Oct. 2 (Bloomberg) -- The prospect that Pakistan’s army may be preparing an offensive against the Taliban’s main base in the western border area to satisfy U.S. demands is triggering concern among local lawmakers.

There are growing signs that the military is preparing such an attack, possibly in the coming weeks, said Mahmood Shah, an analyst and former army general who supervised security in the border zone. “The army is preparing an operation,” Shah said, saying he discussed it recently with senior officers.

Fifteen of the 20 members of parliament from Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas say they have withdrawn support from the government of President Asif Ali Zardari because it hasn’t consulted them about an offensive, said lawmaker Munir Khan Orakzai.

An offensive may fail if the government doesn’t simultaneously offer money and concrete plans to develop the impoverished area, said Orakzai. He heads the dissenting lawmakers, who are ethnic Pashtuns.

The U.S. has been pressuring Pakistan to move against the Taliban stronghold. Yesterday, Gerald Feierstein, the deputy chief of the U.S. embassy in Islamabad, told Pakistani reporters at a press conference the U.S. believes al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is operating from that area.

Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit disputed Feierstein’s comments, which were followed by a drop in Pakistan’s benchmark Karachi Stock Exchange 100 Index of 0.5 percent to 9,301.18, the lowest level in two weeks.

Main Taliban Stronghold

Waziristan, an area of rocky mountains slightly larger than Lebanon, is the main Taliban stronghold in the border zone. Taliban commanders launch attacks from there on U.S. forces in neighboring Afghanistan and, security analysts say, host fighters and trainers of al-Qaeda.

The conflict and the possibility of a government offensive has led more than 128,000 residents of Waziristan to flee their homes, the United Nations said on Sept. 11, citing Pakistani government data.

Army troops have choked off food and fuel supplies of the main Taliban group in the region and are ready to clear them from the area, Maj. Gen. Khalid Rabbani, the army commander in South Waziristan, said in an interview with Washington Post published yesterday.

Pakistan sent troops in June to take control of main roads into South Waziristan. In the same month, army spokesman Athar Abbas told reporters that the military was preparing an assault, while declining to say when it might begin.

On Aug. 5 a missile strike there killed the Taliban’s overall commander, Baitullah Mehsud. The movement has split over the naming of his younger brother, Hakimullah, as his successor.

Predator Attacks

Missile attacks, blamed by Pakistan on U.S. Predator unmanned aircraft, have increased in Waziristan since Mehsud’s death. Pakistani troops fought battles with Taliban last week, saying they killed 34, while the Taliban said they killed 45 of the government forces, the Pakistani TV channel Dawn News reported.

Three government ministers from the FATA -- for environment, Islamic charity and Kashmir affairs -- quit the cabinet this week as part of the legislators’ protests. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani hasn’t said whether he will accept the resignations.

Orakzai and his allies told reporters the government should use the Pashtun legislators to mediate with Taliban leaders, rather than prepare a military strike.

The army failed to drive the Taliban from Waziristan in offensives in 2004 and 2006 and alienated residents by destroying many homes and killing civilians, Shah said in a telephone interview.

“They must avoid repeating this,” said Shah. This time, army commanders “have seen the problems and the forces will be better trained,” he said.

If the army avoids such conduct, it may get a more sympathetic reception, Shah said. The Taliban have alienated many in Waziristan with their strict and austere rule, he said.

“People feel they have been living under hostage conditions,” Shah said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Khalid Qayum in Islamabad at kqayum@bloomberg.net; James Rupert in New Delhi at jrupert3@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 1, 2009 19:16 EDT