RAWALPINDI: The military leadership has announced victory formally against the militants in Swat and Waziristan and stressed on the civilian government to take control of these areas soon hence army will support it.
The announcement to this effect was made during briefing to the Senate Defense committee at GHQ here on Tuesday.
Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani also attended the meeting, who also held meetings with all the committee members.
The senate defense committee headed by its chairman Lt. Gen (Retd) Javed Ashraf Qazi and its other members included deputy chairman senate Jan Mohammad Jamali, Raja Zafar-ul-Haq, Haji Adeel, Waqar Ahmad Khan, Prof. Khurshid, Sardar Ali Khan and Maulana Mohammad Shirani.
After 9 years of maintaining an expensive presence on Afghan soil, thousands of lives and billions wasted in aid and reconstruction efforts, not to forget bribes to warlords and drug barons, the US and its allies have come up with a real gem of an idea – trying to buy themselves a safe exit from the Afghan mess for a cool $500m.
The world leaders gathered at the Afghanistan Conference in London seem to have realised the only hope left is to save face and exit Afghanistan with some dignity intact. Their offer of cash to the Taliban, laughable as it is, is a last ditch effort to save Hamid Karzai’s government by attempting to buy out his only real opposition in Afghanistan.
Taliban today control 33 out of 34 provinces of Afghanistan and are under no pressure to negotiate with the ‘Governor of Kabul’ – as he’s mockingly called in Afghanistan due to his rule being limited to parts of the Afghan capital. The momentum is with the Taliban and they are in a position to dictate terms. Therefore the plan to rope in ‘moderate’ elements of the Taliban by promises of cash and power is a non-starter.
The decision reached at the conference to invite Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to mediate with the Taliban and Kabul’s Government seems to have little point, even though it confirms what Pakistan has been saying for years – that there will not be a solution to the Afghan problem until the Taliban – who represent Afghanistan’s Pashtun majority – are ignored.
Pakistan’s army has said it will launch no new offensives on militants in 2010, as the US defence secretary arrived for talks on combating Taliban fighters. Army spokesman Athar Abbas told the BBC the “overstretched” military had no plans for any fresh anti-militant operations over the next 12 months. Our correspondent says the comments are a clear snub to Washington.
The US would like Pakistan to expand an offensive against militants launching cross-border attacks in Afghanistan. Defence Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Pakistan on Thursday for his first visit since US President Barack Obama took office last year.
The one-day trip comes at a crucial time in the fight against al-Qaeda and the Taliban, with the US planning to commit 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan.
On Thursday morning, at least 16 people including 12 personnel of the security forces have been martyred in foiling three separate terrorist attacks by killing 9 terrorists at FIA Building, Manawan Police Training Centre and Bedian Elite Police Training Centre in Lahore. Meanwhile on the same day, at least ten persons were killed in a car suicide attack in at a police station in Kohat. According to reports, in the Thursday evening, several people were injured in a car bomb blast in Peshawar, causing the three-storey building near the Officers Colony to collapse. Many people are trapped under the debris.
The dust from the GHQ attack had barely settled down and once more we’re faced with not one but three synchronised attacks on security establishmentsin the city of Lahore.
With the recent pattern of targetting security forces, it is evident that the terrorists are working on a specific agenda which is a part of a greater plan. The impact of these attacks will serve to creating an uproar in the International media about Pakistan being vulnerable to a ‘Taliban takeover’ – Nothing could be further from the truth. While these attacks are a setback for the security forces, the tide in Pakistan has swiftly turned against the foreign-backed terrorists in Pakistan over the last few months.
It is a crucial time and the Pakistani nation, patriots and the Armed forces should be vigilant, alert and very cautious. The scenario that is building up points towards the desperate attempts of the enemies of Pakistan to lead it to a battleground wherein they can engage Pakistan to achieve their sinister goals in the region. But before doing so, they need to create “favorable” circumstances in Pakistan by accomplishing certain “sub-tasks” using these recent act of terrorism.
Their sub-objectives with which they intend to lead Pakistan to ultimate chaos are as follows:
Physical abuse of prisoners during interrogation is extremely common in not only Pakistan’s police stations but worldwide, and this video, even if its true, proves how mild the ‘punishment’ given out to these TTP-sympathisers was considering what these barbarians did to our captured, unarmed soldiers and innocent civilians. What has been termed as abuse is much benign if compared with the interrogation techniques employed by other armed forces of the world, not to mention Indian forces who keenly pluck nails out after severe torture just on the slightest suspicion, not charges against such criminals.
