WASHINGTON: Pakistan is not yet ready to launch a full-fledged military offensive in South Waziristan, experts told a seminar in Washington.

'The Pakistani military is very overstretched,' Shuja Nawaz, a strategic analyst associated with the Atlantic Council in Washington, said. 'The military does not have the capacity to launch a full-fledged operation while it is engaged in other places.'

Nawaz, who also authored a widely acclaimed book on the Pakistan Army, told the seminar at the Atlantic Council that the army would like to clear the militants from the settled areas first, particularly D. I. Khan.

He also said that Pakistan was unlikely to move more troops from its eastern border with India to combat the militants.

Nawaz also warned that because of the delay the situation in Waziristan would get 'messier' before it improved and 'it will take longer to dislodge the militants'.

Syed Fakhar Imam, a PPP leader and a former speaker of the National Assembly, pointed out that the military was focussing on weakening the militants in South Waziristan before making a major move.

He noted that the military was using fighter jets to pound militant positions in the area and had also blocked their supply routes.

Such actions, he said, showed that the military wanted to 'weaken the militants before moving in to deliver the coup de grace'.

Imam said he believed the military and Pakistan’s intelligence agencies now fully backed the government-led offensive against the militants.

'There may be individuals here and there who may still have doubts but the institutions backed the offensive,' he said. 'Now how long it will take to defeat the militants; depends on how quickly they succeed.'

Imam urged the United States to provide necessary equipment, such as night-vision goggles and helicopters, to improve the military’s capability to combat the militants.

Syeda Abida Hussain, another PPP leader, drew attention to the socio-economic challenges facing Pakistan, emphasising the need for Pakistan to address its burgeoning population growth.

'The issue,' she said, 'could best be approached through a policy that took into account a host of pertinent issues, particularly the resources available to future generations.'