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‘Swat operation ahead of schedule’

* Peshawar corps commander says Taliban giving up mentally, bickering among ranks

By Iqbal Khattak

PESHAWAR: Operation Rah-e-Rast is ahead of schedule and is forcing the Taliban to “give up mentally and psychologically,” a top military commander said on Tuesday, adding that more areas have yet to be cleared before declaring an end to the offensive.

“We are ahead of schedule and making progress,” Peshawar Corps Commander Lt Gen Masood Aslam told Daily Times, stopping short of revealing the exact time of ending the military operation in Swat and surrounding areas, which was launched after Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani ordered the action on May 7.

Gen Aslam said the operation was “making the [Taliban] give up mentally and psychologically. But I cannot say when this operation will be over as there are areas that are yet to be cleared”.

Regarding the Taliban command and control system, he said, “There is bickering among the commanders as one is complaining against the other for not sending reinforcements. We believe they [could be] betraying each other”.

Asked where the Taliban top leadership may be situated, Gen Aslam said that they were being tracked down.

Also on Tuesday, the corps commander warned the Taliban to “surrender unconditionally”. “They would not be allowed to disturb the peace of the region,” he said while speaking to soldiers at a forward operation base in Swat.

A military statement quoted him as saying, “Terrorists are on the run and they will not be let [go]. The writ of the government has to be established at all costs.”

He announced a ‘zero tolerance’ policy towards the Taliban and their local harbourers.

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