WANA: General Officer Commanding (GOC) Wana, Major General Rizwan has said the United States had delayed passing on information of bomb-making factories in South Waziristan, Express 24/7 reported on Thursday.

Speaking to the media in Wana, Major General Rizwan said the army did not any such factories in the area when the information was received.

The GOC said intrusion of Afghan militants into Pakistan will not be tolerated. He said that permanent deployment of forces in the Shawal area, which borders North and South Waziristan, was impossible.

He said the operation in the region was being conducted with the help of locals.

CIA chief Leon Panetta had earlier shared “evidence of suspected collusion with pro-Afghan Taliban militants in the tribal areas” with Pakistan’s senior military leaders.

According to media reports, Panetta had shared with Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director general Ahmed Shuja Pasha a 10-minute edited video that showed militants evacuating two bomb-making factories in Waziristan. One of the factories is based in Miramshah, North Waziristan. The other factory is in South Waziristan.

The militants in North Waziristan are believed to belong to groups led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur and Sirajuddin Haqqani. Both militant leaders have attacked US and Nato troops across the border in Afghanistan.

According to sources, Panetta alleged that the militants were tipped off within 24 hours of the US sharing information on the facilities with the Pakistanis.

When Pakistani troops later arrived at the scene of the two bomb-making facilities, used for the manufacture of improvised explosive devices, the militants were gone. The sources told Time that the CIA believes elements within the “Pakistani security apparatus” had informed the militants that they would be targeted.


‘US delayed passing information on bomb-making factories in S Waziristan’ – The Express Tribune