Pakistan army Saturday captured the strategically located hometown of Pakistan's Taleban chief after fierce fighting, officials said. However, tribal sources told Okaz/ SG that the Taleban chief Hakimullah Mehsud accompanied by more than 1,000 fighters managed to flee the area. A suspected US missile killed 22 people elsewhere in the northwest, but apparently missed a top Taleban figure, authorities said. Pakistan's eight-day-old offensive in the Taleban and Al-Qaeda stronghold of South Waziristan is considered its most critical test yet in the campaign to stop the spread of violent extremism in this US-allied country. The army operation has prompted a wave of retaliatory attacks by militants this month that have killed some 200 people. Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said troops were now ridding the town of land mines and roadside bombs planted by the insurgents. Kotkai is symbolically important because it is the hometown of Pakistani Taleban chief Hakimullah Mehsud and one of his top deputies, Qari Hussain. ‘Tactical withdrawal' Security experts dubbed Mehsud's flight from his hometown a “tactical withdrawal” aimed at dragging the armed forces into the town so that they could employ tactics of guerrilla warfare. The army said Saturday that three more soldiers had died, putting the army's death toll at 23, and 21 more militants had been killed, putting their overall death toll at 163. “Thank God, this is the army's very big success,” Abbas said. “The good news is that (communications) intercepts show that there are differences forging among the Taleban ranks. Their aides are deserting them.” The US has launched scores of missile strikes at militant targets in the tribal belt over the past year. The latest strike hit Chuhatra village in the tribal region of Bajaur, an official said. The missile hit a hide-out of the militants that included a tunnel. The target appeared to be Faqir Mohammad, a prominent Taleban leader, but he is believed to have escaped, Jamil said. Most of the 22 killed were Afghan nationals, he said.
