Pakistani Army claims victory over Taliban in Swat, Waziristan
February 23rd, 2010 - 9:37 pm ICT by IANS
Rawalpindi, Feb 23 (IANS) The Pakistan military Tuesday formally announced its victory against the Taliban in Swat and Waziristan in the country’s restive northwest and stressed on the need for the civilian government to take control of these areas.
The announcement was made during a briefing for the Senate Defence Committee at the General Headquarters here that was attended, among others, by Pakistan Army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and committee chairman Lt. Gen (retd) Javed Ashraf Qazi.
A committee member told Online news agency that Kayani replied to the questions of committee members for an hour, while the Director General Military Operations, Maj. Gen. Javed Iqbal, gave a detailed briefing about the operations in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and the tribal areas.
The committee was told that more than 10,000 army officers and soldiers, as also paramilitary troopers and civilians, had lost their lives in the military operations and more than 20,000 had been injured.
However, terrorism had been rooted out from Swat and South Waziristan, the army asserted.
The operations began April 26, 2009 after the Taliban reneged on a controversial peace deal with the NWFP government and instead moved south from their Swat headquarters and occupied Buner, which is just 100 km from Islamabad.
The operations had begun in Lower Dir, the home district of Taliban-backed radical cleric Sufi Mohammad, who had brokered the peace deal and who is the father-in-law of Swat Taliban commander Maulana Fazlullah. They later spread to Buner and Swat - and to South Waziristan in July 2009.
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- Civil servants in Pakistan's northwest asked to return June 20 - Jun 13, 2009
- Pakistan's military seeks tougher anti-terror laws - Jun 06, 2009
- Radical cleric Sufi Mohammad resurfaces in Pakistan - Jul 26, 2009
- Militants slaughtered 18 of their own wounded men: Pakistani army - Jul 01, 2009
- Pakistani Army reviews anti-Taliban operations - Sep 03, 2009
- Pakistani Army chief visits Swat - May 14, 2009
- Pakistan army chief discusses situation with NATO - May 20, 2009
- Pakistani military to focus on Baitullah Mehsud's Taliban group - Jun 15, 2009
- Tide in Pakistan's Swat has decisively turned: Army chief (Lead) - Jun 04, 2009
- 90 percent of Malakand cleared of Taliban, Swat to be restored (Lead) - Aug 10, 2009
Tags: army chief, army officers, ashfaq, ashraf qazi, buner, defence committee, frontier province, general headquarters, javed iqbal, kayani, north west frontier, nwfp, pakistan army, pakistan military, pakistani army, parvez, peace deal, radical cleric, restive northwest, south waziristan