Word: mehsud
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Anticipation for the Waziristan offensive began this summer, after the conclusion of active fighting in Swat, another militant stronghold in Pakistan. Provincial officials announced that the government had decided to move next against the then chief of TTP, Baitullah Mehsud, in his South Waziristan stronghold. But military operations in Swat continued and fighting spread to other districts, which tied up army operations for several more months. (See pictures of art from Pakistan and Afghanistan...
...that it is willing to take action against the militants in southern Punjab. Access to ready and heavily indoctrinated recruits from that part of the country is crucial to the militant's demonstrated ability to continue to strike in Pakistan's heartlands, despite losing their much feared leader Baitullah Mehsud in a U.S. air strike on Aug. 5. His successor, Hakimullah Mehsud, recently re-emerged after weeks of silence to vow a series of revenge attacks. Hakimullah Mehsud is considered a much weaker leader, and the already fractious alliance of militant groups under the Pakistani Taliban umbrella is expected...
Still, the Mehsud network and its deadly allies remain a major threat to Pakistan's stability. In perhaps its toughest challenge yet, the Pakistan army is gearing up, after much reluctance, for a ground offensive in South Waziristan to target what remains of Baitullah Mehsud's group, more than 5,000 well-armed central Asian fighters known for their brutality, and Arab fighters belonging to al-Qaeda. From their eastern patch of South Waziristan, the militants have authored close to 250 suicide attacks across Pakistan in the last 2½ years and trained other militants who have spread the Pakistani...
...Pakistani Taliban was thought to have been weakened when the group's former commander, Baitullah Mehsud, was killed in a U.S. drone attack on Aug. 5. Pakistani military officials have told TIME that "conditions in South Waziristan" are now ripe for a ground offensive to eliminate what remains of the Mehsud network and their allies there. But they warn that it will be "very bloody," possibly leading to further revenge attacks in Pakistan. There are an estimated 10,000 well-trained fighters still in South Waziristan, and their new leader, Hakimullah Mehsud, has warned of fresh violence. He appeared...
...workers in Pakistan and Afghanistan in recent months, came as the Pakistani army is poised to mount a fresh ground offensive in the South Waziristan tribal area against the country's most fearsome al-Qaeda-linked Taliban militants. It also followed a vow by the Pakistani Taliban leader, Hakimullah Mehsud, on Sunday to mount revenge attacks for the killing of the group's former leader in a U.S. air strike two months ago. Addressing Pakistan's parliament after the bombing, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said that although security had been stepped up across the country, "we should expect...