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Pakistan says time not right for anti-Taliban assault

DesiGuy

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KALAYA: Pakistan will consider mounting an anti-Taliban offensive in North Waziristan only when other tribal areas are stabilised, a senior military officer said on Tuesday, a position likely to anger ally Washington.

Pakistan has resisted mounting US pressure to launch a major operation in North Waziristan to eliminate the Haqqani Taliban faction.

Pakistan's army has repeatedly said it is too stretched fighting Taliban insurgents in other forbidding mountaineous regions, and that only it can determine if and when to strike.

Lt.-Gen Asif Yasin Malik, the main military commander for the northwest, said it would take at least six months to clear militants from Bajaur and Mohmand, two of Pakistan's seven semi-autonomous tribal agencies.

“What we have to do is stabilise the whole area. I have a very large area in my command,” he told reporters on a trip to Orakzai agency. “The issue is I need more resources.”

There are already six brigades in North Waziristan which carry out daily operations, he said.

DAWN.COM | Pakistan | Pakistan says time not right for anti-Taliban assault

---------- Post added at 03:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:36 PM ----------



---------- Post added at 03:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:37 PM ----------

 
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KALAYA: Pakistan will consider mounting an anti-Taliban offensive in North Waziristan only when other tribal areas are stabilised, a senior military officer said on Tuesday, a position likely to anger ally Washington.

Pakistan has resisted mounting US pressure to launch a major operation in North Waziristan to eliminate the Haqqani Taliban faction.

Pakistan's army has repeatedly said it is too stretched fighting Taliban insurgents in other forbidding mountaineous regions, and that only it can determine if and when to strike.

Lt.-Gen Asif Yasin Malik, the main military commander for the northwest, said it would take at least six months to clear militants from Bajaur and Mohmand, two of Pakistan's seven semi-autonomous tribal agencies.

“What we have to do is stabilise the whole area. I have a very large area in my command,” he told reporters on a trip to Orakzai agency. “The issue is I need more resources.”

There are already six brigades in North Waziristan which carry out daily operations, he said.

DAWN.COM | Pakistan | Pakistan says time not right for anti-Taliban assault

---------- Post added at 03:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:36 PM ----------


Last time we acted, they complained that it's disrupting their "peace talks" with the taliban.
 
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Good .... With army stretched thin starting another operation is not an option. Specially when you are lacking equipment aka AH1Z and AH64. US said they'll provide these weapons in 2015. We'll look forward to start operations in 2016 when other areas will be much stable then they are now. Also with better equipment it will be less messy.
 
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Last time we acted, they complained that it's disrupting their "peace talks" with the taliban.

They tell us to do an offensive, but when we start our offensive it becomes a problem as it disrupts their peace process, and when we try peace talks with the Taliban, we are seen as traitors. and now we're back to square one.

Hypocrisy :usflag:
 
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What U.S. is asking from Pakistan is very unrealistic at this time.

Pakistan just went through its worst natural disaster in Pakistan's history.

Militants are returning to South Waziristan. Those areas that Pakistan army declared victory still need attention so they can be stable.

If Pakistan army enters North Waziristan right now, militants are going to be all over Pakistan causing daily suicide bombings killing innocent civilians. Also it will create chaos where army is needed the most, helping flood victims.
 
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U.S. only seeks it's own interest. They were never a true friend of Pakistan and they will never be in the future. All we can do is to take advantage from these circumstances and get what we want as U.S. is doing. Pakistan must take a bold stand against all this do more demands by americans. Hell this is our country which is in the midle of all this mess created by U.S. we have to safe guard also our national interests, they aren't even paying us enough to cover WoT expenses and all the losses which we are having both in militry and on civilian sides. This war has cause tremendous damage to our economy so far. Now they are asking for opening another needless front at this critical moment when we are facing natural disasters and trying to stabilize already troubled tribal areas?! It's ridiculous....we will launch any possibile operation when we will think it's the right time and only if these militants will form a serious threat to Pakistan, otherwise if U.S. quit Afghanistan in 2011 these militants will return back to their areas and it will be more easy for Pakistan to take fully controll of NW and related areas without opening any new front.
 
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They tell us to do an offensive, but when we start our offensive it becomes a problem as it disrupts their peace process, and when we try peace talks with the Taliban, we are seen as traitors. and now we're back to square one.

Hypocrisy :usflag:

When CIA, ISAF and US talk to Talibaan that is facilitating talks, when we talk to Talibaan (ISI has links with Talibaan) deep links. ISAF will negotiate with Talibaan since they do not have the balls to fight on the ground. Bombing from the air is not going to hold any ground, that is what we have seen since the war started 10 years ago.

Only Pakistan can do the ground fighting with forces larger then its size like India or the USSR.
 
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Dear Rehan,

Are not your claims but one of many conspiracy theories about the strategic alliance between two nations, Pakistan and the United States? . Since 9/11 the true picture has become clearer. Extremist attempts to manipulate the people of Pakistan into believing the US had waged a war against Islam no longer places a cover over peoples minds. The truth has unfolded and people are no longer turning a blind eye to the cruel and inhumane acts that are committed by the extremists and militants within Pakistan. Mr. Rehan, how long will you blame the US for crimes committed by homegrown insurgents? The problem lies within Pakistan and with Taliban like the Haqqani network who are responsible for the bombings at mosques, shrines, schools and shopping centers that have claimed thousands of innocent lives. Are not these the same terrorists who pose a threat to the US while at the same time trying to destroy Pakistan? Mr. Rehan, is not Pakistan protecting itself against terrorism by forming a strategic alliance with the US? Pakistan makes the final call on what actions need to be enforced in their homeland. Mr. Rehan, the US considers Pakistan a close ally and has been providing disaster relief to flood survivors and military support to remove insurgent terrorism. The United States Government provided $387 million to assist with relief and recovery efforts, including approximately $337 million to support immediate relief efforts in Pakistan and an additional $50 million that has been allocated for initial recovery efforts to assist with rebuilding communities impacted by the floods. To date, US aircraft have evacuated more than 28,000 people and delivered more than 16 million pounds of relief supplies. Hundreds of U.S. military and civilian personnel are working around the clock in support of flood relief efforts. Mr. Rehan, does this aid not prove our humanitarian values and deep commitment to Pakistan?
Pakistan and the US have made great progress toward the common goal of wiping out terrorism and we will continue to support each other until this mission in accomplished. Wouldn’t you agree that the killings of innocents and the honorable cannot be justified by homegrown insurgents?

