The Pakistan military began a long-awaited offensive in South Waziristan along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border over the weekend. The region has served as the principal base of operations for an amalgam of terrorist groups, including al-Qaeda, the Pakistani Taliban, and groups formerly based in the Punjab, including Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. The Pakistanis launched the operation on Saturday following a string of major terrorist attacks across the country over the last two weeks, including a 20-hour hostage stand-off at the Army’s General Headquarters in Rawalpindi. If the militants were hoping to deter …
