ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR: The United States has finally admitted that Pakistan is targeting all terrorist groups, including the Haqqani Network, and the successes of the Operation Zarb-e-Azb are exemplary, defence sources told Daily Times on Sunday.
According to the sources, a delegation of US senators raised some questions about Pakistan’s war on terror during their meeting with Army Chief Raheel Sharif. In response, the army chief invited them to visit the Miranshah area of North Waziristan and see the gains made by the Pakistan Army by themselves.
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations, the media wing of the Pakistan Army, Senator John McCain, chairman of the Arms Services Committee of the US Senate, Senator Lindsey Graham and Senator Joe Donnelly went to North Waziristan Agency on Sunday and visited the areas cleared of terrorists under the Operation Zarb-e-Azb. After seeing the deserted hideouts and communication infrastructure of the militants, the delegation was highly appreciative of Pakistan Army’s accomplishments in the areas from North Waziristan up to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The US senators praised Pakistan Army’s efforts for rehabilitation of the tribal people with dignity and honour.
Later, the delegation met the soldiers and the officers of the Pakistan Army who were seriously injured in the initial phase of the Operation Zarb-e-Azb and then voluntarily joined the battlefield again. The visiting US delegates commended the determination of all affected Pakistani soldiers and their sacrifices for the country.
The two-year long military operation has restored peace in the volatile North Waziristan Agency, as militants of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have been flushed out of the tribal region. More than 3,000 terrorists were killed in the operation, while more than 500 soldiers embraced martyrdom fighting local and foreign militants of the TTP.
