Word: islamabad
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...Islamabad Taliban Manhunt Pakistan's security forces are stepping up their offensive against the nation's Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, and his estimated 20,000 fighters. The "full-fledged" escalation planned in South Waziristan, a Mehsud stronghold, reflects the government's heightened resolve to confront Pakistan's growing insurgency. But analysts warn that assaults in the mountainous region will be difficult to carry out and may prompt bloody reprisals elsewhere...
...Islamabad's decision to launch the offensive against Mehsud signals a deepening of Pakistani resolve against the militants. The army has targeted the Taliban leader on three separate occasions - in 2004, 2005 and 2008 - but walked away each time after signing ruinous "peace deals" that have only served to embolden Mehsud. But the military appears more determined this time. It also enjoys the backing of a government that has gained public support as the recent wave of terrorist attacks has heightened revulsion against the Taliban. (See pictures of refugees fleeing the Swat valley...
...advantage during this fight may come, however, from abroad. In contrast to the previous offensives in South Waziristan, there are signs of closer cooperation between Islamabad and Washington. Just hours before Ghani's Sunday announcement, a CIA-operated drone fired missiles near Makeen, Mehsud's hometown. Five suspected militants were killed. It was the 20th such strike this year. Since February, the U.S. has stepped up attacks on Mehsud and his allies, broadening its range of drone targets across the tribal belt. The day before the drone strike, Pakistani air-force jets were pounding the same area in retaliation...
...easily across the porous 1,300 km boundary between Tajikistan and Afghanistan, which is also a chief thoroughfare for Afghan opium into the markets of the West. According to Pakistani media, the IMU has helped contribute some 4,000 Uzbek and Tajik fighters to the Taliban forces warring with Islamabad...
...were killed by the attack, including Aleksandar Vorkapic, a Serbian national working for UNCHR and Perseveranda So, a Philippines national running education projects for Unicef. Their deaths may now halt some of the UN's extensive operations in Pakistan's northwest. Most of the staff has been sent to Islamabad. Other aid agencies have ruled Peshawar off-limits and are considering their remaining options...