A planned military operation in Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud's stronghold South Waziristan will heavily rely on air power rather than a ground offensive.According to a report published in the US-based McClatchy Newspapers, the planned approach will likely be ineffective in eliminating the Taliban leader and is likely to disappoint the country's western allies, Pakistani officials and analysts told the paper.
The military is ending its operation against the Taliban in Swat, is soon expected to initiate one against Baitullah in Waziristan, but it would be much different to the strategy in Swat, which 20,000 troops swept across the region.
Ground troops: The military plans to use artillery, jet fighters and helicopter gunships to target the Taliban, with ground troops playing a limited role in the mountainous Waziristan, which largely favours traditional guerrilla warfare that the Taliban resort to.
The paper said the operation was unlikely to destroy the enemy, but was likely to raise questions about the country's seriousness to fight the insurgents. "The nature of the operation is totally different from what we did in Swat," a senior Pakistani security official told the paper on condition of anonymity. "It is just blocking the entrance. Nothing goes in, nothing comes out. We'll keep punishing (the enemy) with long arms, air (power), Cobra (helicopters)." "The tactics have been reversed. Initially they (the Taliban) used to wear us out; now the army is planning to wear them out."