By Hafiz Wazir
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani forces backed by heavy artillery attacked Taliban insurgents on Monday as the army moved to wrest control of militant strongholds in a lawless region on the Afghan border.
The fighting is a new test of the government's determination to tackle an increasingly brazen insurgency that has seen a string of attacks in different parts of the country, including an assault on army headquarters, in which more than 150 people were killed.
The conflict in what is considered a global hub for Islamic militants is being closely followed by the United States and other powers already embroiled in neighbouring Afghanistan, and on Monday General David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in the region, was in Pakistan for talks.
With the Pakistani army claiming progress in fighting the Taliban in South Waziristan, analysts expect resistance to weaken as the militants are squeezed out of their strongholds.
"When forces take over Waziristan than you will definitely see the resistance waning," said retired Brigadier Asad Munir, a former Inter Services Intelligence officer, who said he expected operations to take at least six weeks..
He said the militants may initially intensify bomb attacks on government targets, but once cleared from their strongholds "their basic capability of training and launching people in different parts of Pakistan ... is going to be diluted."
On Monday, residents of Wana, the main urban centre in South Waziristan, said there had been heavy fighting overnight.
"There has been artillery fire throughout the night. It was very heavy firing," Noor Wali said by telephone.
The army said on Sunday that 60 militants and five soldiers had been killed in the first 24 hours of the long-awaited offensive.
There was no independent verification of the casualty toll.
HARD-CORE TALIBAN
About 28,000 soldiers are battling an estimated 10,000 hard-core Taliban, including about 1,000 tough Uzbek fighters and some Arab al Qaeda members.
The militants have had years to prepare their bunkers in the land of arid mountains and sparse forests cut through by dried-up creeks and ravines.
The army says it has surrounded the militants in their main zone, a wedge of territory in the north, and soldiers backed by aircraft and artillery were attacking from the north, southwest and southeast.
Foreign reporters are not allowed in to the area, and it is dangerous for Pakistani reporters to visit. Many of the Pakistani reporters based in South Waziristan have left.
The army has launched brief offensives in South Waziristan before, the first in 2004 when it suffered heavy casualties before striking a peace pact.
But this time analysts say the army, the government and the general public all agree the time has come to deal with the Pakistani Taliban.
Though the military is determined, the offensive could be its toughest test since the militants turned on the state, and the army will be hoping other Afghan Taliban factions stay out of the fight.
About 100,000 civilians have fled from South Waziristan in anticipation of the offensive, with about 16,000 of them coming out in the last few days, the army said.
But the exodus is not expected to bring a humanitarian crisis similar to one this year when about 2 million people fled from an offensive in the Swat valley, northwest of Islamabad.
South Waziristan's population is about 500,000, according to the latest figures, and many residents have houses on government-controlled lowland to the east. People traditionally head up to Waziristan in the summer with their flocks and back to the lowland in the autumn.
While investors in Pakistani stocks have become used to militant attacks, the violence over the past two weeks has made them nervous. Stocks fell early on Monday.
"There is anxiety among them due to the security situation and that's why most local institutions and investors are not very aggressive," said Sajid Bhanji, a dealer at Arif Habib Ltd.
The Karachi Stock Exchange's benchmark 100-share index was 2.41 percent, or 98.55 points, lower at 9,592.12 points at 9 a.m. British time.
(Additional reporting by Zeeshan Haider; Editing by David Fox)
