Military

Wana, Waziristan Province, Pakistan

On March 17, 2004, unconfirmed reports suggested the possibility that a 'high value target' and several hundred Al Quaeda affiliated militants had been surrounded as the result of a ongoing military operations by Pakistani security forces in the western, tribal areas of Pakistan. Initial reports suggested that, based on the fierce resistance encountered, the 'high value target' might be Osama bin Laden's deputy Ayman al-Zawahri, though Pakistani authorities later backed away from that claim.

Wana is located about 17 miles from the Afghan/Pakistan border on the eastern edge of a valley approximately 4,500 feet in elevation. The farming village of Kalosha is located about 10 miles east of the Afghan/Pakistan border, and is surrounded to the East, North and west by three mountains ranging from 7,000 to about 10,00 feet in elevation.

Initial press reports suggested Pakistani troops encountering resitance from fighters dug in a series of mud-walled compounds, 'fort-like buildings', in the farming village of Kaloosha located about 6 miles west of the town of Wana, the capital of the southern Waziristan tribal province in western Pakistan.

Military operations were also being conducted at the same time near the towns of Azam Warsak, Shin Warsak and Kaloosha in S. Waziristan as well as in N. Waziristan.

Imagery of the town of Wana and surounding area
Click on the small image to view a larger version
Overview of Afghan-Pakistani Border area. (Source: National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency)	Overview of the the area around the town of Wana and the village of Kalosha. (Source: National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency)
Russian 1: 200,000 scale map of a possible area of interest.	Landsat-7 imagery of the Afghan-Pakistani Border area (Source: ESDI)
Landsat-7 imagery of the Afghan-Pakistani Border area (Source: ESDI)	1-meter Overview (Source: Space Imaging Middle East; Image date2=d 28 April 2002)
Overview of one of the area where militants have set up a perimeter around several mud-walled compounds. (Source: Space Imaging Middle East; Image dated 28 April 2002)	This farm house in the center was identified in imagery released by the Pakistani military as one of the structures occupied by militants. (Source: Space Imaging Middle East; Image dated 28 April 2002)
A 3-d perspective view of Landsat imagery looking west. (Source: ESDI)	A 3-d perspective view of NGA tactical pilotage chart looking west. (Source: National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency)