Pakistan-Taliban fighting moves to Bannu

Reuters/NY Times:

Pakistan unleashed helicopter gunships and artillery to kill scores of Taliban fighters, officials said on Thursday, after opening a second front against militants near their stronghold in the Waziristan tribal region.

Already in the final stages of an operation to clear Islamist fighters from the Swat valley, far to the northwest and closer to Islamabad, the military went on the offensive on Tuesday in Bannu district after up to 800 militants infiltrated from Waziristan.

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Standing at the gateway to Waziristan, Bannu is 150 km (90 miles) southwest of Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province (NWFP), where a suicide truck bomb attack on a luxury hotel killed at least nine people on Tuesday.

A military statement said on Thursday that during the last 24 hours 66 militants had been killed in fighting mostly in Bannu and South Waziristan, but also Swat.

In Bannu alone, more than 130 militants have been killed since the army swung into action two days ago, according to military officers and a senior civilian official in the area. Independent casualty estimates were unavailable.

"The operation is going on very well. Helicopter gunships, artillery, everything is being used," Kamran Zeb, the top administrator in Bannu, told Reuters.

In South Waziristan, the stronghold of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, around 400 militants attacked two forts in Jandola and Siplatoi. They killed three soldiers but lost 22 of their own men, the military statement said.

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In the tribal region of Orakzai, security forces also used artillery and warplanes to obliterate a militant compound, killing at least five people, but probably more, according to the the region's mayor.

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Mehsud and his organization should be primary targets. He has been behind many of the attacks in Pakistan and destroying his operation would be a serious blow to the religious bigots.

The strategic significance of the fighting in Bunnu is its status as a gateway into Waziristan. That is why the Taliban is attempting to mass forces there to stop the army's advance and why the army is hitting them hard with heavy weapons and air power.

While it is understandable why the Taliban would want to stop the army's advance, for an insurgent force it is a mistake to give battle on the army's terms as they are doing now. By massing, they make it easier for the army to destroy them in one battle. It is a gift.