Pakistani military's assault in Waziristan

I am surprised by the lack of coverage of this significant event in the mainstream media, so I decided to keep track of it on my own:


Background:

On October 17, 2009, Pakistani military launched a massive operation, code-named Rah-i-Nijat (path to deliverance), with jets, helicopters, tanks and artillery in South Waziristan at US's behest.  During its previous three such operations in South Waziristan, — in 2004, 2005 and early last year -- military suffered heavy casualties before striking a peace pact.


Some Facts:

• South Waziristan has an area of about 6,620 square km (2,550 square miles).
• Population of about 500,000, (mostly Pashtuns) according to the most recent figures.  Largest tribe is of Mehsuds.
  
• A senior security official told Dawn that the estimated number of hardcore militants in South Waziristan was 10,000. The number includes 1,000 to 1500 foreign militants, most of them Uzbek.
  
• Approximately 30,000 soldiers were taking part in the operation, which is a combination of ground offensive and aerial strikes.
• No media coverage is allowed inside the affected territory.
  

Goal:

Isolate the Pakistani Taliban in their stronghold and hope other militant factions, including a Wazir-dominated faction led by commander Maulvi Nazir in South Waziristan, and other factions, will stay out of the battle.

Timeline (will try to update this daily as long as I can):

11/4/2009:

Since the last updates, there have been almost daily bombings in Pakistan, killing civilians and security personnel.  Sigh.

10/22/2009:

• The Karachi Stock Exchange KSE-100 Index today closed at 9,144, declining 103 points
• Illegal Afghans given 72 hours to leave the capital city Islamabad by Interior Minister Rahman Malik  and ordered a door-to-door search in five major sectors of the capital. 

10/21/2009:

Head of the United Nations peace-keeping mission in Sudan and former deputy director general military operations Brigadier Moinuddin Ahmed is assassinated, along with another army official in a shootout in Islamabad on Thursday. 

10/20/2009:

• International Islamic University, Islamabad is bombed killing three girls were among six people.
• Iran ramps up pressure on Pakistan over Jundallah bombing.

10/19/2009:

• In an open letter to the Mehsud tribes, Chief of the Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani seeks support of Mehsud tribes in the operation and expresses the hope that the tribes would fully back the army in the operation.
• The alleged Amir of the Karachi branch of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan and his three accomplices are arrested on Monday. Police seizes a large cache of arms and ammunition.
• An insurgent Sunni organization called Jundallah associated suicide bomber kills seven commanders of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards and up to 42 other people on Sunday in an attack that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad charges has been plotted from Pakistan.

10/18/2009:

• Security forces claim on Sunday to have made steady gains and were surprised by low level of resistance (I'm not sure why surprised, they withdrew to avoid being bombed, like w/ the US in 2001).
• The Taliban spokesman claims that militants’ supporters were joining from religious organisations and madressahs in Punjab, Sindh and the NWFP, including Afghan Taliban commander Mullah Sangeen's 1,500 fighters.
• An anti-Baitullah militant group offers support for security forces against the TTP, “We are with the security forces and, if called, we would fight alongside them against (former TTP chief) Baitullah’s men,” a spokesman for the Misbahuddin group says.

10/17/2009:

250,000 IDPs from Waziristan, says UN (that's apparently half of the total population), while some sources put that number at 150,000