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Pakistan army pays heavy price in Taliban war

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Pakistan army pays heavy price in Taliban war

By Michael Georgy

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (Reuters) - Retired army captain Zafar Tajammal dismisses U.S. demands for Pakistan to do more to fight Muslim militants as he chokes back tears.

His son Captain Bilal Zafar was killed in the prime of his life, cut down by a rocket-propelled grenade while leading a charge against entrenched Taliban fighters.

"I loved him so much that once I told him 'I will not get you married. Because I love you so much I am afraid I will not be able to share my love with your wife'," he said, sitting under a huge poster of the commando and the last SMS sent to relatives.

"If there was an American dignitary sitting in front of me I would certainly try to ask him, 'What else can a human being do more than sacrificing their life? Has any other army in the world suffered so many casualties fighting militants?'"

That's a question that has often strained relations between the United States and Pakistan, and it's being asked once again after U.S. authorities said a Pakistani-American was behind the attempted bombing in New York's Times Square.

Pakistan's Taliban claimed responsibility and threatened to carry out suicide bombings in major U.S. cities.

Washington wants Islamabad to both crack down harder on Afghan Taliban who cross the border to Afghanistan to support a raging insurgency there, and on homegrown Taliban insurgents.

Many in the United States may wonder why Pakistan, with one of the world's biggest armies, can't just wipe out the Taliban.

The suggestion that Pakistan is not trying hard enough infuriates army officers who remember their fallen comrades.

MASTERS OF TERRAIN

The military says the casualty figures speak for themselves.

Pakistan has lost 2,421 soldiers fighting militants since 2004, the military says. In Afghanistan, 1,777 U.S.-led coalition troops have died since 2001, says website icasualties.org.

There are currently 147,400 Pakistani troops stationed in the west and northwest along the Afghan border fighting militants, while total coalition troops in Afghanistan will number about 140,000 when a U.S. troops surge is complete.

The army, which has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its history, says a series of offensives have badly hurt the Taliban.

But the Taliban still carries out suicide bombings and brazen attacks, including one on army headquarters in Rawalpindi.

Part of the problem -- in Washington's view -- is Pakistan's concentration on India, its long-time rival and fellow nuclear-armed power. Pakistan has poured most of its energy into waging and preparing for conventional warfare against India, not tackling Taliban guerrillas waging jihad.

CONSTANT PAIN

The pain Major Ishtiaq Ahmed still feels everyday -- years after his vehicle was hammered by a roadside bomb -- reminds him of how effective the Taliban is. His bones were shattered into small pieces in his legs. A finger was blown off one hand and two other fingers are dysfunctional.

Major Ahmed, who bristled at the suggestion Pakistani soldiers were not pressuring militants enough, says he is ready for the battlefield again. Realistically, the decorated officer will more likely inspire young soldiers to take on the Taliban rather than fight them himself. There may be generations of Pakistani soldiers needed.

"They are damn good fighters," said Ahmed. "The Taliban. All he needs is a bottle of water strapped to his side, 50 bullets and a rifle. And he will just wait and wait on a hillside for a week for you to pass by, and attack."

It's a rare admission by a senior officer that Pakistan's all-powerful military is vulnerable.

Major Syed Imtiaz Shah is proud of the picture on his wall of former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf awarding him a medal for bravery. But he considers himself lucky.

He still carries shrapnel in his neck from a clash with Indian troops in 1999. He also survived a battle with the Taliban. Militants fired a grenade at him several years ago, tearing off a large part of his forearm and leaving him with a mangled hand.

Battling Muslim militants is far more complex. For one, the Taliban often blend in with fellow ethnic Pashtun tribesmen and suddenly attack out of nowhere.

"If you find a person wearing a turban, with a Kalashnikov it does not mean he is a terrorist," said Shah. "You have to differentiate between friend and foe. You have to get local support."

That requires millions of dollars of investment in services, schools and job creation to win over locals. It's money that doesn't come easy given Pakistan's sluggish economy.

For now, Pakistan may have to rely on sheer determination to defeat the Taliban, and memories of those who died trying.

Captain Bilal Sunawar wanted to be buried at the foot of his mother's grave. He got his wish after being killed by a rocket-propelled grenade in a battle with the Taliban.

"Do not stand at my grave and cry. I'm not there. I did not die. I'M SHAHEED (a martyr)," reads his gravestone.

