Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani "expressed satisfaction over the conduct of stability operations in tribal areas", the Inter-Services Public Relations said.
The Pakistan army's top commanders have expressed satisfaction over counter-terrorism operations being conducted in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, an apparent rebuff to a White House report, which contended that Islamabad has no clear strategy to defeat militants.
Addressing a meeting of corps commanders at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani "expressed satisfaction over the conduct of stability operations in tribal areas", the Inter-Services Public Relations said.
Kayani, who chaired the meeting yesterday to review the security situation across the country, "appreciated the beginning of transition to civilian control in Shangla and Buner" areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, where the army has conducted operations to flush out Taliban fighters.
The meeting was held a day after US Central Command chief Gen James N Mattis held talks with Kayani in an effort to address differences between Washington and Islamabad on key issues related to the war on terrorism.
The corps commanders' meeting was given comprehensive briefings on internal and external security challenges that Pakistan is facing.
The military commanders discussed various professional matters and "expressed their satisfaction over the state of operational preparedness of the army".
Kayani's remarks at the meeting contradicted the White House report issued earlier this week that criticised Pakistan's efforts to fight militants along the border with Afghanistan.
Pakistan's foreign office has said it does not "entirely share the US assessment".
It also said that Pakistan should not be held accountable for the failings of the US strategy in Afghanistan.
The new White House report said that inspite of "tremendous human sacrifices" made by Pakistani security forces and increased military cooperation between Pakistan and the US in the past three months, the fight against militancy was making little progress.
"What remains vexing is the lack of any indication of 'hold' and 'build' planning or staging efforts to complement ongoing clearing operations," the report said.
"As such there remains no clear path to defeating the insurgency in Pakistan, despite the unprecedented and sustained deployment of over 147,000 forces," it said.
The report cited the example of an operation to clear insurgents from Mohmand and Bajaur tribal regions that began in January, the third such offensive in two years, and has been hobbled by resistance from the rebels, bad weather and the need to settle internally displaced people.
The lack of crucial "hold and build" planning has made it possible for the Taliban to return to areas from which they had been driven out.
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