Pakistan's Quick Strike Taliban Strategy
Scores of Taliban were killed in two days of fighting after the military went on the offensive earlier in the week to block up to 800 Taliban militants from traveling from Waziristan to the nearby Bannu region, Pakistani government officials said Thursday. There were conflicting accounts of the number of people killed.
News of the intensified military activity comes just two days after a devastating attack by suspected Taliban militants at the luxury Pearl continental hotel in Peshawar, the northern city and capital of the northwestern frontier province (NWFP) where Waziristan and Swat are both located. At least 16 people, including two U.N. officials were killed and up to 70 injured in that attack.
Intelligence officials investigating the attack said they suspected Baitullah Mehsud, a notorious Taliban militant based in Waziristan, to be responsible for ordering his followers to carry out the attack. "Ultimately, the trail reaches Baitullah Mehsud. He is the culprit" said a Pakistani intelligence official who spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity.
As reports came in from Waziristan, there were signs of further challenges to Pakistan's security. On Thursday, four people, including a military soldier, were killed in two separate bomb blasts in the southwestern Baluchistan province.
A remote-controlled bomb planted in a motorcycle went off in Khuzdar district near a military vehicle, killing three people including a paramilitary soldier. Additionally, a passenger on board a train was killed and up to 35 were injured when a bomb hidden in a toilet exploded. A senior government official who spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity from Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan, warned that the two attacks were likely linked to separatists in the province who are agitating for greater autonomy. "This is not necessarily linked to the Taliban, but it is a very worrying situation" said the official.
In Islamabad, a senior Western diplomat who also spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity, said the military's campaign in Waziristan and the ongoing operation in Swat represented both opportunity and challenges for Pakistan. Government officials say, up to 2,000 Taliban militants are likely to have been killed in Swat in the past month while the military has lost just over 100 soldiers.
However, the Swat campaign appears to have provoked a retaliation from the Taliban with the Peshawar attack being the latest evidence on this front. "The Taliban are surely fighting back. But it is encouraging that the military is engaging these people" said the Western diplomat.
Retired Lieutenant General Talat Masood, a respected Pakistani commentator told CBS News that the campaign to confront the Taliban will have to be driven in part by the government seeking more and more support from the public. So far, there are no signs of any significant opposition.
However, up to two million people have been displaced from the fighting in Swat, while others may be displaced from areas such as Waziristan as a result of the military action. "You have to make certain that the public's support is retained for the long term. Otherwise, there is a danger that there might be opposition down the line" he said. "Surely, you can't ignore the public especially as you carry out further military operations in your own country" said General Masood.