Taliban threatens to burn palaces in Islamabad, Lahore

MIRANSHAH: The Pakistani Taliban on Monday warned foreign firms to leave the country and vowed retaliatory strikes against the government after tanks, ground troops and jets were deployed in a long-awaited offensive in a troubled tribal district.

The warning came as Pakistan´s major cities braced for revenge attacks by ramping up security at key installations and ordering soldiers to patrol the streets, while hospitals in the northwest prepared for incoming casualties.

The offensive on North Waziristan, a stronghold of Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants, was launched a week after a brazen insurgent attack on Pakistan´s main airport in Karachi which left dozens dead and marked the end of a troubled peace process.

Pakistan´s Western allies, particularly the United States, have long demanded an operation in the mountainous territory to flush out groups like the Haqqani network which use the area to target NATO troops in neighbouring Afghanistan. But authorities had held back from a final push -- possibly fearful of angering pro-Pakistan warlords and of opening too many fronts in their decade-long battle against homegrown Islamist insurgents.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) main spokesman Shahidullah Shahid warned foreign countries to stop doing business with the government and supporting their "apostate army". "We warn all foreign investors, airlines and multinational corporations that they should immediately suspend their ongoing matters with Pakistan and prepare to leave Pakistan, otherwise they will be responsible for their own loss," he said in a statement.

"We hold Nawaz Sharif´s government and the Punjabi establishment responsible for the loss of tribal Muslims´ life and property as a result of this operation," he added, vowing to "burn your palaces" in Islamabad and Lahore. The warning came as major cities beefed up their security, with troops seen patrolling the streets of Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi.

"The security of the capital was already on alert, but a new alert has been issued," an Islamabad police spokesman told AFP. Police in Pakistan´s economic hub Karachi have declared a "red alert" and cancelled leave for all 27,000 personnel, spokesman Atiq Shaikh told AFP. And in northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province which borders the tribal zone, the government has declared a state of emergency in all hospitals and asked them to prepare for incoming casualties, provincial health minister Shahram Khan Tarakai said in a statement.

Pakistani air force jets have been pounding suspected militant hideouts in the region since Sunday and have been joined by tanks and infantry engaging in heavy artillery strikes. An AFP reporter in the region´s main town of Miranshah said tanks were now occupying the bazaar as troops fire intermittently in the air to warn people not to leave their homes.

More than 2,000 troops could be seen at new posts set up in the mountains. Pakistan already had troops stationed in the tribal district, but these were reinforced in the days leading up to the offensive.

The death toll from the offensive so far stands at 177, according to the military, the majority through air strikes but some through sniper fire. The figures cannot be verified independently. In the town of Bannu 10 kilometres (6 miles) east of North Wazirstan, hundreds of military trucks with machine guns installed on top were on their way toward the fighting zone, as were oil tankers and a military field hospital.

At the Kashoo Bridge area, some 25 kilometres northeast of Bannu, tractors were busy levelling the ground to set up a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs).

Arshad Khan, Director General Fata Disaster Management Authority (FDMA) said: "We have made arrangements to accomodate IDPs in two camps. "Some 62,000 people have fled the region so far into other parts of Pakistan according to official data, with "hundreds of thousands" eventually expected.

Altaf asks govt to support army in eliminating Taliban

 

KARACHI: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief, Altaf Hussain, has demanded of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to support the armed forces in eliminating the terrorists.
Altaf was addressing on the 36th founding day of the All Pakistan Muttahida Students (APMSO) on Wednesday. While extending condolences to the families of victims of the Karachi airport attack, Altaf said he was not in favour of peace talks with those responsible for the martyrdom of innocent people and army men.

Referring to Tahir-ul-Qadri’s announcement of returning to Pakistan, the party chief said that if the government created any hindrances in his protests, the MQM workers will stage a protest in Qadri’s support.

The MQM chief reiterated that his party was against all forms of violence and firmly believed in achieving its objectives through peaceful and democratic means. Demanding development funds for Karachi’s crumbling infrastructure, Altaf said that Karachi was the economic hub of Pakistan and belonged to every Pakistani regardless of religion, race or ethnicity.

“From the first day of APMSO’s inception in 1978, I have always preached my followers to refrain from violence and achieve our objectives through peaceful democratic means. I have always asked the APMSO and MQM members to become exemplary citizens and promote values of respect and tolerance in their ranks and file,” Altaf said.

“The MQM stands firmly against religious extremism and denounces the recent acts of terrorism in Karachi where city’s airport and training facilities of the Airport Security Force (ASF) were attacked by religious extremists,” he remarked.

Commenting on recent events in London, the MQM chief said that “the Metropolitan Police afforded me the best possible medical care and were very kind in their dealings with me and for which I thank them from the bottom of my heart.”

“I believe in the supremacy of law and have been fully cooperating with the ongoing investigations in London. My cooperation will continue as these investigations are part of due process and perfectly normal in a democratic country,” he added.

Earlier, MQM Deputy Convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said no one could obliterate the MQM because the movement had thousands of martyrs, who sacrificed their lives for it.

