By Andrew L. Jaffee

Is Musharraf finally ready to clean up Pakistan’s Wild West, i.e. the western tribal provinces where Osama bin Laden and his buddies are probably hiding, and Taliban and al-Qaeda are certainly operating with the blessings of local chiefdoms? From Pakistan’s Daily Times:

The government has ordered the deployment of thousands of paramilitary personnel across the tribal areas ahead of a major offensive in the volatile South and North Waziristan agencies to hunt for “high value” terrorist targets, Daily Times has learnt.

Sources in the Interior Ministry said that the government had ordered the deployment of 2,000 personnel each of the Frontier Corps and Levies in Waziristan to comb the region ahead of the “grand operation”.

“Security forces are expected to begin a grand operation in the troubled Waziristan tribal region to hunt down al Qaeda and Taliban militants, including Baitullah Mehsud, who is holed up in the area,” the sources said, citing a decision made at a high-level meeting held late on Saturday night.