Pakistan troops on high alert as militants scrap peace deal
Tuesday, 17 July 2007
ISLAMABAD, July 16 (AFP): Pakistani security forces were on high alert today after pro-Taliban militants scrapped a controversial peace deal as a spate of suicide attacks left more than 70 dead.
Three separate attacks in northern Pakistan-two against troop convoys and one that hit a police recruitment centre-killed at least 71 people, including the bombers, in one of the bloodiest weekends in years.
Militants in the lawless border region of North Waziristan Sunday tore up a controversial peace accord reached with the government last year, in which the tribal groups had promised to hunt down foreign fighters in return for security assurances.
The Taliban Shura (Taliban Council) accused the government of breaking the agreement and said it would refuse all dialogue and cooperation with the authorities.
Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao countered that the militants had not upheld their end of the agreement and said the government would now "be justified if it takes some action" in the rugged region which is a suspected hideout for Al-Qaeda fighters.
Washington swiftly threw its "full support" behind Musharraf, saying the peace deal had not worked in dealing with militants.
"President Musharraf understands it. We understand it. President Musharraf is taking steps to move troops back into that region. That probably accounts for the statements we heard from the Taliban," National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said on Fox News.
"It is concerning. There is pooling of Taliban there. There is training," Hadley said, adding that Musharraf's action against the militants in the lawless border belt "has at this point not been adequate."
But Hadley stressed: "He's doing more. We are urging him to do more, and we're providing our full support to what he's contemplating."
Musharraf has deployed thousands of additional troops to remote tribal areas in recent days after vowing to crush extremists and "root them out from every corner of the country."
In the North Waziristan capital of Miranshah, residents said many families and relatives of government officials had fled their homes for safer areas in anticipation of clashes between militants and troops.
Tensions have escalated since Musharraf last week ordered a commando raid on the pro- Taliban Red Mosque in Islamabad, ending a months-long standoff with armed militants who had demanded the imposition of Islamic law.
Militants have called for a holy war following the raid in which at least 75 people holed up in the mosque complex were killed.
Political analyst Rahimullah Yusufzai, an expert in Afghan and tribal affairs, said the mosque deaths stirred anger especially in the North West Frontier Province, home to many of those killed in the mosque raid.
"Wherever the bodies arrived, there was anger and resentment," he said.
Three separate attacks in northern Pakistan-two against troop convoys and one that hit a police recruitment centre-killed at least 71 people, including the bombers, in one of the bloodiest weekends in years.
Militants in the lawless border region of North Waziristan Sunday tore up a controversial peace accord reached with the government last year, in which the tribal groups had promised to hunt down foreign fighters in return for security assurances.
The Taliban Shura (Taliban Council) accused the government of breaking the agreement and said it would refuse all dialogue and cooperation with the authorities.
Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao countered that the militants had not upheld their end of the agreement and said the government would now "be justified if it takes some action" in the rugged region which is a suspected hideout for Al-Qaeda fighters.
Washington swiftly threw its "full support" behind Musharraf, saying the peace deal had not worked in dealing with militants.
"President Musharraf understands it. We understand it. President Musharraf is taking steps to move troops back into that region. That probably accounts for the statements we heard from the Taliban," National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said on Fox News.
"It is concerning. There is pooling of Taliban there. There is training," Hadley said, adding that Musharraf's action against the militants in the lawless border belt "has at this point not been adequate."
But Hadley stressed: "He's doing more. We are urging him to do more, and we're providing our full support to what he's contemplating."
Musharraf has deployed thousands of additional troops to remote tribal areas in recent days after vowing to crush extremists and "root them out from every corner of the country."
In the North Waziristan capital of Miranshah, residents said many families and relatives of government officials had fled their homes for safer areas in anticipation of clashes between militants and troops.
Tensions have escalated since Musharraf last week ordered a commando raid on the pro- Taliban Red Mosque in Islamabad, ending a months-long standoff with armed militants who had demanded the imposition of Islamic law.
Militants have called for a holy war following the raid in which at least 75 people holed up in the mosque complex were killed.
Political analyst Rahimullah Yusufzai, an expert in Afghan and tribal affairs, said the mosque deaths stirred anger especially in the North West Frontier Province, home to many of those killed in the mosque raid.
"Wherever the bodies arrived, there was anger and resentment," he said.