Taliban aimed to hit another target by hijacking aircraft

 

PESHAWAR: Claiming responsibility for the high-profile attack on the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, the Pakistani Taliban said that they had planned to hijack the aircraft and to use them for hitting targets at another place.
“We proudly claim responsibility for the attack on the Karachi airport. It was revenge for the killing of Hakimullah Mehsud in a US drone attack in Miranshah with the help of Pakistani government. This is the beginning of our attacks we planned against the government and important security installations,” said Shahidullah Shahid, the spokesman of the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Another senior member of the Taliban also claimed that one of the aims behind storming the airport was to hijack the aircraft and to use them against targets. “We started preparations for the attack a few months ago and we knew that planes from around 30-40 countries are coming here. There were different reasons why we chose to attack the airport in Karachi. First, as I stated aircraft of 30-40 countries come here and it would send a message all over the world that Pakistan is an insecure place for flying. Secondly, we wanted to damage Pakistan economically. We wanted the country suffer losses but not the people. And then we wanted to convey a message that the Taliban have not been defeated but are still active,” the TTP leader explained. He claimed to have damaged about 12 aircraft there.

Also, he said the Karachi city and the airport there were considered to be the most secured installation in the country, and they decided to launch their strikes from the same place and give a message that no place was beyond their reach. “We had engineers and skilled people in the squad that stormed the airport. They knew how to operate a plane,” the TTP leader claimed.

He said some other ‘brotherly Jihadi organisations’ had helped them in the attack on the Karachi airport. However, when asked, he did not reject the involvement of al-Qaeda. “Besides other Jihadi organisations, al-Qaeda people are our brothers and we admit that we carried out this attack with the help of our other brotherly Mujahideen groups but it’s not important to us to name them publicly,” the Taliban leader argued.

Asked about the targets, the Taliban commander said they don’t mention their targets before attacking them. “As I stated, hijacking the planes was one part of our strategy of attacking the airport,” the militant commander noted.

Also, the Taliban issued a statement in Urdu language about the Karachi attack, which said the attack began at 10pm on Sunday night. They praised their suicide bombers and called them ‘eagles’ for successfully entering the airport. “During the overnight fighting with thousands of Pakistani security forces, our fighters used to set ablaze their targets at the airport. In the fighting, hundreds of security personnel were killed and dozens of aircraft were destroyed. We selected the target (Karachi airport), as we wanted to inflict heavy losses on the government and fewer fatalities to the people. And the Mujahideen succeeded 100 percent in this technique,” the Taliban claimed in the statement.

The Taliban claimed that they were serious and had started the peace talks with sincerity with the government as Hakimullah Mehsud had clarified during his last interview. “But we had made it clear initially that we would not allow the government to use the peace talks with the Taliban for their political and military purposes which the previous governments had done. The government responded to our sincere offer for peace talks to the killing of our leader Maulana Waliur Rahman and Hakimullah Mehsud, by conducting an announced military operation in the country against us and by killing our jailed colleagues and throwing their bodies on roads and bombing the innocent tribal people,” the Taliban stated in the statement.

It said that the Pakistani Taliban and their ‘brotherly Jihadi organisations’ were serious and sincere in talks but alleged that the government had responded to their offer in the form of preparing a military operation against them.

They announced to support Hafiz Gul Bahadur in North Waziristan and the tribal people in their fighting against the Pakistani security forces. “The attack on the Karachi airport is a message to the Pakistan government to avoid the use of force as the Taliban are still ready for holding serious peace talks with the government,” the Taliban said.

Top US diplomat Kerry defends soldier swap with Taliban

WASHINGTON: Secretary of State John Kerry defended Sunday the swap of five Guantanamo detainees for American Bowe Bergdahl, amid reports the captive US soldier was kept at times in a metal cage and in total darkness.

Kerry doubled down on President Barack Obama´s controversial decision to make the trade in exchange for the release of Bergdahl, who the top US diplomat said was at risk of being tortured by his captors.

"It would have been offensive and incomprehensible to consciously leave an American behind, no matter what, to leave an American behind in the hands of people who would torture him, cut off his head, do any number of things," Kerry told CNN´s State of the Union program.

Bergdahl was released last Saturday to American troops in Afghanistan in exchange for the five Taliban detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Kerry made his remarks amid a news report Sunday about the grim conditions in which Bergdahl was held while a hostage in Afghanistan.

The New York Times wrote that the army sergeant has told medical officials that he was kept in total darkness in a metal cage for weeks, as a punishment for trying to escape.

Bergdahl, who is receiving medical treatment at an army facility in Landstuhl, Germany, is healing physically, but is still emotionally too fragile to be reunited with his relatives, said the daily, citing anonymous US officials who have been briefed on his condition.

"Physically, he could be put on a plane to the US tomorrow, but there are still a couple of mental criteria to address: the family unification piece and the media exposure piece," said one US official who has been briefed on his condition told the Times.

The newspaper also reported that Bergdahl has had no access to news media and at present is unaware of the controversy raging in the United States about whether the administration put US security at risk by freeing the five Taliban inmates.

Kerry said the freed Taliban, who have been released to the government of Qatar, are unlikely go back on their word and take up the struggle again against the US.

"I´m not telling you that they don´t have some ability sought some point to go back and get involved. But they also have an ability to get killed doing that," he told CNN.

"I don´t think anybody should doubt the capacity of the United States of America to protect Americans. Nobody."The Times reported that Bergdahl, 28, has emerged from captivity physically in better condition than expected, although he suffers from skin and gum disorders typical of poor hygiene and exposure.
Meanwhile the FBI reported it was investigating threats to his relatives back home in Idaho.

