- At least 40 militants killed in airstrikes in North Waziristan and Khyber Agency
- Nisar says Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and military leadership believe continuing talks with terrorists in wake of incessant violence is ‘unfair’
- Mohmand Taliban chief Khorasani says ‘every action has a reaction’
Perturbed over the failure of peace talks and killing of hundreds of innocent countrymen and security personnel at the hands of the Taliban, the country’s top civil and military bosses have finally decided to teach Taliban a lesson. The decision was expressed in deadly airstrikes in the restive North Waziristan and Khyber agencies of the tribal areas in which at least 40 militants were eliminated.
Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said that carrying on with peace talks with the Taliban amid terrorist attacks throughout the country would be injustice to the victims of such attacks.
“Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the military leadership do not intend to carry on with dialogue amid terrorist attacks. The premier wanted to eradicate terrorism through dialogue with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and sincere efforts were put in that regard by forming a negotiating committee but the other side did not respond positively to the gestures,” he said.
AIRSTRIKES IN NWA AND KHYBER AGENCY:
Amidst conflicting reports of casualties in airstrikes at scattered areas of North Waziristan, the security formally embarked on military action against militants in the early hours of Thursday.
Sources said that after being convinced by the top military leadership, Prime Minister Sharif gave a go ahead for the airstrikes in North Waziristan and Khyber agencies that killed at least 40 suspected militants.
They said that high-level civil military consultations continued for three days which culminated on these strikes. Army chief General Raheel Sharif and intelligence heads briefed the prime minister over rapid developments in the tribal areas and also shared images of militant hideouts procured through their own spy drones.
Authorisation of the premier was sought for more strikes at other locations, which according to the sources has been granted.
On the first day of targeted actions, the security forces with help of jet fighters bombed suspected hideouts in different places of both North Waziristan and Khyber Agency. The military action was initiated in reaction to execution of 23 Frontier Corps personnel who had been in custody of militants since June 2010.
Though the government claims killing of around 40 militants, including foreigners, in the airstrikes in North Waziristan, local tribesmen both in Miranshah and Mirali narrated another story.
While officials say that at least six compounds of militants were bombed and 40 militants were killed in Assokhel, Khushhali Torikhel and Haiderkhel of Mirali region, tribesmen told Pakistan Today that besides three areas of Mirali, suspected hideouts of militants were also targeted in the Shawal mountainous region.
According to officials, the first attack was made against militants’ compounds in Mirali whereas hideouts of Uzbeks, Turkmens and other foreigners were bombed in the second strike. The officials also confirmed destroying compounds of banned Taliban commander Abdul Razzaq near Mirali.
However, tribesmen in Mirali and Miranshah claim that most of strikes focused on unpopulated and mountainous regions. One tribal source said that five militants were killed and three others injured in airstrikes in Shawal. They said that no casualty was reported from Hassokhel, Haiderkhel and Khushhali Torikhel areas of Mirali regions.
In Bara region of Khyber Agency adjacent to Peshawar, the security forces bombed dens of militants associated with the banned Lashkar-e-Islam at Sepah and Aka Khel. Three alleged militants were killed and four others were injured in the attack. The officials also claimed destroying a depot of explosives in airstrikes.
An official claimed that the forces had targeted hideouts of militants involved in the attack on Army Major Jehanzeb and bomb attacks on a cinema house in Peshawar.
JUST IN SELF DEFENCE:
Commenting on the military’s surgical strikes, the interior minister said that no operation had been conducted in FATA since September last year and the current strikes were being undertaken by the security forces in “self defence”.
Nisar said that the government initiated dialogue process with sincerity and asked the political parties opposing the move as to why they had failed to launch a military operation against the militants during their terms in government.
Nisar said that the committee nominated by the government to hold talks with Taliban representatives had told the prime minister they couldn’t continue the talks unless the militants renounced violence.
SECURING THE CAPITAL:
Clarifying media reports about security threats to the federal capital, Nisar said the threat level to Islamabad had slipped down as compared to previous years. However, he added, “Safe City Project would be launched in coming weeks in a bid to protect Islamabad.”
The security forces would be equipped with modern weapons which are being imported from China, Nisar said.
The minister said he can say with responsibility that Islamabad is safe and it is their effort to make the entire country secure. He said that a Rapid Response Force has been established in Islamabad and it has been deployed at the all entry and exit points of the federal capital.
NACTA:
The interior minister also said that the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) would soon be established after approval of the cabinet and the Rapid Response Force would be replicated in the provinces. He further said that targeted operation is in progress in Karachi and Quetta against the militants.
TALIBAN REACTION:
Reacting to the airstrikes, chief of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Mohmand chapter Umar Khalid Khorasani said that every action has a reaction, referring to the aerial bombings. He also stated that the use of force cannot stop them and they are not afraid of any power, adding that their war is ideological.