Taliban declare ceasefire in Waziristan

[mujahideen]

Taliban declare ceasefire in Waziristan

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Taliban militants declared a ceasefire on Wednesday in fighting with the security forces, and the government said it was preparing for peace talks with al-Qaeda-linked extremists in the lawless tribal area near the border with Afghanistan.

The developments are likely to be greeted with scepticism by the United States and Pakistan’s other Western allies, who believe Islamic militants exploited a failed truce last year to expand their reach into this turbulent, nuclear-armed country.

Maulvi Mohammed Umar, a spokesman for the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, said the truce would include not only the tribal belt along the Afghan border but also the restive Swat region to the east.

“The declaration of war we made against security forces was on orders of Baitullah Mehsud,” Umar told The Associated Press by telephone. “We now withdraw that for an indefinite period. We announce the ceasefire as a result of our talks with the government.”

Maj-Gen Athar Abbas, spokesman for the Pakistani army, denied knowledge of any talks but said militants in South Waziristan had stopped shooting at security forces for the past two days and had withdrawn somewhat from positions in the area. But Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz said the government would soon form a Jirga, or tribal council of influential figures, “for a dialogue with the militants”.

He claimed security forces had “broken the back” of Mehsud’s fighters.Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif said the war simply pitted Pakistanis against one another. “Pakistan’s army was not created to fight against Pakistanis. Neither was it created to die at the hands of Pakistanis,” Sharif said on Wednesday in Lahore.

Taliban declare ceasefire in Waziristan

 

[mujahideen]

Hamid Nawaz hints to reach accord with Baitullah Mehsud

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Interior minister Hamid Nawaz has hinted that soon the government with reach accord with Baitullah Mehsud.

A new peace Jirga will soon be formed to initiate talks with militants in Waziristan, he said while addressing a press conference.

He said that foreign elections observers will be given fool proof security, but will not be allowed to visit sensitive areas including parts of Sindh and Balochistan, as well as Swat and the tribal areas.

Hamid Nawaz added that they were free to visit any other locations. He also announced the government's security plan for the polls, saying that police will have “zero tolerance” for troublemakers.

The minister said the caretaker government is set to buy security scanners for major cities, but they will not be able to install them before February 18th.

On the investigation into Benazir's assassination, he said the Scotland Yard team will return to Pakistan in 3 days, and will share its findings with its Pakistani counterparts.

Hamid Nawaz hints to reach accord with Baitullah Mehsud

 

[mujahideen]

Taliban declare ceasefire from Waziristan to Swat

Our Staff Reporter

PESHAWAR-The alleged militants calling themselves as Taliban have declared unconditional ceasefire till indefinite period throughout the country from Wednesday.
“We have declared the ceasefire for negotiation,” Maulvi Omar spokesman of Baitullah Mehsud said in a telephonic conversation to media. However, Maulvi Omar didn’t disclose as to with whom Taliban would go for negotiation during the ceasefire.
The unilateral ceasefire on part of the militants seems to be a result of the proposals being floated by media people to the government for contacting the militants to remain peaceful during the upcoming election process. Recently, media people floated this idea in a meeting with Federal Information Minister Senator Nisar Memon and others.
Maulvi Omar from an unknown place reminded that Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud had declared what he called “jihad” throughout the country about one and a half months back. The declaration, he claimed, remained very satisfactory, their loyalists made the time hard for the government all over the country.
Maulvi Omar also claimed that they are desirous of peace and conciliation and for this reason they declared ceasefire. “Anyone who intends conciliation with the Taliban could approach them,” he remarked without explaining further. He further said that Taliban were no more in favour of war and fighting.
In response to a question, Maulvi Omar neither rejected nor confirmed mediation on the part of certain leading religious figures from Afghanistan and Pakistan, between the militants and the government, but he said, “These leaders also favour peace and conciliation.” The Ulema and religious figures were involved in mediation including Sirajuddin Haqqani, Maulvi Bakhta Jan and Maulvi Sangeen from Afghanistan and several others both from North and South Waziristan Agency.
Maulvi Omar said that after declaration of the ceasefire, they handed over an injured army man to the government and invited them for removal of the dead bodies from Ladha and Sararogha Forts. He, however, was unable to disclose the number of the dead bodies lying in Ladha and Sararogha Forts of South Waziristan Agency.
It merits mention that a couple of days ago Baitullah Mehsud through his “sympathizers” within “Politico-Religious circles” made an offer of talks to the government. In fact, Baitullah Mehsud and his supporters suffered a lot in recent military actions in Ladha and other Mehsud tribesmen dominated regions of South Waziristan. Baitullah Mehsud himself along with close aides shifted to adjacent North Waziristan Agency a couple of weeks back.
Through some highly placed sources, this scribe came to know that Baitullah Mehsud was convinced by no other than his like-minded colleagues from both Afghanistan and Waziristan region, for holding a dialogue for conciliation with the government. Baitullah Mehsud through his spokesman Maulvi Omar has also declared the ceasefire from somewhere in North Waziristan Agency.
Agencies add: “We have announced ceasefire for an indefinite period because the govt stopped attacking us,” Maulvi Omar, the spokesman for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, told AFP by telephone.
“Baitullah Mehsud has ordered his people to stop attacks against Pakistani forces from Waziristan to Swat and other areas of Pakistan,” he added.
“It is not a formal agreement with the government forces but we have done it voluntarily.”
Chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said the army would keep up operations against the Taliban. “There is no formal information conveyed to us from them about a ceasefire. When they stopped firing we thought it was because of the severe weather conditions in the region,” Abbas told AFP.
“Our position is very clear - the operation has not ended, it will continue as long as the objectives the operations are achieved,” he added.
“The operation will continue as long as we are clearing their hideouts and their positions from where they are attacking our forces and convoys.”

