Army destroys home of Taliban chief as offensive continues

Parachinar: Soldiers destroyed a house belonging to Pakistan's Taliban chief on Wednesday as they pushed into his hometown, the latest advance in a major offensive targeting an insurgent stronghold along the Afghan border, intelligence officials said.

As the battle raged, intelligence officials said suspected US missiles had killed two militants in a neighbouring region — a potentially troubling strike because it hit territory controlled by another militant faction the army has coaxed into neutrality during its offensive.

The five-day-old offensive in South Waziristan is considered a critical test of the country's campaign against Islamist extremists blamed for soaring attacks at home and on Western forces in neighbouring Afghanistan.

On Tuesday, twin suicide bombings killed six people at Islamabad's International Islamic University in apparent retaliation for the offensive. All educational institutions in the country were closed Wednesday, showing the militants' ability to disrupt daily life.

Militant base

The military is advancing on three fronts in South Waziristan. The fight for Kotkai town is symbolically key because Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud and a top deputy, Qari Hussain, hail from there. It also lies on the way to the major militant base of Sararogha.

An army statement said forces were engaged in "intense encounters" in heights surrounding Kotkai and had secured an area east of it. Two intelligence officials said troops had secured parts of the town also destroyed houses belonging to Mehsud and Hussain in controlled explosions.

Security forces also cleared Khaisura, a village on another front in the offensive, according to the statement. Heavily fortified bunkers were found, some with two-metre thick concrete walls, the army said.

It reported three more soldiers were killed, bringing the army's death toll so far to 16, while 15 more militants were slain, bringing their overall death toll to 105.

It is nearly impossible to independently verify information coming from South Waziristan because the army has closed off all roads to the region. Analysts say both sides have exaggerated successes and downplayed losses in the past.

In a classic strategy of divide and conquer, the army has convinced Bahadur and other insurgent groups in the tribal belt to stay neutral as it fights Mehsud's faction in South Waziristan.

Wave of attacks

As Pakistan reels from a wave of suicide attacks by militants, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani vowed on Wednesday that the country's nuclear facilities were totally safe and secure.

The terrorists "pose no threat" to the nuclear infrastructure, Gilani said while chairing a cabinet meeting, according to a statement issued by his secretariat.

He acknowledged that the recent spate of terrorist attacks including the latest at a campus of the Islamabad-based International Islamic University had shocked the country. But, he asserted that the public had displayed "monumental courage against all odds".

"I assure the nation that we are on [the] road to our desired objectives," Gilani said, referring to the ongoing military operation to wipe out the Taliban network in rugged tribal region of South Waziristan.

"The operation has started successfully and Inshallah [God willing], we will achieve our objectives," he said.