A major offensive against the Taliban has begun. War in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The stakes are high in this nuclear armed country. “This time the military has said there will be no deals” with the Taliban. Take a look.

Military spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas and Information Minister Qamaruz Zaman Kaira said at a joint news conference that the army had encircled the area from three directions.

Abbas said the operation involving some 30,000 ground troops would last between six and eight weeks.

After months of aerial bombing to soften the targets, troops moved into the region, heading to the insurgent bases of Ladha and Makeen among others, intelligence and military officials said on condition of anonymity.

Read more…

Update. Pakistan says 60 dead as Taliban resist onslaught

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Pakistan pounded Taliban bases from the air and bore down on their leader’s hometown Sunday, intensifying a major offensive against the Islamists and claiming to have killed 60 militants.

More than 100,000 people have fled South Waziristan, part of the tribal belt on the Afghan border that US officials call the most dangerous place on earth, staying with relatives or renting accommodation to escape the fighting.

Thousands of Al-Qaeda-linked fighters, heavily armed and well-trained, are holed up in the tribal belt, where the army says the offensive is concentrated on strongholds of the Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) movement…

Update: Pakistan cuts deal with anti-American militants

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan — Pakistan’s army, in the midst of a major new offensive against Taliban militants, has struck deals to keep two powerful, anti-U.S. tribal chiefs from joining the battle against the government, officials said Monday.

The deals increase the chances of an army victory against Pakistan’s internal enemy No. 1, but indicate that the 3-day-old assault into the Taliban’s strongholds in South Waziristan may have less effect than the U.S. wants on a spreading insurgency across the border in Afghanistan.

Under the terms agreed to about three weeks ago, Taliban renegades Maulvi Nazir and Hafiz Gul Bahadur will stay out of the current fight in parts of South Waziristan controlled by the Pakistani Taliban. They will also allow the army to move through their own lands unimpeded, giving the military additional fronts from which to attack the Taliban.

Related. Violence escalating in the region.

Insurgents Destroy 2 Bridges In Anbar
Attacks Pick Up In Western Iraq

Iran bombing kills 5 Revolutionary Guard leaders

TEHRAN, Iran — A suicide bomber killed five senior commanders of the powerful Revolutionary Guard and at least 26 others Sunday near the Pakistani border in the heartland of a potentially escalating Sunni insurgency.

The attack — which also left dozens wounded — was the most high-profile strike against security forces in an outlaw region of armed tribal groups, drug smugglers and Sunni rebels known as Jundallah, or Soldiers of God.

No related posts.