Pakistan: ISPR DG says Operation Zarb-i-Azb in N.Waziristan is a 'war of survival'

The director general of Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Major General Asim Bajwa, has described the ongoing military operation against militants in North Waziristan as a 'war of survival'.

Major General Bajwa told media here that Operation Zarb-i-Azb will pave the way for a dawn of permanent peace in the country.

The Dawn further quoted him, as saying that the operation was being carried out without any discrimination between "good or bad Taliban", and added that it is the beginning of the end for terrorism in Pakistan.

Major General Bajwa said army troops, Frontier Corps personnel, Khasadars, Levies, intelligence operatives and the Pakistan Air Force were jointly conducting the operation in North Waziristan.

He confirmed that the troops have surrounded North Waziristan and sealed the 180-km-long border with Afghanistan, as well as the boundary with South Waziristan, making it impossible for terrorists to escape.

Asked if there was a possibility that terrorist leaders had escaped to Afghanistan before the launch of the operation, the ISPR chief said it was possible a few of them had taken refuge on the Afghan side, but most of them were still in the targeted area.

He was quoted, as saying: "Terrorists of all kinds, involved in different activities from Fata to Karachi, are based in North Waziristan. They include local and foreign militants, including Uzbeks and Chechens. Now, it is up to them whether they surrender or fight."

He said the entire nation and the political leadership of the country were on the same page as the military on the issue of terrorism and fully supported the army in the operation.

He said that since the launch of the operation on June 15, a total of 327 terrorists had been killed and 45 of their hideouts had been destroyed.

Nineteen terrorists had surrendered to security personnel but details about their nationality or allegiances were not revealed.

Ten security personnel have laid down their lives, while seven had been injured in the line of duty, he added.

He denied that U.S. drone strikes were part of the operation, but added that Washington has been asked to coordinate.

The operation was solely being carried out by Pakistani troops, the ISPR chief said.

Control rooms had been set up with the Universal Access Number 1135 in different cities, so people could share information about any suspicious activity in their area.

He said that so far, nearly 36,804 families consisting of 456,292 individuals had been registered as internally displaced persons and that most of them had moved in with host families in Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan and Lakki Marwat.

Only a few hundred opted to stay in the camps set up for IDPs, he said.

Maj Gen Bajwa said that 50 army personnel and 20 officials of the National Disaster Management Authority had been deployed to ensure the registration of all IDPs.

Six ration points have been established in Bannu, DI Khan and Tank for the provision of food packets and medicines to IDPs and each family was given Rs15,000 and one month's ration by the army.

Of the registered IDPs, 221,000 had been immunised against polio drops and 32 relief collection points had been set up in different cities.

The DG ISPR said the National Database Registration Authority's mobile vans were available to check the identity of incoming IDPs at registration centres. "IDPs are also being screened so that no terrorist can escape under the guise of an IDP," he said.