NWA offensive was decided years ago; Kayani hesitated, says Athar Abbas

KARACHI: Former Spokesperson of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Major General (R) Athar Abbas has said that an operation in North Waziristan Agency (NWA) was decided 3 years ago, yet it could not be launched due to the hesitation of the former Pakistan Army Chief, General (R) Ashfaq Pervez Kayani – ARY News reports.

In his interview to foreign news agency, Athar Abbas said that the military leadership had given a go-ahead in 2011, for an offensive in North Waziristan, yet it was delayed due to the reluctance of General (R) Ashfaq Pervez Kayani and the country has to bear irreparable losses of that.

Abbas told, ‘Kayani was of the view that if an operation in launched in North Waziristan, it would be considered as his personal decision’, so he kept postponing it, which resulted in huge damages caused to the state.

The former DG ISPR told that militants reorganized themselves, while their resources were also increased because of the delay in operation.

Moreover, Athar Abbas told that his person opinion was that the operation should have been held in 2011 and the militants in North Waziristan could have been abandoned then.