Pakistan offers rewards for Taliban leaders

Islamabad - Pakistan on Monday announced rewards totalling 5 million dollars for information leading to the arrest of Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud and 18 of his top aides. The huge bounties have been offered as Pakistani security forces are fighting street battles with militants in the South Waziristan district near the Afghan border, two weeks into the offensive. A quarter-page newspaper advertisement in Urdu, starting with a Koran verse reading 'And do not spread chaos on the land,' said the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan was pushing innocent Muslims in the tribal region towards 'the valley of death.' The highest bounty of 600,000 dollars was placed on the head of Mehsud, his deputy in South Waziristan, Wali-ur-Rehman and lieutenant Qari Hussain, believed a mentor of suicide bombers. Rewards of 239,000 dollars each were offered for 11 other Taliban commanders, and 119,500 dollars each for the remaining five. The government said cash rewards would be given to anyone capturing these 'troublemakers,' dead or alive, or providing concrete information leading to their arrest. 'Help the government in bringing them to meet their nemesis,' the advertisement said. Pakistan launched an offensive on October 17 against Mehsud and his network who also provide sanctuaries to hundreds of al-Qaeda members, turning the Waziristan region into one of the major hubs of global terrorism. According to the military, more than 331 Taliban and 36 soldiers have been killed in the offensive praised by Washington. The figures cannot be independently verified because reporters have been barred from the conflict zone.