Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said on Monday successful operations have forced the terrorists hiding in the tribal area bordering Afghanistan to fleethe country.

"We are on the winning side, we have major successes (against terrorists)," he said during an interview with the state-run Pakistan TV.

Musharraf, a key US ally in the war on terror, said the environment is changing as the Pakistani government is confronting terrorism and extremism head-on.

"We are attacking the masterminds to dry up the source of terrorism and they are on the run," said Musharraf.

He noted that authentic information has revealed that these terrorist masterminds are re-locating from the mountainous and tribal regions in northern Pakistan to other cities and even othercountries.

The earlier capture of 500 to 600 al-Qaeda operatives includingtop al-Qaeda leaders Khalid Omer Sheikh and Abu Zubaida from different cities forced them to take refuge mostly in South Waziristan region, a tribal agency bordering Afghanistan, Musharraf added.

However, Musharraf said military operations launched in the past months in some places such as Wana, Shakai, Santoi and Mantoivillages in South Waziristan have forced these terrorists to move away to other cities and countries.

He said masterminds were found to be foreigners who were using local extremists for planning and executing the terrorist activities in the country.

Musharraf stressed that the Pakistani government is using both political and military means to eliminate terrorists from the South Waziristan region.

Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat Monday told reporters thatPakistani law enforcing agencies have arrested 63 terrorists from different parts of the country in the past five weeks. These terrorists include 12 foreigners and 51 Pakistanis.

Source: Xinhua