Pakistan to expand military operation in tribal area

ISLAMABAD, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- Another full-fledged military operation is anticipated as lots of soldiers equipped with latest weapons have arrived in Bara area in Pakistan's Khyber tribal agency, local media reported Monday.

The private newspaper The News quoted sources as saying that over 1,000 security men, equipped with artillery guns and rocket launchers, were stationed in different areas of Bara Tehsil Sunday.

The decision about deploying security forces and launching a fresh operation against the militants in the tribal area was taken by the Pakistani government after several incidents of bomb blasts killed scores of innocent people in nearby Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province (NWFP), the newspaper said.

Some sources disclosed that the operation would be launched in Khyber and Orakzai Agencies simultaneously to purge the two tribal regions of the militants and protect the provincial metropolis and other major cities from militants' attacks.

Peshawar has seen a wave of bombings over the last couple of weeks as the army presses an offensive against the Taliban militants in South Waziristan tribal area bordering Afghanistan.

It is believed that suicide bombers are being trained in the neighboring Orakzai Agency and then sent to settled parts of NWFP, particularly the Peshawar city, via Bara in Khyber agency.

The sources added that fleeing militants from South Waziristan also used to sneak into Peshawar and other districts of NWFP for subversive acts.

Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik said Saturday that more troops will be dispatched to tribal areas, hinting at launching a full-scale operation in Peshawar and its adjoining areas to save the provincial capital from bombings and destruction.