now. Afghanistan is the fighting ground, against the Americans there,” said Toor Gul, a leader of the militant group Hezbul Mujahideen. He said the groups in attendance had included the Al Qaeda-linked Jaish-e-Muhammad and the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba.

Typically both sides know when something big is coming and they prepare. Well those preparations became much more obvious today:

Scores of families on Tuesday moved out of several Pakistani villages along Afghan border as hundreds of troops from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) took up forward positions along the frontier, officials and media reports said.
Some 300 to 500 NATO troops backed by tanks, armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and artillery set up more than 15 posts along Pakistan’s North and South Waziristan tribal districts, which have been used as sanctuaries by Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters launching cross-border attacks on international forces in Afghanistan.

More here on the building forces along the Afghan and Pakistan border.

A build up of Western coalition forces on the Afghan border spread alarm on Tuesday among villagers in the Pakistani tribal region of North Waziristan, a known stronghold of Taliban and al Qaeda militants.

The deployment will add to a mounting sense of foreboding in Pakistan that U.S. ground troops could be ordered into Pakistan on covert missions or hot pursuit to eliminate militants fuelling an insurgency in Afghanistan that appears stronger than ever.

An intelligence official, who requested anonymity, and villagers said hundreds of coalition troops had been airlifted to a border area opposite the village of Lowara Mandi.

It seems we may have some seriously dangerous people in our sights right now! With Iraq all but won, now is a good time to deal a major blow to the Islamo Fascists strong holds in this last bastion of evil.

Tags: Afghanistan, al-Qaeda, Military Forces, NATO, Pakistan, Taliban