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Division in Taliban ranks - official
Islamabad : A split has emerged among the militants and many were fleeing in the guise of ordinary tribesmen, Major General Athar Abbas, a military spokesman, said yesterday.
- Mohsin Ali, Correspondent
- Published: 00:00 October 25, 2009
- A police officer stops a person who fled fighting in the tribal area of Waziristan as he tried to break a queue outside a relief distribution centre in Dera Ismail Khan, yesterday.
- Image Credit: AP
He said all vehicular routes have been blocked to prevent the escape of militants, but there were tracks they could use in the rugged mountainous terrain to slip away.
The military spokesman said according to Pakistani intelligence, Afghan Taliban were not sneaking from Afghanistan into South Waziristan to help militants.
"There is no report of infiltration from the Afghan side," Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Qamar Zaman Kaira, added.
A wave of apparent reprisal attacks including suicide bombings by Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan members and their allies elsewhere in the country have pased a serious security challenge stretching the capabilities of the law enforcement agencies to the limit.
Hundreds of suspects have been rounded up by police in various cities and authorities claim they include some most wanted extremists.
Educational institutions were closed due to the scare spread by recurring terrorist attacks.
Authorities said colleges and schools would reopen next week, a decision aimed at countering an impression of unwittingly giving in to the aim of militants to paralyse normal life.
A meeting of civil and military leadership, ministers and officials on Friday reviewed the nationwide law and order situation and the progress of the South Waziristan operation named path of deliverance from scourge of militancy.
Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kiyani apprised the meeting of how the three-pronged operation was proceeding and when it was likely to be completed.
The military has so far set no specific time for completion but sources said the commanders hoped and were striving to achieve the goals before the onset of harsh winter, now only weeks away.
Pakistan's offensive in the Taliban and Al Qaida stronghold of South Waziristan is considered its most critical test yet in the campaign to stop the spread of violent Islamist extremism in this nuclear-armed, US-allied country. The army operation has prompted a wave of retaliatory attacks by militants this month that have killed some 200 people.
The battle for Kotkai, the home turf of Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud, took several days and involved aerial bombardment as soldiers captured heights around the town. Army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said troops were now ridding the town of land mines and roadside bombs planted by the insurgents.
Kotkai is symbolically important because it is the hometown of Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud and one of his top deputies, Qari Hussain. It also lies along the way to the major militant base of Sararogha, making it a strategically helpful catch.
"Thank God, this is the army's very big success," Abbas said. "The good news is that (communications) intercepts show that there are differences forging among the Taliban ranks. Their aides are deserting them."
Pakistan is under intense international pressure to clear its tribal areas of insurgents, many of whom are blamed for attacks on US and Nato troops in Afghanistan. The government has pressed ahead in South Waziristan despite a wave of violence that has put the nation on edge. Bombings on Friday alone killed 24 people, including 17 headed to a wedding.
Access to the tribal belt is severely restricted, making independently verifying the army's information all but impossible. The UN says some 155,000 civilians have fled the region. The International Committee of the Red Cross said yesterday that it is worried about civilians left behind, but it has no way to verify claims about their status because it has no presence there.
—With inputs from agencies
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