The Nation

 

[mujahideen]

S.Waziristan operation to continue: ISPR


ISLAMABAD: Director General ISPR Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas Tuesday said that the operation in South Waziristan would be continued till wiping out of all hideouts of the miscreants. Talking to Geo News he said the miscreants have withdrew from their positions due to rains and snowfall in South Waziristan region. The operation has been cool down due to the situation but it will be continued till elimination of all hideouts of the miscreants in the area, he added.

Courtesy GEO

 

[Neo]

Pakistan Needs Political Accord With Tribal Leaders, U.S. Says ​

Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan needs to reach a political settlement with pro-Taliban leaders in its tribal region because the government's previous agreements have proved ineffective, the U.S. State Department said.

An accord where militants ``lay down their arms, join the political process, avoid violence and have guarantees for it, I think that would be something,'' Tom Casey, deputy department spokesman, said in Washington yesterday. Agreements reached in 2004 and 2006 in North and South Waziristan didn't ``produce the results'' intended.

Forces loyal to al-Qaeda-linked Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud announced a cease-fire in South Waziristan yesterday, Agence France-Presse reported, citing a spokesman for his Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan movement. The Pakistani military said it wasn't aware of any truce declaration, AFP reported.

President Pervez Musharraf made agreements with tribal leaders in North and South Waziristan for non-Pakistani gunmen to be expelled from the region that borders Afghanistan. Al- Qaeda leaders have since established a base in the border area, U.S. intelligence agencies said last year, and Pakistan's army has been battling pro-Taliban fighters in the Swat Valley.

``We all want to see actions taken to respond'' to extremists in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Casey said, according to a State Department transcript. ``We want to see it addressed and we want to continue to work with the government of Pakistan on it.''

Army Deployment

Pakistan has deployed more than 100,000 soldiers in the tribal region to combat Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorists crossing the frontier, Musharraf said in December during a visit to Islamabad by Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Pakistan has ruled out allowing any U.S. military operation against al-Qaeda fighters on its territory.

Mehsud's forces will observe an indefinite truce, AFP cited his spokesman Maulvi Omar as saying by telephone yesterday.

``It is not a formal agreement with the government forces,'' Omar said. ``We have done it voluntarily'' because the army curbed its operations recently.

Musharraf has said Mehsud was behind the suicide bombing and gunfire that killed Pakistan's opposition leader Benazir Bhutto at an election rally in the city of Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, on Dec. 27.

The military on Jan. 4 bombed Mehsud's suspected hideout in South Waziristan, Dawn newspaper reported at the time. Mehsud is still hiding in the area and there are reports he is ill, the official Associated Press of Pakistan cited Major General Ahmed Shuja Pasha, the director-general of military operations, as saying at a briefing last month.

New Alliance

Mehsud leads an alliance of about five pro-Taliban groups, formed last December, according to a report by the Combating Terrorism Center of the U.S. military academy at West Point.

The TTP has a 40-member leadership council and includes representatives from the seven agencies within the tribal areas, according to an article in the center's journal CTC Sentinel published in January.

Mehsud has been operating for several years in command of as many as 5,000 fighters, according to the article.

The army said Jan. 17 it took control of the Swat Valley after a three-month operation against pro-Taliban Islamic fighters loyal to Maulana Fazlullah, a cleric seeking to impose Islamic law in the once popular tourist destination about 250 kilometers (150 miles) from Islamabad.

