How Pakistan protected Taliban

Pakiban: How Pakistan protected Taliban against US post 9/11

Chidanand Rajghatta, TNN, Sep 14, 2010
WASHINGTON: As “Taliban’s primary sponsor” Pakistan protected and promoted its client every inch of the way in the immediate days after 9/11 resulting in undermining the US war on terror, newly declassified documents detailing exchanges at that time between Washington and Islamabad reveal.

As current US strategy increasingly pursues policies to reconcile or “flip” the Taliban, the document collection released on Monday show Washington’s refusal to negotiate with Taliban leadership directly after 9/11 and Pakistan’s insistence of the relevance of group it nurtured in order to push for strategic depth in Afghanistan and thwart Indian influence.

According to the documents, on September 13, 2001, US Ambassador Wendy Chamberlin “bluntly” told Pakistani President Musharraf that there was “absolutely no inclination in Washington to enter into a dialogue with the Taliban. The time for dialog was finished as of September 11.”

Pakistan, as the Taliban’s primary sponsor, disagreed. Pakistani Intelligence ( ISI) Chief Mahmoud told the ambassador “not to act in anger. Real victory will come in negotiations… If the Taliban are eliminated… Afghanistan will revert to warlordism.” Pakistan’s primary concern was that the Northern Alliance, backed by other foreign powers in the region, including India, would return to power in Kabul.

Pakistan also backed off from hunting down Osama bin Laden, with Mahmoud, who was present in Washington on 9/11 and later turned out to be a frontman for Taliban, telling the Americans it was “better for the Afghans to do it. We could avoid the fallout.”

As a result, Pakistani tribal areas where Osama bin Laden found refuge, which were momentarily open to the Pakistani Army when “the tribes were overawed by US firepower” after 9/11, quickly again became “no-go areas” where the Taliban could reorganize and plan their resurgence in Afghanistan, a commentary by the national Security Archive that accompanied the documents, notes.

Consequently, according to US Ambassador to Afghanistan Ronald E. Neumann, the 2005 Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan was a direct product of the “four years that the Taliban has had to reorganize and think about their approach in a sanctuary beyond the reach of either government.” This had exponentially increased casualties as the Taliban adopted insurgency tactics successful in Iraq, including suicide bombings and the use of IEDs.

Neumann, the documents reveal, warned Washington that if the sanctuary in Pakistan were not addressed it would “lead to the re-emergence of the same strategic threat to the United States that prompted our OEF [Operation Enduring Freedom] intervention” in 2001.

The policy to protect Taliban reached the highest levels of the Pakistani establishment, the documents show. In exchanges between September 14 and November 16, 2001 – Pakistan’s military strongman Pervez Musharraf asks the US to clarify if its counterterrorism mission is against the Taliban or just al-Qaida and repeatedly asks the US not to let the Northern Alliance take over Kabul.

The declassified documents also show that the state department, then headed by Colin Powell, batted hard for Pakistan despite suspicions in the US establishment about its bonafides in the war on terror. In a memo to President Bush, Powell notes that Musharraf’s decision to ally with the US comes “at considerable political risk,” as he has “abandoned the Taliban, frozen terrorist assets [and] quelled anti-Western protests without unwarranted force, ” all dubious assumptions.

Regarding Afghanistan, the secretary appears to push Islamabad’s agenda, telling the president that Pakistan will want to protect its interests and maintain influence in Kabul. “Musharraf is pressing for a future government supportive of its interests and is concerned that the Northern Alliance will occupy Kabul,” Powell notes.

The disclosures came even as the White House began yet another review on Monday of its Af-Pak policy which has so far been based on several questionable premises, including undue sensitivity to Pakistan’s extra-territorial ambitions and concerns mainly relating to its existential insecurity vis-à-vis India.

In a read-out of the meeting presided over by President Obama, the White House indicated that reports of overtures to the Taliban may be overstated. Additional forces deployed in Afghanistan are now at the highest operational tempo to date, and are focused on challenging long-established Taliban strongholds, targeting Taliban leadership, training Afghan Security Forces, and supporting Afghan-led reintegration and local policing initiatives, the White House cited General Petraeus as emphasizing.