"We are aware of the threats and are working with our local law enforcement partners to investigate," FBI spokeswoman Jacqueline Maguire told AFP on Sunday, without providing details as to the nature of the threats."As always, we take these types of threats seriously," she said.

Taliban claim responsibility for Karachi attack

TTP claim responsibility for Karachi attack

MIRANSHAH: The banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Monday claimed responsibility for an attack on Karachi airport in revenge for their late leader Hakimullah Mehsud, who was killed in a US drone strike in November.

"We carried out the attack on Karachi airport to avenge the death of Hakimullah Mehsud," Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Shahidullah Shahid told, while dismissing the Pakistani government´s recent offer of peace talks as a "tool of war".

He also promised more attacks in the future. "Pakistan used peace talks as a tool of war, it killed hundreds of innocent tribal women and children. This is our first attack to avenge the death of Hakimullah Mehsud," he said.

"We have yet to take revenge for the deaths of hundreds of innocent tribal women and children in Pakistani air strikes.

"It´s just the beginning, we have taken revenge for one, we have to take revenge for hundreds," he told.

The initial assault at Jinnah International Airport in Pakistan´s southern port city began late Sunday and raged until dawn, when the military said that at least 28 people -- including all 10 attackers -- had been killed.

Equipped with suicide vests, grenades and rocket launchers, they had battled security forces in one of the most brazen attacks in years in Pakistan´s biggest city. Among the 18 victims were four airport workers. Security forces later announced that the military operation had been relaunched after gunfire at the airport resumed.

Umar Media, the official media wing of the TTP, claimed on their Facebook page that just six militants had attacked the airport.

"The biggest reason for attacking Karachi airport is because it serves as the biggest air logistics centre supplying goods for the Crusaders’ war in Afghanistan and Pakistan," a statement on their Facebook page claimed.

Captured US soldier was treated well: Taliban

KABUL: The Taliban said Friday that US Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was treated well during the five years they held him captive and was even allowed to play soccer with the men holding him.

The spokesman, Zaibullah Mujahid, told The Associated Press by telephone that Bergdahl was held under "good conditions," and was given fresh fruit and any other foods he requested.

"You can ask him in America about his life (in captivity). He will not complain," Mujahid said.

He said Bergdahl was held in different locations inside Afghanistan, without providing further details.

He said the soldier enjoyed playing soccer as well as reading, including English-language books about Islam.

Since Bergdahl´s release senior officials, including President Barack Obama, have said the prisoner swap that involved the release of five high-profile Taliban detainees from Guantanamo Bay, and which has caused a furor in the United States, was hastened by concerns the Army sergeant´s physical health was deteriorating.

But the Obama administration later told senators it did not notify Congress about the pending swap because of intelligence the Taliban might kill Bergdahl if the deal was made public, congressional and administration officials said Thursday.

Under the deal, five Taliban militants were released from Guantanamo and flown to Qatar, where they are to remain for a year under conditions that have not been spelled out in public.

A federal law requires Congress to be told 30 days before a prisoner is released from Guantanamo, but Obama administration officials said it did not apply in what they deemed an emergency situation. (AP)

Taliban 'master bomber' gunned down amid deadly infighting

NEW YORK: A suicide bombing "mastermind" in the Pakistan Taliban has been gunned down and killed in the country's northeastern tribal region, just days after a major faction in the militant group announced it was breaking away over ideological differences, says a US TV report.

Gunmen riding in a car attacked Ashiqullah Mehsud, a senior commander in the leadership of the group known formally as the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), in the village of Urmuz in North Waziristan on Thursday before speeding off, sources told US TV.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, while the TTP has yet to issue a statement.

Mehsud was viewed as a successor to Qari Hussain Mehsud, the militant group's explosives expert whose notoriety includes allegedly recruiting children as suicide bombers.

The Pakistan Taliban has been beset with months of deadly infighting, culminating in an announcement early this month by the group's Mehsud faction that it would be going its own way after failing to convince the leadership to give up what it said were "un-Islamic" practices, such as attacks in public places, extortion and kidnappings.

It's the first split since the TTP -- a coalition of militant groups -- was founded in 2007, seeking to establish its version of sharia law across Pakistan, the report said.

Tensions within the TTP escalated after the group's leader, Hakimullah Mehsud, was killed in a U.S. drone strike in November last year, setting off a power struggle among top commanders of the TTP that led to violent clashes in which dozens of people were killed.

Appointed by a tribal council, Mullah Fazlullah has stood at the helm of the TPP since Mehsud's death. He hails from the country's Swat valley and is the first TTP leader who is not a Mehsud. He has struggled to contain the internal frictions among the group's factions, especially those within the Mehsud tribe, which makes up the majority of the TTP.

In a statement released last month, Azam Tariq, a spokesman for the breakaway Mehsuds, said the TTP leadership had "fallen into the hands of a bunch of conspirators ... involved in criminal activities like robbery and extortion."

 

Taliban release video of Bowe Bergdahl's handover

KABUL: The Taliban on Wednesday released dramatic footage of their handover of army sergeant Bowe Bergdahl to US forces after five years in captivity.

"Don´t come to Afghanistan again. Next time, nobody will release you," one of the gun-toting militants is heard telling Bergdahl in the 17-minute video.

