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Operation Zarb-e-Azb | Updates, News & Discussions.

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June 17, 11:58am

Fresh air strikes early Tuesday target three militant strongholds in Mirali town in North Waziristan and kill 13 alleged militants, three security sources said, AFP reports.
 
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Zarb-e-Azb Update: 50 more terrorists killed in bombardment
12:46 Jun 17, 2014


RAWALPINDI: Pakistan armed forced continued their anti-Taliban operation for the third day today (Tuesday) as 50 more terrorists were killed in fresh bombardment in restive North Waziristan tribal agency, the ISPR said.


According to officials, military jets pounded targets in Khoshhali and Khajori areas near Mir Ali, killing 50 terrorists and destroying eight hideouts in early morning airstrikes.

The army has deployed tanks, thousands of ground troops in North Waziristan as local tribal people left the area seeking shelter in adjoining districts and border areas of Afghanistan.

On Monday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said the ongoing military offensive will usher in peace.

"We have decided to make Pakistan as a land of peace. I believe that this operation would be the beginning of an era of peace and tranquility," Sharif said in the Parliament. - SAMAA

Zarb-e-Azb Update: 50 more terrorists killed in bombardment
 
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JuD’s Hafiz Saeed supports military operation in NWA

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LAHORE: Ameer Jamatud Dawa Pakistan Hafiz Muhammad Saeed has fully supported the operation Zarb-e-Azb in North Waziristan Agency.

In an interview with a private TV channel here on Monday, Ameer Jamatud Dawa Pakistan Hafiz Muhammad Saeed said that military operation had become inevitable after the attack on Karachi airport and security force.

He said that his party will support the government and security forces to make the operation a success.


He said that the government was sincere in talks with the Taliban to avoid the operation but the dialogues failed .He said that it happened which was to happen, saying that he still demands that the people , who are living peacefully , should not be targeted.

Hafiz Muhammad Saeed said that Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz should take the nation into confidence as to why the operation was inevitable.

He said that there should be national unity for making the operation successful, saying that Jamatud Dawa will support government and the institutions for ending terrorism.
 
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Will Pakistan go all out against militants?
By M Ilyas Khan
BBC News, Islamabad
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Pakistan's offensive raises many as yet unanswered questions

Pakistan's military operation to clear al-Qaeda and Taliban militants from its side of the Afghan border has long been demanded by Kabul and Washington.

Troops are now on alert in Pakistan's towns and cities after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif approved the offensive in North Waziristan.

A military statement quoting army chief Gen Raheel Sharif said it was aimed at eliminating "all terrorists and their sanctuaries" in the tribal area.

But there are questions which will be answered only as the operation unfolds.

For one, the military has only been conducting air raids in the region so far, and there is no evidence yet of any boots on the ground.

And, the air raids have targeted only Central Asian fighters and Pakistani Taliban (TTP), both known for their animosity towards Pakistan.

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The operation is aimed at militants in the Shawal region of Waziristan

The question is, will there be strikes against the feared Haqqani network and two militant groups native to Waziristan which have thus far mainly focused attacks on Afghanistan?

One of these, the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, controls North Waziristan, and has played host not only to the Haqqani network and the TTP franchise, but also to militants from the Middle East, Central Asia and parts of Pakistan.

The Mullah Nazir group - named after its commander who was killed in a US drone strike last year - controls the Wana region of South Waziristan, and has like the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group focused its energies on Afghanistan.

Both have had peace deals with Islamabad, but Hafiz Gul Bahadur recently threatened to revoke the agreement if Pakistan continued to bomb targets in his region.

There is also a question mark over a recent move by Pakistan to pull out guards from a section of Waziristan's border with Afghanistan's Khost province, leaving it unmanned for nearly two weeks.

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Officials in Miranshah, the administrative centre of North Waziristan, say most foreign fighters have since slipped into Afghanistan, as have tribal elements affiliated with the TTP.

Considering these early developments, the emerging picture appears to be one of restrained military action aimed at driving undesired elements over the border into Afghanistan without greatly upsetting the "friendly" groups or the "civilian population", as local officials put it.