Talibanisation of Kerala

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Talibanisation of Kerala

The Pioneer Edit Desk

A professor loses his right hand

Sunday’s gruesome attack on a college professor at Muvattupuzha in Kerala for preparing a controversial question paper that allegedly ‘blasphemed’ Prophet Mohammed is proof of the ominous growth of Islamist terror in God’s Own Country. The police have confirmed that the perpetrators belong to the Popular Front of India, the Islamist resistance outfit formerly known as NDF, a source of ruthless operatives for the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba. The assailants cut the right hand of the professor at the wrist and threw it into a nearby compound. The message is clear: They will chop off the hand or head of anyone who writes anything against Islam or is critical of Islamism and the terrorist violence it breeds. Such actions can emanate only from a criminal mindset comparable to the one behind the Iranian fatwa against Salman Rushdie and the attacks on as well as murder of writers and film-makers. The attack was obviously well-planned and carried out in the presence of several people, which also demonstrates the demonic intent of the perpetrators of the crime. In brief, the Islamists’ action was an open declaration that they have nothing but contempt for the law of the land and do not fear the state.

The Popular Front, while offering the expected customary denial of responsibility, has sought to justify the attack by claiming that a huge conspiracy has been hatched against Islam in Kerala. They cite the example of some church-affiliated schools banning the headscarf to bolster their bogus claim. What makes the situation particularly scary is that Islamist leaders have warned similar incidents cannot be ruled out in the future. The ruling CPI(M), the Opposition Congress, and their allies have all condemned the gruesome attack on the professor, but that does not exonerate them of encouraging outfits like the Popular Front, Jama’at-e-Islami and Abdul Nasser Madani’s PDP to flourish in Kerala, known till some years ago for its peace and religious harmony. The CPI(M) has been in an electoral alliance with terror case-accused Madani and Jama’at-e-Islami while the Congress-led UDF is a recipient of the Popular Front’s support. Tragically, despite the overwhelming evidence, the two main political fronts are in denial mode and unwilling to admit that Kerala is fast turning into a hub of Islamism in the country: For evidence, consider the fact that majority of the culprits behind several of the recent terror strikes in India are from Kerala. The police alone cannot bring the criminals to heel; what is required is consensus among political parties and the commitment to stamp out extremism of the sort witnessed on Sunday. Unless this is done immediately, Kerala is headed for troubled times. Surely nobody wants that to happen.

Indians were hunted out in Kabul attack: Washington Post

Indians were hunted out in Kabul attack: Washington Post

Indo-Asian News Service
Washington, March 03, 2010

Pakistani militant group Lashkar-i-Taiba (LeT) orchestrated last week’s deadly attack 
on two Kabul guesthouses with the suicide bombers searching for Indian victims, the 
Washington Post reported Wednesday citing an Afghan intelligence official.
Investigators had concluded that LeT was involved in the attack based on evidence 
that it was carried out by a team of suicide bombers who spoke Urdu and who were 
searching for Indian victims, it said in a report from Kabul citing Afghan 
intelligence spokesman Sayed Ansari. 

“Afghan officials ‘very close to the evidence’ had determined that one of the bombers 
involved in Friday’s Kabul attack yelled, ‘Where is the Indian director?’ as he 
stormed one of guesthouses,”Ansari was quoted as saying.

Others had also sought out Indians, Ansari said. 

“This kind of information, where the Indians are, is not the ability of the Afghan 
Taliban to know,” said Ansari as cited by the influential US daily. 

The Afghan Taliban had previously asserted responsibility for the assault saying it 
was targeting foreigners. Six Indian nationals, including two army doctors and an 
engineer, were among those killed in the attack, as were eight Afghans, an Italian 
diplomat and a French filmmaker. 

The assessment, if true, could signal a departure for the group, blamed for the 26/11 
Mumbai terror attacks, which has long focused on fighting India over Kashmir, the 
daily said. 

