Pakistan targets Taliban leader

--BBC--

Pakistan has ordered its military to carry out an offensive against the Pakistani Taliban leader in the north-west of the country, an official says. Provincial governor Owais Ahmad Ghani said troops had been told to eliminate Baitullah Mehsud and his fighters. Mr Ghani did not say when the operation would begin, but he suggested it would be imminent. Baitullah Mehsud's group are thought to be behind a string of attacks in Pakistan in recent weeks. Mr Ghani told reporters in Islamabad: "Baitullah Mehsud is the root cause of all evils." Bomb attack Correspondents say the announcement of the operation, in South Waziristan, is likely to please the US. Washington regards the tribal region as a particularly troublesome hideout for al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters suspected of attacks on US forces in neighbouring Afghanistan. Baitullah Mehsud is blamed for a series of attacks In the past, Pakistani army action has faltered or ended in truces that correspondents say have strengthened the militants. Analysts say that in many ways a full-scale operation in South Waziristan would be harder than the recent fighting in the Swat valley, where Pakistani troops say they killed hundreds of militants in the past six weeks. The announcement of the offensive against Baitullah Mehsud came after at least eight people were killed earlier in the day in a bomb attack at a market in the north-western Pakistani town of Dera Ismail Khan. The explosives were reported to have been detonated by remote control after being hidden in a rickshaw. The authorities blamed the attack on supporters of Baitullah Mehsud.