Lets rewind back to earlier this year when videos of TTP terrorists slitting throats of innocent civilians and Army soldiers were doing the rounds and had kept the nation completely terrified. Grilling terror suspects back then using whips and belts did indeed appear to be quite soft, as a form of punishment, compared to knives and AK-47s, which were the terrorists’ preferred tools.
With talk of NATO pulling out of Afghanistan, an increasingly potent Taliban threat and rising questions in the U.S. about whether defeating the insurgency is possible, there is even less incentive for the Pakistani authorities to share intelligence on Haqqani and Omar, said Shaun Gregory, a professor at Bradford University’s Pakistan Security Research Unit.
“The Pakistanis want the Americans out; above all they want India out. And the only creatures who can do that are the Afghan Taliban,” he said. “If the Pakistanis hand over more info on al-Qaida and the rest, it will have a marginal effect as to what happens in Afghanistan.”
The Pakistanis have not supplied the U.S. with any intelligence on the Haqqani network, Gregory said. In return, Haqqani and other Afghan Taliban have not joined their Pakistani Taliban brethren in trying to seize other regions and advance on the capital, Islamabad.
“They don’t want to antagonize several groups in Pakistan. If the Haqqani group starts helping the Pakistani Taliban, then God help us,” said Talat Masood, a Pakistani defense analyst. “The Americans cannot stay in Afghanistan forever, but we will have to live here forever.”
In light of the recent crisis in Swat, Buner and Dir it has been highlighted that the problem of militancy in Pakistan has political roots. These groups are demanding an end to the bombing of Pakistani territory by American and Pakistani armed forces and an end of Pakistani support for the American occupation in Afghanistan. If this does not occur then some groups want an end to interference from a Pakistani State which is seen as inept. The current Pakistani system has failed to successfully address these problems amongst others and as a result violence has ensued. There is an urgent need to identify, isolate and correct the flaws which have resulted in this cannibalistic system that is killing its own people if Pakistan is to have any chance of peace and stability.
It has become a cliché to say that Pakistan’s rulers are failures. For years Pakistanis have been seeking a saviour, a person to lead the country from whatever crisis it seems to find itself in at that particular time. Unfortunately for Pakistan the number of crises seems to be many yet the number of leaders able to solve the country’s problems has been precisely zero. The people have put their faith in one personality cult after another. Pakistanis have been big on families and have thrown their support behind these clans, turning the nation into an almost overblown mafia playground where the corrupt rulers plunder the nation’s wealth whilst the common man is reduced to even selling his children or committing suicide due to the desperate levels of poverty. Whilst the nation burns under the threat of militancy and the threat of an American attack, our rulers busy themselves by squabbling over power sharing ratios in Punjab and other petty disputes which paralyse the country.
PakistanFirst and PakistanKaKhudaHafiz (PKKH) and are proud to bring to you another first – your own Pro-Pakistan internet-radio station dedicated – PAKRADIO- to bringing you the latest in news and analysis concering all things Pakistan – with a focus on national security and regional geo-politics.
Our Special Launch Day (September 6th, 09) programming includes exclusive talk shows with Ahmed Quraishi, Ali Khan (PakistanFirst), Dan Qayyum (PKKH), as well as Col. Akhtar speaking to us live from the front lines in Mingora! Additionally we also have Romesa Khalid, Faisal Awan and Hina Amin bringing you special features on the role of Pakistan Youth in our revival and a look at the current situation, plus honouring our heroes!
We’re trying our best to help as many people in the affected areas as we can so they can enjoy Ramadan and Eid just like the rest of us. But we need your assistance. Don’t turn away from this responsibility that Allah has given us, to provide for and look after our own. Be generous and Allah will reward you in this life and in Jannah. The hand that helps is better than the lips that pray.
Email swat.pkkh@gmail.com to find out how you can help.
‘Allah is the Greatest. O Allah bring us the new moon with security and faith, with peace and in Islam, and in harmony with what our Lord Loves and what pleases Him. Our Lord and your Lord is Allah.’
TeamPKKH Wishes You A Blessed Ramadan.
