Excellent news from the FATA. The Pakistan army has cleared out Bajaur at last and captured a major Taliban headquarters, a cave complex estimated to have taken 5 to 7 years to create. Army morale amongst jawaans and officers is high following the victory, and the Army is eagerly planning the next stage of the pacification campaign, a move into the Orakzai agency and the Tirah valley in the Khyber Agency.
Interestingly enough, the army found documents in the house of a prominent Jamaat-i-Islaam member proving his involvement with the Taliban. This traitor is now being hunted down by security forces, thankfully.
The Pakistan Army raised the Pakistani flag in the region for the first time ever since independence. In one village in the area, Dawn reports residents dancing in the market with their assault rifles singing “Long Live Pakistan”.
DAWN.COM | Pakistan | Taliban?s Bajaur base falls, army eyes Tirah, Orakzai
DAMADOLA: Security forces have taken control of Bajaur’s Damadola, known as the nerve-centre of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, and are now bracing themselves for an offensive in Orakzai Agency and Tirah valley of Khyber Agency.
“We are facing problems in Orakzai and Tirah and will launch operations there in the near future,” Frontier Corps Inspector General Maj-Gen Tariq Khan told a media team from Islamabad here on Tuesday. The ISPR’s director general, Maj-Gen Athar Abbas, was also present.
The capture of Damadola, near the Afghan border, has boosted the morale of troops and the military leadership is now contemplating an all-out offensive in other agencies where militants are strengthening their positions.
With the success in Damadola, once a no-go area and thought to be insurmountable, the entire Bajaur agency stands cleared of militants.
The most significant feature of the episode was the capture of a key Taliban complex in Damadola, the stronghold of TTP leader Maulvi Faqir Mohammad. The complex had a number of caves used by militants as hideouts and ammunition dumps.
A large quantity of explosives, weapons and currency notes were found in the caves. The complex faces ice-capped mountains straddling Pakistan’s border with eastern Afghanistan.