The Post said the claim by Afghan intelligence could not be verified Tuesday, and it 
contradicts the conclusions of other observers. A US military intelligence official 
cited by the Post said he believed the Haqqani network, a Pakistan-based Afghan 
militant group, was behind the attack. 

Indian officials have said they suspect that the two groups worked in concert to 
stage the raid.

“Still, the involvement of LeT would have significant implications. It could 
undermine fragile peace efforts between longtime foes Pakistan and India, whose 
foreign secretaries met last week,” the Post said. 

India had previously implicated Pakistan in the 2008 bombing of India’s embassy in 
Kabul, saying Pakistani intelligence had collaborated with militants, it noted. 

The Post quoted Maj. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, the top US military intelligence official 
in Afghanistan, as saying that a growing number of the LeT’s fighters are streaming 
into that country’s south for combat experience. 

“They are aligning with the Taliban,” it said citing Mohammad Saad, a retired 
Pakistani brigadier and security analyst. 

Saad said that several members of LeT are training with associates of the Haqqani 
network in North Waziristan, a Pakistani tribal region bordering Afghanistan, but 
that language challenges have forced most of them to work alongside Afghan fighters 
inside Afghanistan.

Islamic terrorists Kidnap Hindu in Pakistan, Demand 1 Crore Ransom

Rs 10m ransom demand for Hindu man abducted in Pak
PTI, Feb 24, 2010

PESHAWAR: Days after beheading of two abducted Sikhs by Taliban in the restive tribal belt, a Pakistani Hindu man has been reportedly kidnapped from here and his abductors have demanded Rs 10 million for his release. 

Robin Singh, a computer engineer, was kidnapped by unknown persons from a market on University Road last Friday, a local politician said on Tuesday. He was kidnapped while going to Nowshera for some work. 

The kidnappers have demanded Rs 10 million from Singh’s relatives, said Sahib Singh, a member of the district assembly in Peshawar. 

Robin Singh’s brother Rajan Singh has registered a case at West Cantonment police station, Sahib Singh said. However, officials at the police station said they were not aware of the registration of a First Information Report in this regard. They said Robin Singh might not have been abducted from their jurisdiction. 

In a statement issued on Monday, President Asif Ali Zardari condemned the kidnapping of Robin Singh. The President directed authorities to take steps for the recovery of Singh. 

The incident comes to light days after the recovery of the beheaded bodies of two abducted Sikhs — Mahal Singh and Jaspal Singh — in Pakistan’s tribal belt. 

Another two to four Sikhs are still being held by the Taliban. The kidnapping and killing of the Sikhs has been condemned by leaders of Pakistan’s minority Sikh community. 

Pakistan Taliban behead two Sikhs, send heads to gurdwara

Taliban kill 2 Sikhs, send heads to Pak gurdwara
Omer Farooq Khan, TNN, Feb 22, 2010

PESHAWAR/NEW DELHI: The Taliban has reportedly beheaded two Sikhs in Pakistan’s lawless tribal region bordering Afghanistan and sent the heads to a gurdwara. 

Jaspal Singh and Mahan Singh, both businessmen, were kidnapped from Tira Valley, in Khyber agency, and Darra Adamkheil, in Orakzai agency, on January 19 and held for ransom. Sources in the area told TOI on Sunday that they were killed because they were paying `protection’ money to a rival faction. 

However, according to security sources in New Delhi, Jaspal and Mahan were reportedly told to convert to Islam or face death. When they refused, their heads were chopped off and sent to the Bhai Joga Singh gurdwara in Peshawar. 

The Indian government has taken serious note of this and is in touch with the high commission in Islamabad. “This incident is shocking. We are looking into it,” a source said. 

The miniscule Sikh community in NWFP and Afghanistan has been under pressure from the Taliban to embrace Islam, official sources said. The Taliban, during their reign in Afghanistan, had imposed jiziya — a religious tax — on all minorities, mostly Hindus and Sikhs. They were made to wear a piece of yellow cloth on their breast pocket to identify themselves. 