It shows a US military helicopter landing in a valley, kicking up small clouds of dust as a jittery-looking Bergdahl waits just a few feet away flanked by militants clutching a white flag.

After a brief exchange of handshakes between insurgents and US soldiers, Bergdahl moves unsteadily towards the helicopter. Bergdahl -- the only US soldier held by the Taliban after being captured in Afghanistan -- was freed on Saturday in exchange for five senior Taliban militants detained at Guantanamo Bay in a deal brokered by Qatar.

His release has evoked sharp criticism from some US politicians, who fear they could return to the battlefield and pose a threat to Americans abroad.

The Taliban video, entitled "Ceremony of the American soldier exchange", at one point also displays the words "Don´t Come Back to Afghanistan" superimposed over footage of Bergdahl. A male voiceover in the video -- laced with religious music and chants of "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) -- said the exchange occurred in the eastern Afghan province of Khost.

"The Americans contacted us and asked us where was a good place to meet. We contacted tribal elders to come and join us, because we do not trust them (Americans)," the voiceover said. "I congratulate all the mujahideen for this victory. "The authenticity of the video could not be independently verified by AFP.

US defence officials have said dozens of US special forces troops backed up by helicopters were sent for the handover. "Fortunately, no shots were fired," Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Sunday. "There was no violence. It went as well as we not only had expected and planned, but I think as well as it could have.

"Bergdahl is now being treated at a US military facility in Germany. The US military´s top officer General Martin Dempsey said Tuesday that Bergdahl may be disciplined if the army holds him guilty of misconduct, after claims from members of his unit that he had been captured in 2009 after abandoning his post.

Taliban leader Mullah Omar says prisoner swap was “big victory”

KABUL: Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar on Sunday hailed the release of five senior insurgents in exchange for US soldier Bowe Bergdahl as a “big victory”.

“I extend my heartfelt congratulations to the entire Afghan Muslim nation, all the mujahideen and to the families and relatives of the prisoners for this big victory regarding the release of five Taliban leaders from the Guantanamo prison,” he said in a rare statement.

“I thank the government of Qatar, especially its Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad (Al Thani), who made sincere efforts for the release of these leaders and for their mediation and for hosting them,” he added.

Mullah Omar was Afghanistan’s de facto head of state during their 1996-2001 rule over Afghanistan. He has continued to lead the group’s insurgency since they were ousted from power. The five transferred Taliban detainees have been named by the US State Department as Mohammad Fazl, Mullah Norullah Noori, Mohammed Nabi, Khairullah Khairkhwa and Abdul Haq Wasiq.

Afghan Taliban free US soldier after five years

PESHAWAR: The Afghan Taliban on Saturday confirmed to have freed US soldier Bowe Bergdahl, they had abducted in June 2009 from Afghanistan, in exchange of their top Taliban commanders.

“Yes our talks finally proved successful for prisoners’ swap. We returned our valued guest to his countrymen and they released our people, including the top five commanders held in Guantanamo Bay since 2002,” a senior Taliban commander told The News on phone from somewhere in Afghanistan.

Pleading anonymity, he said talks for prisoners’ swap had been going on for the past several weeks. He didn’t mention the name of the country but said a brotherly Muslim country, having sympathies with the Taliban, played an important role in bringing together the Taliban and US officials to help exchange each others’ prisoners.

The Taliban commander said Bowe Bergdahl had mostly been held in the tribal areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan after what he termed his ‘dramatic’ kidnapping from Afghanistan’s Paktika province in June 2009.

“After the deal was finalised, Bowe was taken to Ali Sher town of Afghanistan’s eastern Khost province by the third party and delivered to Americans. We don’t know further what happened to him,” the Taliban commander said.

According to the Taliban, they had informed Bergdahl a few days ago about his likely release but he didn’t believe as before this he was once handed over to members of the Quetta Shura or council, the decision-making body of the militants, for his scheduled release in exchange for the five commanders two years ago when they started peace talks with US in Qatar.

“The talks at that time failed and he was again handed over to his captors and that’s why he didn’t trust when was told about his likely release,” he recalled.

He claimed Bergdahl has made several friends among the Taliban but his suffering began when his close friend and senior Taliban commander, Maulvi Sangeen Zadran was killed in a US drone attack in North Waziristan tribal region last year.

“He was actually kidnapped by the militants of Maulvi Sangeen and that’s why the late commander would love him and take care of him,” the Taliban commander said.

Before his release, the Taliban claimed he was given a traditional Afghan turban as a gift.

“It is war in which they kill us and we kill them but we did whatever we could to make him happy and return with good memories,” the Taliban commander said.

The Taliban commander claimed they finally got back their five prisoners including Mulla Fazal Akhund, Noorullah Noori, Abdul Haq Waseeq, Khairullah Khairkhwa and Mohammad Nabi in exchange for the US soldier.

“We initially demanded the release of these people. They arrived in Qatar and joined their families,” he said.

According to Taliban sources, Mulla Fazal Akhund, who belongs to the Kakar tribe and is from Derawad in the central Urozgan province, was the Taliban army chief at the time of his capture.

Mulla Fazal was reportedly leading his fighters in northern Afghanistan where he surrendered to Uzbek warlord General Abdur Rasheed Dostum on condition that he won’t be handed over to the US.

