The offensive in the Khyber tribal region marked the first major military action Pakistan's newly elected government has taken against the militants operating in the tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan.
The government had said it preferred to try to defuse tension with the groups through negotiations, but with threats by Islamic militants to the city of Peshawar growing in recent weeks, the military decided to take action.
Khyber also is a key route for moving U.S. military supplies into neighboring Afghanistan.
I would never rule out deals with the nominal national government in a Lexington Campaign inside Pakistan that tries to work directly with sub-national entities to defeat al Qaeda and the Taliban inside Pakistan.
And I'd like to remind people who say we should dramatically increase our forces inside Afghanistan, do we really want to put them at the mercy of Pakistani good will to maintain our supply line?
