Pakistan and the United States are still at odds over a military operation in North Waziristan as Islamabad’s months-old plan to launch a “targeted military operation” in the restive tribal region has failed to find approval in Washington, which is instead urging Pakistani authorities to launch a full-scale offensive against all Taliban factions there, including the dreaded Haqqani network.
The plan to launch an operation against selected targets in North Waziristan with Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in the leading role is not new and has been discussed many a time with American officials, including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen, who visited Islamabad last Friday. However, officials here privy to developments in Pakistan-US relations and the row over the killing of al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in a covert US military operation said US authorities were not ready to buy the idea of selected action.
“The Americans say the North Waziristan is the hub of global terrorism and the main responsibility for that lies with the Haqqani network. Now if Pakistan launched an all-out offensive in the troubled border regions, the Obama administration would back it but otherwise, they say it doesn’t serve their purpose,” said an official here, who asked not to be named. Another official here said that for a fully-fledged military operation in North Waziristan, the Pakistan Army needed all its resources that did not seem possible because the armed forces were overstretched owing to their preoccupation with operations in other tribal areas such as Mohmand Agency, Kurram Agency and Orakzai Agency. He said that the forces were still present in areas where operations were held two or three years ago, such as South Waziristan and Swat, because they were needed there to maintain law and order and could not be easily pulled out.However, he said Islamabad was trying hard to sell the idea of a selected and targeted operation to Washington, trying to impress upon it that Islamabad did not have any favourites in the restive tribal region. He said the plan for a targeted North Waziristan operation was floated again with American officials in the wake of bin Laden’s killing and the issue was also discussed in detail in the recently held vital meeting of the defence committee of the cabinet (DCC). It was at the DCC meeting that Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani told the defence and law enforcement agencies to use all means necessary to eliminate terrorists.
Pakistan, US at odds over NWA operation