Captain Bilal's father, Chaudhry Sunawar, also a military man, said he had no regrets over his son joining the army.

"As a very small child, he used to put my military cap on his head and roam around the bungalow with a lot of pride. From the very beginning he had a liking for the military."

(Editing by Chris Allbritton)

Pakistan army pays heavy price in Taliban war - Yahoo! Canada News
 
"If there was an American dignitary sitting in front of me I would certainly try to ask him, 'What else can a human being do more than sacrificing their life? Has any other army in the world suffered so many casualties fighting militants?'"

The military says the casualty figures speak for themselves.

Pakistan has lost 2,421 soldiers fighting militants since 2004, the military says. In Afghanistan, 1,777 U.S.-led coalition troops have died since 2001, says website icasualties.org.

There are currently 147,400 Pakistani troops stationed in the west and northwest along the Afghan border fighting militants, while total coalition troops in Afghanistan will number about 140,000 when a U.S. troops surge is complete.

this is the truth.................and that tells all the story!
AMricans should not behave like blinds.....
THEY STARTED the war and pushed us into that......
 
One thing that really hurts me and I have written about is that our social structure is still geared towards the promotion of the upper middle class. Not to be cruel, but the soldiers are never mentioned by name in our cases. The headlines always read, "3 soldiers died" or "5 soldier, 12 militants killed". This is so inhumane and disgraceful to our soldiers. At least we can honour their memories by plastering our newspapers with their photographs and dedicating sometime in the daily news headlines for them. Their parents know that the country is proud of them but we can remind them that we are indebted to our soldiers.

Seeing the British, American or any other press it pains me when they always pay tributes to their soldiers and in our case they are always unnamed martyrs, just numbers. When an officer embraces martyrdom his case gets much more limelight, the media conducts interviews oftenly but what about our brave soldiers? I had written about this to newspapers and the ISPR earlier and the responses were lukewarm. Similarly, policemen are never mentioned by name, never even paid tribute to. They die unhonored souls.

I hope we can correct our social imbalances for this is just a result of this imbalance.

Long live our brave soldiers !
 
I hope a wall with all the names of Pak Army SHAHEED will be made in every city of Pakistan for people to see and be proud of them.
 
Really..

why the heck Mush started this for USA..

USa introduced terrorism to this world at first

I agree , US used terror as a tool .big example is nukeing heroshema nagasaki when japan was ready to end war

but we have to admit that terrorism in Pakistan is result of our bad policies in past. what all US did in late 70's and 80 etc was to achieve its national intrests. but what our elite did was the blunder which distroyed our society
 
Friendship with USA always cost Pakistan through the nose.

Army no different, as long as our army is in strategic alliance with usa, it will or should be ready to pay the price in blood, what they say it comes with the teritory.

But i dont blame army for that, its our early political leader's and geopolitical reality that pushed pakistan in US lap.

Friendship with devil alway's cost :pakistan::cheers:
 
Indeed PA has paid a heavy price for fighting against the terrorists. But one cannot say that all sections are focused on this goal. Changing mindsets take time. Even if there are influential sections that are convinced of going against these deluded people, there will be powerful sections that will clandestinely support them. There must be no distinction between good and bad Taliban --- a definition that changes according to viewpoints.

If changing mindsets were that easy then it cannot take much time to transform India into the Garden of Eden ! This certainly has not yet been the case.

come on yar
who is distinguishing good or bad taliban
its propoganda of losers who have failed in Afghanistan and now finding excuses for their failure
 
Indeed PA has paid a heavy price for fighting against the terrorists. But one cannot say that all sections are focused on this goal. Changing mindsets take time. Even if there are influential sections that are convinced of going against these deluded people, there will be powerful sections that will clandestinely support them. There must be no distinction between good and bad Taliban --- a definition that changes according to viewpoints.

If changing mindsets were that easy then it cannot take much time to transform India into the Garden of Eden ! This certainly has not yet been the case.
 
Guys the best way is to stop blaming each other. i THINK WE ALL SHOULD GET UNITED! if we are one no one can break us, else our enemies will break us easily.. If we will correct our mistakes like lies, bad reputation(corruption) and other things then we will become the strongest and our we can take or Islam on top!

We have to create a change in our own personality and that is the best way to be negotiate as a best nation of the world! Islam is the symbol of peace and love..
 

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