Taliban to be flushed from N. Waziristan in two months, says Pakistan general

The Pakistani Army has launched a military operation to clear insurgents from North Waziristan — long a haven for Al Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban — and hopes to wind up offensive actions in all its tribal areas by June, according to the Pakistani general who's in charge of the special paramilitary force for the area.

Maj. Gen. Tariq Khan said the main Pakistani Army was leading the assault in North Waziristan with a series of small operations, while his Frontier Corps was leading a major offensive in Orakzai, to which insurgents have fled after operations in other tribal areas.

Pakistan's Army hadn't previously announced a North Waziristan operation.

In an interview with McClatchy, Khan said that five of the seven "agencies" of what formerly was called the Federally Administered Tribal Area were now under government control, with only Orakzai and North Waziristan remaining to be "cleared." The military then plans to send ground troops to sweep through all of the tribal area.

"This will finish in a couple of months. We'll take care of all of them. We're just waiting for the major operations — like Orakzai and North Waziristan — to finish, to spare us the troops to start changing our methodology. Instead of kinetic, concentrated operations, we start search and cordon and sting operations, for which actually you need more boots on the ground," said Khan, a swashbuckling general who has a reputation for taking extremists head-on.

Khan warned Pakistan's international partners that the region, which runs along the border with Afghanistan and includes Waziristan and the Khyber Pass, desperately needs development to prevent a resurgence by Al Qaeda and the Taliban. He said the minimal level of development needed would cost $1 billion.

However, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, Pakistan's Army chief of staff, told officials in Washington earlier this month that corruption issues and security threats complicate efforts to rebuild the region, and there are few qualified political leaders to assume control when the Army withdraws, which he said it was eager to begin doing, according to two U.S. officials who met with General Kayani. Both spoke only on the condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly.

The North Waziristan operation is crucial for U.S.-led forces across the border in Afghanistan. The U.S. and its NATO allies long have been pressing for action in North Waziristan, a base for al Qaeda and the Haqqani network, one of the most powerful insurgent groups in Afghanistan. The Frontier Corps is supplying some troops for the Waziristan operation.

Orakzai - an insurgent hub

Orakzai, however, has become a magnet for insurgents who've been forced out of other tribal areas.

"Anybody who's anybody is now sitting in Orakzai," Khan said. "Everybody thought they'd be safe there. The terrain is pretty bad. The Uzbeks are there, and Arabs."

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