Word: waziristan
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
After nearly three months of planning, and very public anticipation, Pakistan's military moved on the South Waziristan stronghold of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an umbrella group of militants that Pakistani officials say have been behind some 80% of terrorist attacks in the country over the past few years, including the 2007 assassination of Benazir Bhutto and a recent spate of violence that has taken 150 lives in the past two weeks...
...Saturday morning after weeks of heavy aerial bombardments that were designed to weaken militant fortifications. By Sunday, some 28,000 soldiers had moved into a remote corner of the mountainous region, in a three-pronged attack intended to trap the estimated 7,000 to 10,000 militants in South Waziristan, including some 1,000 Uzbek and foreign fighters who may be affiliated with al-Qaeda...
Anticipation for the Waziristan offensive began this summer, after the conclusion of active fighting in Swat, another militant stronghold in Pakistan. Provincial officials announced that the government had decided to move next against the then chief of TTP, Baitullah Mehsud, in his South Waziristan stronghold. But military operations in Swat continued and fighting spread to other districts, which tied up army operations for several more months. (See pictures of art from Pakistan and Afghanistan...
...impending offensive and its subsequent delay may have made the situation more difficult, according to Senator Tariq Azim, who points out that the militants have had plenty of time to fortify their bases and stock up on supplies, or worse. "What is happening now is that terrorists in Waziristan know that they have two choices: they can stand and fight and die in the process, or they can escape to the cities, where they know that if they are going to die, well at least they can take a lot of people with them," he says...
...long delay was essential for preparing for what is sure to be a long, difficult and drawn-out fight. The battle for Swat and its surrounding areas provided vital counterinsurgency training tools for the military, which also spent recent months cutting off supply lines to the militants in South Waziristan, hoping to weaken their defenses...