Terrorist attacks and suicide bombings increased in Pakistan, including in the northwest tribal region, after the army raided the Red Mosque in Islamabad in July to end a standoff with clerics.

The number of people killed in terrorist attacks and sectarian violence more than doubled last year in Pakistan to 2,116 from 967 in 2006, according to the Interior Ministry.

Bloomberg.com: Asia

 

[Neo]

Pakistan Needs Political Accord With Tribal Leaders, U.S. Says ​

Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan needs to reach a political settlement with pro-Taliban leaders in its tribal region because the government's previous agreements have proved ineffective, the U.S. State Department said.

An accord where militants ``lay down their arms, join the political process, avoid violence and have guarantees for it, I think that would be something,'' Tom Casey, deputy department spokesman, said in Washington yesterday. Agreements reached in 2004 and 2006 in North and South Waziristan didn't ``produce the results'' intended.

Forces loyal to al-Qaeda-linked Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud announced a cease-fire in South Waziristan yesterday, Agence France-Presse reported, citing a spokesman for his Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan movement. The Pakistani military said it wasn't aware of any truce declaration, AFP reported.

President Pervez Musharraf made agreements with tribal leaders in North and South Waziristan for non-Pakistani gunmen to be expelled from the region that borders Afghanistan. Al- Qaeda leaders have since established a base in the border area, U.S. intelligence agencies said last year, and Pakistan's army has been battling pro-Taliban fighters in the Swat Valley.

``We all want to see actions taken to respond'' to extremists in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Casey said, according to a State Department transcript. ``We want to see it addressed and we want to continue to work with the government of Pakistan on it.''

Army Deployment

Pakistan has deployed more than 100,000 soldiers in the tribal region to combat Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorists crossing the frontier, Musharraf said in December during a visit to Islamabad by Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Pakistan has ruled out allowing any U.S. military operation against al-Qaeda fighters on its territory.

Mehsud's forces will observe an indefinite truce, AFP cited his spokesman Maulvi Omar as saying by telephone yesterday.

``It is not a formal agreement with the government forces,'' Omar said. ``We have done it voluntarily'' because the army curbed its operations recently.

Musharraf has said Mehsud was behind the suicide bombing and gunfire that killed Pakistan's opposition leader Benazir Bhutto at an election rally in the city of Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, on Dec. 27.

The military on Jan. 4 bombed Mehsud's suspected hideout in South Waziristan, Dawn newspaper reported at the time. Mehsud is still hiding in the area and there are reports he is ill, the official Associated Press of Pakistan cited Major General Ahmed Shuja Pasha, the director-general of military operations, as saying at a briefing last month.

New Alliance

Mehsud leads an alliance of about five pro-Taliban groups, formed last December, according to a report by the Combating Terrorism Center of the U.S. military academy at West Point.

The TTP has a 40-member leadership council and includes representatives from the seven agencies within the tribal areas, according to an article in the center's journal CTC Sentinel published in January.

Mehsud has been operating for several years in command of as many as 5,000 fighters, according to the article.

The army said Jan. 17 it took control of the Swat Valley after a three-month operation against pro-Taliban Islamic fighters loyal to Maulana Fazlullah, a cleric seeking to impose Islamic law in the once popular tourist destination about 250 kilometers (150 miles) from Islamabad.

Terrorist attacks and suicide bombings increased in Pakistan, including in the northwest tribal region, after the army raided the Red Mosque in Islamabad in July to end a standoff with clerics.

The number of people killed in terrorist attacks and sectarian violence more than doubled last year in Pakistan to 2,116 from 967 in 2006, according to the Interior Ministry.

Bloomberg.com: Asia

 

[Neo]

Pakistan Needs Political Accord With Tribal Leaders, U.S. Says ​

Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan needs to reach a political settlement with pro-Taliban leaders in its tribal region because the government's previous agreements have proved ineffective, the U.S. State Department said.

An accord where militants ``lay down their arms, join the political process, avoid violence and have guarantees for it, I think that would be something,'' Tom Casey, deputy department spokesman, said in Washington yesterday. Agreements reached in 2004 and 2006 in North and South Waziristan didn't ``produce the results'' intended.

Forces loyal to al-Qaeda-linked Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud announced a cease-fire in South Waziristan yesterday, Agence France-Presse reported, citing a spokesman for his Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan movement. The Pakistani military said it wasn't aware of any truce declaration, AFP reported.

President Pervez Musharraf made agreements with tribal leaders in North and South Waziristan for non-Pakistani gunmen to be expelled from the region that borders Afghanistan. Al- Qaeda leaders have since established a base in the border area, U.S. intelligence agencies said last year, and Pakistan's army has been battling pro-Taliban fighters in the Swat Valley.

