Since the start of fresh operations in Waziristan and other tribal areas by Pakistan’s security forces on July 19, over 200 Pakistani soldiers have been killed, according to a report published in the Washington Post on Sunday. “In just more than one week of conflict, more than 200 Pakistani troops have been killed, US officials said,” says the report.The report, based on interviews with a half-dozen senior administration and intelligence officials, none of whom was willing to be named, says that Pakistan was forced to abandon its strategy of negotiating with local elements to keep the peace since US intelligence reports clearly showed that Al Qaeda had regrouped in the area and found it to be a safe haven. Pakistan launched a fresh military offensive on 19 July, having deployed two additional brigades in the area, bringing the total number of Pakistani security forces there to 100,000.
The report quoted Ambassador Mahmud Ali Durrani as saying, “We are as committed to defeating terrorism as the US is, because the threat to us is far greater.” Durrani said Pakistani intelligence officials are not convinced that Al Qaeda’s Pakistan operations are as elaborate as US experts believe. “We say there are no safe havens,” he said. “Maybe there are Al Qaeda people hiding in caves or running for their lives, but they aren’t operating in the open because they can’t.” Durrani contends that any Al Qaeda elements actually in Pakistan will soon be driven out or rendered ineffective.
Earlier, “intelligence gleaned from captured Taliban fighters, communications intercepts and overhead surveillance showed that the terrorists had exploited the vacuum created by departing Pakistani troops. Using a combination of bribes and intimidation, foreign fighters had secured the protection of tribal leaders and had begun boldly rebuilding a network largely dismantled during the US-led invasion of Afghanistan,” the Post report said. The intelligence was an “eye-opener” for President Musharraf, though he already sensed the deal was in trouble. Xenia Dormandy, who recently left a senior position at the National Security Council, told the newspaper, “To say we’ve been supporting Musharraf is simplistic. Musharraf has spent six years walking a fine line between a rock and a hard place. Could we push him more? You won’t know the answer until you’ve pushed him too hard and he collapses.”