Will last phase of intense operation purge Khyber Agency of terrorists?

Pakistani newspapers websites have reported Thursday that fighting for the control of what appears to be the last stronghold of anti-Pakistan Pakistani militants in Tirah Valley has been intense as the military claims to have cleared two-thirds of what could be the last leg of the large-scale operation across the seven tribal regions. But, claims by Taliban-allied terrorists portray different picture of the area.

The valley with dense forests and dominating mountain features, stretching over roughly 1500 square kilometers, has been serving as the last redoubt to many of the Pakistani militant groups and their foreign allies who are Wahhabis-allied Deobandis pushed out from their previous sanctuaries in Pakistani tribal regions along the Afghan border.

“This is the last of the major battles we have fought against militants,” a senior security official said. “And this has been the most intense as well,” he said, requesting he not be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

In one battle that continued for three days for the control of a strategic ridge that overlooks the plains of Peshawar and Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province, Pakistani troops suffered one of their heaviest casualties.

Sixteen soldiers, including a (Shia Muslim) Major of the Pakistan Army, lost their lives while dozen others sustained injuries, including two officers. Reinforcements were sent in and the Kidney Ridge as the military calls it for its shape that had changed hands was recaptured.

Government officials say Operation Khyber-2, a sequel to Operation Khyber-One that saw the military sweep through the plains of Bara in Khyber tribal region, would have a far-reaching effect on security in Peshawar and beyond.

“Tirah is the last major redoubt of the various Pakistani militant groups,” a senior government official said. “You name them and they are there,” he said, also requesting he should not be named because he was not allowed to speak to the media on operational matters.

“From the newborn Daesh (ISIL) – the Pakistani branch of the so-called ISIS, to Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, to Lashkar-i-Islam to Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan Jamaat ul Ahrar, all of them are there, together with some of their foreign friends,” the official said.

“About two thousand and five hundred of them are fighting their last battle to retain the control of the valley,” the official said. “The area is heavily mined and then they were controlling dominating features.”

Thousands of Pakistani troops, including units from the elite Special Services Group, backed up by jets had mounted their last major offensive.

Security and government officials say they have cleared two-thirds of the valley, taking control in the process of some of the strategic mountains and passes, including Madatal Kandao that connects with Afghanistan and had been used by militants and narcotics smugglers to cross the border.

News websites say Tirah straddles Tora Bora, the valley that served as the last sanctuary of Al Qaeda before its leadership escaped into Pakistan’s tribal region following the American invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. The Pakistan Army, that had stationed a small unit in the valley to help plug escape routes, pulled out immediately afterwards. “It was difficult to sustain our presence their due to logistic problems,” the security official said.

However, Deobandi militants of banned terrorist outfits claim they are as much as stronger as they were before the operation and main group in Khyber Agency is of Mangal Bagh also known as Mulla Conductor. Security officials claimed killing of his outfit’s spokesman Salahuddin Ayubi but he phone to media to deny death. So, independent sources cannot confirm the claims of success in view of the past claims.