A spokesman for Pakistan's Taliban claims the militants are making a tactical withdrawal from their stronghold of South Waziristan, in response to a two-and-a-half week long Pakistani military offensive.The purpose of the move is to conserve resources and to wait out the military's advance until the cold weather sets in by January, said Azam Tariq, a Taliban spokesman, in a phone call with CNN.
Then, Tariq added, the Taliban will launch a guerrilla war against the Pakistani army in areas far beyond South Waziristan.
The spokesman denied military claims that the Taliban had suffered scores of casualties in the latest offensive. Instead, Tariq told CNN, his fighters killed "more than a thousand" Pakistani security forces.
The Pakistani army attacked South Waziristan on October 17.
The generals have since claimed to have killed dozens of Taliban militants and captured the hometown of militant leader Hakemullah Massoud.
According to a military press release, 30 militants were killed while eight officers were wounded in another day of fierce fighting, which included street to street fighting in the South Waziristan town of Ladha.
It is not possible for CNN to confirm these reports.
Pakistani authorities have barred foreign observers, humanitarian workers and journalists from traveling to the conflict zone, with the exception of several highly-organized visits provided with military escorts.
More than 160,000 civilians have fled the fighting. Aid organizations are sounding the alarm about untold numbers of civilians who they fear may still be trapped in the conflict zone.
Taliban commanders in Pakistan have communicated with the media in recent months, primarily by telephoning Pakistani reporters working in and around the country's troubled border regions.
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