Pakistani Taliban behead 2 Sikhs
PTI 
Peshawar/Islamabad, February 21, 2010 

Two Sikhs who were kidnapped over a month back have been beheaded by the Pakistani Taliban in the country’s restive tribal belt in a brutal act by the militants.

Some more members of the minority community are still in the custody of the rebels.

The body of Jaspal Singh was found in the Khyber tribal region, located a short distance from the provincial capital of Peshawar, while the body of Mahal Singh was found in the Aurakzai Agency, sources said on Sunday night

There was confusion about the total number of Sikhs who were kidnapped for ransom from the Bara area of Khyber Agency by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. A source said four Sikhs were abducted while another report said the total number of kidnapped persons was six.

The Sikhs were kidnapped 34 days ago and the Taliban had demanded Rs 30 million as ransom for their release. Two of the kidnapped Sikhs were beheaded after the expiry of the deadline for the payment of the ransom, sources said.

Gurvinder Singh and Gurjit Singh are still in the custody of the militants, sources said.

The kidnapping occurred in an area where there the government has virtually no control and the militants are in a dominant position, sources said.

A sizeable number of Sikhs lived in the tribal belt, particularly Aurakzai Agency, till the Taliban imposed ‘jiziya’ or religious tax on them last year. Most members of the community then fled to cities across Pakistan. 

Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (DSGPC) condemned the incident and said that Pakistan government should take strong action against Taliban. 

Thousands of Hindus flee Pakistan, shocking tales of fear and torture

Fearing Taliban, Pak Hindus take Thar Express to India

Vimal Bhatia , TNN 10 September 2009

JAISALMER: In the past four years, some 5,000 Hindus may have crossed over from Pakistan, never to return. It has not been easy abandoning their homes, sometimes even their families, but they say they had no choice: they had to flee the Taliban.

It started as a trickle in 2006, the year the Thar Express was flagged off. The weekly train starts from Karachi, enters India at Munabao, a border town in Barmer, and runs up to Jodhpur. In the first year, 392 Hindus crossed over.

This grew to 880 in 2007. The next year, the number was 1,240, and this year, till August, over 1,000 have crossed over. They just keep extending their visas and hope to become Indian citizens.

Incidentally, these are official figures. Sources say there are many more who cross over and melt in the local milieu. And officials have a soft corner for these people, most of whom have harrowing stories to tell.

Ranaram, who used to live in the Rahimyar district of Pakistan’s Punjab, says he fell prey to the Taliban. His wife was kidnapped, raped and forcibly converted to Islam. His two daughters were also forcibly converted. Ranaram, too, had to accept Islam for fear of his life. He thought it best to flee with his two daughters; his wife was untraceable.

Dungaram, another migrant, says atrocities against Hindus in Pakistan have increased in the past two years after the ouster of Musharraf. “We won’t get permanent jobs unless we convert to Islam.”

Hindu Singh Sodha, president of Seemant Lok Sangathan, a group working for the refugees in Barmer and Jaisalmer, says there’s unfortunately no proper refugee policy in India even though people from Pakistan reach here in large numbers.

He said in 2004-05, over 135 families were given Indian citizenship but the rest are still living illegally in the country and are often tortured by police because they don’t have proper citizenship certificates. “In December 2008, over 200 Hindus were converted to Islam in Mirpur Khas town of Pakistan. But there are several others who want to stick to their religion but there’s no safety for them in Pakistan.”

Immigration officer at Munabao railway station, Hetudan Charan, says the arrival of Hindu migrants had suddenly increased as over 15 to 16 families were reaching India every week. “None of them admit they are to settle here but seeing their baggage, we easily understand,’’ he said.

Ravi Kumar, who was Barmer collector till his transfer two days back, said the government in 2007 had given permanent citizenship to a few Pakistani immigrants.

11,500 Pakistani terrorists had died in the jihad against India: Study

NDA govt’s hurry led to Kandahar fiasco: Former IB boss
S Balakrishnan, TNN 1 September 2009

MUMBAI: Back in December 1999, the NDA government unnecessarily asked the team negotiating with the Taliban during the Kandahar hijack to hurry up. Had it displayed some patience, the consequence could have been different.

