Pakistan launches ground offensive

Oct 17 2009

More than 30,000 Pakistani soldiers have launched a much-awaited ground offensive in an al Qaida and Taliban stronghold along the Afghan border.

The offensive in South Waziristan follows months of airstrikes intended to soften up militant defences that have also forced tens of thousands of civilians to flee.

The full-scale operation also comes after two weeks of militant attacks that have killed more than 175 people and ramped up the pressure on the army to take on the insurgents.

Aside from being the nerve-centre for Pakistani insurgents opposed to the US-backed central government, South Waziristan is a key base for foreign and national jihadi groups planning attacks on American and Nato targets in Afghanistan and beyond. The US is racing to send in night-vision goggles and other equipment to aid the latest operation.

The region is remote and mountainous. It has a leaky border with Afghanistan and fiercely independent tribes who have long resisted government interference. With winter snows just weeks away, the army has limited time to pursue a major ground attack there, and even if it does manage to wipe out its intended targets, it's unclear whether troops will occupy the area, or for how long.

Even if the operation is largely successful in South Waziristan, many of the militants could escape to Afghanistan or other parts of Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal belt.

Officials - two with intelligence, three with the government and one senior army official - gave few details but said the troops were pursuing militants in hiding in the region, including in major trouble spots such as Ladha and Makeen towns.

The military said it has already sealed off many supply and escape routes.

The army has tried three times since 2001 to dislodge Taliban fighters from South Waziristan. All three previous attempts ended in negotiated truces that left the Taliban in control.

This time the military has said there will be no deals, partly to avoid jeopardising gains won earlier this year when Pakistani soldiers overpowered the Taliban in the Swat Valley, another northwest region.