Birmal

Bermal (alternatively Birmal) is a community in Paktika Province, Afghanistan, near the border with North Waziristan, one of Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas.cite news
url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/JE28Df01.html
title=In the footsteps of Osama ...
publisher=Asia Times Online
author=Syed Saleem Shahzad
date=May 28, 2008
accessdate=2008-06-01
quote=S then went on to tell of his first showdown with American soldiers in Birmal (near Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal area) in Afghanistan. Some Americans were killed, but most of S's colleagues were either killed or wounded. Shattered, S only just managed to make it back to his base. ] cite news
url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/GF07Df01.html
title=Hot on the trail of al-Qaeda
publisher=Asia Times Online
author=Syed Saleem Shahzad
date=June 7, 2005
accessdate=2008-06-01
quote=Meanwhile, there have been reports that Yuldash was sighted in the Afghan region of Birmal, where he is believed to have grouped dozens of guerrilla fighters of Chinese, Pakistani, Afghan, Uzbek, Chechen and Arab origin. They have been engaged in acts of sabotage in Paktika province, notably a recent attack on Argon in which two US soldiers were killed. US convoys and their military bases are constant targets. ] cite news
url=http://www.paktoday.com/wazir22.htm
title=33 Die In Coalition Raids In Waziristan
publisher=Pakistan Today
author=Rahimullah Yusufzai, Sailab Mahsud
date=Friday, June 22, 2007
accessdate=2008-06-01
quote=Reached on phone, some residents of Angoor Adda who had rushed to Tor Jawar after hearing about the bombing said 21 bodies had been retrieved from the debris of the mud-brick houses destroyed in the attack and more could be buried there. They said up to 40 persons were injured in the bombing and a number of cattle had been killed. The dead were buried in both Tor Jawar and in Bermal across the border in Paktika province. The Wazir tribal people living in the border areas normally own houses and land on both sides of the Durand Line in Afghanistan and Pakistan.] cite news
url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/20/world/asia/20briefs-afghan.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
title=Pakistani Troops Fire at Afghans Along Fence
publisher=New York Times
date=April 20, 2007
accessdate=2008-06-01
quote=A senior Pakistani military official said Pakistani troops had fired warning shots at Afghan soldiers who tried to enter Pakistan from the Bermal area and denied that any part of the fence had been removed.]

According to Syed Saleem Shahzadwriting in the "Asia Times Online" Birmal lies in an area of particularly rugged terrain:quotation
Some of the world's most difficult terrain starts at Argon and continues to Birmal and then Shawal (part of which is in Afghanistan and part in Pakistan). It is wholly pro-Taliban. Guerrillas carry out attacks and then melt into the local population, either in Birmal or in the thick forests of North Waziristan across the border. Recent US bombing in North Waziristan followed guerrillas being chased by US gunships and fighter aircraft - some stray bombs and missiles landed in Pakistani territory.

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