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Kayani, Pasha brief top politicians on security

Full-scale SWA operation imminent

* All parties support govt decision
* Army chief warns of rise in urban terror attacks during operation
* Action to involve fewer ground troops

By Zulfiqar Ghuman

ISLAMABAD: The government on Friday decided to launch a full-scale operation in South Waziristan and gave the military permission to go ahead after taking all political parties on board at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

“Yes, a decision has been taken to launch a full-scale operation... and it will begin very soon... in a day or two... to weed out the terrorists headquartered in South Waziristan,” a senior official told Daily Times after the meeting that lasted nearly four-and-a-half hours.

A source said the prime minister was likely to address the nation today to take the people into confidence over the security situation in the country and the planned operation in South Waziristan. It has been learnt that curfew will be clamped in the “targeted” areas.

Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani gave a detailed briefing to the country’s political leaders and explained the factors that necessitated this operation. He informed the participants of the meeting that the recent surge in terrorists’ activities was a desperate attempt to stop the operation. He also told them that with the start of operation, terrorist activities in urban areas might increase.

“The armed forces are fully prepared... the operation is not against any tribe... it is against an organisation there,” the official said, adding that “firepower” would be deployed, rather than putting ground troops in the line of fire, while the operation would be largely “conventional” as the enemy was “visible”.

The official said the government had also directed law-enforcement agencies and the civil administration to ensure that the maximum number of people leave the area before the operation to avoid collateral damage. “The objective of this operation is to deny the terrorists space,” he said, adding that the operation would be completed in the shortest possible time.

A statement issued after the meeting said the political leadership noted there was already a consensus across the country that extremism and militancy must be rooted out and the writ of the state restored.

“The recent upsurge of terror incidents in the country was condemned and it was agreed that these elements pose a serious threat to the sovereignty and integrity of the state,” the statement said.

Chaudhry Shujaat, Asfandyar Wali, Shahbaz Sharif, Chaudhry Nisar, Dr Farooq Sattar, Israrullah Zehri, Aftab Sherpao, Munir Orakzai, Raza Rabbani, Pir Sadruddin, Maulana Sheerani and Amir Muqam attended the meeting. In addition to key federal ministers, the ISI and IB chiefs were also present.

Earlier, President Asif Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani discussed the overall security situation and the planned military operation in a meeting.

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