Pakistan wants to obtain US weapons for Waziristan attack that an army commander said on Tuesday will need need months to prepare for a ground offensive against the Taliban in their South Waziristan on the Afghan border

Visiting U.S. envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke has said that the United States is scrambling to get the equipment the Pakistani army needs and that the timing of any ground operation was up to the army and government.

"It's going to take months," Lieutenant-General Nadeem Ahmed told a small group of reporters after briefing Holbrooke, when asked on possible South Waziristan operation.

Pakistani forces have attacked Taliban fighters in their tribal lands in South Waziristan, a rugged region on the border with Afghanistan. Pakistani warplanes have attacked Taliban positions and U.S. drone aircraft have launched missile strikes.

Ahmed said the Pakistani military was now trying to create the "right conditions" for launching a future ground offensive by imposing a tight blockade around the area. He said attack planes, helicopters and artillery were being used to hit "militant targets".

"Once you feel that the conditions are right and you have been able to substantially dent their infrastructure and their fighting capacity, then you go in for a ground offensive," Ahmed said. "That may happen in winter, or even beyond, probably."

Ahmed said the army was currently short of the right kind of equipment to mount a large-scale ground operation, and wanted Holbrooke to help Pakistan obtain Cobra attack helicopters and other equipment.

Ahmed said many of the military's helicopters were still being used in an offensive against fighters in the Swat valley, northwest of Islamabad, and that they needed maintenance before being sent into Waziristan.


Reuters