The Operation Rah-e-Nijat (English: Path to Salvation; Urdu: آپریشن راہ نجات) was a strategic military operation by the unified command of Pakistan Armed Forces against the Tehrik-i-Taliban (TTP) and their extremist allies in the South Waziristan area of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas that began on June 19, 2009;[7] a major ground-naval-air offensive was subsequently launched on October 17. It became the integral part of the war in Western fronts which led the encirclement and destruction of Taliban forces in the region, although the Taliban leadership escaped to lawless areas of neighboring Afghanistan.
The operation was aimed to finish the senior Taliban leadership and
bring the lawless areas back to government control, however the
leadership escaped to Afghanistan whilst areas came back under the
Pakistan government control. Planning for the Operation became on June
16, 2009 after successfully commencing previous offense, the operation Rah-e-Ra'ast,
and had applied a successful blockade of the region that prevented the
Taliban forces to gain external support. On October 2, 2009, the
preparation for such operation were made after a top civic-military
meeting took place in the Islamabad which led the revival and starting of Navy's
reconnaissance and surveillance air operations to monitor the troop
rotations of Taliban forces. On October 19, the ground offense was
launched when military personnel from XI Corps,
along with the airborne forces who were assisted by the joint special
forces, entered in the three-month long blockade area of South
Waziristan. The PAF
pounded the hidden and suspected mountainous regions, relying on Navy's
intelligence, while the Army marched deeper into Taliban-controlled
territory.
The joint-military forces entered and advanced in the region
from three directions— Razmak in the north, Jandola
in the east and Shakai in the west. The forces furthered advanced in
the habitat towns of Makeen, Spinkai, Raghzai and Tiarz; initially
focusing on taking the town of Kotkai which served as the command and
control center for enemy combatant forces. On 24 October, The
breakthrough and major achievement came to notice when the military
announced the successful retake and the control of the town of Kotkai
after a heavy fighting.
On 29 October, the military occupied the town of Kaniguram, a strong of former Russians fighters and Uzbeks controlled Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.
On December 12, the military announced the success of the operation and
took the control of the entire South Waziristan into government
control. The human cost and casualties for Taliban forces were extremely
high, roughly losing thousands of fighters as compared to the military
forces; the senior Taliban leadership abandoned their posts and escaped
to neighboring Afghanistan before they could be apprehended or killed in
the actions.
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