“The last 24 hours, reportedly 18 terrorists have been killed in various incidents and security forces losses are two soldiers and 12 injured,” Major General Athar Abbas told the first news conference on the operation.

He said the latest fatalities brought to nine the number of soldiers and 78 the number of militants killed since the operation began early Saturday.

The figures were impossible to confirm with the battleground sealed off to journalists and all communications in the area shut down.

Ground forces have massed on the western, eastern and northwestern outskirts of Kotkai, the hometown of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Hakimullah Mehsud and key Taliban leader Qari Hussain, readying for an assault.

“The high-level targets are the leadership. We hope to get the leadership,” said Abbas, the army’s chief spokesman.

“The forces have taken over the heights, features around Kotkai. Kotkai is the home town of Qari Hussain, formerly known as the mentor of suicide bombs,” Abbas said, referring to “stiff resistance” at Sherwangi.

Commanders had been drawing up battle plans for months for what is likely to prove Pakistan army’s toughest challenge to date in its war against Islamist militants in the northwest and semi-autonomous tribal belt.

“We wanted to muster our strength, get our resources together. We are an army that does not have unlimited resources,” said Abbas.

“We were waiting to have sufficient resources available to start the operation,” the spokesman added.