US wants Pak to launch offensive in tribal areas

ISLAMABAD - The United States wants Pakistan to launch military offensives in South and North Waziristan as well in addition to operations already underway against the Taliban militants in Swat and Bajaur Agency.

"The Bush administration is pleased over the operations in Swat and Bajaur against the militants but at the same time it wants offensives in South and North Waziristan, the two other tribal areas that, it believed, have become the hub of international terrorism," said a senior official here on Saturday requesting for anonymity.

The United States, itself, has conducted eight air strikes and raids in both parts of Waziristan since August 31 including the first ever ground attack on Angoor Adda, the border area of South Waziristan.

US President George Bush is said to have authorised the increased air and ground strikes inside Pakistan in an effort to root out al Qaeda and Taliban militants.

Pakistan, on its part, strongly condemned those attacks and said it would defend its territorial integrity. The President, Prime Minister, Army Chief, Foreign and Defence ministers, all have said that the country wouldn't tolerate the cross-border attacks and violations of its territorial boundaries.

However, the official said that there had been no firm assurance by Washington that in future its troops wouldn't resort to any more strikes in the tribal areas.

Rather, he said, the Bush administrations wanted Pakistan to go after the terrorists and miscreants in Waziristan and flush them out from volatile tribal areas.

According to official, the forthcoming visit of President Asif Ali Zardari with the American President on the sidelines of UN General Assembly's session in New York is highly significant.

He said that the two leaders were likely to reach some sort of understanding on contentious issue of cross-border attacks.

However, he added, if talks failed, it would have very negative impact on cooperation between the two allies in war against terrorism.