Islamabad, Nov.27 (ANI): Pakistan Taliban are reportedly regrouping in remote areas of South Waziristan inspite of the Pakistan Army’s offensive in area, which has so far claimed the lives of about 500 insurgents.

A Los Angeles Times report on Thursday said that the militants have begun to establish new strongholds, and remain a potent threat to the US-backed Pakistan government.

The paper claims in its report that Pakistani Taliban militants have escaped primarily to the Kurram and Orakzai, districts, which lie outside the battle zone and along the country’s borders with Afghanistan.

Locals claim that militants are terrorising them and ensure their coffers are regularly replenished through kidnappings and robberies.

With AK-47s and rocket launchers slung over their shoulders, the militants have begun patrols through the new territory and have set up checkpoints, the L.A. Times reports.

Pakistani military commanders, however, say they are in the final stages of their offensive.

At the beginning of the offensive, it was estimated that there were as many as 10,000 battle-hardened militants. None of the Pakistani Taliban’s top leaders have been reported captured or killed.

Taliban militants and Al Qaeda-allied Uzbek fighters continue to offer fierce resistance to the armed forces in places like Kotkai and Sararogha, the latter said to be a key nerve center for the Pakistani Taliban. Militants have succeeded in engineering a devastating string of terrorist attacks on Pakistani cities. Peshawar has faced the brunt of these bomb attacks, with more than 245 people, most of them civilians, being killed in ten bomb attacks since October. (ANI)