This was stated by former director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) Ajit Doval, who was a part of the Indian negotiating team at Kandahar.

Doval told reporters at the sidelines of a seminar on terrorism organised by the SIES College and the US consulate on Monday, that the negotiating team was trying to buy time from the Taliban which had custody of a planeload of passengers. But the NDA government insisted on early resolution. He was also critical of the media for hyping up protests by the families of the kidnapped passengers in Delhi, but the NDA should not have succumbed to the pressure tactics. “If a surgery is being performed then doctors should not be influenced by the hysterics of the patients’ relatives outside the operation theatre,” he observed.

In his keynote address, Doval he has spearheaded several counter-intellience operations in J&K, Punjab and the north-east said there was lack of political will to counter terrorism. He said India had the capacity to deal with terrorists, but the political leadership did not muster up the necessary will to take on anti-national elements.

He quoted a study by Belgium-based institute which revealed that 11,500 Pakistani infiltrators had died in the “jihad” against India. Over 95,000 weapons and 7,000 quintals of RDX were seized from them. “If this not war, what is? This is Pakistan’s fourth generation war against India over the past several years,” he said, adding that unless the source of terrorism located in Pakistan was busted, the problem would remain. The ISI was not getting any recruits anymore from Kashmir, but it was getting other people to do its job.

Doval said in the past, 368 terrorist movements worldwide had failed. And 90% of these were because their leaders had been neutralised. This aspect needs to be kept in mind when we talk of dealing with terrorism in India. “If you do not surprise the terrorists, then they will surprise you,” he said.

Pakistan double standards: Charges pro-Taliban cleric, but releases LeT chief Saeed

Double standards in Pakistan’s anti-terror campaign
Wednesday, Aug 05, 2009

Praveen Swami

Prosecution of pro-Taliban cleric for hate speech in stark contrast to case of Lashkar chief
——————————————————————————-

We want occupation of Islam in entire world: Saeed

Very soon we will enter India via Doda, Lashkar chief had said
——————————————————————————–

NEW DELHI: Early this month, Pakistani prosecutors charged the head of a pro-Taliban group and seven of his associates with treason, incitement to rebellion, terrorism, waging war, and conspiracy against the country.

The charges are reported to centre around a speech made by Maulana Mohammad, often called Maulana Radio, for his use of FM broadcasts to spread his message on April 19.

Maulana Mohammad, the Pakistan government says, told followers in the town of Mingora that there “is no room for democracy in Islam.” He demanded that the entire nation be placed under the Shariah law.

“Against Islam”

Pakistan’s stern action against the Taliban-linked cleric stands in stark contrast to its refusal to prosecute Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, despite the fact that he used near-identical language in several speeches made in recent years. Saeed’s speeches also contained attacks on Pakistan’s rulers, attacks on its anti-Taliban war and calls for violence against India.

During a sermon to worshippers at the Masjid al-Qudsia in Lahore’s Chowburji area, reported by the Jamaat-ud-Dawa website on October 14, 2007, Saeed asserted that “current political systems, especially democracy, are against Islam.”

Islam, Saeed was reported by the Jamaat-ud-Dawa website as saying, had a complete system of government based on Khilafat (Caliphate) and Amirat (Leader/Head of the Muslims). As such, there “is no need of an opposition, nor is there a concept of a ruling class, or party.”

Those qualified to lead people in prayer, he argued, “are also eligible to lead the people otherwise.”

Saeed asserted that “the real objectives for the establishment of Pakistan will be achieved when the original Islamic system, established in Mecca 1400 years ago, will be implemented here.” His language closely mirrored the proclamations of Sufi Mohammad.

“We hate democracy,” the pro-Taliban cleric said in February 2009, soon after the Government of Pakistan signed a peace deal that imposed Shariah across north-west Pakistan. “We want the occupation of Islam in the entire world. Islam does not permit democracy or election.”

