Pakistan claims Taliban defeat near border

Sunday, March 1, 2009 at 10:03 am

Pakistani troops have defeated Taliban militants in two strongholds near the Afghan border after a grinding offensive, officers in both military operations said on Saturday (February 28).

Major General Tariq Khan, commander of the paramilitary Frontier Corps, told reporters flown to Bajur by helicopter, that the militancy has been dismantled in the region – considered a gateway for Afghanistan-bound militants – where the army says the Taliban set up a mini-state with its own courts and tax systems.

Khan claimed his troops now control Bajur’s roads making it impossible for militants to move freely. “They are not capable of now disrupting the peace any longer,” said Major Khan during a news conference on Saturday in Khar, Bajur. However, he acknowledged that five top militant commanders got away, possibly to Afghanistan.

Khan said he hopes military operations in the tribal regions will be over by the end of this year.
Residents of the village of Bur Kili, near Bajur’s main town said they were backing the military’s efforts and hoped peace would return soon.

Pacifying the two regions would be a significant achievement for Pakistani security forces and could lead to a reduction in cross-border attacks on US troops in Afghanistan.

A Pakistani military offensive that began in August (2008) has killed more than 1,500 people – almost all militants according to the army – and forced hundreds of thousands of residents to flee to safer areas.

US commanders say the Afghan province of Kunar which borders Bajur is still one of the most treacherous areas for their soldiers. The US has earmarked it for some of the thousands of reinforcements being deployed to Afghanistan this year.

Troops and insurgents are observing a cease-fire in Swat, a scenic valley once popular with tourists, while the commander of the Taliban considers a proposed peace deal that the United States and NATO worry could turn the region into a militant haven.

Both Bajur and Kunar have been mentioned as possible hiding places for al-Qaida chief, Osama bin Laden.

Also on Saturday Colonel Saif Ullah, a commander in the nearby tribal region of Mohmand, said that troops had repelled the insurgency there and that it is “under the control of law enforcement agencies.”

On Saturday, reporters in Mohmand spoke to a self-confessed militant whom the military captured in the course of the operation in Mohmand agency. The fighter who identified himself only as Imran, said prior to being captured in a gun battle, he had considered becoming a suicide bomber.

(With inputs from agencies)

( This post is from an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not endorsed by APakistanNews.Com.)

Pakistan claims Taliban defeat near border

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