PESHAWAR – Pakistan has put on hold a likely military operation in North Waziristan Agency in reaction to unnecessary pressure tactics by the US administration, sources said. In background interviews, sources privy to the development told Pakistan Today that military strategists had been giving a serious thought to launch the much-awaited military offensive in North Waziristan, which is considered a hotbed for Al Qaeda and its affiliated local Taliban. A senior security official said, “I know the preparations for a likely offensive have been halted after the US arrogance to exert unnecessary pressure on the government to go after the militants in the region. This compelled us to review our security approach towards the region, and now there is no progress on the issue.”
He said there had been plans to start the operation around six months ago and the top military leadership had given a go ahead, but on their own, not under US pressure. The military believes that starting the operation right now would be taken as a direct consequence of US pressure. “This delay is to dispel the public impression,” the source said. “We will decide on where and when to launch an offensive in the tribal region. This is not as simple a task as going for a target, as this needs full preparations to open a new front. The local civilian population should be taken on board first, and if necessary, the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people from the targeted areas of the agency,” another official said.
North Waziristan Agency is said to be under the influence of militant groups, but the government has a peace deal with the local tribesmen in the agency since 2008. This peace agreement is also viewed as one of the hurdles in the way of taking action against the militants. The unabated US drone attacks in the region are also believed to be provoking the local population against the government, and the US in particular. A large number of people have already shifted to area across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, even Punjab and Karachi, to avoid miseries incase of a military operation.