``We all want to see actions taken to respond'' to extremists in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Casey said, according to a State Department transcript. ``We want to see it addressed and we want to continue to work with the government of Pakistan on it.''

Army Deployment

Pakistan has deployed more than 100,000 soldiers in the tribal region to combat Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorists crossing the frontier, Musharraf said in December during a visit to Islamabad by Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Pakistan has ruled out allowing any U.S. military operation against al-Qaeda fighters on its territory.

Mehsud's forces will observe an indefinite truce, AFP cited his spokesman Maulvi Omar as saying by telephone yesterday.

``It is not a formal agreement with the government forces,'' Omar said. ``We have done it voluntarily'' because the army curbed its operations recently.

Musharraf has said Mehsud was behind the suicide bombing and gunfire that killed Pakistan's opposition leader Benazir Bhutto at an election rally in the city of Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, on Dec. 27.

The military on Jan. 4 bombed Mehsud's suspected hideout in South Waziristan, Dawn newspaper reported at the time. Mehsud is still hiding in the area and there are reports he is ill, the official Associated Press of Pakistan cited Major General Ahmed Shuja Pasha, the director-general of military operations, as saying at a briefing last month.

New Alliance

Mehsud leads an alliance of about five pro-Taliban groups, formed last December, according to a report by the Combating Terrorism Center of the U.S. military academy at West Point.

The TTP has a 40-member leadership council and includes representatives from the seven agencies within the tribal areas, according to an article in the center's journal CTC Sentinel published in January.

Mehsud has been operating for several years in command of as many as 5,000 fighters, according to the article.

The army said Jan. 17 it took control of the Swat Valley after a three-month operation against pro-Taliban Islamic fighters loyal to Maulana Fazlullah, a cleric seeking to impose Islamic law in the once popular tourist destination about 250 kilometers (150 miles) from Islamabad.

Terrorist attacks and suicide bombings increased in Pakistan, including in the northwest tribal region, after the army raided the Red Mosque in Islamabad in July to end a standoff with clerics.

The number of people killed in terrorist attacks and sectarian violence more than doubled last year in Pakistan to 2,116 from 967 in 2006, according to the Interior Ministry.

Bloomberg.com: Asia

 

[Proud to be Pakistani]

NO PEACE!

If these people are allowed to muster up again they will do again such damages which were witnessed since last year!

Pakistan has to clear its position in WOT. If they want to support them and kill them also then this double policy is going to hurt pakistan like the way it is happening these days. Should take one option and that is to push all the foriegn elements out of FATA and start developing FATA for local people and merge it in N.W.F.P. Any tribe who supports foriegn elements should be dealt with. Let the talibans go and fight in Afghanistan but not hide in FATA.

 

[solid snake]

This is just a trick. Whenever these terrorists are cornered and feel threatened, they strike a deal which they later break by killing our soldiers without provocation. Eliminate these vermin once and for all!

 

[JK!]

Its a tactical retreat to lick their wounds and to regroup like the Taleban did during the2001 invasion of Afghanistan.

We have them on the backfoot lets finish the job we started.

 

[IceCold]

Now when finally the military has break their backs, they are now offering peace deals, absolute BS. They only know one way, the way of the bullet, so lets give it to them. PA should not stop until all of these miscreants are either killed or captured including their head Mehsud.

 

[MOSABJA]

Alhamdullillah.

We dont want brothers and our fellow country men to fight.



Thumbs up for Mullah omar and other scholars who convinced Baitullah of negotiating with Army .Army should live peacefully with tribes.

We should turn our guns towards our real enemy the NATO.

 

[solid snake]

Alhamdullillah.

We dont want brothers and our fellow country men to fight.

Thumbs up for Mullah omar and other scholars who convinced Baitullah of negotiating with Army .Army should live peacefully with tribes.

We should turn our guns towards our real enemy the NATO.

haha which school do/did you attend?

 

[dabong1]

Alhamdullillah.

We dont want brothers and our fellow country men to fight.



Thumbs up for Mullah omar and other scholars who convinced Baitullah of negotiating with Army .Army should live peacefully with tribes.

We should turn our guns towards our real enemy the NATO.

I agree with you,but we should kill Baitullah at least then have peacefull negotiations.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

I think the key part of the statement by the US is this:

An accord where militants ``lay down their arms, join the political process, avoid violence and have guarantees for it, I think that would be something,'' Tom Casey, deputy department spokesman, said in Washington yesterday

Disarmament and shunning violence,in order to stop Military ops, is a perfectly legitimate demand. Whats your opinion on that Mosabja?