Wazir tribes negotiating with Pak military, Taliban to keep their areas offensive-safe

October 13th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The terrorist attack on the Pakistan Army General Headquarters in Rawalpindi on Saturday that left 20 people dead may accelerate plans for a full-scale military offensive against the Taliban and Al Qaeda in South Waziristan. Army's main target is likely to be the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which operates in South Waziristan, the Wall Street Journal reports.

October 6th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani have vowed to launch a full-scale military offensive against the Taliban and Al Qaeda in South Waziristan. Their decision comes in the wake of the recent reports claiming that the Pakistan Army is all set to launch a ground offensive in the Taliban stronghold, as it has stationed the required helicopters at bases in the area.

October 3rd, 2009 PESHAWAR - Most FATA parliamentarians are against the prospect of the Pakistan Army launching an offensive against the Taliban in South Waziristan area. Fifteen of the 20 members of parliament from FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) have said that they have withdrawn support from the government because they were not taken into confidence about the offensive.

September 28th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said that Islamabad is yet to decide whether it should launch a full-scale military operation in Waziristan to clear Taliban militants from the tribal areas. He, however, said that Pakistan would take necessary action to flush out the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), "the front face of al Qaeda." "Let's not forget, it's not only the TTP which is operating there.

September 12th, 2009 KABUL - Nearly 10 Taliban insurgents were killed Saturday morning in an air strike by international troops in northern Afghanistan, an official said. The attack targeted a Taliban hideout in Wazir village in Kunduz province, the official said.

July 31st, 2009 WASHINGTON - A report in the US based Long War Journal has revealed that most of the Swat Taliban's top commanders, including Mullah Fazlullah aka Radio Mullah, have 'escaped the Pakistani government's operation.' The journal cited a self proclaimed Taliban spokesman, as saying that Fazlullah and other top commanders are safe and reports about him being grievously wounded are not true. The Pakistan Army which launched a massive operation to root out the Taliban and other extremist outfits from Swat and Malakand Divisions is still struggling to get hold of the region even after three months of military combat with the insurgents.

July 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Raising questions over the success of the Swat military offensive, US Special Envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke has said it is unclear whether the Taliban has really been hit hard in the operation. Talking to media persons after returning from his visit to Pakistan and Afghanistan here, Holbrooke said Washington is yet to ascertain whether scores of Taliban insurgents are actually being killed, as claimed by the Pakistan Army, or have they just scattered away only to recoil later.

July 2nd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said that the military offensive against the Taliban would continue until all the extremists are rooted out from the country. "The fight against militancy and terrorism will end with the complete elimination of militants," Zardari said during a meeting with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Kayani here.

July 2nd, 2009 PESHAWAR - The Pakistan Army has ruled out any possibility of a military offensive against the Taliban in North Waziristan. The Army has said it would honour the peace deal inked with local tribes in the region despite a sudden increase in attacks on security forces.

June 28th, 2009 NEW YORK - The Pakistan Army has been boasting of success against the Taliban and other extremists, and claims that it has flushed the insurgents out, besides killing scores of them during its offensive in the Swat and Malakand Divisions, but a closer look at the region where the military operation purportedly resulted in death of several militants presents a different picture, casting serious questions over the Army's claims. While the military has been claiming being engaged in a stiff battle with the Taliban, no such signs are visible in the region, which clearly suggests that the insurgents have just melted into the local population here, only to remerge and fight another day, The New York Times reports.

June 24th, 2009 BRUSSELS - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said that India is no longer a military threat to Pakistan, rather it is the Taliban which is threatening peace in the region as well as in the whole world. Talking to a private television channel ahead of the first summit between the European Union (EU) and Pakistan here, Zardari said both India and Pakistan do not have any ill-feelings against each other, and both the countries have good intentions.

June 18th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Pakistan Army has reportedly claimed back some of the major strongholds of the Taliban, as it continued to pound the hideouts of the insurgents in Swat and Malakand. Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's Advisor on Interior Affairs, Rehman Malik said that the security forces have destroyed the Taliban's camps in several areas.

June 15th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Pakistan government has asked the Army to carry out an all out offensive to hunt down the Tehreek-e-Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, and Mehsud tribes. Addressing a press conference, the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) Governor, Awais Ghani, said that a comprehensive military operation would be launched against Mehsud for harbouring terrorists, and killing innocent people.

May 5th, 2009 LONDON - The United States has once again expressed fears about Pakistan's nuclear arsenal falling into the hands of the Taliban, as the extremists continue to expand and establish their writ over new areas in the country and inch closer towards Islamabad. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, said he is "gravely concerned" about the "crisis" Pakistan is facing.

April 26th, 2009 LAHORE - Pakistan Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Major General Athar Abbas has said that the decision to initiate a military offensive against the Taliban rests with the political leadership of the country. Responding to allegations that the army lacks will and capaability to take on the might of the Taliban, General Abbas said that the army certainly has the will to thwart any further advancement of the insurgents.