Peshawar: Pakistan announced an all-out assault on Monday on Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud and his rebels in the lawless region of Waziristan even as fighter jets and gunship helicopters pounded militant hideouts in Mohmand and Bajaur tribal agencies, killing 40 militants.
“Airstrikes and shelling by attack helicopters killed 29 militants while 25 others were wounded in Safi town of Mohmand district,” an army statement said. At least 15 militants were killed in fighting in Bajaur and elsewhere.
Aimed at Tehrik-e-Taliban chief Mehsud and the group’s top brass, the land and air attack is bound to open many fronts in NWFP’s restive tribal belts. NWFP governor Owais Ahmad Ghani announced on Monday that the military offensive was being expanded to the Waziristan tribal areas and interiorminister Rehman Malik said the military operations would continue “till the elimination of the last terrorist”.
Security experts see a door-die battle unfolding in the tussle for Waziristan.
To mark his symbolic presence in the operation known as Operation Rah-e-Rast, military chief Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani on Monday made a 30-minute flight in an F-16 over militant positions.
Talking to media on his return, the army chief said: “No one can understand the situation of our country better than us. There is a difference between conventional war and the present one. In the ongoing war, it is difficult to identify friends or foes”.
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