Pakistani army declares victory over Taliban in stronghold in northwestern Orakzai region

Pakistan touts victory over Taliban in stronghold

ISLAMABAD — The Pakistani army declared victory over the Taliban in part of the tribal belt near Afghanistan, saying Tuesday that the military operation in the area is finished and civilians can return home soon.

The announcement about the Orakzai tribal region may free the army to send some troops to other districts where Islamist insurgents have bases that threaten the Pakistani state and U.S. troops across the border.

But the victory could also be fleeting — the army has declared success in other trouble spots in the past, only to see militants regroup and resurge.

The offensive in the Orakzai region came on the heels of an operation against the Pakistani Taliban in the South Waziristan tribal area. Many militants in South Waziristan were believed to have fled to Orakzai, which lies farther north.

For months, the military pounded the region with airstrikes, eventually staging a ground operation as well. The offensive intensified in March, with the reported death tolls of suspected militants sometimes in the dozens.

The information was nearly impossible to verify independently because not only is Orakzai remote and dangerous, but access to any part of the tribal belt is severely restricted. Compared to its other major recent offensives — in South Waziristan and the Swat Valley — the army also revealed relatively few details about its operations in Orakzai.

The announcement about the operation’s end was contained near the end of a short press release describing a visit to Orakzai and neighboring Kurram tribal regions by the army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.

“(Kayani’s) visit to Orakzai Agency marks the successful conclusion of operations in the agency,” the statement said, adding, “He appreciated the professional conduct of the operation which has cleared the agency of terrorists.”

The statement also said civilians who fled Orakzai could expect to return home soon. More than 200,000 people are believed to have poured out of the area since the end of last year.

The U.S. has praised Pakistan for pursuing army operations against militant groups on its territory. In part, that’s because it does not want Pakistan to remain a haven for militants involved in strikes against U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Pakistan has moved primarily against the Pakistani Taliban network.

That group, while largely focused on targets inside the country, has also been implicated on two recent plots against the U.S. over the past seven months: a successful suicide bombing at a CIA base in eastern Afghanistan and an attempted car bombing in New York’s Times Square last month.