Washington, October 19: Head of the US Central Command, Gen David Petraeus, has arrived in Islamabad for talks with Pakistani commanders about an ongoing offensive against militants in Waziristan.
Furthermore US Senator John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, arrived in Pakistan on Sunday on a two-day visit to the country where a wave of militant attacks has killed more than 175 people during two weeks.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman on Saturday said that senior US officials were alert about the recent violence in Pakistan and “are watching the situation closely.”
Meanwhile, Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has spoken to Pakistan Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani to emphasize continued US support for the clampdown on the militants.
The US has recently offered Pakistan equipment that would help with mobility, night fighting and the precision bombing of militants’ hideouts on the Afghan border, according to a Press TV correspondent.
Conflicting reports have emerged a day after thousands of soldiers launched an offensive against the pro-Taliban and al-Qaeda militants in South Waziristan.
The Pakistani army says it has intensified military operations against pro-Taliban militants in a bid to flush out the insurgents from the volatile region and has captured several militant bases in and around the troubled region.
This is while militants have painted a very different picture of the initial fighting, saying they have succeeded in pushing back Pakistani troops and inflicting heavy casualties on them.
—–Agencies