Pakistan fights foreign militants, Calling for Help!

[EagleEyes]

Pakistan fights foreign militants

Islamabad (Agencies)

Pakistan's president has called for popular support in combating terrorism and stopping foreign militants from using the country to recruit Muslim suicide bombers for attacks across the globe, state-run television reported Sunday.

Meeting criticism that his government is doing too little to stop Taliban and al-Qaida guerrillas from crossing into Afghanistan and other countries, President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said militants from as far as Uzbekistan, Yemen and Libya are being trained in Pakistan for terrorist attacks.

"The suicide attacks are happening in the entire world and are happening in Pakistan," Musharraf said Saturday at a gathering of hundreds of people in Dera Ismail Khan, a city in the conservative North West Frontier Province neighboring Afghanistan, according to Pakistan TV.

"These foreign people are sitting (here), they are giving money, they are recruiting people to carry out" the attacks, he said at the gathering of mostly Musharraf loyalists in the tribal region where Pakistani security forces have battled foreign militants in recent years.

"You should show solidarity and point them out so that we can deal with them," Musharraf said.

Afghan and Western officials say militants increasingly cross the border to launch attacks against Afghan and US-led troops operating in the country. Violence rose sharply in Afghanistan in 2006, killing an estimated 4,000 people in the deadliest year since the US-led coalition swept the Taliban from power in 2001.

Musharraf became a close US ally in the war against terrorism after he severed his country's support for the Taliban militia in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=115825

 

[Bull]

He look like a long lost man,attime she says he has clamped down on extremists,a nd then after sometime he gets up and says Pak land is being used by extremists.
Indias stand is vindicated. Pakistani land is being used for spreading terror across the lobe incl Kashmir.

 

[Contrarian]

He look like a long lost man,attime she says he has clamped down on extremists,a nd then after sometime he gets up and says Pak land is being used by extremists.
Indias stand is vindicated. Pakistani land is being used for spreading terror across the lobe incl Kashmir.

You dont need to say it again and again.
The world has recognised Pakistan as the source of terrorism now mate.

All that Musharraf is trying to do is create an illusion that its doing something against them. But without concrete action, he cannot fool the world.

 

[Bull]

Will Pakistan's fence plan work?
By M Ilyas Khan
BBC News, Karachi



Few people expect Pakistan's proposal to control militant infiltration into Afghanistan by fencing and mining their joint border to be a workable solution.
But many fear it may aggravate the situation in Pakistan's north-western tribal areas, and increase friction with Afghanistan.

That was evident at a joint press conference held by the Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, and the Pakistani Prime Minister, Shaukat Aziz, in Kabul on Thursday.

Mr Aziz insisted that the border proposals would curb the infiltration of pro-Taleban militants into Afghanistan.

But Mr Karzai was of the opinion that this will divide the tribes.

Unanimously opposed


The decision to selectively fence and mine the border, including high-traffic zones, was formally announced by Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan on 26 December.

It came weeks after Mr Karzai's remarks that Pakistan was trying to "enslave the Afghans".

The proposal itself is not new.


Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf first introduced the idea in September 2005, sparking a debate in both countries.

It was unanimously opposed by different political circles in Afghanistan. The reaction in Pakistan was mixed.

Initially, Pakistan said it would seek US support as well as funding for the project, but that did not materialise, probably due to opposition from Kabul.

Now that Pakistan has announced its intention to go ahead with the project, the opposition within Pakistan has grown stronger.

Nationalist groups in North West Frontier Province and Balochistan have termed the decision as "detrimental to the social and economic interests of the ethnic Pashtun tribes".

The idea is also being opposed by the larger political parties, including the six-party religious alliance, the MMA.

While such opposition is partly couched in domestic politics, much of it draws on the conditions prevailing in the tribal areas.

All seven tribal districts along the Afghan border are inhabited by tribes that live on both sides of the border.

Not only are their lands and businesses interconnected, they also share the same social mechanism - the jirga or tribal council - whereby each tribe runs its own affairs and adjudicates its own disputes.

Prohibitive price

Fencing the border, especially areas of high intra-tribal interaction, would adversely affect the economic and public life of the people.

The United Nations fears that mining the border would also increase risk to human life in an area which is already littered with ordinance from nearly 30 years of war in Afghanistan.


The question is, can these measures prevent hostilities in Afghanistan?

And if so, what is the human cost of fencing the entire 2,640km length of border - and maintaining it? Most agree the price will be prohibitive.

No foreign funds are available for the project, and at the best of times, the Pakistani army only has 80,000 troops in the region.

Selective fencing might interfere with the movement of people and trade, but few expect it to prevent militants from shuttling between their sanctuaries and areas of operation.

"The Soviet Union, with more than 100,000 troops and massive air power, failed to prevent the infiltration of mujahideen that were sent in by Pakistan with international help," says Afrasiab Khattak, a political analyst and former human rights activist who is now a leader of the NWFP-based nationalist group, the ANP.

