PM: South Waziristan Offensive Not Over After All

Gilani Retracts Previous Claims, Hints at Orakzai Invasion

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousef Raza Gilani has quickly retracted claims he made earlier in the day that the military has finished its massive, two month long invasion of South Waziristan Agency.

I may have said it in a different context,” Gilani insisted, declaring that the South Waziristan operation is “going on quite successfully” but declining to give any timeline for its eventually conclusion.

Pakistan’s military has claimed to have killed nearly 600 “suspects” in the offensive, but with the Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leadership nowhere to be found, the value of the killings is somewhat dubious.

Gilani has suggested that an invasion of the nearby Orakzai region may in fact be in the offing, as the military struggles to find the elusive TTP leaders. The military has been bombarding the region for weeks, but has committed few ground troops.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.