Attacks demonstrate Taliban resurgence in Pak: The Washington Post, Oct 11
By Ravi Nessman, AP
ISLAMABAD — A week of terror strikes across Pakistan, capped by a stunning assault on army headquarters, show the Taliban have rebounded and appear determined to shake the nation’s resolve as the military plans for an offensive against the group’s stronghold on the Afghan border.
The 22-hour attack on Pakistan’s “Pentagon” in the city of Rawalpindi, which ended with 20 dead Sunday, was the third terror attack in a week to shake this nuclear-armed nation. It demonstrated the militants' renewed strength since their leader was killed by a U.S. missile strike in August and military operations against their bases.
The U.S. has long pushed Islamabad to take more action against Taliban and al-Qaida militants, who are also blamed for attacks on U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, and the army carried out a successful campaign against the militants in the Swat Valley in the spring.
But the army had been unwilling to go all out in the lawless tribal areas along the border that serve as the Taliban's main refuge. Three offensives into South Waziristan since 2001 ended in failure and the government signed peace deals with the militants.
On the heels of the Swat victory, the military launched a campaign of airstrikes on the militants in Waziristan and in recent weeks officials said they were preparing a full offensive there.
That was before the embarrassing attack on army headquarters bolstered militants' assertions they are ready to take on the military, and threatened to deflate the army's newfound popularity.
In the wake of the seige in Rawalpindi, the government said it would not be deterred. The military launched two airstrikes Sunday evening on suspected militant targets in South Waziristan, killing at least five insurgents and ending a five-day lull in attacks there, intelligence officials said.
"We are going to attack the terrorists, the miscreants over there who are disturbing the state and damaging the peace," Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said. "Wherever they will be, we will follow them. We will pursue them. We will take them to task."
In London, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the insurgents are "increasingly threatening the authority of the state, but we see no evidence they are going to take over the state." She and British Foreign Minister David Miliband said there was no sign Pakistan's nuclear arsenal was at risk.
Available information suggests that Pakistan's secret nuclear sites are protected by crack troops and multiple physical barriers.
"It's not thought likely that the Taliban are suddenly going to storm in and gain control of the nuclear facilities," said Gareth Price, head of the Asia program at London think tank Chatham House.
Security at army headquarters did not prevent a team of 10 gunmen in fatigues from launching a frontal assault on the very core of the country's most powerful institution Saturday morning, setting off a gunbattle and hostage drama that ended a day later after a commando raid.
The violence killed 20, including three hostages and nine militants, while 42 hostages were freed, the military said. Many of them had been held in a single room by militant wearing a suicide vest, who was shot by commandos before he could detonate his explosives, the army said.
The military said it captured the militant's ringleader, who was known as Aqeel or "Dr. Usman." Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said the militant's nickname derived from the time he spent as a guard at an army nursing school before he joined the insurgents.
The name matched that of a militant suspected of orchestrating an attack in Lahore earlier this year on Sri Lanka's visiting cricket team. Hakimullah Mehsud, the new leader of the Taliban, had claimed responsibility for that attack.
A police intelligence report from July obtained by The Associated Press on Saturday warned that members of the Taliban along with the Punjab-based Jaish-e-Mohammed were planning to attack army headquarters after disguising themselves as soldiers. The report was given to the AP by an official in Punjab's home affairs ministry.
Officials have warned that Taliban fighters close to the border, Punjabi militants spread out across the country and foreign al-Qaida operatives were increasingly joining forces, dramatically increasing the dangers to Pakistan.
The weekend strike was a stunning finale to a week of attacks that highlighted the militants' ability to strike a range of targets in different cities, seemingly at will.
On Monday, a suicide bomber dressed as a paramilitary police officer blew himself up inside a heavily guarded U.N. aid agency in the heart of the capital, Islamabad. On Friday, a suspected militant detonated an explosives-laden car in the middle of a busy market in the northwestern city of Peshawar, killing 53 people.