LCDR Speaks,

DET, United States Central Command
www.Centcom.mil
 
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Pak1stanFirst- Pakistan plans no new offensives | Defence

MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

LAHORE, Pakistan -- Despite the Obama administration's pleas last week at a top-level "strategic dialogue" and a new $2 billion U.S. military aid pledge, Pakistan has no near-term plans to launch new offensives in its tribal area to help the U.S. war effort in Afghanistan, officials and analysts said Friday.

The focus of U.S. demands is North Waziristan, on the Afghan border, where Pakistan has provided sanctuary to the Haqqani network since the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The Haqqani network is allied with the Afghan Taliban, which seeks the overthrow of the U.S.-backed government of President Hamid Karzai in Kabul. The U.S. government views Haqqani as dangerously close to al-Qaida, whereas Islamabad apparently considers Haqqani a reliable ally that must be part of a political outcome in Afghanistan.

"The U.S. is pursuing a policy of isolating Haqqani," said Simbal Khan, an analyst at the Institute of Strategic Studies, a government-financed research center in Islamabad. "Pakistan wants to include all the border (insurgent) groups."

Pakistan sees Haqqani as a component of any final political deal, and due its share of power in any future government, but Washington thinks that the group is among the "irreconcilables," analysts said. Pakistan had backed the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, which ruled much of the country from the mid-1990s to 2001, and its relationship with Haqqani goes back to the 1970s.

A meeting of top U.S. and Pakistani civilian and military officials in Washington last week culminated in the pledge of $2 billion in military equipment, to be used for counterterrorism operations. The additional aid is subject to congressional approval.

U.S. analysts in Washington said the Pakistan military couldn't launch a new offensive in the tribal areas in the foreseeable future even if it intended to, because its transport aircraft and helicopters are committed to flood-relief operations.

Pakistan has launched military offensives in all six other parts of the tribal area, and operations are still under way in Bajaur, Mohmand and South Waziristan. Action in North Waziristan isn't on the current agenda, Pakistani officials said, and even if an operation started there, it's expected that it would be much more limited than the "steamroller" offensive seen in South Waziristan a year ago, so Haqqani could be left untouched.

"Our preference is to consolidate our gains elsewhere in the tribal area," said Abdul Basit, the spokesman for Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "The time and scope of any operation (in North Waziristan) will be determined by Pakistan alone."

Basit said that if the Afghan government reached out to all the insurgent groups, including Haqqani, "Pakistan would support that."

Earlier this week, the Pakistani military commander for the northwest of the country, Lt. Gen. Asif Yasin Malik, said that it would take at least six months to clear militants from Bajaur and Mohmand.

"It's a question of timing," Malik said. "Everywhere there are reasons to go in, and there are reasons not to go in."

Pakistan not only hosts the Afghan Taliban leadership - the so-called Quetta Shura - and the Haqqani network of veteran jihadist Jalaluddin Haqqani, but also the third big Afghan insurgent force, led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, another longtime Islamist warlord. That gives Islamabad huge leverage over any negotiated settlement. While Washington equates Haqqani with al-Qaida, for Pakistanis it's clear that Haqqani hasn't joined the al-Qaida agenda of war against Pakistan.

The Haqqani network, now run by the aged Jalaluddin's son, Sirajuddin, is careful not to be involved in the campaign of violence run by Pakistani jihadist groups, in particular the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, or the Taliban Movement of Pakistan. Another North Waziristan-based jihadist group, led by Gul Bahadur, also focuses exclusively on the fight in Afghanistan.

"Islamabad feels it would be suicidal to act against Bahadur and Haqqani, especially when the Pakistanis are struggling to combat renegade Taliban forces elsewhere," Stratfor, a U.S.-based geopolitical consultancy, says in a report this week. "It is unclear that the United States and Pakistan can come to terms on which Taliban can be negotiated with. Until that happens, North Waziristan will remain a major source of tension between the two sides."

The Haqqani network relies entirely on Pakistan for a haven, as it has no permanent territory in Afghanistan, unlike the Taliban, who hold sway over large chunks of land.
Haqqani is credited with a series of attacks on the interests of Pakistan's archenemy, India, in Afghanistan, including assaults on the Indian Embassy, a hostel where Indians stay in Kabul and Indian contractors working in Afghanistan. That has proved Haqqani's loyalty and worth to the Pakistani establishment, analysts said.

Earlier this year, the Pakistani military reportedly arranged a meeting between representatives of Haqqani and Afghan officials in Kabul.

(Shah is a McClatchy Newspapers special correspondent. Jonathan S. Landay contributed to this report from Washington.)

Source: Miami-Herald

PakistanFirst - National Interest First!
 
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I think the best option is to make a wise and realistic approach by Pakistan Parliament, Army and Nation.
We should allow the US. Army to make operation in N-wazirstan against the Taliban and hidden Al qaeda terrorist( as per their report).
Pakistan Army would be on their back to forward them until they clean the terrorist and cross border to enter in Afghanistan.
 
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