Pakistan Pursuing Taliban Deeper Into Mountains

In the distant dun-coloured hills of South Waziristan, the Pakistani Army pushed toward a special lair of hardcore Taliban, sending artillery and jet fighters to break the back of the militants, who in turn, have brought the war to where it really hurts - the nation's cities. (NYT Image)

The offensive launched by the Army has turned into a battle of wills between the Army, the custodian of Pakistan's nuclear weapons and accustomed to facing archenemy India, and insurgents from the Taliban and Al-Qaida, who are determined to bring down the state. (NYT Image)

In retaliation, the insurgents have struck with ferocity at Pakistan's urban centres and military installations using sleeper cells and commando fighters to wreak havoc and fear, killing large numbers of civilians as never before.

The assaults, particularly the car bomb that killed more than 100 people in an old bazaar in Peshawar on Wednesday, and was aimed at women and children, are interpreted by many Pakistanis as an effort to break the will of the public and turn opinion against the military operation.(NYT Image)

The guerrillas, who established a sanctuary here four years ago to plan their operations, were not seen or heard during a rare day trip organized by the army for reporters to observe operations.(NYT Image)

In the past, the Pakistan Army has fared poorly in South Waziristan, the southernmost region of the lawless tribal areas where the Taliban and Al-Qaida have operated at will.(NYT Image)

Now, the military is trying to recapture its reputation in South Waziristan and re-establish its presence. And it is doing so with many more soldiers than in past operations.(NYT Image)

"The terrorists have gone into deeper areas, and the exits are choked," said General Khalid Rabbani. On the top of a rocky outpost, he sounded a confident while surveying a vast landscape of hills and scarce vegetation. (NYT Image)

So far, the Army has concentrated on taking territory along the main road, a ribbon of rock-strewn gravel that was first laid down by the British. The troops have proceeded slowly, even though this roadside terrain was relatively easy, compared to the mountain passages that lay ahead farther in the interior.(NYT Image)

In Chalvashti, soldiers found a Spanish passport belonging to Raquel Burgos Garcia, 35, who wore a conservative Islamic head scarf in her passport photo. An accompanying identity card showed she had attended school in Morocco.(NYT Image)

In daylight, from the Army posts, the Taliban seemed almost absent. But this was deceptive, according to the soldiers. The militants, many of them hunkered down in bunkers dug into the hills, strike mostly at night, using snipers, they said.(NYT Image)

As the Army moved deeper in side the Mehsud enclave, the residents fear that militants would probably leave the bunkers and attack the soldiers from the dry river beds that sweep through the valleys.(NYT Image)