Extremists to be ousted from Pakistan’s tribal belt within two months

[Cha.Cal]

Extremists to be ousted from Pakistan’s tribal belt within two months, general says

Commander warns that $1-billion in development funds needed to keep area from reverting to al-Qaeda, Taliban

Saeed Shah

Peshawar, Pakistan — From Thursday's Globe and Mail
Published on Thursday, Apr. 01, 2010 4:19AM EDT
Last updated on Thursday, Apr. 01, 2010 4:23AM EDT


Major combat operations against extremists in Pakistan’s tribal belt will be completed within two months, including the clearance of North Waziristan, according to the Pakistani general in charge of the special paramilitary force for the area.

However, Major-General Tariq Khan, head of the Frontier Corps, warned that the future stability of the tribal belt, which runs along the border with Afghanistan and includes Waziristan and the Khyber Pass, depends as much on economic factors as military ones. The international community must come up with $1-billion to develop the area, he said, or risk seeing it revert to a base for al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

In an interview, Gen. Khan said that five of the seven “agencies” of the zone, formerly known as the Federally Administered Tribal Area, are now under government control, with operations remaining to be concluded only in Orakzai and North Waziristan.

“This will finish in a couple of months. We’ll take care of all of them. We’re just waiting for the major operations, like Orakzai and North Waziristan, to finish, to spare us the troops to start changing our methodology,” said Gen. Khan, a swashbuckling officer with a reputation for tackling the extremists head-on.

“Instead of kinetic, concentrated operations, we will start search and cordon and sting operations – for which actually you need more boots on the ground.”

The West has long been pressing for action in North Waziristan, a base for al-Qaeda and the Haqqani network, one of the most feared insurgent groups in Afghanistan. Control of North Waziristan is seen as crucial to securing the flank of U.S.-led forces across the border in Afghanistan.

Gen. Khan confirmed that the North Waziristan operation has started and disclosed that unlike the offensive last year in South Waziristan, which involved 25,000 troops steamrollering across the area, the strategy in North Waziristan is to carry out a series of smaller actions.

“I think the kind of operations they’re going to do [in North Waziristan] are going to be progressive. They’re going to squeeze them out of areas, rather than carry out hard-core kinetic operations. They are going to be incremental,” said Gen. Khan, who has led the 45,000-men strong Frontier Corps since September of 2008.

After the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, al-Qaeda and the Taliban fled across the border to the tribal area, one of the poorest and most remote parts of Pakistan, turning it into an extremist fief.

Gen. Khan began the assault on the tribal belt with an operation in Bajaur in August, 2008. His troops subsequently tackled each agency in turn – most dramatically with an offensive in South Waziristan that kicked off in October, 2009.

Once the combat phase is complete, the plan is to search every house for links to the extremists, with the goal of eliminating the remnants of the Pakistani Taliban leadership.

The Frontier Corps, which recruits exclusively from the tribal zone that it polices, came under a mass assault in the Khyber agency Wednesday, losing six soldiers for 20 insurgents killed. The Khyber agency borders Orakzai, where the Frontier Corps began an operation last week in tandem with the offensive in North Waziristan. To date, more than 200 militants have been killed in Orakzai, which became a refuge for extremists fleeing military action in other parts of the tribal belt, South Waziristan in particular.

Gen. Khan said the tribal area must not be neglected by the international community, as it was after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, or it could again fall prey to al-Qaeda and its allies.

“We need $1-billion to bring stability to a land that caused pain to the entire world, and we saw that impact ultimately on the twin towers,” Gen. Khan said. “That’s not a lot of money to pacify a region that is the cause of global conflict.”

Under a plan developed by the Frontier Corps and Pakistan’s government, the money would be spent repairing roads and other infrastructure, building new schools and hospitals and developing agriculture and industry.

 

[Donatello]

Extremists to be ousted from Pakistan’s tribal belt within two months, general says

Commander warns that $1-billion in development funds needed to keep area from reverting to al-Qaeda, Taliban

Saeed Shah

Peshawar, Pakistan — From Thursday's Globe and Mail
Published on Thursday, Apr. 01, 2010 4:19AM EDT
Last updated on Thursday, Apr. 01, 2010 4:23AM EDT


Major combat operations against extremists in Pakistan’s tribal belt will be completed within two months, including the clearance of North Waziristan, according to the Pakistani general in charge of the special paramilitary force for the area.

However, Major-General Tariq Khan, head of the Frontier Corps, warned that the future stability of the tribal belt, which runs along the border with Afghanistan and includes Waziristan and the Khyber Pass, depends as much on economic factors as military ones. The international community must come up with $1-billion to develop the area, he said, or risk seeing it revert to a base for al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

In an interview, Gen. Khan said that five of the seven “agencies” of the zone, formerly known as the Federally Administered Tribal Area, are now under government control, with operations remaining to be concluded only in Orakzai and North Waziristan.

