Islamabad, May 30: Pakistan has clarified that the decision to launch a fresh offensive against the Taliban in the North Waziristan region would be made by Islamabad rather than Washington.
“We are a sovereign country and don’t make our decision on dictation from external forces. The decision to launch an offensive in North Waziristan will be made by the Pakistani army after assessing the entire situation and not due to US pressure,” Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told reporters on Saturday, a Media reported.
The statement comes after US officials repeatedly urged Pakistan to launch a fresh assault against the Taliban militants in the North Waziristan tribal region after battling militants for six months in neighboring South Waziristan.
About 30,000 troops poured into South Waziristan in October to clear the tribal district of Taliban strongholds.
Citing unidentified senior military officials, The Washington Post said Saturday that US planning for a retaliatory attack was incited by ties between Faisal Shahzad, the suspect in the failed Times Square bombing, and elements of the Pakistani Taliban.
“Planning has been reinvigorated in the wake of Times Square,” the newspaper quoted one of the officials as saying. The military will focus on air and missile raids but it could also use small teams of US special operations troops currently along the border with Afghanistan, the report said.
The CIA already conducts drone raids in Pakistan’s tribal regions.
——-Agencies