Interior Minister Rehman Malik said Friday that the government
would consider conducting an operation in North Waziristan Agency.
Speaking to reporters upon his arrival in Karachi, Malik said intelligence reports and the residents
of North Waziristan state that the hub of terrorists is the agency.
He added that political and military leadership would consider launching army operation as all the
ways now lead to the North Waziristan after Taliban’s attack on Malala Yousufzai. The minister
said that next 48 hours were very critical for peace activist.
He said that North Waziristan was the epicenter of terrorists, adding that the Taliban actually
attacked the Pakistani nation by targeting Malala Yousufzai.
“The government and military leadership will decide if there is a need for an operation in North
Waziristan,” Malik said.It is to mention here that the Pakistani military has long been refusing to
launch military offensive on US demands in North Waziristan, which according to Americans is a
safe haven of Haqqani Network, a strong faction of the Afghan Taliban fighting US and Nato forces
in Afghanistan.
Haqqani Network have been accused of launching deadly attacks on US forces across Afghanistan
and are considered bone of contention between the US and Pakistan.
Islamists in Pakistan have been indicating that the government would use the Taliban shooting of
Malala as a pretext to launch operation in North Waziristan.