“This will finish in a couple of months. We’ll take care of all of them. We’re just waiting for the major operations, like Orakzai and North Waziristan, to finish, to spare us the troops to start changing our methodology,” said Gen. Khan, a swashbuckling officer with a reputation for tackling the extremists head-on.

“Instead of kinetic, concentrated operations, we will start search and cordon and sting operations – for which actually you need more boots on the ground.”

The West has long been pressing for action in North Waziristan, a base for al-Qaeda and the Haqqani network, one of the most feared insurgent groups in Afghanistan. Control of North Waziristan is seen as crucial to securing the flank of U.S.-led forces across the border in Afghanistan.

Gen. Khan confirmed that the North Waziristan operation has started and disclosed that unlike the offensive last year in South Waziristan, which involved 25,000 troops steamrollering across the area, the strategy in North Waziristan is to carry out a series of smaller actions.

“I think the kind of operations they’re going to do [in North Waziristan] are going to be progressive. They’re going to squeeze them out of areas, rather than carry out hard-core kinetic operations. They are going to be incremental,” said Gen. Khan, who has led the 45,000-men strong Frontier Corps since September of 2008.

After the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, al-Qaeda and the Taliban fled across the border to the tribal area, one of the poorest and most remote parts of Pakistan, turning it into an extremist fief.

Gen. Khan began the assault on the tribal belt with an operation in Bajaur in August, 2008. His troops subsequently tackled each agency in turn – most dramatically with an offensive in South Waziristan that kicked off in October, 2009.

Once the combat phase is complete, the plan is to search every house for links to the extremists, with the goal of eliminating the remnants of the Pakistani Taliban leadership.

The Frontier Corps, which recruits exclusively from the tribal zone that it polices, came under a mass assault in the Khyber agency Wednesday, losing six soldiers for 20 insurgents killed. The Khyber agency borders Orakzai, where the Frontier Corps began an operation last week in tandem with the offensive in North Waziristan. To date, more than 200 militants have been killed in Orakzai, which became a refuge for extremists fleeing military action in other parts of the tribal belt, South Waziristan in particular.

Gen. Khan said the tribal area must not be neglected by the international community, as it was after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, or it could again fall prey to al-Qaeda and its allies.

“We need $1-billion to bring stability to a land that caused pain to the entire world, and we saw that impact ultimately on the twin towers,” Gen. Khan said. “That’s not a lot of money to pacify a region that is the cause of global conflict.”

Under a plan developed by the Frontier Corps and Pakistan’s government, the money would be spent repairing roads and other infrastructure, building new schools and hospitals and developing agriculture and industry.

Dude,

the Army has made it clear that no operation in North Waziristan. Maybe they are waiting on to receive the weapons from the USA. What ever the cause, i don't see them rooting out militants in 2 months, not to mention there are probably thousands of such 'Militants' hidden among our cities that home millions of people. It's like finding a needle in a haystack.

But good luck, and i support our troops. Wish i could serve on the frontlines.

 

[Cha.Cal]

Dude,

the Army has made it clear that no operation in North Waziristan. Maybe they are waiting on to receive the weapons from the USA. What ever the cause, i don't see them rooting out militants in 2 months, not to mention there are probably thousands of such 'Militants' hidden among our cities that home millions of people. It's like finding a needle in a haystack.

But good luck, and i support our troops. Wish i could serve on the frontlines.

The answers to your post are already in the article. They are talking about the tribal belt, and not the cities. Gen. Khan I presume is a member of military:

Gen. Khan confirmed that the North Waziristan operation has started and disclosed that unlike the offensive last year in South Waziristan, which involved 25,000 troops steamrollering across the area, the strategy in North Waziristan is to carry out a series of smaller actions.

“I think the kind of operations they’re going to do [in North Waziristan] are going to be progressive. They’re going to squeeze them out of areas, rather than carry out hard-core kinetic operations. They are going to be incremental,” said Gen. Khan, who has led the 45,000-men strong Frontier Corps since September of 2008.

 

[Nomad]

However, Major-General Tariq Khan, head of the Frontier Corps, warned that the future stability of the tribal belt, which runs along the border with Afghanistan and includes Waziristan and the Khyber Pass, depends as much on economic factors as military ones. The international community must come up with $1-billion to develop the area, he said, or risk seeing it revert to a base for al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Let me get this straight. If the international community does not come up with $1Billion dollars the whole area will revert back to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. In other world our citizens will once again revert to killing innocents in our country and yours.

What happened to the responsibility of a country to police its own lands?

What would happen if you said it will be $5billion to keep them out of Karachi, another $5billion to keep them out of Peshawar, and another $5billion to keep them out of Lahore, and another......

This is blackmail by holding a gun to ones head.

Whose responsibility is it to keep these radicals out of their country.

What if the maoist in India were international terrorist and the GOI said "We have about 200 of our 600 provinces with the problem, at $1 billion a province we can solve the whole problem for $200 billion".

