Pakistan nears end of first phase of operations against Taliban heartland

Dawn:

The Army is winding up the first phase of Operation Rah-i-Nijat by this weekend by capturing all major towns and villages in the Taliban heartland of South Waziristan, senior military officials said.

The lightning speed with which the military has been able to seize major towns and villages, taking over Sherwangi, Kotkai, Kaniguram and Sararogha and secure main supply routes in the embattled tribal region has taken many an analyst, and even some military planners, by surprise.

The security forces are already inside Makin from the Razmak access but the area is said to be infested with minefields and will take some time before it is declared safe.

In 20 days since the launch of the operation on the night of October 16, the military is now poised to march into Mehsuds’ regional headquarters of Laddah.

The fall of Laddah will mark the end of the first phase of the operation into the mountainous Mehsud territory.

This will mean a huge reversal for the militants who had over-run paramilitary security forces’ forts, beaten back two military operations in the past and turned South Waziristan into the epicentre and birthplace of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan.

The second phase that will include consolidation and clearance will take the military deeper into the Mehsud heartland, into valleys and small hamlets.

This phase will also be used to bring the political administration back into an area that hitherto was off-limit for them to make damage assessment and begin to take charge of the civil affairs.

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I am not surprised at the speed of the advance. It is the first time that the Pakistan army has actually applied an adequate force to the region and the Taliban were unable to resist the advance without risk of destruction.

While I can understand the need for the consolidation phase, they need to keep pressure on the enemy and not give him time to recover and launch raids against the army units involved in the consolidation phase. If they do not keep them on the run they will soon see booby traps designed to defeat their road projects.