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Qaeda planning simple, effective operation

* Official says Wana bomber pretended he had brought supplies for paramilitary personnel
* Guards let the attacker inside fort, called more troops to unload goods

By Iqbal Khattak

PESHAWAR: Al Qaeda plans simple operations that are easy to execute, and avoid complications that may lower chances of success, senior security officials told Daily Times while commenting on a suicide attack on the Zalai Fort in South Waziristan.

Officials and tribesmen in Wana, headquarters of South Waziristan Agency and 20 kilometres from the Zalai Fort, said that on Sunday the attacker drove an explosives-laden vehicle into the fort from its main gate, posing he had brought supplies for paramilitary troops.

He referred to a contractor who the soldiers knew, the officials said, and guards called for people to unload goods as the truck drove in. When more soldiers gathered, the bomber detonated the explosives, the sources in Wana said.

“The simpler your plans, the more the chances your operation will succeed,” an official commented on the strategy.

Military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas confirmed eight casualties but Wana-based officials and tribal sources said the death toll was higher. They did not give a number.

Intelligence officials described the explosion as ‘large’ and said it destroyed the checkpoint and damaged the front wall of the fort.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to media.

The attack on security forces at Zalai Fort comes days after a US drone attack in Doug area near Wana in which Taliban leader Maulvi Nazir was also slightly injured.

It was the second strike that evening. The first strike was made in the neighbouring North Waziristan, where two missiles hit a pick-up truck and a house west of the town of Mir Ali.

Among the dead was an Egyptian Al Qaeda operative, Abu Jihad al-Masri, described by the United States as the terror network’s propaganda chief.

“You face little problem in execution of any plan if it is simple and straight and Al Qaeda is master in doing so,” officials said on condition of anonymity. “That is what you need to do – keep the operation as simple as you can.”

The attack on the Anti-Terrorist Force (ATF) headquarters in Islamabad on October 9 was another instance of how Al Qaeda or affiliated Pakistani organisations could plan simple operations to ensure smooth execution, said the officials.

Officials said Islamabad suicide attack was planned to target a police official who was ‘very active’ during the Lal Masjid crisis and the government ‘honoured him for his bravery’.

“A phone call was made to the ATF headquarters inquiring about the police official saying his close friends want to deliver sweets to him. Told he was not in his office, they said, ‘Okay, but you can take the sweets for him’.”

The attacker was stopped at the entrance by a guard, but was allowed to proceed after he called the police official he had talked to, the officials said.

“You can see how simply the attack was planned. No complication at all.”

The officials said the government forces were not ‘security conscious’ and the standard operation procedures were ignored at times, contributing to Al Qaeda’s success.

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