Gen Dostum later handed over him and several hundred other Taliban prisoners to the US reportedly after taking money from the Americans. Noorullah Noori, who hails from Ghazni province, was the governor of Balkh province, while Khairullah Khairkhwa served as Afghanistan’s interior minister during the Taliban rule and also remained the governor of Herat province.

He belongs to Spin Boldak village in Kandahar province sited near the Pakistani border town of Chaman. Abdul Haq Waseeq was the deputy Taliban intelligence chief when he was captured. He belongs to Paktia province. Similarly, Mohammad Nabi was an important military commander when the Taliban were in power. He belongs to the Haqqani network.

PM consults officials for restoring peace talks with Taliban

 

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has held consultations with some important officials in connection with restoring the peace talks with the Taliban.
According to the sources, despite the military operation in North Waziristan and other agencies against the militants, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan are in favour of restoring the process of the peace dialogue with the Taliban.

The sources in the capital said that two days before the meeting of political and military leadership on Friday, the prime minister had held talks with former ambassador Rustam Shah Mohmand regarding the restoration of peace talks with the Taliban.

The sources said that the government still wanted to create an atmosphere for talks so that durable peace could be established in the troubled areas.

When The News contacted Rustam Shah in this regard, he said that the prime minister was hopeful and the process was moving forward positively.

Strategy chalked out to tackle anti-talks Taliban

 

ISLAMABAD: The government has prepared a strategy to tackle the Taliban who are not willing to take part in the peace talks.
Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif chaired a high-level meeting of the civil and military leadership here on Friday to review the security situation in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and Balochistan.

The meeting was attended by Minister for Interior Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif, Director General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt General Zahirul Islam, Chief of the General Staff Lt General Ashfaq Nadeem, Secretary to PM Javaid Aslam and Additional Secretary to PM Fawad Hasan Fawad.

The meeting prepared a strategy to deal with the Taliban unwilling to hold the peace talks with the government.The meeting also discussed the recent military action in North Waziristan, split within the Taliban leadership and prime minister’s visits to India and Afghanistan.

The interior minister briefed the meeting on the status of the Rapid Response Force being raised at the federal and provincial levels.The prime minister appreciated the improved coordination within the law enforcement and intelligence agencies in Balochistan, which has led to an improvement in the law and order situation there.

Army tells Nawaz no more talks with Taliban, takes matter in its own hands

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Army chief General Raheel has told Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that the time for talks with Taliban was over.
“We will avenge the blood of every last soldier. Talks or no talks, the army will retaliate,” one military official told the influential Reuters news agency in Islamabad.The Reuters report, filed by reporter Mehreen Z Malik and edited by Mike Collett-White and Maria Golovnina, gave a revealing picture of civil-military relations in the Nawaz government.

The report said: “At Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s palatial offices in Islamabad this week, the army chief sat down to deliver the head of government a message he did not want to hear: The time for talks with the troublesome Pakistani Taliban was over.”

Nawaz Sharif came to power a year ago promising to find a peaceful settlement with the Islamist militant group, but as round after round of talks failed, the powerful armed forces favoured a military solution.

Their patience finally ran out and, late on Tuesday afternoon, during a tense meeting, the army effectively declared it would override a crucial plank of the government’s strategy and take matters into its own hands.

“The army chief and other military officers in the room were clear on the military’s policy: the last man, the last bullet,” a government insider with first-hand knowledge of the meeting told Reuters.

Asked to sum up the message General Raheel Sharif wanted to convey at the gathering, he added: “The time for talk is over.”The next day, Pakistani forces launched rare air strikes against the militants holed up in the remote, lawless tribal belt near the Afghan border. It is not clear whether Sharif authorised the operation.

On Thursday, they backed that up with the first major ground offensive against the Taliban there, undermining Nawaz Sharif’s year-long attempt to end a bloody insurgency across the country through peaceful means.

Disagreement over the militant threat is the latest row to flare up between the government and military, and relations between the two branches of power are at their lowest ebb for years, according to government officials.

The government did say talks with the Taliban would go on. “We will talk with those who are ready for it and the (military) operation is being launched against those who are not ready to come to the negotiating table,” spokesman Pervaiz Rashid told local media on Thursday.But the operations put the military, which has a long record of intervening in civilian rule through plots and coups, firmly back at the centre of Pakistan’s security policy.

The balance of power is shifting at a time when foreign troops are preparing to withdraw from Afghanistan and arch-rival India has just elected a Hindu nationalist leader promising to be more assertive on the international stage.“This is the clearest signal yet that the army will dictate its terms now,” a member of Nawaz Sharif’s cabinet said.

The Pakistani Taliban, as distinct from the Afghan Taliban which is actively targeting the Nato forces in Afghanistan, is believed to be behind attacks on Pakistani soldiers and civilians that have killed thousands in recent years.

The Pakistan Army has distinguished between “good” Taliban like the feared Haqqani network — who do not attack Pakistani security forces but fight in Afghanistan — and “bad” Taliban, indigenous Pakistani militants who are seeking to create an Islamic state.

While Pakistan’s military wants to go after the “bad” Taliban, it has, despite pressure from Washington, largely avoided taking on groups who launch attacks against coalition forces in Afghanistan from Pakistan’s North Waziristan region.

Prompting the latest intervention, the Pakistani Taliban have become increasingly bold, striking the army in tribal areas including a recent battle in which an army major died. Earlier this month, nine soldiers were killed in an explosion near the Afghan border.“We will avenge the blood of every last soldier. Talks or no talks, the army will retaliate,” said one military official, who, like most others interviewed for this article, spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject.

