The Pakistani army has moved into South Waziristan with the intention of wiping out the TTP (Pakistani Taliban). The government and military have been putting this attack off since mid-summer but after a string of attacks inside of Pakistan over the last month that resulted in over 150 dead and attacks on the General Headquarters of the Pakistani Army they were left with no choice but to go in.
There are some important things to remember here, the operation is aimed only at the TTP not the other Taliban and al-Qaeda groups in the area. The other groups such as the LET, Harkat etc are seen as good Taliban and aid the Pakistan government in fighting in Kashmir or only fight in Afghanistan. Pakistan has no real desire to stop the fighting in Afghanistan or Kashmir as this suites their strategic goals of keeping India busy and also trying to reclaim Afghanistan. It was Pakistan the gifted the world with the Taliban so that they could control Afghanistan. This situation will warrant a close watch. The Long War Journal has a great overview of the situation.
It is interesting to note that the Pakistani military is going for the blowtorch approach to this campaign. It has stated it is going for firepower and not going to risk troops on the ground. Watch this situation because within two months the passes will be closed do to snow and operations will ground to a halt. My opinion is this much vaunted operation will be loud and the Pakistanis will report great success but in the long run not much will change.
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