Pakistan's South Waziristan offensive 'over'

Pakistan's South Waziristan offensive 'over'

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Saturday, 12, Dec 2009 01:03

By Richard James.

Pakistan's prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has announced the country's security forces have ended their military offensive in South Waziristan.

Since October the army has sent thousands of troops into the region to force Taliban militants out of strongholds in the area bordering with Afghanistan.

Mr Gilani told reporters on Saturday, the military may now fix its attention on the Orakzai region where the militants are thought to have fled.

"The operation in South Waziristan is over. Now there are talks about Orakzai," he said.

However, it is not just the militants who have been forced to flee in the wake of the military campaign, the United Nations claims more than 40,000 civilians have been forced to leave their homes in Orakzai.

Some 30,000 thousand Pakistani troops have been sent into South Waziristan this year and while the campaign has been successful in driving out militants from some areas, hundreds of civilians have been killed in revenge attacks in Pakistan's major cities.

Pakistani officials claim the campaign has seen almost 600 militants lose their lives, with up to 80 soldiers also being killed.