The army has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its history.Nawaz Sharif himself was toppled by the army in 1999 during his previous tenure as prime minister.But, humiliated after a secret 2011 US raid that killed Osama bin Laden on Pakistani soil, the army stood back from politics and supported the last year’s first democratic transition of power which brought Nawaz Sharif back to office.

Sharif manoeuvred carefully, hand picking a new army chief and trying to forge a partnership with the military in the early days of his tenure, but the overtures had little lasting impact.

There are other signs of civil-military discord.Sharif came to power promising to rebuild relations with India, but has been under pressure to toughen his stance from hardliners at home, particularly within the army.The nuclear-armed neighbours have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947, two of them over the still-disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir.

Nawaz Sharif’s policies towards India have been heavily scrutinised; some in the army justify its hefty budget by pointing to — and, critics say, playing up — the potential threat from India.

And despite signs the military has become more amenable to overtures from its old foe than in the past, a trade deal pushed by the prime minister and aimed at improving ties with India was cancelled at the last minute after pressure from the army, top government officials said.

Sharif now faces a dilemma over whether to accept an invitation by Indian Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi to attend his inauguration next week.The army is also bitter about the trial of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, who ousted Sharif from power in 1999 and was arrested after he returned to Pakistan to take part in last year’s election.

Ties with Afghanistan have never been easy, but some officials believe the army wants to torpedo the government’s relationship with a future Kabul administration, risking deterioration in regional security as Nato troops prepare to leave this year.

Generals have jealously guarded the right to dictate policy on Afghanistan, seeing friendly guerrilla groups as “assets” to blunt the influence of India there.

Though simmering under the surface, tensions between the government and the army spilled into the open last month when a popular journalist was shot by unknown gunmen and his channel, Geo News, blamed the army’s powerful spy agency, the Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

Public criticism of the shadowy ISI is almost unheard of in Pakistan. In a rare public response, the army demanded that Geo News, the country’s most-watched news channel, be shut down.The government’s media regulator has since resisted the army’s demands to cancel the channel’s license, which the military sees as a direct sign of defiance.

“Everyone was looking out to see how the government would treat the army in this crisis — as a friend or foe?” said a senior military official. “But the government allowed this to become a free-for-all, army-hunting season.”

For Sharif, buckling under military pressure is a major risk. “This is not about one TV channel but about freedom of expression and about living in a democracy,” Rashid said. “We should live and let live.”But despite putting on a brave front, officials say the government is feeling under siege.

“Never in the last year has the government felt weaker or more vulnerable,” one of Sharif’s key economic advisers said. “Now every time we have to take a major decision, on India, on Afghanistan, we will have to think ‘How will the army react?’”

A serving general said the army chief would always pick the “institution over the Constitution if push comes to shove,” adding: “As a society and a state, we have to avoid a context in which the army is pushed to do something it doesn’t want to.”

Prof. Ibrahim urges Taliban, army to end war

SWAT: Member Taliban negotiating committee, Professor Ibrahim has stated that neither military operation brought peace nor Taliban attacks enforced shariah in the country, Geo News reported.

Talking to media here Sunday, Professor Ibrahim said this war had claimed thousands of lives from both sides, therefore, this should be ended now.

He said efforts were underway to hold meeting between Tahrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and government committees, adding they were making efforts so that time and venue of the meeting could be arranged at the earliest.

Thousands of innocent people are present in the jails and they are not being presented in the courts, he claimed.

Taliban ready to continue talks Prof Ibrahim says they are serious

 

PESHAWAR/KHANPUR: A member of the Taliban negotiations team, Professor Ibrahim, has said the statement given by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan was extraordinary but the Taliban are ready to continue peace talks even in the prevailing situation.
“We are serious people and we are holding talks with all seriousness. The statement of Chaudhry Nisar is extraordinary but we are ready to continue the talks process in the prevailing situation as well,” Prof Ibrahim said in his media interviews on Saturday.

“There are certain hiccups on the way to talks but we believe these will be removed soon. We have already said we are facing difficulties in the talks process, but the Taliban negotiations team was sincere in holding talks,” he said.

About the disbandment of the government negotiations team, he said the powers of the government negotiations team rested with the government. “Earlier a committee was formed and was abolished later but the Taliban committee will continue to make sure that talks bear fruit in this situation too,” he said.

He said that the timing and venue for the next meeting has not been finalised. Prof Ibrahim said contacts with the Taliban leadership are under way.

It may be recalled that interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had said earlier in his statement that the government could not continue the talks process with the Taliban in the present situation.

Tribal Jirga asks govt, Taliban, military to extend ceasefire

 

PESHAWAR: The Jamaat-e-Islami’s Tribal Peace Jirga on Thursday called upon the government, the Taliban and the military to extend the ceasefire and remove all hurdles in the way of peace talks.
“The tribal elders fully support the ongoing peace process in the light of the unanimous resolutions passed by the All Parties Conference and land constitutionally and where the people had no fundamental human rights as guaranteed by the Constitution to each citizen of Pakistan.

It said due to the continuing drone strikes, artillery shelling and military operations, thousands of innocent tribal people, including children, women and elders, were killed or injured and many became mentally ill.

