Pakistani Military Ground Offensive Begun

Ground Offensive begun against Al Qaeda by Pakistan Military Troops
After a three-month blockade The Pakistan Army started a campaign with 28,000 troops on October 17, 2009, to begin a large-scale operation to wipe out Taliban and Al Qaeda militants in the area. Pakistani officials characterized the impending clash as the "mother of all battles." Prior to the launch of the operation, the Pakistani Army had reinforced their presence on the borders of South Waziristan to two divisions (20,000–30,000 troops) who were facing a heavily entrenched force of 6,000–7,000 militants, including Taliban-allied Mehsud tribesmen as well as Uzbek and Arab foreign fighters affiliated with Al Qaeda.[12]
A meeting, which was attended by the the top civilian and military leadership, gave the go-ahead to launch a military operation in South Waziristan to eliminate terrorism and extremism on October 16.[13] Members attending included Awami National Party’s Asfandyar Wali Khan, PML-N’s Mian Shahbaz Sharif, Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Dr Farooq Sattar, Balochistan National Party-A’s Senator Israrullah Zehri, Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao of the Pakistan People’s Party-S, Munir Khan Orakzai from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Mian Raza Rabbani of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, Pir Sadruddin Shah of the PML-F, Maulana Mohammad Khan Sherani of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Fazl), Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira, NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani and Chief Minister Amir Haidar Khan Hoti, the chief of the Intelligence Bureau.[13] One report indicated that the offensive had a two month timetable.[14]

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