Miscreants abandon Pakistan fort

CNN:

Islamic militants have abandoned a border fort in northwestern Pakistan they overran during a pitched battle Wednesday, a military spokesman said.

The militants left later Wednesday without another battle with Pakistani forces, Major General Athar Abbas told CNN.

The battle for the control of the fort killed at least seven of 40 Pakistani troops stationed there. Fifteen others fled and 18 border guards were initially reported missing.

Abbas said that five of the missing guards were apparently located in a nearby village, but his men had not yet confirmed the report.

The militants breached the walls of the colonial-era outpost along the Afghan border with explosives and seized the fort after a firefight that lasted about 12 hours, said army Lt. Col. Baseer Hadier Malik.

The outpost is in a part of the tribal territory of South Waziristan that is a stronghold of Taliban warlord Baitullah Mehsud -- the man the Pakistani government has named a prime suspect in the December 27 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

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Attacking with a company to battalion size force is something new for the Taliban. They would not be able to do that in Afghanistan, because a force of that size would be detected and destroyed. Pakistan is going to need to improve its situational awareness to the point it can do the same thing.

The Forts like that overrun by the Taliban are not really needed to deal with current threats. Afghanistan does not threaten Pakistan as much as the Taliban threatens Pakistan. The Pakistan army needs to rethink its deployment of forces and make sure they are in mutually supported positions.