Pakistan’s military has declared victory in Bajaur after a multiweek offensive, saying they have cleared the tribal agency almost entirely of members of the Swat Valley Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) auxiliary.
The latest offensive lasted a little over two weeks, and officials say that over 100 people were killed in the fighting, including 18 civilians. The military appears to have pushed the bulk of the TTP fighters out of Salarzai District and back into neighboring Afghanistan.
The militants have established bases of operation across Afghanistan’s Kunar Province, which NATO has struggled to deal with. The faction shows up in Bajaur regularly, taking hostages and killing members of the pro-government militias.
Pakistan has been fighting the TTP in Bajaur since 2008, and has declared “victory” several times over the years, only for the faction to retreat back to Afghanistan and regroup, showing up again a few months later.
Fantastic! The empire has now succeeded in starting a civil war in Pakistan too.