Maulana Mohammad and two of his sons were arrested in Peshawar on July 25. He was earlier held in May, but quietly released.

Criticism of Pakistan

Like Maulana Mohammad, Saeed often unleashed stinging attacks on the state of Pakistan. Pakistan’s rulers, he said in a March 2007 speech, “to reassure America and to prove that they are enlightened and moderate, continue to take weird and reckless measures in utter contempt of the safety, security, and well being of their people.”

In several speeches reported on the Jamaat-ud-Dawa website during that year, Saeed expressed support for the Taliban. Pakistan’s rulers were, during one sermon delivered at the Jamia al-Qudsia, urged to “stop fighting the war of the enemies of Islam and Muslims in Waziristan and other places.” He demanded that Pakistan stop “trying to please the Christians and the Jews.”

In another veiled attack on the former President, Pervez Musharraf, Saeed asserted that “Muslim rulers have disappointed the Ummah [worldwide Muslim community]. It is time to wage jihad against them. They are not Muslims. They are the agents of Jews.”

His lieutenant, Hafiz Abdul Rehman Makki, launched an even more acidic attack on retired General Musharraf at the Madrasa Ayesha, near Rawalpindi. Pakistan, he asserted, “is ruled by Ahmads” a reference to a heterodox sect officially proscribed in Pakistan, and long subject to persecution by Islamists. “Most of the top Generals and bureaucrats,” he continued, “are Ahmadi.”

In order to counter this pernicious influence, Makki called for “jihad and martyrdom to be made part of the curriculum. They should be taught in textbooks at school, college and university levels.”

Violence against India

But unlike Maulana Mohammad, much of Saeed’s invective was directed at India and Hindus.

In a 1999 article, he said that “the Hindu is a mean enemy and the proper way to deal with him is the one adopted by our forefathers, who crushed them by force.”

Later, in December 1999, Saeed told an interviewer that Kashmir was “only our base camp.” “The real war,” he asserted, “will be inside [India]. Very soon we will enter India via Doda and unfurl the Islamic flag on the Red Fort.”

On the eve of the Mumbai attacks, Saeed told followers that the “only language India understands is that of force, and that is the language it must be talked to in.”

Hindus in Pakistan agree to pay jazia to Taliban

Hindus in Pakistan agree to pay jazia to Taliban

Amir Mir
Thursday, June 4, 2009

Islamabad: In May, dozens of Sikhs living in the Orakzai agency were forced to move out after the Taliban demanded Rs50 million as jazia, or security tax, from them. Locals said the families were impoverished and left the area to avoid any Taliban action.

Less than a month later, the tax net has spread wider, to the Khyber agency tribal area. The Sikhs, Hindus, and Christians there have been told by the Taliban-backed Lashkar-e-Islam (LeI) to pay jazia in exchange for ensuring their security in the area.

Having already imposed the security tax on non-Muslims in the Orakzai agency in the tribal belt on the Afghanistan border, the Taliban forces in this area have empowered the LeI to charge the tax on their behalf, Khyber agency sources said.

The LeI commander has publicly announced that Sikhs and Hindus will be free to live anywhere in the area after paying this protection tax.

Reports suggest that most of the minority community members in the region have agreed to pay the tax instead of leaving the area, having lived there for decades.

Sources said several jirgas (meetings of elders) were held to settle the issue. One such meeting held last week, attended by the leaders and elders of the Sikh, Hindu, and Christian communities at Tirah Valley, resulted in the decision to pay up rather than move out.

Women, children, and handicapped persons have been exempted from paying the tax, which amounts to Rs1,000 per head annually.

The LeI militants have already started collecting jazia in Bara, Chora, Karamna, Bazaar Zakhakhel, and Tirah Valley of Khyber agency. Those refusing to pay, or not in a position to pay, are being forced to leave.

