Inside the Taliban lair

Guardian:

...

... On a wooded hilltop Brigadier Tayyeb pointed to a cloud of white smoke rising from a village. "The miscreants are sitting there. The fight is going on," he said. Tayyeb has led the drive towards Kanniguram, a Taliban hub five miles away. It is one of three axes of attack the army is following.

A few moments later, he urged a group of journalists to move back inside a walled compound. "This place is still dangerous; there is a possibility of sniper fire. But by evening, inshallah [God willing], we will clear it," he said.

Inside the compound, his troops had laid out a selection of militant paraphernalia which, they said, was seized from Taliban compounds in nearby Shelwasti village. Soldiers had neatly laid out stacks of artillery shells, piles of antiquated rifles, jihadist banners, broken computers, Islamist propaganda books and, most intriguing of all, a stack of passports and photos said to belong to foreign militants. There were explosives manuals in Russian and medicine made in India, Pakistan's old rival.

The army's message was clear – it wanted to stress the influence of al-Qaida linked extremists, said to number about 1,500, who are fighting alongside the local Taliban, most of whom come from the Mehsud tribe.

Major General Athar Abbas, the army spokesman, said the foreigners were mostly Uzbeks but also came from Arab countries and Europe, and were key to the Taliban's instruction in the dark arts of guerrilla ambush and suicide bombing. "These foreigners are vital to them," he said, adding that the army faces a maximum of 8,000 fighters in South Waziristan.

...

A second helicopter hop brought the media to a windswept ridge overlooking the second front of the Waziristan war, along the line of attack from the town of Jandola in the east. In the distance, looking deceptively peaceful, lay Kotkai, hometown of the Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud, a 28-year-old tribesmen with a reputation for acting rashly and ruthlessly.

Mehsud was not home. One army officer said he was last seen around Pre Ghal, a soaring peak that at 3,600m is the highest point in South Waziristan. The officer, who is from the area, said the Taliban leadership were moving constantly, both by jeep and on horseback.

Military analysts, however, believe that Mehsud has fled into neighbouring North Waziristan – another lawless tribal area controlled by the Taliban commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur, with whom the army has a peace deal of sorts.

...

There is more.

The NY Times reports:

...

So far, the army has concentrated on taking territory along the main road, a thin ribbon of rock-strewn gravel that was first laid down by the British. The troops have proceeded slowly, even though, compared to the mountain passages that lay ahead farther in the interior, this roadside terrain was relatively easy, soldiers said.

The army captured the village of Chalvashti several days ago, and the cluster of flat roofed, closely spaced dwellings could be seen from a nearby vantage point.

The next target, Kuniguram, about six miles from Chalvashti, has served as the headquarters for the Uzbek fighters, the Taliban’s most brutal warriors. The army had surrounded Kuniguram on three sides, General Rabbani said, and clouds of white smoke from artillery fire onto the ridge in front of Kuniguram could be seen in the early afternoon.

...

The UK Times also is covering the story.


That the Pakistan army brought in the news suggest they are exerting control over the real estate in the battle space. They have also obviously uncovered some intel on the Taliban and their al Qaeda allies. As they push north, I suspect they will find even more intelligence as well as enemy fighters.

They appear to be doing it right this time by using a large force. As they control more territory they may need additional forces to free up men for attacking the Taliban leadership as it moves north.