In the wake of Lahore, Army mulls NWA op

[sonicboom]

In the wake of Lahore, Army mulls NWA op

By: Maqbool Malik
May 31, 2010


ISLAMABAD – The tragic Lahore terror incidents have forced the military leadership to plan a major offensive against the terrorists’ networks operating from North Waziristan Agency, sources said on Sunday.

Well-placed military sources informed TheNation that the Army had decided to track down the terrorists in North Waziristan as soon as possible. However, Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani will decide about the timing of the operation.

“It is not an easy operation, therefore, the Army needs to plan it by considering all the aspects,” a senior security official said requesting anonymity.

He made it clear that Pakistan Army would not launch the offensive in North Waziristan unless and until it consolidated its position in the recovered areas of South Waziristan, Bajaur and Malakand region.
However, other knowledgeable sources were of the view that the Army would not launch formal operation in North Waziristan until Pakistan got first batch of four F-16 aircraft from the United States.
“These warplanes would play a vital role, as they are equipped with night-time operational equipment and also capable of precision strikes”, a source said.

The sources were of the view that the security forces of Pakistan had already surrounded North Waziristan Agency but they would launch land operation after the top military leadership took a decision in this regard.

According to the informed sources, situation in North Waziristan had turned critical after many fighters hailing from the disbanded TTP and its affiliates had shifted there from South Waziristan and other parts of FATA.

Rejecting the impression that some foreign powers were pressurising Pakistan to launch military offensive in North Waziristan, the military sources said that Pakistan was a sovereign state and it did not take dictation from outside Pakistan.

The sources said that the military leadership of Pakistan would decide on its own about timing of the offensive against terror networks in North Waziristan.

They were of the view that any offensive to be carried out in North Waziristan would be an indigenous effort to curb terrorism.
The sources said that the Army needed to consider many factors including resources and its timing to plan a military offensive for a place like North Waziristan.

In the wake of Lahore, Army mulls NWA op | Pakistan | News | Newspaper | Daily | English | Online

 

[sonicboom]

Pakistan, US agree on Waziristan operation

Monday, 31 May, 2010

Admiral Mike Mullen said that Gen Kayani had promised to launch an operation in North Waziristan and he trusted him because the Pakistani general had always done what he said he would do.

WASHINGTON: The US military chief said on Sunday that he could not discuss his plans for combating Fata-based militants with the media but would like to do so with Pakistan’s cooperation.

Diplomatic sources in Washington, while talking to Dawn, also confirmed this, saying that Pakistan had agreed in principle to extend its military operation to North Waziristan and other areas identified by the Americans as militant hideouts.

“I wouldn’t speak to any kind of details in terms of either plans or operations,” said US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen when asked if the Pentagon had planned a unilateral military strike in Pakistan.

The Fox News, which interviewed the US military chief, also asked if the talks of a unilateral strike aimed at putting the Pakistan government and the terror groups on notice that “we’ll take this into our own hands if need be?”

“My focus, more than anything else, is in support of” the Pakistani military’s efforts to combat the militants, said the admiral.

But “clearly … we’re very concerned about that part of the world. We’re very concerned about — that’s where Al Qaeda leadership lives. We know that”.

The United States, he said, was working with both Pakistan and Afghanistan to continue to put pressure on the terrorist leadership but he refused to disclose details of such measures.

In a visit to Islamabad earlier this month, US National Security Adviser James Jones and CIA Director Leon Panetta told Pakistani leaders that militants hiding in these areas planned attacks against the United States and its allies.

The two senior US officials met President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, during this visit and told them that these militants were also behind a May 1 attempt to bomb New York’s Times Square.

“The meetings led to an understanding between the two sides that Islamabad will extend its military operations to North Waziristan and other similar areas as well,” a diplomatic source told Dawn.

“They are now discussing when will be the right time to do so. When, not if,” the source added.

Recent terrorist activities, particularly Friday’s attacks on the Qadianis in Lahore, apparently cemented the government’s desire to take on the militants.

In his interview to Fox News, Admiral Mullen said that he had “spent an extraordinary amount of time in Pakistan” in dealing with Gen Kayani, and had been impressed with how much Pakistan was doing to combat the militants.

He had said earlier that Gen Kayani had promised to launch an operation in North Waziristan and he trusted him because the Pakistani general had always done what he said he would do.

“They’ve lost a significant number of troops. They’ve regained a significant amount of their territory. They’re very focused on that,” the admiral said.

“They’re struggling in building behind the security that they’ve created in — particularly in the western area. They’ve moved some 70,000 troops to the west. So we’re working hard to strengthen that relationship. We’re working hard to support them in training. And we’ll continue to do that.”

Diplomatic sources in Washington also confirmed what the admiral indicated, saying that the Pakistanis would decide “when to launch the operation, what means to use, where to use the airpower and where to send in the troops”.

The sources said the expected operation had further increased the need for greater cooperation among the three major stakeholders in the current power set-up in Pakistan: the political government, the military and the judiciary.

“All three understand the need to cooperate with each other in the greater interest of the country,” said one such source. The decision to take on the militants also followed increased pressure from Washington.

On Saturday, the US media reported that the Obama administration had prepared plans to launch a unilateral military strike inside Pakistan, should another successful terrorist attack in the US is traced to that country.

The US media also reported this week that the Obama administration had ordered a major escalation of clandestine military operations in the greater Middle East region that includes Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

According to these reports, the White House authorised a massive expansion of clandestine military and intelligence operations in this region, sanctioning activities in more than a dozen countries and giving the military’s combatant commanders significant new authority to conduct unconventional warfare.

DAWN.COM | Front Page | Pakistan, US agree on Waziristan operation

 

[Hyde]

Best of Luck to the Army

 

[Jazzbot]

i think the operation is well needed now, go take these biatches out

 

[kugga]

At last America succeeded.....