Pakistan will launch a military offensive in North Waziristan, a newspaper reported yesterday, days after US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton reiterated a US demand to tackle sanctuaries for al-Qaeda and the Taliban on the Afghan border.
An understanding for an offensive in North Waziristan, the main sanctuary in Pakistan for militants fighting in Afghanistan, was reached when Clinton and Chairman of the Joints Chief of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen visited Pakistan last week, the News newspaper reported.
The US has long demanded that Pakistan attack the region to eliminate the Haqqani network, one of the deadliest Afghan militant factions fighting US troops in Afghanistan.
Pakistan has been reluctant to do so, but it has come under more pressure and its performance in fighting militancy is under scrutiny again after it was discovered that al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had been living in the country.
The News quoted unidentified “highly placed sources” as saying Pakistan’s air force would soften up militant targets under the “targeted military offensive” before ground operations were launched. There was no timetable given.
The newspaper cited the sources as saying that a strategy for action in North Waziristan had been drawn up some time ago and an “understanding for carrying out the operation was developed” during the Clinton visit.
The target of any North Waziristan operation would be the most violent factions of the Pakistani Taliban, which has strong ties to al-Qaeda.
However, the US would almost certainly push for a move against Haqqani, too.
Pakistani officials were not immediately available for comment. A US embassy official had no immediate comment.
The newspaper said a “joint operation” with allies had been discussed, but no decision had been taken because of sensitivities.
“In case the two sides agreed to go for a joint action, it would be the first time in the present war [on militancy] that foreign boots will get a chance to be on Pakistani soil with the consent of the host country,” the newspaper said.
That could be highly risky for Pakistan’s generals.
Meanwhile, intelligence officials and a witness say a bomb has exploded in a hotel in the main town of a militant-infested Pakistani region close to the Afghan border.
They said the blast yesterday wounded 12 people in the town of Miram Shah in North Waziristan.
Witness Adnan Wazir says the blast hit a hotel in the main market, badly damaging the building.
Intelligence officials who discussed the blast are not allowed to give their names.
Miram Shah is said by locals to be under the effective control of al-Qaida and Taliban militants.
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