Security
Pakistan: Battle for Waziristan tribal area looms in northwest
(AKI/DAWN) - Pakistan's army is planning in the next few days to launch a major offensive in the northwest tribal area and Taliban stronghold of South Waziristan, according to senior military and security officials. They have described the offensive as "the mother of all battles".
"We are ready. The environment is ready,’ the senior officer said. But military officials also admit volatile Waziristan will not be an easy battle. "It will not be a walkover. This is going to be casualty-intensive hard fighting. The nation will have to bear the pain," said another officer.
For three months, the military has been drawing up plans, holding in-depth deliberations and carrying out studies on past expeditions to make what seems to be the last grand stand against the Pakistani Taliban (Tehrik-i-Taliban) in the Mehsud tribal heartland a success.
"If we don’t take the battle to them, they will bring the battle to us," a senior military official said of the militants. "The epicentre of the behemoth called the Taliban lies in South Waziristan, and this is where we will be fighting the toughest of all battles."
The military has lost more than three hundred of its soldiers in the troubled northwestern Swat valley in the past five months. Security forces claim to have defeated Islamist militants bent on imposing a strict form of sharia law in Swat and the surrounding Malakand division.
Mehsud is believed to have been killed in an airstrike in South Waziristan on 6 August, and the Taliban to have become a fragmented force.
"The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan as a monolithic organisation remains no more," a security official claimed.
Thousands of army soldiers — two divisions — are now sitting on the fringes of the Mehsud heartland waiting for orders from the high command to move in.
A debate is raging within some circles whether the military could have mounted an assault shortly after Mehsud's death.
"As far as we are concerned the operation should have been launched three months ago," a senior government official said. A lack of extra troops and resources was a factor in the delay in launching the offensive, the official said.
An economic blockade of the area has been in place for almost three months and the military has been sitting on its fringes, firing artillery and fighting off attacks from seemingly desperate Mehsud fighters.
The army is also running out of targets for precision air strikes due to intelligence problems.
Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani recently described Waziristan as an intelligence black hole. "We have to move in," he said.
Military planners hope that by moving in physically, they would be able to garner crucial support from reluctant Mehsud tribesmen to provide intelligence.
In another boon for the army, a large number of Mehsud tribesmen have already relocated to Dera Ismail Khan and Tank in neighbouring North West Frontier Province, giving a relatively free hand to the high command to mount a massive operation in an area that extends over 2,419 square kilometres.
But all agree that the battle ahead is formidable. Questions remain over whether the army will be able to hold and sustain the operation in what is widely believed to be tough and inhospitable terrain.
Weather may also play a significant role in shaping up the battle in a place where temperature drops to 20 degrees centigrade below freezing point in winters.
But military strategists say the weather problem should affect the militants more than the troops.
To strengthen their defences, Mehsuds have the support of some two thousand ferocious fighters. The total strength of the Mehsud-Uzbek tribesmen and non-local Pakistani militants is believed to be 6,000-7,000.
"It is going to be a battle with the Uzbeks more than anybody else," one officer said.
In line with their tradition, the officer said, the Mehsuds may try and stoke tension elsewhere in Pakistan. Suicide bombings are their most time-tested and lethal weapon.
Already, 71 people were killed in six suicide bombings in the NWFP last month. Militant Qari Hussain, the mastermind of suicide bombings in Pakistan, has already issued a chilling warning to unleash his bombers and "inflict pain" to avenge the deaths of Baitullah Mehsud and new Taliban leader Hakeemullah Mehsud's brother.
Kaleemullah Mehsud was killed on Monday in a shootout with security forces in the militant stronghold of North Waziristan.
To hamper any military movements, the militants are believed to have planted improvised explosive devices and fortified their positions. "They are as much ready for the battle as we are," a senior official maintained.
"Let"s not assume that the battle will be over in three to four days. It may take us three to four weeks. We have done our homework and are ready for the battle. But in the final analysis, it is God's will that will determine the course of action," the official remarked.
"We are ready. The environment is ready,’ the senior officer said. But military officials also admit volatile Waziristan will not be an easy battle. "It will not be a walkover. This is going to be casualty-intensive hard fighting. The nation will have to bear the pain," said another officer.
For three months, the military has been drawing up plans, holding in-depth deliberations and carrying out studies on past expeditions to make what seems to be the last grand stand against the Pakistani Taliban (Tehrik-i-Taliban) in the Mehsud tribal heartland a success.
"If we don’t take the battle to them, they will bring the battle to us," a senior military official said of the militants. "The epicentre of the behemoth called the Taliban lies in South Waziristan, and this is where we will be fighting the toughest of all battles."
The military has lost more than three hundred of its soldiers in the troubled northwestern Swat valley in the past five months. Security forces claim to have defeated Islamist militants bent on imposing a strict form of sharia law in Swat and the surrounding Malakand division.
Mehsud is believed to have been killed in an airstrike in South Waziristan on 6 August, and the Taliban to have become a fragmented force.
"The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan as a monolithic organisation remains no more," a security official claimed.
Thousands of army soldiers — two divisions — are now sitting on the fringes of the Mehsud heartland waiting for orders from the high command to move in.
A debate is raging within some circles whether the military could have mounted an assault shortly after Mehsud's death.
"As far as we are concerned the operation should have been launched three months ago," a senior government official said. A lack of extra troops and resources was a factor in the delay in launching the offensive, the official said.
An economic blockade of the area has been in place for almost three months and the military has been sitting on its fringes, firing artillery and fighting off attacks from seemingly desperate Mehsud fighters.
The army is also running out of targets for precision air strikes due to intelligence problems.
Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani recently described Waziristan as an intelligence black hole. "We have to move in," he said.
Military planners hope that by moving in physically, they would be able to garner crucial support from reluctant Mehsud tribesmen to provide intelligence.
In another boon for the army, a large number of Mehsud tribesmen have already relocated to Dera Ismail Khan and Tank in neighbouring North West Frontier Province, giving a relatively free hand to the high command to mount a massive operation in an area that extends over 2,419 square kilometres.
But all agree that the battle ahead is formidable. Questions remain over whether the army will be able to hold and sustain the operation in what is widely believed to be tough and inhospitable terrain.
Weather may also play a significant role in shaping up the battle in a place where temperature drops to 20 degrees centigrade below freezing point in winters.
But military strategists say the weather problem should affect the militants more than the troops.
To strengthen their defences, Mehsuds have the support of some two thousand ferocious fighters. The total strength of the Mehsud-Uzbek tribesmen and non-local Pakistani militants is believed to be 6,000-7,000.
"It is going to be a battle with the Uzbeks more than anybody else," one officer said.
In line with their tradition, the officer said, the Mehsuds may try and stoke tension elsewhere in Pakistan. Suicide bombings are their most time-tested and lethal weapon.
Already, 71 people were killed in six suicide bombings in the NWFP last month. Militant Qari Hussain, the mastermind of suicide bombings in Pakistan, has already issued a chilling warning to unleash his bombers and "inflict pain" to avenge the deaths of Baitullah Mehsud and new Taliban leader Hakeemullah Mehsud's brother.
Kaleemullah Mehsud was killed on Monday in a shootout with security forces in the militant stronghold of North Waziristan.
To hamper any military movements, the militants are believed to have planted improvised explosive devices and fortified their positions. "They are as much ready for the battle as we are," a senior official maintained.
"Let"s not assume that the battle will be over in three to four days. It may take us three to four weeks. We have done our homework and are ready for the battle. But in the final analysis, it is God's will that will determine the course of action," the official remarked.
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