Taleban hideout falls to Army

Pakistan notched up the first major success of its Waziristan campaign yesterday with the capture of Kotkai, home to the Taleban leader Hakimullah Mehsud, one week after it launched a sweeping assault on the militants' heavily protected mountain fortress.

The victory came hours after an American drone blasted a militant hideout at the other end of the tribal belt, killing 22 people and underscoring Washington's determination to keep up its campaign of targeted assassination even as Pakistani ground troops press in on the main Taleban stronghold.

The apparent target of the strike, commander Faqir Muhammad, reportedly escaped.

The Army seized control of Kotkai, a strategically located village along one of three axes of attack, after five days of bitterly fought combat that saw warplane attacks and gunfights around mountain outposts.

At least 44 militants and 10 soldiers died in the fighting, according to Army figures, and the village changed hands several times before the Government achieved complete control yesterday.

As well as being home to the Taleban's ruthless young leader, Kotkai is also the birthplace of Qari Hussain Mehsud, a notorious extremist known as the godfather of the Taleban's legion of suicide bombers.

"Thank God, this was the Army's big success," said spokesman Major-General Athar Abbas. "This place was a stronghold of terrorists, where a majority of houses had been converted into strong bunkers."

Abbas said intercepts indicated that Taleban deserters were shaving their beards and trimming their hair to blend in with fleeing civilians.

But, as with much that is said about South Waziristan, little could be verified. Since fighting erupted on October 17, the area has been sealed off to local journalists; foreign correspondents have been forbidden to visit for years.

Yesterday the Taleban prohibited reporters from entering North Waziristan.

The Red Cross has appealed to both sides to let its officials into the area, saying it is worried about the fate of civilians in the battlezone.

Some 155,000 of an estimated 550,000 residents have fled into neighbouring areas, where a humanitarian crisis is brewing.

Now the Army is advancing towards Makeen and Ladha, the towns at the heart of Mehsud territory, from where the Army says that Tehrik I Taleban Pakistan (TTP) is directing a campaign which has plunged the country into a virtual state of war.

The past five days have seen attacks on a major air base, an Islamic university and a bus carrying wedding guests, following assaults on the Army headquarters and police installations.

More than 200 people have died in attacks since the start of the month, triggering a security clampdown in the cities and a sharp drop in the stock market.

More than before, ordinary Pakistanis are jittery about their future, particularly since the closure of schools and universities that followed Friday's double suicide attack on the International Islamic University in Islamabad.

Analysts said the capture of Kotkai was a milestone but cautioned that the Army had a long way to go.

"Nobody expects the top leadership or anyone who really matters in the TTP to still be in Kotkai," said Kamran Bokhari of the United States-based think-tank Stratfor.

"The Taleban leadership has most likely vacated the area and moved deeper into the territory."

The American strike occurred in Bajaur tribal agency, 320km from Waziristan. The target, Faqir Muhammad, a Taleban commander with a fierce reputation and a sphere of influence that spans the border, was reportedly absent.

A local official said most of the 22 people killed were Afghan nationals.

Although Pakistan formally protests at the drone strikes, its security services quietly assist them. But the Predator and Reaper attacks have acquired an even greater sensitivity during the Waziristan operation.

Pakistan worries that US strikes on territory controlled by Hafiz Gul Bahadur and Maulvi Nazir, two ethnic Wazir Taleban commanders who have agreed to stay neutral in the attack on the TTP Mehsud stronghold, could lead them to join the fight.

Bokhari of Stratfor said the Americans appeared to be playing along with the Pakistani strategy, but only for now. "There may be an understanding to hold off on drone strikes until the South Waziristan operation is over, but it's a cost-benefit analysis. If the US locates an al Qaeda top dog in Gul Bahadur's territory, I doubt they would say 'Let's hold back'," he said.

Meanwhile, the humanitarian toll is rising. According to the United Nations about 155,000 have fled the fighting into neighbouring districts. Although 60,000 people have registered for government help in the past 10 days, very little has been on offer, leading human rights groups to accuse the Government of punishing all Mehsuds for the sins of the Taleban.

- OBSERVER