Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ended a 40-day long ceasefire on April 17, attacking an army convoy in Landi Kotal killing a soldier and destroying stockpiles of arms and ammunition the very next day.
But there was no peace during the ceasefire either. On March 3, a gun and grenade attack at Islamabad’s lower courts killed 11 people including a sessions judge. A bomb blast at Islamabad’s vegetable market killed 23 people on April 9.
On April 21, the TTP killed five policemen and a civilian in Badhaber area of Peshawar. On April 22, they exploded a police van in Charsadda killing one policeman and injuring 14 cops and 26 civilians.
On April 24, they eliminated Karachi’s bravest police officer Shafiq Tanoli, who had been a formidable opponent for the TTP like his late colleague Chaudhry Aslam. On April 26, a bombing in Karachi killed six and injured 28.
A day before that, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan surprised everyone by stating in an interview with BBC Urdu that talks with Taliban were successful and peace was back in the country. Khan was contradicted by Taliban emissary Prof Ibrahim on April 27, when he said the real talks with the Taliban would begin when they would present their detailed demands to the government. The government has been quiet in response to the attacks, and maintains that talks will continue.
“The PML-N fears that it will strengthen the army if it ordered a military action against the TTP,” according to defence analyst and retired general Talat Masood. He said the government had no strategy to deal with terrorism, and that if the PML-N continued to appease the TTP while sidelining or weakening the army, there could be consequences.
In a recent statement, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor Mehtab Abbasi went to the extent of asking for a general amnesty for the Taliban – a demand endorsed by lawmaker Jamshed Dasti and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) emir Sirajul Haq.
“The government should give serious consideration to the Taliban demands if it does not want more bloodshed in the country,” Haq said in Lahore. “The Taliban are simply demanding a peace zone for talks where there is no danger of attack, and the release of about 300 non-combatants. There is no harm in accepting these demands for freeing the country from terrorism.”
Analysts say that might disappoint the military, which has lost 7,000 soldiers including a lieutenant general and two major generals in attacks claimed by the Pakistani Taliban.
[quote]Surgical strikes are a punishment, not a solution[/quote]
Earlier, it was forced to issue a press statement in response to a comment by former JI emir Munawar Hassan calling dead Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud a martyr, while questioning the notion that the soldiers who died in the war against the Taliban were martyrs.
An officer posted in South Waziristan said the army had the capacity to eliminate the threat from the Taliban. “We can finish this fitna once we get a nod from our superiors,” he said, asking not to be named. “But the political leadership and the nation must stand behind us.”
But Ayaz Amir, a politician and analyst, believes terrorism will not end with military operations alone. “Terrorism will have to be fought on all fronts. This nation will have to fight against terrorists as well as religious or sectarian monsters.”
He said the government was bending over backwards to appease the Taliban but its attitude towards the army was inflexible. “It is showing red rag to the army by trying Musharraf for imposing emergency,” he said. “The army is extremely angry.”
According to Ayaz Amir, Musharraf was taken to a military hospital because the army did not want its ex-chief to be arrested. “The 111 brigade took over the AFIC’s security and the officers were very angry and very emotional,” he said while recalling an off-the-record conversation with an army officer.
He said the military would eventually become subservient to the civilian government with the passage of time, but only if it demonstrates maturity. “They can’t boss around the army overnight.”
The controversy between Geo TV and the army and the ISI has also hurt civil-military ties according to Brigadier (r) Shaukat Qadir. “Anger is brewing inside the army,” he said, after what looked like Nawaz Sharif’s show of solidarity with Hamid Mir when he visited the anchorperson at a hospital in Karachi.
The army did respond to recent terrorist attacks with surgical strikes, but Brigadier Shaukat Qadir believes that is punishment, not a solution. “Wars are fought by nations,” he said. “To defeat the scourge of Taliban, the armed forces must be supported by the government and the nation, which I don’t see at present.”
The writer is our correspondent in Islamabad.
