Pakistan's Foreign Minister Recaps The Success Of The South Waziristan Offensive

All signs so far is that the Pakistani military offensive in South Waziristan has exceeded the expectations of the government and quite frankly, all reports have substantiated that. From DAWN, we see an article of how the foreign minister of Pakistan sees the progress so far and what he sees in the short run going into the severe winter months. The best quote from the article is this:

‘The leadership that was located in South Waziristan is on the run, they are in retreat and there is disarray there.’

This is exactly what was needed in South Waziristan - the fact that the Taliban and al Qaeda leaders are now looking over their shoulders in retreat, they are eyeing the sky for predator drones and the fact that they are nearly surrounded, has severely reduced their ability to even come together for any sort of planning sessions. The Pakistani military has shown, vividly, that when you take an unbridled military offensive directly to the Taliban, victory can be achieved.

South Waziristan offensive very successful, says Qureshi

KUALA LUMPUR: Pakistan's offensive in South Waziristan has been ‘very successful’ and the military is likely to achieve most of its objectives before winter sets in, the foreign minister said Sunday.
Since October 17 some 30,000 Pakistani troops have been waging a major assault against Taliban fighters hiding out in the formidable terrain of South Waziristan, which borders Afghanistan.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the military has made significant headway in the region, part of the tribal belt where United States officials say Al-Qaeda is plotting attacks on the west.
‘The operation so far has been very successful. The resistance that we were expecting initially did not come with the same stiffness as we expected,’ he said on the sidelines of a conference of developing nations in Kuala Lumpur.
‘We would want to achieve our objectives as much as possible before the winter sets in. It seems, as things are going on right now, that we might be able to do so,’ he said.
‘That area becomes very cold so we want to operate and establish our foothold before that,’ he said. Qureshi would not give a date, but winter sets in around mid-December in that region.
Qureshi said that many important towns and locations were now in the control of Pakistan's army and that ‘quite a few’ militants had been killed or arrested.
‘We are moving ahead, the entire region has been surrounded... to choke supply lines and minimise their effectiveness,’ he said.
‘The leadership that was located in South Waziristan is on the run, they are in retreat and there is disarray there.’
The military said last week that 264 militants and 31 soldiers have been killed, but the information cannot be confirmed independently because the area is a closed combat zone.
Analysts had said that Pakistan's military faced tough odds to smash Taliban networks in South Waziristan, an impenetrable terrain infested with some of the most dangerous militants in the world.
Numerous previous offensives in the tribal belt have had limited success.