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Pakistan spends 1.9 billion USD on major anti-Taliban offensive

Xinhua, September 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

Pakistan has spent 1.9 billion U. S. dollars so far on the major operation against the militants in North Waziristan tribal region, officials said on Friday.

The comments came a day after a parliamentary committee was informed that more than 3,500 terrorists have been killed and nearly 300 security personnel have lost lives during the operation launched in June last year.

The Pakistani Taliban, other Pakistani armed groups and foreign militants had turned North Waziristan as their major operational base for attacks in Pakistan and also across the border into Afghanistan.

The army backed by fighter jets has almost cleared the region of the Taliban and foreign militants during the operation codenamed "Zarb-e-Azb." The operation is now in its final phase as troops are now battling the fleeing militants in the rugged mountains.

Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Qazi Khalilullah said that the government has spent 1.9 billion dollars from the country's own resources.

He described the operation as a success and said Pakistan is also sharing the "impact of the operation with the Afghan side during bilateral meetings."

Afghanistan had also been calling for the operation in North Waziristan as it insisted that members of the Haqqani Network were hiding there.

On Afghanistan, the spokesman Pakistan security adviser Sartaj Aziz in his day-long visit to Kabul on Friday reiterated the country's commitment to facilitating an Afghan-led and Afghan- owned peace and reconciliation process.

Aziz met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and other leaders to explore ways to review the peace talks that were deadlocked after Mullah Omar's death was confirmed by the Taliban last month.

He said some military officials were also part of the delegation and during Aziz's meetings with the leadership of Afghanistan, all issues of mutual interest and concern were on the agenda for discussions.

"Pakistan is committed to promoting peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan because we believe that peace in Afghanistan is in the interest of both the countries as well as the entire region. However, we have also said that further steps have to be decided by the Afghans themselves. We remain ready to facilitate,"the spokesman said at his weekly briefing on Friday. Endi