Taliban dig in for fight, Waziristan refugees report
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) — Residents fleeing a six-day-old Pakistani army offensive in a Taliban stronghold along the Afghan border reported Thursday that the insurgents are digging in for a fight and travel the roads freely.
Tired and dusty refugees arriving in this northwestern town Thursday from various parts of South Waziristan reported intense army bombing by jets and helicopters but said they had seen no ground troops.
The accounts by a dozen refugees to Associated Press reporters are a sign of just how much fighting remains before the military can even hope to clear the area, which in recent years has become a major global hub for al-Qaida and other extremist groups who carry out attacks against U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
The militants were believed to control roughly 1,275 square miles of territory before the offensive began. That portion covers about half of South Waziristan, which itself is slightly larger than Delaware.
The military says its troops are progressing steadily and retaking land on three fronts. But officers have made it clear that the campaign will be long and bloody and acknowledged resistance is tough.
As the army presses into their heartland, the militants are trying to bring the war to the rest of Pakistan.
Over the last 20 days, they have killed more than 170 people in a series of suicide bombings and raids on Western, civilian and security-force targets across the country.
In the latest attack, suspected insurgents on a motorbike shot and killed a senior army officer and a soldier Thursday in a residential part of the capital, Islamabad. The slain officer, Ahmed Moinuddin, was on leave from his job as deputy commander of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Sudan.
The attack came despite ramped-up security nationwide. It was believed to be the first targeted killing of an army officer in the capital, a sign of evolving militant strategies.
The United Nations says 110,000 people have fled South Waziristan in recent months as speculation rose of an army offensive, about 30,000 of them in the last few days. Most are staying with relatives or in rented homes in Dera Ismail Khan and nearby districts.