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Taliban show no let up despite 8,000 soldiers in FATA

Daily Times Monitor

LAHORE: Taliban hostilities show no sign of abating despite the deployment of 8,000 troops in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the army’s claim of killing 1,000 Taliban, according to The Times.

The newspaper said in a report on Saturday that a constant supply of fresh fighters from inside the country and across the border in Afghanistan is helping the Taliban to stay in the fight.

Bajaur Agency is a main operating base for Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Pakistani intelligence believes that Ayman al-Zawahri, the second-in-command of Al Qaeda, has been a visitor.

The report says the roots of the Marriott hotel attack and other incidents of violence across Pakistan, however, are to be found in Taliban strongholds such as Bajaur.

“Militant groups that have been banned have mutated into small cells and found a common cause with Al Qaeda,” the report said, and cited Pakistani security and intelligence officials believing the attack at the Marriott had signaled the beginning of a new phase of the Al Qaeda offensive in Pakistan.

The newspaper also quoted former NWFP chief secretary Khalid Aziz as saying in a statement that Pakistan’s co-operation in the war on terror would cost it dear.

Many believe the Marriott attack was in reprisal for the military campaign in Bajaur, which has turned into full-blown guerrilla warfare, according to the report.

“With growing numbers of civilians paying the price, the fear is that the motivation to turn against the authorities - perhaps by carrying out another hotel bombing in another big city - is increasing for many,” the report says concerning the impact of the operation on the population.

It says that the Taliban in the agency are not a problem for Pakistan alone as a critical US coalition forces supply line runs through FATA that are de facto under the Taliban control. Increase in fighting multiplies attacks on convoys carrying supplies for US forces in Afghanistan.

A key dilemma is the growing conflict between Pakistan and the US over the US violations of Pakistani borders, the report states.

Pakistan has said that attacks from across the western border, which have caused civilian casualties, have hindered its own antiterrorism efforts and increased support for the Taliban.

“Pakistan is caught between more aggressive military actions by the Americans on the one hand and the [Taliban] on the other,” said Maleeha Lodhi, the former Pakistani envoy to Washington and London.

“Pakistan’s leadership confronts the challenge of reconciling domestic opinion with international demands, squaring this circle is going to really test the Zardari-led Government,” Maleeha said concerning public resentment to Islamabad’s policy on war on terror.

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