Archived work: www.pol-dev.com
Email: yamankalyan@gmail.com
But there was no peace during the ceasefire either. On March 3, a gun and grenade attack at Islamabad’s lower courts killed 11 people including a sessions judge. A bomb blast at Islamabad’s vegetable market killed 23 people on April 9.
On April 21, the TTP killed five policemen and a civilian in Badhaber area of Peshawar. On April 22, they exploded a police van in Charsadda killing one policeman and injuring 14 cops and 26 civilians.
On April 24, they eliminated Karachi’s bravest police officer Shafiq Tanoli, who had been a formidable opponent for the TTP like his late colleague Chaudhry Aslam. On April 26, a bombing in Karachi killed six and injured 28.
A day before that, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan surprised everyone by stating in an interview with BBC Urdu that talks with Taliban were successful and peace was back in the country. Khan was contradicted by Taliban emissary Prof Ibrahim on April 27, when he said the real talks with the Taliban would begin when they would present their detailed demands to the government. The government has been quiet in response to the attacks, and maintains that talks will continue.
“The PML-N fears that it will strengthen the army if it ordered a military action against the TTP,” according to defence analyst and retired general Talat Masood. He said the government had no strategy to deal with terrorism, and that if the PML-N continued to appease the TTP while sidelining or weakening the army, there could be consequences.
In a recent statement, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor Mehtab Abbasi went to the extent of asking for a general amnesty for the Taliban – a demand endorsed by lawmaker Jamshed Dasti and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) emir Sirajul Haq.
“The government should give serious consideration to the Taliban demands if it does not want more bloodshed in the country,” Haq said in Lahore. “The Taliban are simply demanding a peace zone for talks where there is no danger of attack, and the release of about 300 non-combatants. There is no harm in accepting these demands for freeing the country from terrorism.”
Analysts say that might disappoint the military, which has lost 7,000 soldiers including a lieutenant general and two major generals in attacks claimed by the Pakistani Taliban.
[quote]Surgical strikes are a punishment, not a solution[/quote]
Earlier, it was forced to issue a press statement in response to a comment by former JI emir Munawar Hassan calling dead Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud a martyr, while questioning the notion that the soldiers who died in the war against the Taliban were martyrs.
An officer posted in South Waziristan said the army had the capacity to eliminate the threat from the Taliban. “We can finish this fitna once we get a nod from our superiors,” he said, asking not to be named. “But the political leadership and the nation must stand behind us.”
But Ayaz Amir, a politician and analyst, believes terrorism will not end with military operations alone. “Terrorism will have to be fought on all fronts. This nation will have to fight against terrorists as well as religious or sectarian monsters.”
He said the government was bending over backwards to appease the Taliban but its attitude towards the army was inflexible. “It is showing red rag to the army by trying Musharraf for imposing emergency,” he said. “The army is extremely angry.”
According to Ayaz Amir, Musharraf was taken to a military hospital because the army did not want its ex-chief to be arrested. “The 111 brigade took over the AFIC’s security and the officers were very angry and very emotional,” he said while recalling an off-the-record conversation with an army officer.
He said the military would eventually become subservient to the civilian government with the passage of time, but only if it demonstrates maturity. “They can’t boss around the army overnight.”
The controversy between Geo TV and the army and the ISI has also hurt civil-military ties according to Brigadier (r) Shaukat Qadir. “Anger is brewing inside the army,” he said, after what looked like Nawaz Sharif’s show of solidarity with Hamid Mir when he visited the anchorperson at a hospital in Karachi.
The army did respond to recent terrorist attacks with surgical strikes, but Brigadier Shaukat Qadir believes that is punishment, not a solution. “Wars are fought by nations,” he said. “To defeat the scourge of Taliban, the armed forces must be supported by the government and the nation, which I don’t see at present.”
The writer is our correspondent in Islamabad.
Archived work: www.pol-dev.com
Email: yamankalyan@gmail.com