Rawalpindi GHQ attack may trigger Pak Govt to launch military offensive in Waziristan India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

The terrorist attack on the Pakistan Army General Headquarters in Rawalpindi on Saturday that left 20 people dead may accelerate plans for a full-scale military offensive against the Taliban and Al Qaeda in South Waziristan. Army's main target is likely to be the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which operates in South Waziristan, the Wall Street Journal reports. The TTP claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack in Rawalpindi in which 10 gunmen disguised as soldiers infiltrated the GHQ. According to the newspaper, the attack is likely to trigger the ground offensive the government has long warned was coming. "We are going to come [down] heavy on you," Interior Minister Rehman Malik had said in an aftermath of the GHQ attack. But any offensive is likely to highlight the gap between Pakistan and the US on how to deal with the Taliban. Washington argues that the most powerful Taliban factions in Pakistan were providing support to those fighting in Afghanistan against US and NATO forces. The US is currently considering a plan to deploy up to 60,000 additional troops to Afghanistan to counter the threat of the Taliban there. The US has welcomed Pakistan's hard line against the TTP, which is allied with Al Qaeda and other militant groups.