Pakistan starts critical offensive against Taliban

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani soldiers attacked militant bases in the main al-Qaida and Taliban stronghold along the Afghan border Saturday as the nuclear-armed country launched its most critical offensive yet against insurgents threatening its stability.

Five soldiers and 11 militants were killed as the more than 30,000 troops deployed to the region met stiff resistance in parts of South Waziristan, a possible hideout of Osama bin Laden and a base for jihadists bent on overthrowing the U.S-backed government, attacking the West and scuttling the U.S. war effort in Afghanistan

The U.S. has pushed Pakistan to mount the offensive, which follows three unsuccessful campaigns since 2001 in the mountainous, remote region by mostly poorly equipped soldiers trained to fight conventional wars, not counterinsurgency operations.

The assault, which has been planned for several months, comes after a surge in militant attacks killed more than 175 people across Pakistan over the past two weeks. The operation is expected to last around two months and is aimed at clearing the region, then holding it, officials said.

Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said the effort was focused on uprooting the Pakistani Taliban, an umbrella group of militants led by members of the Mehsud tribe blamed for most of the attacks that have battered the country over the past three years.

About 10,000 local militants and about 1,500 foreign fighters, most of them from Central Asia, control roughly 1,275 square miles of territory, or about half of South Waziristan.