Before the attacks, Pakistani officials said their operations against the militants and the killing of Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud in a CIA drone attack had left the insurgency in disarray. But the militants coalesced around his former deputy, Hakimullah Mehsud, who promised vengeance last week for the deadly airstrikes and warned that his fighters were prepared to repel any government offensive into Waziristan.
"They are well organized, and if the army takes action, they are able to hit back," former intelligence chief Jawed Ashraf Qazi said. He warned of more militant attacks ahead of an offensive: "The longer the delay, the more these actions are likely to occur."
Qazi estimated 6,000 battle-hardened Uzbek fighters are waiting in the mountains, along with thousand of local fighters from the Mehsud tribe of warriors with years of experience fighting the U.S. and Pakistan.
"The militants have had five, six years to build up infrastructure, so they're prepared," said Kamran Bokhari, an analyst with Stratfor, a U.S.-based global intelligence firm. "This is jihadist central in the country, so going in there is not going to be easy."
Yet, the recent attacks have left the government little choice but to confront the Taliban on their home turf, and the military appears better prepared than during its previous forays into the area, he said.
The army reportedly sent two divisions totaling 28,000 men to the area. They have blockaded the region, choking the Taliban's supply lines, cutting deals with local militias to prevent them from joining up with the militants and using airstrikes to take out insurgent leaders and keep the group on the run.
"This time the preparation is there. This time the resolve is there. This time pretty much everybody is on board," Bokhari said. "(The militant attacks) make it all the more clear that if you don't do this, this monstrosity that's out there in the tribal belt is not going away." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/11/AR2009101100162_pf.html
October 11, 2009 No Comments
Great American failure: op-ed in The News, Oct 11
By Dr Farrukh Saleem
The writer is the executive director of the Centre for Research and Security Studies
Over the past seven years, direct overt US aid and military reimbursements to Pakistan stand at a colossal $15.449 billion. Of the total, $10.941 billion was security-related and $4.598 billion economic-related. America’s economic-related assistance has been under the following seven categories:
1. Economic Support Funds (ESF) totalled a massive $3,488 billion under which the US Congress ‘authorised Pakistan to use allocations to cancel a total of about $1.5 billion in concessional debt to the US government’. In 2005, 2006 and 2007, $200 million per year was transferred into Pakistan’s account — in cash — for Pakistan’s budgetary support. 2. Development Assistance (DA) amounting to $286 million. 3. International Disaster Assistance (IDA) amounted to a huge $225 million that –supposedly — went into the 2005 Kashmir Earthquake plus relief for Pakistan’s internally displaced persons. 4. Food Aid of $220 million. 5. Child Survival and Health (CSH) $185 million. 6. Human Rights and Democracy $17 million. 7. Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA) $17 million.
To begin with, $4.598 billion economic-related assistance converts to Rs360 billion or Rs2,000 for each and every Pakistani man, woman and child alive. Where has all that gone? Can anyone put together a list of just 2,000 Pakistani men who would acknowledge to having been economically benefited from America’s economic-related assistance?
Next, development assistance of $286 million means Rs23 billion — enough to generate 300 MW of electricity. What has America developed? IDA Rs18 billion, that’s huge. The earthquake had left 3.3 million Pakistanis homeless and Rs18 billion means Rs5,500 for each and every homeless. Can anyone collect a mere 5,000 earthquake affected Pakistanis who would admit to American assistance? Next, food aid. Food aid from America is nearly Rs18 billion and that means Rs100 for each and every Pakistan or Rs500 for each and every Pakistani family. There’s a sugar crisis and a wheat crisis. Does anyone see the $220 million making any visible impact on the lives of real Pakistanis desperately seeking sugar and wheat on the streets of Pakistan?
Next, America’s child survival and health spending in Pakistan — a huge $185 million but nothing to show for it. Imagine; the government of Japan gave Islamabad a 230-bed children’s hospital. Imagine; the government of Japan touches the hearts of 400 a day in the outpatient department plus daily average admissions in inpatient department of 30 plus daily average surgical procedures of 15 plus accident and emergency of an additional 100 per day. Where is Uncle Sam?
