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 Ladha, and were successful in denying the use of its tribal belt to foreign terrorists and their local sympathizers for conducting terrorist attacks in the mainland and other countries.
Ladha Operation is also one of these successful operations, conducted by the brave warriors of 1 Wing Dir Scouts. The following narration of the events of Ladha Operation by Col Abdul Kareem (Sitara-e-Basalat) sheds light on the undaunting tale of all those warriors who stood strong in the face of the enemy like an iron wall, despite the challenges of 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 Col Abdul Kareem (R) to the writer:
The Ladha Fort, now known as Karim Fort, is located in the center of Ladha Valley. In North Waziristan in the direction of the fort at a distance of 1000 meters, a hill with a low height is situated which is known as Banna OP (Observation Post). Eastern side of the road was with FC and the Western side was under Taliban's control.
These miscreants were highly motivated due to being brainwashed, well trained, and physically and mentally ready. They possessed detailed information regarding the terrain, were laying effective ambushes and in addition, running a media campaign in FATA.
Their adopted methodology of attack against us was to physically attack on isolated vulnerable posts. They used to attack on the posts from nearby heights, plant IEDs, lay ambushes on convoys, kidnap/loot the supply vehicles of the 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. This attack was conducted by a strength of 150-250 individuals. 2-3 firing groups engaged the target from multiple directions by occupying 2-3 nearby heights.
On October 24, 2007 our move for Ladha began. By the grace of Almighty Allah, my convoy reached Ladha without any obstructions despite mountainous terrain, enormous ambush sites and terrorists’ dominance en route. I took along all the necessary weapons, ammo and ration for my stay in that place.
After reaching the location a series of fire raid started. First our transformer blew up, then they threw CDs containing videos of brutal activities of terrorists in front of the fort. But the main attack started when terrorists attacked on January 1, 2008 in the shape of three rockets that 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 were saved. Havildar Aqib Wazir who was in the vicinity suffered minor injury on his right foot and was immediately given first aid. My room, water tank and the ammo mag were deliberately targeted by the miscreants, which thankfully remained unharmed by the grace of Allah Almighty.
Ladha Fort faced 18 physical attacks launched aggressively and each one of them was hit back 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
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