Pakistan's army said Tuesday it had captured a key Taliban and Al-Qaeda complex dug into rocky mountains close to the Afghan border after killing 75 local and foreign militants. Commanders gave journalists a guided tour of the bastion, which one general said numbered 156 caves developed over five to seven years, and carved into sheer rock within clear view of the snow-capped peaks in eastern Afghanistan. The visit follows Pakistan's latest offensive against militants in its semi-autonomous tribal badlands, launched under US pressure to eliminate Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked groups who attack Western troops in Afghanistan. Major General Tariq Khan accompanied journalists to the warren of caves in the area of Damadola that he said served as a key militant headquarters until troops overran the complex in an offensive launched in January. “There were Egyptians, Uzbeks, Chechens and Afghans killed in the operation,” he told reporters. Journalists saw bedding such as pillows and mattresses, which suggested inhabitants had camped out for significant periods. “The first Pakistan army uniformed soldiers have arrived in Damadola after a recent operation and the Pakistan flag has been raised for the first time since (independence in) 1947,” said Khan. Damadola, in the Bajaur tribal region, was the scene of a 2006 US drone strike that targeted Al-Qaeda number two Ayman Al-Zawahiri, who managed to escape. A highly secretive US drone war targeting top-tier Al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders in the tribal belt has killed more than 800 people since August 2008, a key weapon in the US-led war to defeat Al-Qaeda and win the war in Afghanistan. Under US pressure, Pakistan has significantly increased operations against militants in the last year in its northwest and tribal belt, which Washington has branded an Al-Qaeda headquarters and most dangerous region on Earth. Khan described Damadola as strategically important, linked to Afghanistan, Pakistan's northern district of Chitral, the main highway to China and to northwestern valley Swat, which has been troubled by Taliban insurgency. Meanwhile, the Pakistani Taliban confirmed Tuesday that a senior commander wanted in the deadly 2006 bombing of the US consulate in Karachi was killed in a suspected American missile strike in northwestern Pakistan. Mohammed Qari Zafar's death, which was reported earlier by Pakistani intelligence officials, marks the latest success from Washington's covert CIA-run drone program in Pakistan.