At the foothills of Margalla, there is a Japanese park. Then there is Argentine park right next to Federal Government Services Hospital that caters to some 7,000 patients per day. The Chinese built the Karakoram, from Hasan Abdal to Kashgar. But, the Americans have always remained confined to their embassy complex. For the record, 80 million Pakistanis are “unable to secure an adequate nutritional intake” and 80 million are illiterate. Imagine; a mere two per cent of American aid has gone into education. Imagine; a wholesome $4.598 billion has been spent over the past seven years but there’s absolutely nothing to show for it.
Now that America firmed up its resolve to touch the hearts of poor Pakistanis — through the Kerry-Lugar Aid Package — the elites are feeling left-off. For the first time, in the 60-year history of US-Pakistan relations America wants to build hospitals and schools. For the first time, in the 60-year history of US-Pakistan relations America wants to give to Pakistan’s civil society. And, the civil-military elite are feeling left-off. America’s direct overt aid remains invisible, concealed, covert and unseen — all in one. Is this the great American failure in Pakistan — did America fail to plan in Pakistan or did it plan to fail? http://www.thenews.com.pk/editorial_detail.asp?id=202682
October 11, 2009 No Comments
A defining moment for Pakistan: op-ed in The Nation, Oct 11
By Ikramullah
The writer is the president of the Pakistan Nation Forum.
There was a bomb blast in Peshawar on Friday killing more than 50 innocent people and injuring over 100. This was followed on Saturday by another blast near GHQ in Rawalpindi killing some security personnel, besides injuring a number of civilians in the most sensitive security zone of Rawalpindi. What follows when and where is anybody’s guess. After the defeat of the Taliban in Swat, it is clear that the stage has already been set for a military operation in FATA to put a final end to their strategic design, which was to destabilise Pakistan.
It is significant that at this critical juncture when the armed forces need total and undivided support of the whole nation, so vital for the success of the critical impending operations in South Waziristan, the political horizon in the country seems muddled with the haze of confusion and uncertainty in the shape of deep divisions amongst the four provinces on every major issue. The law and order situation has resulted in the postponement of the by-elections in two national and two provincial constituencies of the Punjab. If this continues, the holding of general or even mid-term elections, is a far cry. This does not augur well for democracy taking roots in Pakistan, much less any indicators of its forward march under the so-called Charter of Democracy (COD). According to independent political observers, the COD lost its spirit with the assassination of PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto and which is no more than a piece of paper.
Right at this moment when the nation is at its most critical crossroads, appears the ghost of Prince Hamlet on the horizon of Pakistan in the shape of the Kerry-Lugar Bill (KLB) as a bolt from the blue, shattering the nation as if by a storm.
I have never seen this nation so deeply divided. Without going into the merits/demerits of this so-called Enhanced Aid Package to Pakistan tripling the present assistance by USA in the civilian sector with the conditions attached it has become a major bone of contention.
The recent core commanders’ meeting held under the chairmanship of the COAS found it necessary to express their deep concern over the clauses included in KLB connected with Pakistan’s national security. This indicates that the defence forces, responsible for the territorial integrity of Pakistan and even more important the command and control of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal, were not taken on board during the processing of the bill which has taken more than a year in preparing the final draft for approval by the US Senate and the House of Representatives. It is now awaiting the formal signature of the US president before it becomes a law, as a result of the bill resuming the new title of a US Act of Congress. It is no secret that the incumbent leadership as well as our ambassador in Washington were involved in the preparation of various drafts that were amended several times with joint consultations. Therefore, let us not kid ourselves with the claim that KLB is a purely US Congress Legislation which has nothing to do with Islamabad. No one will buy that.
