[Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] Along the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan, what's being called a major operation to root out al Qaeda, its leader, Osama bin Laden, and Taliban forces. Let's get details now. Joining us live by phone from Islamabad, Pakistan is CNN's Ash- Har Quraishi what's going on there, Ash-Har.
[Ash-har Quraishi, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Carol. Well, the Pakistani military forces launched an offensive early in the morning. Now, this was based off of a tip off that received of the presence of what they called foreign terrorists in the area known as South Waziristan. Now, that's located in the tribal belt of northwest Pakistan, on the border with Afghanistan. Now, after this tip off was received, the quick reaction force took play and they began circling this area in Waziristan with helicopter gunships as well as ground personnel. They say that they had issued what they called an option to surrender to these people that were holed up there. The tribal elders in the area also participating in trying to get these foreign elements to surrender. When they did not do that, that's when the forces went in. They came under rocket fire and returned fire. So far we understand there have been no casualties. Now, this operation did conclude. I spoke to a military official a short time ago and they say they've concluded this operation today and that they have arrested around 20 suspect terrorists, they say some of them foreigners. They believe that they are still trying to identify the rest of the people that have been picked up in this raid and identify them. They say they've received passports, they've taken in an unknown number of documents, as well as other equipment, guns and things of that sort. They say that this operation, though, is part of an ongoing strategy to flush out al Qaeda and Taliban remnants from using Pakistani soil after retreating from making from carrying out attacks in Afghanistan. So this part of a larger strategy to try and make it difficult for these operatives, these al Qaeda operatives, these foreign terrorists, as they call them, to operate from inside Pakistani territory Carol.
[Costello:] Ash-Har, a question for you. This is being done by the Pakistani military at the urging of the president, Pervez Musharraf. This is awfully close to Afghanistan, where U.S. troops are. Is it possible that U.S. troops could be sucked into this?
[Quraishi:] Well, officially the Pakistani authorities say that there is coordination, of course, between coalition forces in Afghanistan and the Pakistani side. But they say that their mission, particularly today and what they've been doing over the last few weeks and months, is really trying to secure this side of the border. So if the coalition forces are conducting operations in Afghanistan and they run towards the border, Pakistan's job is basically to block it off. They say they have secured this area and they believe that they are able to hold off any fleeing fugitives from that side. So that's really what they're aiming to do in these types of operations is not allow Pakistani soil to be used and to basically work in conjunction with coalition forces.
[Costello:] Ash-Har Quraishi reporting live by phone from Islamabad, Pakistan this morning.