But the measures might help ease pressure on Pakistan from the US, Nato and the UN who want it to do more to curb militant attacks in Afghanistan, he says.

When the Pakistan government signed a peace deal with pro-Taleban militants in the Waziristan tribal region, officials asked the international community to wait for some time before the deal started showing results.

Although attacks inside Afghanistan increased significantly in the aftermath of that agreement, it did ease pressure on the Pakistani government.

For almost a year Islamabad kept urging Nato to follow its example and negotiate with the Taleban inside Afghanistan, until it came under criticism from all sides as violence reached new peaks.

Observers expect something similar this time around - the fence plan will buy Pakistan some time, but militant activity will continue unabated and more civilian lives will almost certainly be lost.

 

[MastanKhan]

Hi,

Pakistan knows very well that the fencing and mining plans works. Why Musharraf is proposing fencing the border is not to shut up afghanistan only but to shut up india as well.

You see, once the fences go up and the land mines are laid down, any border transition will go down drastically if there is any and then pakistan will be able to point towards indian border fence-----and say that india has been lying all the time-----since they put up the fencing and put electronic devices, the border crossing has stopped.

So, to the indian guys----it is coming---the proof will be in the pudding pretty soon.

 

[EagleEyes]

You dont need to say it again and again.
The world has recognised Pakistan as the source of terrorism now mate.

All that Musharraf is trying to do is create an illusion that its doing something against them. But without concrete action, he cannot fool the world.

Congrats! & the world has recognized India as a source of terrorism in Balochistan and funding the Taliban guys to create unstability in the region.

Pakistan has the terrorists & military forces are up to killing them doesn't mean that Pakistan is a source for the terrorism. India probably has more terrorists Pakistan & Afghanistan combined, does that make India a source of terrorism?

 

[Bull]

Hi,

Pakistan knows very well that the fencing and mining plans works. Why Musharraf is proposing fencing the border is not to shut up afghanistan only but to shut up india as well.

You see, once the fences go up and the land mines are laid down, any border transition will go down drastically if there is any and then pakistan will be able to point towards indian border fence-----and say that india has been lying all the time-----since they put up the fencing and put electronic devices, the border crossing has stopped.

So, to the indian guys----it is coming---the proof will be in the pudding pretty soon.

Well i dont what you meant?

India has fenced the border and India has announced that the infiltration has reduced.

 

[Bull]

Congrats! & the world has recognized India as a source of terrorism in Balochistan and funding the Taliban guys to create unstability in the region.:

When did the world recognise that?

Pakistan has the terrorists & military forces are up to killing them doesn't mean that Pakistan is a source for the terrorism. :

Yes it does mean that.
Where did the london bombings lead to,what about the aborted plane bombings in London? From which country was the maximum al qaeda terrorists caught and killed? Where are majority of the AQ members set to be hididng.

India probably has more terrorists Pakistan & Afghanistan combined, does that make India a source of terrorism?

Very true, we are the victims of terror.

 

[Spring Onion]

India has fenced the border and India has announced that the infiltration has reduced.

There are several statments by Indian government officials that what they call "infiltration" droped to great extend after it fenced the LoC with Pakistan.
If so thn why cant ity work in case of Afghan border

and Why is it that my indian friends here are so much concern about fencing Pak-Afghan border .

 

[Bull]

There are several statments by Indian government officials that what they call "infiltration" droped to great extend after it fenced the LoC with Pakistan.

Thats what i said

If so thn why cant ity work in case of Afghan border .

Why are you asking me?

and Why is it that my indian friends here are so much concern about fencing Pak-Afghan border .

Bcoz we are happy atlast that Pakistan has realised its a nuisance for neighboiurs east and west,something that we have been saying for the last mnay many years.

 

[Spring Onion]

Bcoz we are happy atlast that Pakistan has realised its a nuisance for neighboiurs east and west,something that we have been saying for the last mnay many years.

If say so (if if which i dont think so) thn whts the problem with the world with our idea of fencing the broder ?

 

[Bull]

If say so (if if which i dont think so) thn whts the problem with the world with our idea of fencing the broder ?

The world doesnt have any problem.
What makes you think the world has any problem with pakistan fencing its border?

 

[sparten]

Pakistan a nuisance. We have managed not to inavde all our neighbours over the past 60 years.

 

[Bull]

Pakistan a nuisance. We have managed not to inavde all our neighbours over the past 60 years.

But you gave fertile land for terrorists and extremists to grow,that threatened your neighbours.

PS:1947 war and Kargil war...????

 

[Neo]

and Why is it that my indian friends here are so much concern about fencing Pak-Afghan border .

Thats what I'm wondering dear.
India didn't oppose when Israel fenced Palestine and initiated fencing the LoC.
So what's the problem if we do it??