Pakistan Sends Military Reinforcements to Fight Militants in South Waziristan
By VOA News
23 January 2008
The Pakistani military says it is sending reinforcements to the South Waziristan region on the Afghan border to target a rebel commander accused of involvement in the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
Military spokesman General Athar Abbas says a recent escalation in militant attacks made it necessary to reinforce military posts in the tribal area. He said additional troops have been sent to the area, but did not specify how many.
According to the military, more than 20 troops and 100 rebels have been killed during recent fighting.
South Waziristan is a stronghold of Baitullah Mehsud, a leader of Pakistani Taliban groups who is also believed to have ties to al-Qaida. Mehsud has claimed credit for organizing a series of suicide attacks against Pakistani military targets in the last year, but he has denied government allegations that he masterminded the assassination of Ms. Bhutto.
Last week, Pakistani security forces said a 15-year-old boy confessed to being part of a five-man "backup team," organized by Mehsud, that planned to kill Ms. Bhutto if the opposition leader had survived the attempt on December 27.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
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