The declaration stated that peace in the country was linked to peace in Fata.Jamaat-e-Islami chief Sirajul Haq, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-S) head Maulana Samiul Haq, who is the head of the Taliban designated talks committee, JI provincial chief Prof Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, JUI-S provincial chief Maulana Yousaf Shah and tribal elders addressed the Jirga.

Sirajul Haq said dialogue was the only option for peace in the country as the tribal people were in favour of peace talks from the day one. He said the government should accept the demands of the tribal people, who were direct victims of the military operations and Taliban attacks.

“Success of the peace talks is a success of Pakistan and its failure is the failure of the country and the people as well,” Sirajul Haq said, adding it was strange that some people sitting in Dubai were talking about military operations.

“We are proud of the Pakistan Army. The world is praising our army for war, but it will be in the interest of the country that our army shows patience in the ongoing peace process,” the JI chief said. He stated that even if those sitting in Islamabad did not want to hear the Taliban peace committee, the committee members would go there for the sake of peace.

“We have brought the Taliban and the government to the negotiating table. Now it is up to the government to take advantage of it,” the JI chief added.All three members of the Taliban negotiation committee, Maulana Samiul Haq, Prof Ibrahim and Maulana Yousaf Shah, told the tribal people that they were hopeful about the success of the peace talks and bringing durable peace in Fata.

The tribal elders from all the agencies and Frontier Regions, including Malik Misal Khan, Malik Toor Muhammad Bangash, Malik Salim Khan Mehsud, Maulana Abdul Haq Mohmand, Mufti Noor Muhammad Mehsud, Sheikh Janzada and senior lawyer from Fata Karim Mehsud announced full support to the peace talks and for the Taliban and government negotiation committees.

Akhtar Amin adds: Speaking on the occasion, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief and a key member of the Taliban negotiating committee Prof Muhammad Ibrahim Khan said the peace talks would not succeed unless the army became directly involved in the process.

“Let me make it clear that the war is between the Taliban and the Pakistan Army. Both the government and the people are suffering due to this fighting. The army is a direct party to this war with the Taliban,” Ibrahim said.

“A meeting of the chief of the army staff and DG Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) with the Taliban committee is a must to hear the army’s point of view on the peace talks,” Prof Ibrahim said. Ibrahim said those asking the Taliban to follow the Constitution should follow the Constitution first as a precedent.

In the presence of two other members of the Taliban committee, Maulana Samiul Haq and Maulana Yousaf Shah, Prof Ibrahim said they wanted to ask the army chief General Raheel Sharif if he would like to see the peace talks succeed or not.

He said the army had already inked peace accords with the Taliban groups, including one led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur in North Waziristan, and these agreements were still intact.

“If Islamic articles of the Constitution of Pakistan are implemented, we would give an assurance that the Taliban would accept the Constitution,” he stressed.

In his subsequent press talk, Prof Ibrahim said both the Taliban and security forces had reservations about certain incidents. He said the Taliban were complaining about the arrests and ‘extrajudicial killing’ of their men while the security forces were questioning why the Taliban continued attacks during the peace process.

However, he claimed that both the issues would be discussed in the next round of talks between the Taliban Shura members and the government negotiators, expected to take place within a few days.

Maulana Samiul Haq and Prof Ibrahim appealed to the Taliban and the Pakistan Army to observe the ceasefire in respect of the holy month of Rajab and to make the dialogue process successful.

In his speech to the Tribal Peace Jirga, Maulana Samiul Haq said the government committee was not in contact with the Taliban nominated committee. He warned that if they found the government committee was not interested in the talks, they would be compelled to withdraw from the peace process. He said the prime minister and other key government functionaries should cancel their foreign tours and focus on the peace process. The government functionaries should first put their own house in order and then go on foreign tours, he said.

Maulana Yousaf Shah said the second round of peace talks between the Taliban Shura members and the government negotiators was expected in two or three days.“I am in contact with the Taliban Shura members and there are no serious reservations about the process on both the sides,” he claimed.He added that he was hopeful of an extension in the ceasefire from the Taliban side in the next meeting and other positive outcomes regarding the peace process.

Taliban demand reduction in army activities in NWA

ISLAMABAD: Member of the Taliban committee Prof Ibrahim said on Wednesday the Taliban had alleged that troops, helicopters and artillery were being deployed in North Waziristan and the outlawed group had demanded that this activity be contained.

He said that arrangements for holding the peace talks were underway and he had contacted Taliban Shura member Azam Tariq in order to decide a time and place to hold the talks.He dispelled the impression that the talks process was approaching a deadlock or that distances were increasing between the two sides.

Ibrahim said the Taliban had objections not only overthe movement of the army but also on the use of helicopters and mortar shells. It may be noted here that three people, including a security personnel, were killed when a vehicle of the army hit a landmine some days ago. Following the incident, the army had targeted the hideouts of militants with three helicopters.

In a meeting on April 23, both the government and the TTP committees decided to form a sub-committee to address the reservations of all stakeholders and Maulana Yousaf Shah was working over it, he maintained.

He said the government and the army were on the same page but not on the same line on the issue of talks with the Taliban. “It is said that the government and military are on the same page. If so, we accept it. But some people say they are on the same page but not on the same line,” he said addressing a ceremony here and later talking to media men on Wednesday.

