The military has started the South Waziristan offensive and claimed to have taken control of two towns; 30 Taliban fighters and 12 soldiers have been reported killed. Security forces killed 12 Taliban fighters in Mohmand and Bajaur, and detained 35 Hizb-ut-Tahir members in Islamabad and a suicide vest maker in Multan. The Punjab government, fearing Taliban infiltration from South Waziristan, declared the Bhakkar district a “red zone.”
