Islamabad, November 29: Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari has claimed “considerable success” in a military offensive against Taliban fighters in the remote tribal northwest, his office said Sunday.
Zardari made the remarks during a telephone conversation late Saturday with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said in a statement.
“Referring to the ongoing drive against militancy in the tribal areas of South Waziristan, the president said that considerable success had been achieved,” Babar said.
“The operation would continue till the area is cleared of terrorists and the objectives are achieved,” Zardari told Brown, stressing the need for support by the international community in aiding civilians displaced by the fighting.
Pakistan sent about 30,000 troops backed by fighter jets and helicopter gunships into South Waziristan on October 17, in the most ambitious operation yet against the Taliban in their mountain stronghold near the Afghan border.
Although there has been some resistance in the region, many officials and analysts believe most of the estimated 10,000 Taliban guerrillas in the district have escaped into neighbouring Orakzai and North Waziristan.
Brown, who instigated the phone call, appreciated the government’s determination to fight the insurgents and lauded the success made so far, also vowing long-term support in the fight against militancy, Babar said.
“Britain will continue to support Pakistan build its ravaged economy and in the rehabilitation of the displaced people,” Brown was quoted as saying in the statement.
The United States has also welcomed Pakistan’s military efforts but is reportedly pressuring the civilian government to also counter militants on Pakistani soil who attack NATO and US troops across the border in Afghanistan.
Security has drastically deteriorated in Pakistan since Islamabad joined the US-led “war on terror”. Hundreds of Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants fled into the tribal belt after the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan.
The South Waziristan offensive, which followed a spring offensive in the Swat valley, has also seen a retaliatory surge in suicide attacks targeting civilians and security officials, particularly in Pakistan’s restive northwest.
—Agencies