Pakistani Army reviews anti-Taliban operations

August 16th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - US special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke has lauded Pakistan for its successful military operations against the Taliban in the country. Holbrooke said the US has close contacts with the Pakistani leadership and is providing technical assistance to combat terrorism.

July 31st, 2009 BEIJING - The Chinese army is formulating rules of engagement for Anti-Terrorism Combat Operations to deal with growing terrorist threat facing the country. "The army is drafting an Ordinance for Anti-terrorism Combat Operations based on its experience in anti-terror missions over the past few years," The China Daily quoted Major General Meng Guoping, as saying.

July 27th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - At least 31 militants were killed and 28 others, including a Taliban commander, were arrested in separate operations in northwestern Pakistan, according to a media report Monday. According to the Pakistan Army's Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR), 11 militants were killed and 28 others, including the wanted commander identified as Kabir, were arrested during a search operation in Swat Valley in North West Frontier Province (NWFP), Geo TV reported.

June 18th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - At least 34 Taliban militants were killed and seven others captured in an operation carried out by the Pakistani Army in North West Frontier Province (NWFP), the army said in a statement Thursday. The army said five soldiers were also injured in the operation in Malakand Division of the NWFP in the past 24 hours to Thursday evening.

June 16th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Pakistani government has taken a principled decision to go after Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud in the volatile South Waziristan region along the border with Afghanistan and the army has received the requisite orders for this, the military said Tuesday. The government has taken a principled decision to launch a military operation against Baitullah Mehsud and his network, an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement said, adding: The army has received requisite orders.

June 15th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistani Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani Monday flew a combat mission against the Taliban, riding as the co-pilot in an F-16 jet for an aerial overview of the offensive against the militants in the country's restive northwest. In doing so, he became the first army chief to fly in an F-16 jet.

June 9th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The US has thrown its full weight behind Pakistan's anti-Taliban military operations in its restive northwest, with two officials saying Washington would provide whatever assistance was required for their successful conclusion. "Wherever those threats exist, we would be encouraging of the Pakistani military taking it to them head on and defeating them," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said at a briefing here Monday.

May 24th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Eighteen months after retiring as the Pakistani Army chief, former president Pervez Musharraf has finally vacated Army House in the adjacent garrison town of Rawalpindi that he had continued to occupy on grounds of security. Citing sources, Dawn said Sunday that Musharraf's belongings had been moved to his sprawling country villa in the Chak Shahzad suburb of Islamabad.

May 20th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistani Army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani Wednesday chaired a high-level meeting to review the anti-Taliban military operations in the northwest that have so far seen the elimination of over 1,000 militants.

May 15th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - No time frame has been laid down for the military operations against the Taliban in Pakistan's restive northwest, the defence minister has said, while the junior interior minister said it would be completed in a month. 'The army is clearing the areas gradually and no time frame could be given in this regard,' Defence Minister Ahmad Mukhtar told the APP news agency.

May 14th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistani Army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani Thursday paid a surprise visit to Swat in the country's troubled northwest where the security forces are engaged in an offensive against the Taliban that has so far resulted in the deaths of more than 800 militants.

May 14th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistani Army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani Thursday paid a surprise visit to Swat in the country's troubled northwest where the security forces are engaged in an offensive against the Taliban that has so far resulted in the deaths of more than 800 militants.

April 30th, 2009 LAHORE - The Pakistan Army is afraid that its entire force would disintegrate if it orders the rank and file to fire and counter the Taliban in a more serious manner, according to a senior Obama Administration official. Bruce Riedel, who chaired the Obama administration's recent review of policy towards Afghanistan and Pakistan, expressed concern about whether the Pakistani Army would be willing to kill large numbers of Taliban militants.

April 23rd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Pakistani Army must end its age old anti-India strategy and try to save Pakistan from becoming the caliphate of al Qaeda and the Taliban, according to a leading Islamabad based daily. The Taliban are linked to al Qaeda and they are counting on such elements in Punjab to help them take their war down to other parts of Pakistan.

February 14th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - A leading Pakistani newspaper Sunday urged the government to continue its war against the Taliban but called for a change in tactics to end civilian casualties. 'There can be no let up in military operations until the obscurantists have been routed, and dictated to in a manner supported by the majority of the nation,' the Dawn said in an editorial.