Pakistani forces have choked off the infiltration of Taliban insurgents into Afghanistan from South Waziristan, Major General Gul Muhammad, commanding officer of troops in Waziristan said on Wednesday, Reuters reported.
Maj Gen Muhammad said his men had virtually sealed the frontier. “No regular movement is taking place between South Waziristan and the Bermel area of Afghanistan,” he told Pakistani and foreign journalists on a military-organised trip to the region. “If someone proves it with any satellite imagery, I am responsible. We have choked all main routes,” he said.
Maj Gen Muhammad said the Ahmedzai Wazir tribesmen were chasing Uzbek militants beyond Wana valley and the Pakistan Army hoped that the local population would rid Waziristan of all foreigners. He said that the Uzbek militants had retreated to Nandran heights in the northwest of Wana, but a tribal lashkar was chasing them. “It (the anti-Uzbek drive) was an indigenous movement,” he said, distancing the army from any involvement in the clashes. He said that around 200 Uzbeks and 40 tribesmen had been killed since the fighting started in March 19. “We are sick and tired of the foreigners,” the regional commander quoted the local population as saying.
Though the visiting journalists were not allowed to go to Wana bazaar or talk to the residents, the soldiers deployed at the main base appeared relaxed. “Peace is returning to Waziristan,” a young soldier escorting the journalists’ team told Daily Times. The journalists were also taken to the Sholam observation post overlooking Wana valley. “Wana will become a model for the entire Waziristan region as far as the campaign against foreign militants is concerned,” Maj Gen Muhammad said, but added that the process would take time. He said the situation in Pakistani tribal areas “has links with the situation in Afghanistan”.
At the briefing at the Shalom post, Brigadier Shafqat told the journalists that the tribesmen had “almost cleared” Kaloosha, Sheen Warsak, Azam Warsak and Wana of Uzbek militants. Maj Gen Muhammad said that Maulvi Nazir had not joined the fight against Uzbek militants as Taliban ameer but as a member of the Kakakhel tribe.
He said that the army carried out major operations in South Waziristan in 2004 and 2005 but was unable to drive out the foreign militants because they had the support of local tribesmen at that time. He said that differences increased between the Uzbeks and the tribesmen after the foreigners killed several local people and were involved in kidnapping and car snatching. Maj Gen Muhammad said that Uzbek commander Tahir Yuldashev with a $5 million bounty on his head had not been caught.