“We will undertake an operation in North Waziristan when the government decides to and so far no such decision has been taken,” Peshawar Corps Commander Lt General Asif Yasin Malik told reporters in the Mohammad Gat area of Mohmand Agency. United States authorities have increased pressure on Pakistan in the wake of al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden’s killing to launch a full-scale offensive against the Haqqani network, a dreaded Taliban faction, which is allegedly based there.
The group headed by Siraj Haqqani, son of veteran Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, is considered to be close to al Qaeda and US officials say that unlike other Taliban factions, this group could not be separated from the global terrorist organisation. “There has been a lot of media hype about the operation. I do not operate on press reports. I get orders from my high command,” Malik said in response to questions about media reports regarding an impending military operation in North Waziristan. “We will undertake such an operation when it is in our national interest militarily, and the decision has to be taken by the government. North Waziristan is as calm and peaceful as it was weeks ago,” he added. When asked about the Haqqani network, he said: “We are misusing the word ‘network’.
It does not become a network if four people sit together somewhere.” He said the military was focused on maintaining an already stable environment to undertake development activity in North Waziristan. He also confirmed reports that a cadet college in the Razmak area of North Waziristan had been reopened. Talking about drone attacks by the Central Intelligence Agency, General Malik said that these strikes created instability and hurt his relationship with local tribes. He also rejected any question of a joint operation with US forces in North Waziristan or elsewhere. The senior army officer said the army would soon launch an attack on militants in Kurram Agency as part of its campaign to stamp out Taliban safe havens from the area.
SENATE BODY: Separately, Foreign Office officials also told the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee that the government had no immediate plans to launch an operation in North Waziristan. Quoting Foreign Affairs Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, Committee Chairman Senator Salim Saifullah told reporters after the meeting that “no decision has been made about launching an operation in North Waziristan”. However, he said that the minister did concede that there was tremendous US pressure on Pakistan to take action against al Qaeda elements inside Pakistan.
