As the Pakistani government continues to tout its war in South Waziristan as a runaway success in which they faced virtually no opposition, the military is launching an increasing number of attacks outside the agency, pointing at the reality on the ground.

Hakimullah Mehsud

Indeed, though the Pakistani government has faced resistance on only a handful of occasions, most of the Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) forces in the region and all the leadership remain intact.

That seems to be why the military is focusing more and more attention on Orakzai and Khyber, in the hopes that the leaders they failed to find in South Waziristan Agency might have relocated.

The TTP has been saying since early this month that their goal was to avoid large scale engagements with the anticipation that heavy snowfall would bring the war to a de facto end. For TTP leaders like Hakimullah Mehsud, that snow can’t come soon enough.

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