ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Top Pakistani military officials told The Washington Examiner Tuesday that operations are underway targeting al Qaeda and Taliban extremists in North Waziristan, disputing criticism from the United States that terrorist havens there are being ignored.
“True there are some extremist pockets in the region but we are targeting those separately from the tribes in the region,” said onesenior Pakistani official, who spoke on condition that he not be named because of the sensitive nature of his work.
“We want to isolate the terrorists but we also want the tribes in the region to remain neutral,” the official said. “If we target the entire area or allow outside forces to do so, the tribes become hostile. Then the line that divides the terrorists from them becomes diminished.”
Pakistani officials said that message was relayed to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard C. Holbrooke on their most recent visits to Islamabad.
“Once they heard our argument against drone strikes in areas like
Quetta or putting foreign boots on the ground they understood our assessment,” the Pakistani official said. “They understood that extending drone strikes outside of FATA [Federally Administered Tribal Areas, on the Afghan Pakistan border] would be counterproductive.”
The Pakistani military is targeting the most extremist elements in North Waziristan’s rugged terrain. Operations are intelligence-based, and designed to lessen the possibility that civilians “become victims of the battle.”
Army Gen. David Petraeus, the head of the U.S. Central Command, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen have discussed these issues with their Pakistani counterparts, the officials said.
“We understand their needs and we believe they understand ours as well,” a top Pakistani official said.
U.S. officials have publicly pushed Pakistan to be more aggressive in North Waziristan, where extremists like Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Afghan insurgent Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Sirajuddin, are believed to have found a safe haven.
The Haqqani network is allied with the Afghan Taliban and have attacked NATO and U.S. forces. Hekmatyar, believed to have several thousand followers, is the leader of the Hezb-i-Islami and allied with the Taliban and al Qaeda.
The Pakistani officials said that country’s army is stretched too thin to mount a “major offensive in Northern Waziristan.” The officials disputed U.S. claims that large numbers of insurgents from Pakistan routinely cross the border into eastern Afghanistan.
“We know that there are leaders and insurgents in northern Waziristan but many of the insurgent fighters are in eastern Afghanistan,” said another Pakistani government official with knowledge of the region.
“They live there and are not crossing back into Pakistan.”
A U.S. counterterrorism official, with knowledge of operations in the region told The Examiner that Pakistan “has come to understand even more clearly the serious threat they themselves face from terrorists.”
“The Pakistanis have taken major risks and demonstrated courage,” the U.S. official said. “With the American commitment in Afghanistan growing — with American and coalition soldiers dying in battle — the Pakistanis know they must also take action against the Afghan Taliban.”
