Pakistan has told US military officials that it plans to launch combat operations against Taliban militants soon in a tribal area near the Afghan border that also serves as a haven for leaders of the al Qaeda-affiliated Haqqani Network, defense secretary Leon Panetta said Monday.
Panetta said Pakistan’s military chief, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, discussed the planned operation in recent conversations with the top American commander in Afghanistan, General John Allen.The US long has been frustrated by Islamabad’s refusal to target Afghan Taliban militants and their allies using Pakistani territory to stage attacks against US and coalition troops in Afghanistan.
Many analysts believe Pakistan is reluctant to target groups with which it has strong historical ties and could be useful allies in Afghanistan after foreign forces withdraw.
Panetta said he did not know when the Pakistani operation would start, but he said he understands it will be in the “near future,” and that the main target will be the Pakistani Taliban, rather than the Haqqani Network.
{{/usCountry}}Panetta said he did not know when the Pakistani operation would start, but he said he understands it will be in the “near future,” and that the main target will be the Pakistani Taliban, rather than the Haqqani Network.
{{/usCountry}}Panetta welcomed Kayani’s initiative, even though the main target may not be the Haqqani leadership.
“They’ve talked about it for a long time. Frankly, I’d lost hope that they were going do anything about it. But it does appear that they in fact are going to take that step.”