Pakistani troops move into major Taliban stronghold (Roundup)

Nov 6, 2009, 10:12 GMT

   Islamabad - The Pakistani military said on Friday that its forces had stormed the 'headquarters' of the Taliban in the South Waziristan region, marking the start of a decisive phase of their three-week campaign to eliminate the militants.

   The crucial advance was reported as suspected insurgents shot and wounded an army brigadier and his driver in the capital city, Islamabad.

   Pakistani troops mounted the offensive, codenamed Path to Deliverance, on October 17 after a string of brazen terrorist attacks in towns and cities across the country. Earlier, aircraft and artillery were used for weeks to soften up the rebels' defences.

   On Friday, the army said soldiers moved into the town of Makeen, the main militant stronghold and hometown of slain Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who was killed in a US airstrike early August.

   'A large part of (Makeen) town has been cleared,' the military said, adding that a search and clearance operation was continuing in the besieged area.

   'Intense engagements are taking place and terrorists are fleeing, leaving behind their weapons and ammunition,' the statement said. So far 21 militants have so far been killed in the clashes.

   The security forces also raised Mehsud's ancestral home to ground. Mehsud's clansman Hakimullah Mehsud is now leading the Taliban fighters.

   Three more rebels died during an encounter in Sararogha, another militant stronghold, where the security forces are facing stiff resistance in the streetfighting.

   The fresh killings have taken the overall death toll on the part of the Taliban to 446, while the military has suffered 42 fatalities in the operation that Pakistan says is crucial in its struggle against rising Islamic militancy.

   The Taliban have intensified suicide bombings and raids against civilian and official targets in retaliation for the Waziristan operation.

   Gunmen on a motorbike fired at a vehicle in Pakistan's capital on Friday, injuring an army brigadier and his driver.

   The attackers ambushed the senior officer as he left his house in a residential neighbourhood in Islamabad, a duty officer at the local police station said.

   'Fortunately, the driver managed to speed away,' said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The brigadier was said to be in a stable condition at the local hospital.

   It was the third attack of its kind in the last two weeks. Another brigadier, who was on leave from a UN peacekeeping mission, was killed along with one soldier in a similar drive-by shooting on October 22.