33 Uzbeks, 3 Germans, 4 other, miscellaneous people, all of them officially “militants.”
That’s the assessment from Pakistani security sources after yesterday’s military strikes in North Waziristan. The military termed others killed the previous day militants as well, though since that included a five-year-old girl and a seven-year-old boy, the reliability of that assessment remains in serious doubt.
Either way, Pakistani officials insist this isn’t the start of a full-scale military offensive, and seems to just be the arming blowing off some steam by destroying some houses in the tribal areas, as they are wont to do.
That’s still not sitting well with opposition figure Imran Khan, who is complaining that despite the All Parties Conference (APC) agreeing on peace talks with the Taliban, the government seems to be making no real effort to hold any.
Pakistan had talks scheduled at one point, but they were sabotaged by a US drone strike killing the Taliban leader who was supposed to attend. Since then, the Taliban is believed to be split roughly 50-50 between holding talks and not bothering, but the Sharif government hasn’t made serious attempts to negotiate with the ones still willing to talk.