ISLAMABAD: Pakistani forces pounded militants in tribal areas yesterday, after vowing an all-out assault on a Taleban chief in the lawless Afghan border region known to be an Al-Qaeda and rebel hide-out.
Pakistani Army chief Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani yesterday flew a combat mission against the Taleban, riding as the co-pilot in an F-16 jet for an aerial overview of the offensive against the militants in the country’s restive northwest. In doing so, he became the first army chief to fly in an F-16 jet. The aircraft was flown by a wing commander of the Pakistani Air Force.
Earlier, while addressing soldiers and airmen at a forward air base, Kayani said Pakistan did not need any foreign help in the war on terror and that the armed forces were “fully equipped to root out the extremists.” Describing the Pakistani armed forces as the “finest in the world,” he said they were capable of “thwarting any external or internal challenge.”
Security forces are already locked in a seven-week campaign against the insurgents in three other northwest districts, and late Sunday announced a “full-fledged” second front along the mountainous and wild tribal belt.
The United States government has said that Al-Qaeda and Taleban militants are hiding out in South Waziristan and other tribal areas, crossing the border into war-torn Afghanistan and plotting attacks on Western targets.
Pakistan’s warplanes, helicopter gunships and ground forces bombarded militant hide-outs in the tribal areas and nearby districts on Sunday, officials said, with up to 44 suspected militants killed in the onslaught.
“Airstrikes and shelling by gunships killed 29 militants while 25 were wounded in Safi town of Mohmand tribal district,” said a security official in Peshawar, the provincial capital just south of Mohmand. Security forces continued their assault in Mohmand yesterday, while similar strikes hit Bajaur region on Sunday.
“Eight militants including their commander were killed while a madrasa used by militants and one hide-out were destroyed,” said a security official based in Bajaur’s main town of Khar.
In the Jani Khel area of Bannu district militants fired rockets at a police station and an airport early yesterday. “They escaped after suffering heavy losses,” said Zahin-uddin, a local police official. “Seven militants were killed in the retaliatory attack.”
Security forces launched their offensive against Taleban fighters across three northwestern districts near Swat Valley on April 26, after the insurgents advanced to within 100 kilometers of Islamabad.
Late Sunday, North West Frontier Province Gov. Owais Ahmad Ghani officially announced that the offensive was expanding to the tribal areas, vowing to track down feared Pakistan Taleban chief Baitullah Mehsud.
— With input from agencies
