Roundup: Pakistani military sees one year offensive against Taliban in North Waziristan as success

Exactly a year after the Pakistani military launched a massive land and aerial offensive against the Taliban code-named "Zarb-e-Azb" (sharp strike) in the North Waziristan tribal region, military bigwigs here have said that the operation was a success.

In a recent command conference in Rawalpindi, Pakistani Army Chief General Raheel Sharif emphasized to his top commanders on the need for the continuation of the operation which involves fighter jets and helicopter gunships, until all the remnants of the terrorist group are driven from their sanctuaries.

A statement issued after the command conference quoted the Army chief as having urged the commanders to "take all measures to prevent the escape of trapped terrorists" from their last few pockets of resistance in North Waziristan.

Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Asim Bajwa said over the weekend that the security forces had killed 2,763 militants during the year- long operation that started on June 15, 2014.

A total of 347 security personnel also lost lives in the clashes and due to roadside bomb attacks during the operation, General Bajwa said after releasing a one-year report of the offensive.

The spokesman also said as many as 837 hideouts of the militants had been destroyed and 253 tons of explosives recovered during the operation. The Army said that militants who survived the offensive have moved either to the Afghan side of the border or to the rugged and mountainous terrain in the region to avoid the air strikes.

As the ground forces have expanded their offensive in the region, security officials have expressed confidence that they will wind up the operation in the coming months. Officials said that the security forces will go after the remaining Taliban militants during the last days of summer.

The government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ordered the massive offensive in North Waziristan after the Taliban waged a series of attacks in various parts of the country and after the putative peace process was scuttled.

The Taliban attack with the help of the Uzbek militants on the Karachi airport in early June was the proverbial"last straw" that prompted the government to launch the operation. Nearly 30 people, including the airport security officials, were killed in the early morning brazen six-hour attack on the Jinnah International Airport.

A vast majority of Pakistanis believe that terrorist attacks have substantially decreased following the launch of the operation as it paralyzed, to a large extent, the capability of the Taliban and other militant groups to wage armed attacks against military and civilian targets.

The Taliban training centers and their sanctuaries have also been dismantled by the military offensive.

The North Waziristan was the last stronghold of the armed groups as the militants from other areas had converged there in the wake of military offensives in other tribal regions.

The government could not launch the long-awaited attack in the region early as the security forces had been deeply involved in operations in other areas. There had also been not much political support for the North Waziristan offensive earlier but the Taliban attacks had changed the mindset of the opponents to the operation.

The military and civilian leaders are upbeat at the progress achieved so far and both have agreed to continue the operation.

Prime Minister Sharif has congratulated the nation, particularly the Pakistan Army, for the success of Operation " Zarb-e-Azb" against terrorism.

He said on the launching of the operation a year ago that it was a"manifestation of our resolve to root out terrorism from the country." "Those who are fighting in those dangerous fronts today have been sacrificing their lives for better future of the nation and the whole nation expressed solidarity with them," Sharif said in a statement issued on Sunday.

The North Waziristan operation also helped the security forces to conduct operations in other parts of the country on the basis of information extracted from the militants arrested during the operation.

The Army says as many as 9,000 intelligence-based operations were carried out, apprehending thousands of terrorists and their supporters in other areas of Pakistan.

A total of 218 hard core terrorists were killed in the cities, according to the Army spokesman. Endi