“Too many efforts were made for an extension in the ceasefire but success could not be achieved because the Taliban and government were facing certain difficulties,” he said. He said the Taliban should stop targeting the army and other security agencies while the army should end the war against the Taliban because, according to him, this was a war between two brothers. “We have our relatives in the army as well as in the Taliban. Peace will prevail in the country if both sides stop targeting each other,” he said.

If someone has reservations on the matter of release of prisoners, he should lodge a complaint with the government rather than the media, he said adding if all the stakeholders took part in direct negotiations, then a solution to the problems could be found.

He stated that the Taliban will accept the Constitution if the implementation process of Islamic clauses of the Constitution was started. He held that the statement given by him with reference to Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif had given rise to certain misperceptions. “I hold PM Nawaz Sharif in high esteem. The PM is playing a vital and positive role in talks with Taliban. But whenever a mention is made anywhere about terrorism, Musharraf is also named there. It is but natural that one becomes emotional when such matters come and one’s tongue slips. Perhaps such thing has happened with me. But it is crystal clear that the country is in a mess due to Pervez Musharraf who put the country on the verge of destruction and allowed the tyrannical US troops to pass through,” he added. He added: “If Musharraf goes abroad, then we will seek an explanation from PM Nawaz Sharif at all costs.”

Talks process with Taliban can’t be prolonged

 

ISLAMABAD:A high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif expressed the view that the dialogue process with the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) could not be prolonged indefinitely as the government wanted result-oriented talks with the Taliban.
The prime minister also said, “the role of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in national security and defence is highly commendable.”The meeting held at the PM House was attended by Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif, DG ISI Lt General Zaheerul Islam, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and the Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on National Security Tariq Fatmi. The civil and military leadership took stock of the overall national security situation in the country.

The prime minister expressed his displeasure over the recent terrorist attacks and decided to take affective action against those involved in such incidents.The meeting also reviewed the overall internal and external security situation and the ongoing dialogue process with the proscribed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan to bring peace. The participants of the meeting reiterated their determination to deal with the menace of terrorism.

The prime minister said that all the institutions would continue to work in synergy for the protection of the life and property of the masses. He appreciated the role of the security institutions, particularly the ISI, in ensuring security and peace in the country.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan apprised the meeting of the talks with the Taliban and said the Taliban committee had been asked to set a clear direction for result-oriented dialogue as the dialogue process could not be prolonged indefinitly. He said it was time to make the ongoing dialogue process productive.

The meeting further emphasised that all-encompassing talks would be conducted with the Taliban Shura and it was high time that the dialogue process achieved tangible results. The interior minister said that the Taliban committee had also been asked to discuss the whole agenda of the Taliban Shura.

There was consensus among all the participants that the dialogue process with the Taliban should have a concise agenda and dialogue should take place under well defined parameters. Serious apprehensions were expressed over the recent terrorism incidents and the commitment to take effective action against the perpetrators behind such incidents was reiterated.

The DG ISI briefed the prime minister on the measures taken after the recent terrorist attacks and about the overall security situation of the country. The DG ISI assured the meeting that those involved in the recent terrorism incidents would be brought to justice and their identity revealed to the people of Pakistan.

Taliban team contacts TTP shura

PESHAWAR: Taliban nominated negotiating committee has made a contact with Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) political shura and asked it for time and venue for meeting.

This was stated by member Taliban team Professor Ibrahim, while talking to Geo News here Monday.

He said: “we are waiting for response of Taliban shura and will leave for meeting whenever TTP calls us”.

Prof. Ibrahim said the government talks team had asked him for making contact with Taliban.

PAF can meet all challenges including that of Taliban: Air chief

 

SARGODHA: Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt, Chief of the Air Staff Pakistan Air Force (PAF), has said the PAF is ready to cope with all challenges, including any operation against the Taliban.
He was talking to the media on the occasion of the induction of the first batch of F-16 jets comprising five aircraft from Jordan here on Sunday. An impressive ceremony was held to induct these aircraft in the inventory of the PAF. Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt was the chief guest on the occasion.

Nawaf Khalifa Saraieh, Ambassador of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to Pakistan, and other high ranking officers from the Pakistan Air Force and Pakistan Army also attended the ceremony.The air chief said that these aircraft would enhance the PAF capability to counter any internal and external threats.

He further said that PAF would perform its duties as envisaged by the Government of Pakistan. He also said that these aircraft had been purchased from Jordan at a nominal cost.“The aircraft have been purchased from the Royal Jordanian Air Force after a series of negotiations held between the concerned ministries and the concerted efforts of Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt,” an official said.

According to a senior PAF official, in order to avoid extra burden on the national exchequer, the PAF opted for the used planes as they have been acquired at a nominal cost per bird and could serve for a longer duration.

The PAF has acquired a squadron of F-16A/B aircraft, which were in the use of Royal Jordania.The first batch has been flown by PAF pilots from Jordan while the remaining aircraft are planned to be flown in to Pakistan very soon. Acquisition of these aircraft would not only augment the aerial defence of the country but also greatly assist in pilot training. Additionally, it is yet another manifestation of the brotherly relations between the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and Islamic Republic of Pakistan, and the two air forces. The PAF is already effectively using this state of the art, multi-role aircraft for the past three decades. The purchased aircraft are in immaculate condition and have been upgraded for flying in the coming years.Earlier, on the arrival of the air chief, he was received by Air Vice Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan, Air Officer Commanding Central Air Command.