Pakistan called its mission to chase down and kill Taliban and al-Qaeda militants a success and began withdrawing troops after tribesmen along the border with Afghanistan agreed to release captured soldiers and politicians.
Officials said, however, troops would remain in the unruly western border region while tribal leaders negotiate the hand-over of other foreign militants.
Eleven soldiers were released Sunday morning and two local officials were expected to be released later by early yesterday, said Brigadier Mahmood Shah, the regional security chief.
PHOTO: AFP
Another soldier escaped before he could be released, he added.
"The main objectives of the operation have been achieved. They included destroying dens, searching of homes, taking people into custody and the recovery of gadgets and equipment," Shah said.
Troops would regroup in South Waziristan's main town of Wana and remain in the area, he said.
But Shah said 500 to 600 suspected militants still may be hiding along the border with Afghanistan and he did not rule out using military force against them. The army would continue using a combination of military operations and talks with tribal leaders to rid the region of suspected al-Qaeda forces and allies, he said.
About 10,000 Mahsud tribesmen met on Sunday near Wana to help authorities track the perpetrators of an attack on an army convoy last week.
Late Saturday, military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan said recently gathered intelligence -- combined with witness accounts -- indicated that alleged terrorist Tahir Yuldash had been badly wounded and was in hiding. He said Pakistani forces were not close to capturing him.
"He might have slipped away, he's on the run," Sultan said.
Yuldash is the leader of an Uzbek terror group allied with al-Qaeda called the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. He was previously mentioned as one of two possible "high-value targets" cornered when Pakistan's military began the sweep of South Waziristan on March 16.
Despite the apparent escape, Sultan said the operation had been successful because the military had killed 60 suspected militants and captured 163 more.
President Pervez Musharraf has sent 70,000 troops to the border with Afghanistan since the Sept. 11 attacks to prevent cross-border
attacks. US and Afghan forces have deployed on the other side of the border as part of a new offensive against al-Qaeda and Taliban forces there.
Musharraf has said US experts are working with Pakistani troops, but no American military forces have crossed into Pakistan.
"As far as al-Qaeda is con-cerned, yes, indeed, they are in bigger numbers than we thought in that region. And we need to eliminate them. It's very clear that we will eliminate them," Musharraf said in an interview with ABC News in the US.
Musharraf said tribal elders from six of the seven tribal groups in the area were cooperating with the government's efforts to capture, kill or drive out foreign extremists.
"They are cooperating with us, cooperating with the army ... I'm very sure we'll take a very hard stand, and the writ of the government will be established, and these people have to be eliminated."
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