How much of this $1Billion will even reach the people?

Incredible.

 

[SMC]

^^

You're using a very unlikely scenario as the base of your argument. It's a very shaky argument. I highly doubt they will ever ask for what you're suggesting, and even if they did it won't be what you're saying, so let's deal with what we have at hand. It's basically a straw man argument that you're presenting.

Historically speaking, tribal belt has not had policing so it's incomparable to Lahore, Karachi, Peshawer or whatever. Secondly, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawer don't come into the argument because they don't need developing anywhere near as much as the area in question. The idea is developing the area, not keeping extremists out. You develop the area, the extremists will have a much harder time having their bases there.

 

[Donatello]

[/B]


Let me get this straight. If the international community does not come up with $1Billion dollars the whole area will revert back to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. In other world our citizens will once again revert to killing innocents in our country and yours.

What happened to the responsibility of a country to police its own lands?

What would happen if you said it will be $5billion to keep them out of Karachi, another $5billion to keep them out of Peshawar, and another $5billion to keep them out of Lahore, and another......

This is blackmail by holding a gun to ones head.

Whose responsibility is it to keep these radicals out of their country.

What if the maoist in India were international terrorist and the GOI said "We have about 200 of our 600 provinces with the problem, at $1 billion a province we can solve the whole problem for $200 billion".

How much of this $1Billion will even reach the people?

Incredible.

Sir,

If you really are an American, then you better know the history of the tribal belt, see how peaceful the people were and still are. The terms that we refer to as Militancy and Insurgents were the birth child of the CIA's program to oust the Soviet Union from Afghanistan. You say Pakistan cannot police it's own land? How are we supposed to do that when the problem, the gun culture, the jihad was all itself creation of USA and when the war was over, they simply abandoned us without regard to that the very Mujahideen they created would the same Militants fighting against you today. When you leave the Jihadists on their own, they will obviously form government in Afghanistan ( The Taliban) and then use all sources to fund their Guns and ammunitions.


I am afraid, but the problem is not just of Pakistan policing it Tribal lands but also for those nations who are engaged in fighting right across the borders. Pakistan is a developing country, i bet you haven't been to the Tribal areas and don't know the geography of the area that how difficult it is to police the region.


I am afraid, without historical context your post means nothing. Pakistan is not blackmailing anyone, but just asking for money where it rightly deserves it. 1 billion USD is nothing for US or NATA allies in this case, for the fact they paid much more than that to prop up failing companies in USA alone. Different perspective, but lets face the truth, The problems of today in Tribal areas are not just Pakistan's inability to police its land, not to mention the 3 million Afghans who roamed freely all along the border during and after the border. Did USA ever give any money for their rehabilitation? Doesn't look so.

 

[Don Ramsay]

Pakistan army has done more then what any country could have expected from its army in the scenerio Pakistan is in.
It has written history with blood and sacrifices. If we want to reach for real victory then its time Political govt move forward and start reconstruction in areas cleared from TTP. because army brings short term sucess its govt which makes this short term into long term.

secondly TTP may be defeated but its friends and supporters living in urban areas are the real villans
incidents in Punjab university and death of student in Peshawer university proves that these suphisticated Taliban in our universities should be controlled and their terror infrastructure should be distroyed.

 

[naved_kam]

^^

You're using a very unlikely scenario as the base of your argument. It's a very shaky argument. I highly doubt they will ever ask for what you're suggesting, and even if they did it won't be what you're saying, so let's deal with what we have at hand. It's basically a straw man argument that you're presenting.

Historically speaking, tribal belt has not had policing so it's incomparable to Lahore, Karachi, Peshawer or whatever. Secondly, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawer don't come into the argument because they don't need developing anywhere near as much as the area in question. The idea is developing the area, not keeping extremists out. You develop the area, the extremists will have a much harder time having their bases there.

While I agree with you about the difficulty and cost of the operations in the tribal belt against these terrorists but the point is if it is Pakistan's own war then should they not be funding it instead of asking for money everytime. Earlier they were saying that there will not be any operations in NW this year and now we read this. Even if this is authentic news and if the operations are to be this year but still what does asking for 1 Billion USD conveys?

Till there is this mercenary approach (killing for payment), your nation can never win because the motivation is not to absolve your nation of this scrouge but in fact to raise invoices periodically and that too with increasing denominations.

Along with that, to be realistic, such a problem cannot be finished in 2 months. Even if the operation is conducted with the honest hearted intent of eradicating this terrorist menace (not being selective to good taliban bad taliban), guirella warface takes so much longer as it is in Afganistan for U.S and NATO.

Finally, Nomad sure has a valid question, how does the world know that this will be used for rehabilation of the displaced?? Last year while GoP was budgeting for the year, they used some 150 Mn USD grant from World Bank (I think) to balance their financial bill. The money was actually meant for polio eradication.

So.....