Asia-Pacific
Pakistan offensive concluded in key battleground
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-12-12 20:03
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 Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani waves as he arrives for a meeting with Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown at 10 Downing Street in central London, December 3, 2009. [Agencies] |
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani army has finished its offensive against the Taliban in South Waziristan, but may soon pursue militants in another part of the lawless tribal belt along the Afghan border, the prime minister said on Saturday.
Yousuf Raza Gilani's suggestion of an operation in Orakzai tribal region is another sign that Pakistan did not deal the death blow it had intended against the Taliban by taking them on in their main base.
It also illustrates the intractable nature of the extremist challenge facing this nuclear-armed nation: Even as troops flood one militant stronghold, the insurgents can regroup in another stretch of the rugged, barely governed tribal districts.
The conundrum comes amid US pressure on Pakistan to crack down on militants on its territory, although to Washington's chagrin Islamabad has focused on the groups that threaten its citizens rather US and NATO forces across the border in Afghanistan.
"The operation in South Waziristan is over. Now there are talks about Orakzai," Gilani told reporters in televised remarks from the eastern city of Lahore. He did not give a timeframe or any other details.
Pakistan's army launched a ground offensive against the Taliban in South Waziristan in mid-October, saying it was determined to terminate its No. 1 internal enemy from its most forbidding stronghold.
But the operation prompted a slew of retaliatory suicide and other bombings nationwide that have killed more than 500 people, attacks that have continued even as the military's battlefield activities have slowed down in South Waziristan.
In recent weeks, the military has launched several airstrikes against militant targets in Orakzai. Such airstrikes could be a prelude to a ground offensive, just as they were in South Waziristan.
Some 40,000 people are estimated to have fled Orakzai in the weeks since the South Waziristan offensive began, the UN said in a statement Friday.
Spokesmen for Pakistan's powerful military did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the prime minister's statement.
In the past, the military officials have been hesitant to put a time frame on how long troops will stay in South Waziristan even after major operations end. That region also has witnessed a civilian exodus.
Orakzai is a smaller tribal region, covering roughly 600 square miles (1,538 square kilometers). It is sandwiched between the Khyber and Kurram tribal region and does not directly border Afghanistan.
Although the US has applauded Pakistan's pursuit of the Pakistani Taliban, American officials have also expressed hope that Islamabad will also pursue other militant groups who are more directly focused on attacking Western troops stationed in Afghanistan.
Pakistan has reached peace agreements with some of those groups - including a major one led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur in North Waziristan - so that it can attack the Pakistani Taliban fighters without interference. It shows no sign of making any moves against militants whose top priority is battling the US and NATO.
