Sustained army operations in a tribal region near the Afghan border have put al Qaeda-linked militants on the run and crippled their ability to strike, a Major General Niaz Khattak said on Thursday. "They are trying to get out (of the region) and unable to plan attacks," Major General Niaz Khattak, field commander of troops hunting the insurgents, told reporters at a briefing in Kohat.
He said the offensives against militants since March this year in the South Waziristan region had disrupted their command structure. "They are moving out of the operation zone."
His assessment was based on communications intercepted by security forces, he said. The information suggested the militants were in disarray and unable to maintain frequent contact between themselves.
Khattak said around 200 troops had died in the military operation against al Qaeda-linked militants and their local supporters since March. Some 350 militants have been killed during the same period.
Khattak insisted the security forces had no information on the whereabouts of al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, wanted for September 2001 attacks on the United States and widely believed to be hiding in the porous border region.
"I have got no lead about his (bin Laden's) presence in the area." He said an Uzbek militant leader, Tahir Yuldashev, who was wounded during a military operation in March, could still be hiding in the region.
Security forces were also searching for a one-legged ex-Guantanamo prisoner Abdullah Mahsud for kidnapping two Chinese engineers in October, he added. One of the hostages died during the rescue bid.
Khattak said authorities would not negotiate with Mahsud unless he "surrenders unconditionally" and his foreign accomplices register themselves.