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Waziristan operation aims to destroy terror source

* Military’s prime target will be ethnic Uzbek terrorists
* Analysts say Taliban unlikely to hold out for long

Daily Times Monitor

LAHORE: The Pakistan Army’s push against the Taliban and Al Qaeda terrorists in the Mehsud tribal stronghold of South Waziristan has one paramount objective - to destroy the source of terror attacks in the country, the BBC reported on Wednesday.

The ground offensive the army launched in the region on Saturday is viewed by analysts as one of its most serious attempt to liquidate the terror network there.

“This conclusion is based on the tactics the army has adopted so far. Unlike previous operations which were invariably half-hearted, haphazard and abortive, it took its time to plan a thorough operation this time,” the BBC said.

“The ground offensive comes after a four-month siege of Mehsud lands, during which the civilian population was encouraged to leave the area and the mobility of the militants was restricted. The army also used this time to persuade militant networks in the adjoining Wazir tribal areas of North and South Waziristan to stay out of the conflict,” it said.

Targets: A policy statement of the army said the prime target of the operation would be the ethnic Uzbek terrorists from Central Asia, followed by foreign fighters from regions like the Middle East and North Africa, while the elimination of local fighters who refuse to lay down arms has been set as the army’s last priority.

The military’s spokesman said there were between 8,000 to 10,000 fighters in the area, out of whom around 1,000 were foreigners, adding that not all Mehsud fighters were equally motivated, as many had joined the Taliban ranks under duress or due to outright intimidation.

“The message is obviously designed to encourage the “soft” fighters to desert their positions,” the report said.

Hardcore Taliban are left with two options — they can either fight to the bitter end, or can slip out of the area to fight another day.

Hold out: Analysts say the fighting will be fierce, but few believe the Taliban will hold out for long against a superior ground force and precision bombing from the air.

“The general view is that they will ultimately abandon their positions and resort to guerrilla attacks, as the militants in Swat have done,” the BBC said.

But the report said the Taliban in Waziristan, unlike in Swat and other parts of Malakand, would have to battle in a more inhospitable terrain, devoid of water and forest cover and a large number, including the foreigners, were likely to slip out of the area.

“The easiest route for them would be to head south across the Gomal pass and disappear into the vast wastelands of Balochistan,” the BBC said.

Western observers fear that Al Qaeda’s trained bomb-makers in the area may end up in the worldwide sleeper cells of terrorists and enhance their ability to carry out attacks in the West.

For the Pakistani army, a success in South Waziristan would almost certainly create the need for a quick follow-up operation in the Orakzai-Darra Adam Khel region to prevent reprisal attacks on Peshawar.

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