Pakistan soldiers prefer fighting “Hindu India” than Taliban ‘muslim friends’

 

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/south-asia/pak-soldiers-prefer-fighting-hindu-india-than-taliban-muslim-friends-report_100190583.html

Pak soldiers prefer fighting “Hindu India” than Taliban ‘muslim friends’ : Report

May 10th, 2009 –  by ANI  –

London, May 10 (ANI): Pakistan Government may claim that it is fighting its ‘own war’ in the North West Frontier Province’s Malakand and Swat Divisions, and is not merely taking action under the US pressure, but one thing is quite evident that the Pakistani army do not want to pump bullets into their ‘muslim friends’ rather they prefer fighting against India.

Amid all frantic calls being made by the international community, and especially by the Obama Administration that the real threat to Pakistan comes from its internal factors and not from India, majority of its security personnel still believe that India remains their primary threat, the Telegraph reports.

The report stated that eventhough the Pakistan army has made sacrifices in its fight against terrorism, soldiers trained and dedicated to the idea of fighting “Hindu India” resent the idea of killing fellow Muslims on their own soil.

“I do not like the Taliban but I do not want to fight against them.They are our Muslim brothers. I do not want to fight America’s war,” said Zulmay Khan, a soldier with Frontier Corps.

The statement perhaps clarifies all the speculations regarding Pakistan Army’s will and capability to counter the extremists.

Officers, who have been in the thick of things for long planning out strategies for the army, also believe that Pakistan’s primary concern is India despite the fact that the Taliban’s advancing writ poses an ‘existential threat’ to the nation.

The report quoted a retired Major of Pakistan Army, Major Ikram Seghal, as saying that most troops would remain on the Indian border, despite the increasingly frantic calls from Washington to concentrate on the enemy within.

The problem is that now Pakistan is battling jihadis whom it trained to fight wars in Afghanistan and Kashmir, which was directed by the country’s leadership itself.

Nobody believe that the Taliban would be flushed out of the country or the region by the Pakistan military, but fear is growing that whatever happens in the current operation, Swat will prove a self-inflicted wound that will fester for years, the report said. (ANI)

The report stated that even though the Pakistan army has made sacrifices in its fight against terrorism, soldiers trained and dedicated to the idea of fighting “Hindu India” resent the idea of killing fellow Muslims on their own soil.

Pak soldiers prefer fighting “Hindu India” than Taliban ‘muslim friends’ : Report

May 10th, 2009 –  by ANI  –

London, May 10 (ANI): Pakistan Government may claim that it is fighting its ‘own war’ in the North West Frontier Province’s Malakand and Swat Divisions, and is not merely taking action under the US pressure, but one thing is quite evident that the Pakistani army do not want to pump bullets into their ‘muslim friends’ rather they prefer fighting against India.

Amid all frantic calls being made by the international community, and especially by the Obama Administration that the real threat to Pakistan comes from its internal factors and not from India, majority of its security personnel still believe that India remains their primary threat, the Telegraph reports.

The report stated that even though the Pakistan army has made sacrifices in its fight against terrorism, soldiers trained and dedicated to the idea of fighting “Hindu India” resent the idea of killing fellow Muslims on their own soil.

“I do not like the Taliban but I do not want to fight against them.They are our Muslim brothers. I do not want to fight America’s war,” said Zulmay Khan, a soldier with Frontier Corps.

The statement perhaps clarifies all the speculations regarding Pakistan Army’s will and capability to counter the extremists.

Officers, who have been in the thick of things for long planning out strategies for the army, also believe that Pakistan’s primary concern is India despite the fact that the Taliban’s advancing writ poses an ‘existential threat’ to the nation.

The report quoted a retired Major of Pakistan Army, Major Ikram Seghal, as saying that most troops would remain on the Indian border, despite the increasingly frantic calls from Washington to concentrate on the enemy within.

The problem is that now Pakistan is battling jihadis whom it trained to fight wars in Afghanistan and Kashmir, which was directed by the country’s leadership itself.

Nobody believe that the Taliban would be flushed out of the country or the region by the Pakistan military, but fear is growing that whatever happens in the current operation, Swat will prove a self-inflicted wound that will fester for years, the report said. (ANI)