Those that are being driven out are likely to regroup and create alternative sanctuaries in Khost, just as the militants already driven from the Swat, Bajaur and Mohmand regions of Pakistan's tribal areas set up sanctuaries in Kunar and Nuristan provinces of Afghanistan.

The difference is that while those in Kunar and Nuristan are hindered by geography from launching major attacks in Afghanistan - and have therefore been more focused on Pakistan - the elements who gather in Khost will have Kabul within their striking distance.

Analysts close to the Pakistani military establishment accuse the militant groups in Kunar and Nuristan of having become "foreign proxies", used by Afghanistan, India and even the US to punish Pakistan for supporting the Haqqani network and the Quetta Shura, as the Afghan Taliban leadership is known.

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Thousands of civilians are fleeing Waziristan for safety
Many believe that a sanctuary in Khost is likely to become more Afghanistan focused, although some elements there, too, wouldn't mind being used against Pakistan.

This leaves us with the so-called friendly groups, who are natives of the Waziristan region, have had peace deals with Islamabad, and have hosted and nourished the wider militant fraternity that today stalks the entire Afghan-Pakistan region.

This proliferation of Taliban is credited by many to a Pakistani policy - denied by Islamabad - of arming and encouraging the Taliban to capture Kabul so as to prevent its arch-rival, India, from expanding its influence in Afghanistan.

But since this fraternity started to breed groups that turned on Pakistan, analysts say the Pakistanis would now like to secure their border with Afghanistan so as to prevent a reverse flow of these "foreign proxies" into its territory. The current operation is to achieve that goal, they say.

It is still not clear why Pakistan seems to be holding back on the Haqqani network and the Waziristan groups.

Some analysts who are close to the military suggest that these groups may still come in handy if Pakistan decides to keep parts of Afghanistan unsettled until its fears of Indian ascendancy in Kabul are put to rest.

But most are unanimous that Pakistan does not want a total Taliban victory in Kabul any more, because in the changed circumstances Pakistan would be the first country where they would try to export their ideology.

To succeed at this tricky game of realpolitik, Pakistan will need to hold sensitive negotiations with the native groups.

Both these groups would like to remain in control of their territory, and if given a chance, would like to make Waziristan part of an extended Taliban sanctuary that includes southern and eastern Afghanistan.

Since the Pakistan-Afghanistan border is officially disputed by Kabul, there is a real danger of these groups striking a deal with Kabul to create problems for Pakistan.

Backing disaffected Waziri tribesmen against Pakistan might be seen by Kabul as a way of getting back at Islamabad.

After all, it's unlikely to welcome thousands of militants being dumped on its territory by its larger and more powerful neighbour.

Pakistan will therefore be treading a very fine line when it negotiates any power-sharing deal with these groups.
 
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Pakistan will not be allowed to become safe haven of terrorists at any cost. We expressed our military and government's resolve to eliminate terrorism in the country by decisive crackdown against terrorists would continue till the realisation of objectives of military operation 'Zarb-e-Azb'. We already had paid a heavy price – in terms of lives and material – during war on terror which he said was imposed by militants, adding that country has suffered losses worth $103 billion due to terrorism. Operation will definitely bring peace and stability to the country.

Though the country has been in the grip of terrorism since the 9/11 attacks in the US, the government of Pakistan decided to use the full force of state against militants in 2007 after the Lal Masjid Operation in Islamabad.
The following are major military operations carried out by armed forces against local and foreign militants in the troubled tribal areas and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in recent past:

Operation Rah-i-Haq-I in Swat valley and Shangla district (2007)

Operation Rah-i-Haq-II in Swat valley and Shangla (2008)

Operation Sirat-i-Mustaqeem in Khyber Agency (2008)

Operation Sherdil jointly launched with Frontier Corps in Bajaur Agency (2008)

Operation Rah-i-Haq-III in Swat valley and Shangla (2009)

Operation Black Thunderstorm in Buner, Lower Dir and Shangla district (2009)

Operation Brekhna in Mohmand Agency (2009)

Operation Rah-i-Rast, commonly known as Swat Operation, (2009)

Operation Rah-i-Nijat in South Waziristan (2009)
 
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