Pakistani army attacks militants in lawless region

TROOPS fought militants on three fronts and fighter jets bombed insurgent positions near the Afghan border yesterday as Pakistan pressed ahead with an assault on the country’s main Taliban and al-Qaida stronghold.

The army and the Pakistani Taliban have each claimed early victories in South Waziristan, a lawless, semi-autonomous region that Islamist extremists use as a base to plot attacks on the Pakistani state, Western troops in Afghanistan and targets in the West.

The offensive, now in its third day, in South Waziristan is seen as Pakistan’s most crucial yet against militants that are in control of a large swath of its north-west, close to the Afghan border, and have carried out a string of bloody attacks in recent weeks, including a 22-hour siege of army headquarters.