Counterterrorism strategy: Govt adopts options of targeted operation, talks
The talks will be held only with those TTP groups who surrender weapons.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – The government has started implementing third option of targeted operation after which militants hideouts were targeted in North Waziristan by the security forces.
According to security officials, key Taliban commander Adnan Rasheed, along with his wife and four relatives was killed in the airstrike while 25 other militants were also killed in the bombardment.
Pakistani jet fighters and helicopter gunships began airstrikes in a northwestern tribal district Tuesday.
It is worth mentioning here that three options were focused in the national security policy including talks with Taliban, operation and targeted operation.
The decision of implementing third option was taken in the federal cabinet meeting and the meeting of Army chief General Raheel Sharif and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday.
It was decided that the talks would be held only with those groups who would surrender the weapons.
Addressing a meeting of Federal Cabinet on Monday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had said that extraordinary situation required extraordinary measures. He expressed the resolve to establish supremacy of law in the country at all costs.
The PM said that all state institutions will have to play their role in eliminating terrorism and holding criminals accountable.
The bombardment comes a day after a suicide attack in a market next to Pakistan s military headquarters that killed 13 people including eight soldiers and three children.
On Saturday, a vehicle-borne suicide bomb in the restive northwestern city of Bannu killed 39 people including eight soldiers and 26 paramilitaries, the deadliest attack on Pakistan s military in several years.
Both attacks were claimed by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
The focus of Tuesday s air strikes was North Waziristan tribal district, a stronghold for Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked militants.
Jet fighters began pounding targets around 12:30am (1930 Monday GMT), an official said, and were later joined by helicopter gunships.
The TTP have been waging a bloody campaign against the Pakistani state since 2007, carrying out countless bomb and gun attacks, often on military targets.
Two high-profile attacks in two days mark a sharp upturn in violence from the TTP after a period of relative quiet following the death of their leader Hakimullah Mehsud in a US drone strike in November.
