Swat is just the start. We’re going to go into Waziristan, all these regions, with army operations: President Zardari.—Reuters
LONDON: Pakistan is to extend its war on the Taliban beyond Swat into the fiercely independent tribal areas bordering Afghanistan where Osama bin Laden and the al Qaeda leadership are believed to be hiding.
‘We’re going to go into Waziristan, all these regions, with army operations,’ President Asif Ali Zardari told The Sunday Times in an interview. ‘Swat is just the start. It’s a larger war to fight.’
He said Pakistan would need billions of pounds in military assistance and aid for up to 1.7 million refugees, the biggest movement of people since the country’s split from India in 1947.
To help take on the militants, the Pakistan army is for the first time to accept counter-insurgency training from British and American troops on its own soil.
‘We need to develop our capability and we need much more support,’ said Mr Zardari. ‘We need much, much more than the $1 billion (military aid) we’ve been getting, which is nothing. We’ve got 150,000 troops in (the tribal areas) — just the movement of that number would cost $1 billion.’
The army is planning to open new fronts in Waziristan and Darra Adamkhel. Waziristan is the headquarters of the militant Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, led by Baitullah Mehsud, who has been named as the mastermind behind the assassination of the former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto.
Mr Zardari appealed for $1 billion in aid for refugees. ‘If we are to win the hearts and minds of these people we need to be able to relocate them back into civil society, rebuild their houses and give them interest-free loans to restart their businesses,’ he said.
‘If we don’t they will turn against the government and we will lose the impetus we’ve managed to create in the country against the Taliban.’
The Taliban were said to be holding out in Sultanwas, a mountainous valley in Buner. All access to Swat, where the army said a house-to-house search was under way for Taliban leaders in Mingora, was banned.
Mr Zardari insisted that the army was committed to defeating the Taliban. ‘I think the casualties speak for that, the displacement speaks for that,’ he said.
He claimed that officers sympathetic to the militants had been purged. ‘I’m confident the army perceives the Taliban as much of a national threat as we do.’
He added: ‘You cannot fight this war only on the battle (field). You also have to fight it on the economic front — you have to offer something to the youth.’
so this going to develop into a bigger scale war. what are the precautionary measures taken by govt for the civilians involved? i am very confused about what is happening in pakistan, cant seem to understand how we are going to manage a war of this magnitude inside our borders.
PESHAWAR: Militants have extended their activities to Battagram district of Hazara in recent days and police officials suspect that some local residents were also involved in attacks on the cops.
It is an alarming development as previously the Taliban militants weren’t known to be operating in such large numbers in Battagram. On Thursday, militants set fire to the Batta Mori Police checkpost in Battagram and took away arms.
Reports said over 150 armed militants entered the checkpost and tied up the four policemen there. The militants wanted to behead the cops after torturing them. But they spared their lives after making them swear that they would quit their jobs.
Before leaving, the militants torched the post and took the police rifles and other valuables with them. The post had been set up to check the movement of militants in the district.After the incident, a police contingent reached the spot and shifted the injured policemen, Bahadar Shah, Abdul Waheed, Attaullah and Mohammad Fahad to a local hospital.
Acting District Police Officer Battagram Sher Mohammad said the militants were equipped with sophisticated weapons, including rocket launchers. He said some locals were also involved in the incident. Some reports suggested that the militants are active in parts of Kala Dhaka, which is a part of Mansehra district, as well. Certain villages in Kala Dhaka have formed Jirgas to keep the militants out.
He said Pakistan would need billions of pounds in military assistance and aid for up to 1.7 million refugees, the biggest movement of people since the country’s split from India in 1947.
Mr Zardari appealed for $1 billion in aid for refugees.
I think Mr.Zardari's the Musharaff's step follower statement is very clear , about the Policy of Our present REGIM.
That We need Dollars and Pounds, More and More Funds, what ever the consequences are.......... EVEN THE BREAKING OF PAKISTAN , KILLING OF OUR OWN INNOCENT PEOPLE , DISPLACING THEM , BOMBORDING THEIR HOMES etc.
We will continue to OUR SAME STUPID OPERATIONS , which we have been carrying out SINCE LAST 8 YEARS ,
Which Produced more Millants instead of weakening them.
AS OUR BIG BOSS ......................
Dictate us for this............. TO FIGHT AGAINST YOUR OWN PEOPLE ......... DO NEGOTIATE WITH THEM..............
i dont know it seems to me that pakistani leadership is surviving for the dollar in form of "aid" (if it can be called that at the price of national destruction) rather than taking it to survive.
