New Delhi: A Pakistan army operation against pro-Taliban militants near Peshawar is imminent. Army sources say the operation is necessary to reduce the threat to the city.
Army units have taken up positions on the outskirts of Peshawar and a curfew has been imposed on the bordering areas of Peshawar. Vehicle movement has been restricted in the city and hospitals have been alerted to receive casualties.
The target is the adjoining Khyber Agency where Taliban militants have taken virtual control. Khyber is also the key route for supplies headed for NATO forces in Afghanistan. An operation is already underway in South Waziristan against tribal militants.
Dawn News Correspondent Arshad reports: "Some of the Taliban and the religious militants have made incursions into Peshawar. They have been visiting various local shops and hotels, threatening the people and it is the same kind of movement that was seen taking place in Afghanistan and in the tribal areas earlier. As of now, they come to the city and then retreat fast. There is a heavy deployment of frontier constabulary around the vicinity of Peshawar. Military officials say at present the Pakistan army is not part of the security arrangements. They are cautiously watching the situation. At the moment, it is the paramilitary force which is guarding the city that is literally under seige from the Taliban on its outskirts.
The Associated Press reported that on Saturday, Pakistani forces bombarded suspected militant hideouts with mortar shells as the government launched a major offensive against Taliban fighters threatening the main city in the country's volatile northwest.
The offensive in the Khyber tribal region marked the first major military action Pakistan's newly elected government has taken against the militants operating in the tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan.
The government had said it preferred to try to defuse tension with the groups through negotiations, but with threats by Islamic militants to the city of Peshawar growing in recent weeks, the government decided to take action. Khyber is a key route for moving US military supplies into neighboring Afghanistan.
By Saturday afternoon, the paramilitary Frontier Corps began shelling suspected militant hideouts in the mountains in Khyber, said local official Muhammad Siddiq Khan.
In response to the operation and other recent confrontations with security forces, Baitullah Mehsud, the Taliban leader in Pakistan, said he was suspending talks between his allies and the government. He implied his forces could cause trouble in Pakistan's main cities.
"Peace cannot be brought with force and aggression. This will be very unfortunate for the Pakistani nation if fighting starts again" he told The Associated Press over the phone.
Fasih Ullah, a police officer in Khyber, said 700 Frontier Corps troops moved into Khyber late Friday for the operation.
At meetings in Peshawar on Friday, federal and provincial representatives hammered out the details of the Khyber operation. They also discussed the situation in the restive Swat area, where the provincial government has signed a peace deal with a radical pro-Taliban cleric, provincial officials said.
Afrasiab Khattak, chief negotiator for the provincial government, told the AP that the province is considering a second military operation in Swat, where militants forced out by an army offensive last year are now regaining a foothold.
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