Pak Military: Taliban 'Lost' In Bajaur, Mohmand

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From 'The Long War Journal': Two senior Pakistani military officers claimed the Taliban has been defeated in the tribal agencies of Bajaur and Mohmand, where the Taliban have held power for years. Major General Tariq Khan, the Inspector General of the Frontier Corps, said the Taliban "lost" in Bajaur after an eight-month military operation. "They have lost," Tariq said during a press conference in Bajaur, the Associated Press reported. "Their resistance has broken down."

The joint Army and frontier Corps operation destroyed Taliban command centers, bunkers, and fortifications, Tariq said. The roads in Bajaur are now under control of the military. Ninety-seven soldiers and paramilitary troops were killed during the operation and more than 400 were wounded. The military claims more than 1,800 Taliban have been killed, a claim disputed by the Taliban. "We think we have secured this agency," Tariq said, according to a report by the Times News Network. "The Taliban have lost their cohesion." The military plan on withdrawing some forces but will maintain a military presence, the general said.

In the neighboring tribal agency of Mohmand, Colonel Saif Ullah claimed the Taliban have been defeated and the region is "under the control of law enforcement agencies." Fighting spilled over into Mohmand as the fighting in Bajaur intensified last fall. The officer did not provide casualty numbers for the military or the Taliban.

The US has conducted several airstrikes Bajaur, including two attacks that targeted Zawahiri and another that killed Abu Sulayman Jazairi, a senior Algerian operative for al Qaeda who was the terror groups' operational commander tasked with planning attacks against the West.