Addressing a national security conference in Islamabad, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
said the ongoing strikes against the turbans were inevitable because peace talks had failed to proceed.
But he played down the likelihood of turbans being able to hit back.
"If there is a reaction to the operation Zarb-e-Azb
..the Pak offensive against Qaeda in Pakistain and the Pak Taliban in North Wazoo. The name refers to the sword of the Prophet (PTUI!)...
it would be very minimal," Sharif said in an address broadcast live on television.
Pakistain began an offensive in the northwest following a brazen attack on the country's busiest airport in Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
which killed dozens and left a nascent grinding of the peace processor in tatters.
More than 500 turbans and 27 soldiers have been killed in the assault so far, according to the military, though their corpse count for snuffies cannot be independently confirmed.
In a statement issued to the media after conference, military officials said they were confident that the command and control system of the Pak Taliban (TTP) had been "crippled."
The statement added that "all political and religious parties agreed that state has to fight and eliminate militancy."
Sharif added that his nation needed to do more to improve relations with its neighbors.
Both Kabul and Islamabad accuse each other of not doing enough to tackle cross border militancy while Pakistain has long had frosty relationship with India.
"We need to have cordial relations with our neighbors if we want to progress, Pakistain cannot live in isolation. We don't have relations with a single neighbor to be proud of," he said.
He added: "We want good relations with India."
After sweeping to a landslide election victory last month, India's Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited Sharif to his inauguration in a surprise move seen as a significant olive branch to India's Moslem neighbor.
Pakistain's semi-autonomous tribal areas on the Afghan border have for years been a hide-out for turbans of all stripes — including Al-Qaeda and the homegrown TTP as well as imported muscle such as Uzbeks and Uighurs.
Washington pressed Islamabad for years to take action to wipe out sanctuaries in North
Wazoo, which turbans have used to launch attacks on NATO...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis....
forces in neighboring Afghanistan.
More than 800,000 people have been forced to flee from North Waziristan by the assault, with most ending up in the nearby town of Bannu.
There have been fears that many top turbans also fled, including fighters from the feared Haqqani network which is blamed for numerous bloody attacks in Afghanistan.