We wish you and your loves ones Allah’s forgiveness, blessings and acceptance of our prayers during this holy month of Ramadan. Lets also remember in prayers our brothers and sisters in Malakand, in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in Chechnya, in Kashmir, in India, and in Falasteen. May Allah grant them sabr and bless them with peace and prosperity in the days to come. Allah-o-Akbar.
Below are PKKH’s Ramadan Greeting Cards that you can open, save/download and send to your loved ones.
With Ali Azmat on Aag TV Zaid Hamid and Ali Azmat (formerly of Junoon) take live calls and discuss ideology, vision and mission of Allama Iqbal and its relevance with the current times, and answer questions from the youth of Pakistan in his latest episode of “Iqbal Ka Pakistan” series.
MINGORA: Swat showed no sign of the scars of war on Friday as people showed amazing resilience to celebrate the independence day in a traditional manner.
With Ali Azmat on Aag TV Zaid Hamid and Ali Azmat (formerly of Junoon) take live calls and discuss ideology, vision and mission of Allama Iqbal and its relevance with the current times, and answer questions from the youth of Pakistan in his latest episode of “Iqbal Ka Pakistan” series.
BrassTacks presents another bitter-facts series exposing threats to Pakistan and deliberate ignorance of current government. Zaid Hamid exposes the covert war which CIA is waging against Pakistan, as he explains the current domestic scenario of Pakistan and the threats to our nationals security that we face due to CIA covert ops and US policies.
In latest episode of the series, cutting edge analysis of the current scenario are presented by Zaid Hamid.
Pakistani Terrorist chief Baitullah Mehsud, who led a violent campaign of suicide attacks and assassinations against the Pakistani government, has been killed in a US missile strike, a TTP commander and aide to Mehsud said Friday.
‘I confirm that Baitullah Mehsud and his wife died in the American missile attack in South Waziristan,’ Kafayatullah told The Associated Press by telephone. He would not give any further details. [Source]
In February this year, PKKH had reported on how Baitullah Mehsud had outlived his shelf-life, and was of no further use to his American masters. With the TTP defeated in Malakand, he had been cornered in his hometown in South Waziristan and it would only have been a matter of days before he was captured.
It now increasingly looks like Baitullah Mehsud is living on borrowed time. It would be interesting to see who gets to him first, the Pakistanis or the Americans. Pakistan Army would be well advised to attempt to capture him alive, something that the Americans and Indians would try and ensure does not happen.
Compiled From Difference Resources By M. Abubakar Minhas, Islamabad (minhas@minhas.tk)
In the ongoing war against terrorists, the army is carrying out major operations to cleanse the country from the menace of terrorism. The major scale operation which is ongoing is called “Operation Rah e Raast”. Before that we witnessed “Operation Rah e Haq” (2007-2008) which got lesser media coverage due to the misinterpretation on part of the countrymen that the operation was not justified and was infact against so called brothers. Time told us how false our concepts were.
In this war, hundreds of sons of soil have laid their lives for Pakistan. It is only because of these sacrifices that our country can still stand tall, and we are able to live freely in this land of the pure. We all, as a nation, owe these martyrs too much to be ever repaid.
“I am going to embrace Shahadat”. These were the last words of Captain Najam Riaz Raja to his parents when he left for Swat. And he did prove to be a man of his words. He embraced shahadat along with three other commandos last Tuesday. He was captured by the terrorists under mysterious circumstances on 21 April while he along with his three other companions were out of their camp in Swat Valley.
With Ali Azmat on Aag TV Zaid Hamid and Ali Azmat (formerly of Junoon) take live calls and discuss ideology, vision and mission of Allama Iqbal and its relevance with the current times, and answer questions from the youth of Pakistan in his latest episode of “Iqbal Ka Pakistan” series.
What if someone unknown, with a big beard, knocks on your door and tells you that he has just fled his home – will you keep him in your house? Share your food and your clothes with him? And then, what if someone else knocks on your door with 5 family members, would you tell your children to share their clothes and toys with these unknown people?
What if you have so many unknown people walking into your home that you share everything with them and are left with nothing but a small blanket to sleep with?
Discussion on Pakistan’s war against militancy. Is Pakistan Army fighting Pakistan’s war or America’s? What can youth of Pakistan do to help protect this nation?
