WANA: Six more extremists have been killed and 11 others wounded in ongoing operation Rah-e-Nijat in Northern Waziristan Tuesday.
According to sources, security forces are advancing to extremists bases in Makeen and Ladha from the area of Razmak.
Gunship helicopters, jet planes and ground troops are taking part in the operation.
Extremists death tally has mounted to over 80 and more than 30 hideouts have been destroyed in the continuing operation for last four days, state sources added.
Meanwhile, security forces are facing severe resistance on part of the extremists in some areas.
Number of SWA migrants reaches to 150,000
PESHAWAR: The number of people migrated from South Waziristan has reached to 150,000.
Secretary Law and order FATA Tariq Hyatt while talking to Geo News said five registration centres have been established in DI KHAN and Tank for the registration of affectees.
He said the ration of a month and other necessary items are being provided to every family. He said government has resources to provide relief to affectees.
Waziristan operation may see 250,000 refugees: UN
ISLAMABAD: There are more than 170,000 people at risk for displacement because of the Pakistani military offensive in the tribal regions, the United Nations said Monday.
Pakistani forces embarked on their third day of attacks in the volatile tribal regions along the border with Afghanistan targeting Pakistani Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters.
Islamabad said they have registered more than 100,000 internally displaced persons at a refugee camp in North-West Frontier province.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the escalation of conflict in South Waziristan, near the Afghan border, resulted in considerably more displacements.
"The humanitarian community estimates that over 170,000 people may be displaced as a result of the new military operations, which could bring the total number of IDPs to up to 250,000," said OCHA.
Conflict in the tribal regions earlier this year displaced more than 2 million people from the North-West Frontier province.
More than 1.5 million have returned to their homes, the United Nations said.
US defence secretary encouraged by Pakistan push
WASHINGTON: US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said he was encouraged by the Pakistani offensive in South Waziristan but added it was too early to gauge the impact.
"I'm obviously encouraged by the Pakistani operations. I think that the terrorist attacks that have been launched inside Pakistan in recent days made clear the need to begin to deal with this problem," he said.
"And so we obviously are very supporting of what the Pakistanis are doing. But it's very early yet."
The fighting is a new test of the Pakistani government's determination to tackle an increasingly brazen insurgency that has seen a string of attacks in different parts of the country, including an assault on army headquarters.
US trusts Pakistan government on terror war
WASHINGTON: US has said combating war on terrorism is in interest of both Pakistan and United States and it has full trust on Pakistani government and will continue extending support to Pakistan in this connection, Geo news reported Monday.
Briefing media here, the spokesman to US state department Ian Kelley said he was unaware of an agreement to keep some militant factions out of the fight for now, but other U.S. officials said the strategy is not surprising or necessarily worrisome.
Because the faction loyal to Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud poses the most direct threat to the Pakistani government and army, it is the logical first target, U.S. officials briefed on the offensive said.
He said conducting operation in tribal mountainous areas is an uneasy job but Pakistan army successfully carried out military offensive against Taliban in Swat and now is engaged in South Waziristan Agency (SWA), which reflects its determination to toot out terrorism.
The United States, while criticizing the suicide bombing on Iran, mentioned that it is not involved in the attack.
Spokesman Kelly said, “We condemn this act of terrorism and mourn the loss of innocent lives”. "Reports of alleged US involvement are completely false," he added.
Pakistan cuts deal with anti-US militants
DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Pakistan's army, in the midst of a major new offensive against Taliban militants, has struck deals to keep two powerful, anti-U.S. tribal chiefs from joining the battle against the government, officials said Monday.
The deals increase the chances of an army victory against Pakistan's enemy No. 1, but indicate that the 3-day-old assault into the Taliban's strongholds in South Waziristan may have less effect than the U.S. wants on a spreading insurgency across the border in Afghanistan.
Under the terms agreed to about three weeks ago, Taliban renegades Maulvi Nazir and Hafiz Gul Bahadur will stay out of the current fight in parts of South Waziristan controlled by the Pakistani Taliban. They will also allow the army to move through their own lands unimpeded, giving the military additional fronts from which to attack the Taliban.
In exchange, the army will ease patrols and bombings in the lands controlled by Nazir and Bahadur, two Pakistani intelligence officials based in the region told media on condition of anonymity because revealing their identities would compromise their work.
An army spokesman described the deal as an "understanding" with the men that they would stay neutral. The agreements underscore Pakistan's past practice of targeting only militant groups that attack the government or its forces inside Pakistan.
Western officials say South Waziristan is also a major sanctuary and training ground for al-Qaida operatives. The mountain-studded region has been under near-total militant control for years and is considered a likely hiding place for Osama bin Laden.
The United States has responded cautiously to the initial Pakistani strategy, publicly welcoming the offensive but saying little about the specific choice of targets.
"We have a shared goal here, and the shared goal is fighting violent extremism," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Monday.
Kelly said he was unaware of an agreement to keep some militant factions out of the fight for now, but other U.S. officials said the strategy is not surprising or necessarily worrisome.
Because the faction loyal to Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud poses the most direct threat to the Pakistani government and army, it is the logical first target, U.S. officials briefed on the offensive said.
0 comments:
Post a Comment