Pukhtunkhwa govt demands military operation in Waziristan, Punjab

PESHAWAR: Following the suicide blast in Peshawar on Friday and Saturday’s attack on the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, the NWFP government has demanded the federal government launch a decisive military operation in Waziristan and southern Punjab.

NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain conveyed the provincial government’s demand during a press briefing on Saturday. “The NWFP government-supported military operation in Malakand has succeeded. The people of Malakand are free from the Taliban. Now, the time has come for the federal government to start a decisive military operation in Waziristan and put a halt to the terrorism spreading from these tribal agencies to the rest of the country,” he said.

“The NWFP will continue to be plagued by suicide attacks until the training centres are destroyed,” he said. The minister said there were reports of training camps in the Muridke region of Punjab too, adding the government should launch a military operation in that area as well.

Committed: The information minister said Friday’s suicide attack was the worst yet, as most of the deceased had been burnt beyond recognition. He said the Taliban, through such attacks, wanted to pressure the government to stop military operations. However, he added, the government would not stop until every last militant had been eliminated.