In a meeting with Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani in Lahore the other day, I pointed out that it is not just out of fear of the bill impinging upon the nation’s sovereignty, but primarily because it imposes strong checks on the country’s security and nuclear capability. I, therefore, strongly recommended to the prime minister that the bill should be placed before Parliament for scrutiny, so that the Congress is apprised of the sentiments of the Pakistani nation with regard to the implications of the three certifications that Secretary Clinton is required to provide to the Congressional Committees. The Parliament is the only and best possible democratic forum to finally decide the fate of the Bill. And also fix responsibility for the role and influence exercised by some major players during its preparation. This is a defining moment for Parliament upon which may depend the future course of our democratic journey towards the goal of a modern, independent, democratic and Islamic welfare state.www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Opinions/Columns/11-Oct-2009/A-defining-moment-for-Pakistan
October 11, 2009 No Comments
Troubled Balochistan: edit in The Nation, Oct 11
FEELING that they have been left in the cold, the people of Balochistan have stood up to defend their rights. It should be a matter of shame for the leadership that has done very little to address their grievances. Angered by this indifference, members of civil society from the province and elsewhere, launched Balochistan Solidarity Campaign on Friday to highlight their grievances.
The Baloch disenchantment should be taken seriously. While the hardliners have resorted to attacking government installations, the patience of the man on the street is wearing thin. It is a pity that no lessons have been learnt from history. One had wished that the dreadful example of East Pakistan and the consequent soul-searching would be kept in mind. Far from that, we see that the federal government is committing the same errors. The establishment has been given a carte blanche to suppress voices of dissent. What is worse, it has succumbed to the Western demand for a military offensive in the province. According to The Times, Britain would be building a huge training camp in Balochistan run by British and US military personnel who would help the Frontier Corps in counterinsurgency operations. Nothing could be more unfortunate than Islamabad’s propensity to view the province through a Western perspective. Such designs would add insult to the injury of the Baloch. After failing to follow up on his words with definite moves, President Zardari is all ears to the voices calling for the use of force. Of what use is his apology if the real intention was to hoodwink the public. The real issues — nabbing Akbar Bugti’s killers, granting provincial autonomy, and right amount of finances — remain in cold storage. Political parties and the government need to realise the seriousness of the crisis. They ought to venture out of the federal capital away from their luxurious lifestyle and witness at first hand the plight of the people. This could be a good beginning. www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Opinions/Editorials/11-Oct-2009/Troubled-Balochistan
October 11, 2009 No Comments
Imran calls for mid-term polls in Balochistan: The Dawn, Oct 11
QUETTA, Oct 10: Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan has called for mid-term polls in Balochistan so that ‘genuine’ elected representatives could be elected to resolve problems facing the province.
Addressing a press conference at the Bugti House and a public meeting at Meezan Chowk on Saturday, the PTI leader said he was demanding elections because the existing provincial government was not a representative of the masses.
He claimed that a new government formed by fresh elected representatives would not allow military operation in the province.
He said the government had failed to resolve people’s problems because its representatives had been chosen in polls that were conducted by a military dictator and in the absence of an independent judiciary and election commission.
Mr Khan urged the armed forces in Balochistan to keep their guns silent because political issues could only be settled through negotiations. http://epaper.dawn.com/ArticleText.aspx?article=11_10_2009_005_002
October 11, 2009 No Comments
Raisani removes parliamentary affairs minister:The Daily Times, Oct 11
By Malik Siraj Akbar
QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani on Saturday relieved the provincial minister for parliamentary affairs, Rubina Irfan, of her duties, reportedly because of “objectionable activities” that were undermining the stability of the provincial coalition government.
The female minister belongs to the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid and is the wife of Agha Irfan Karim, former minister for Zakat and Ushr, who earlier tendered his resignation to express solidarity with PPP minister Ali Madad Jattak. “Rubina’s portfolio has been given to Shama Perveen Magsi, the minister for Information Technology [and wife of Balochistan Governor Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi],” a senior official at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat confirmed. “Rubina will retain the status of a provincial minister, but without a portfolio,” he added. http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\10\11\story_11-10-2009_pg7_15
October 11, 2009 No Comments