[Reader-list] 140,000 troops in FATA

[yasir ~يا سر]

one needs to add much salt here:


   - reporters are not allowed, you only get the official army version
   - civilian casualties are 'normal', very high and not reported, including
   extra judicial killings and right violations
   - the number of internally displaced people is huge, frequently not taken
   care of by anyone let alone by govt
   - the motivation in no small measure comes from the US pressuring the PK
   army to show that action is being taken, which frequently leads to unstable
   conditions, rather than working with local actors with a long term view,
   while dealing with a guerrilla like militancy.



On Fri, Apr 30, 2010 at 11:30 AM, S. Jabbar <sonia.jabbar at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> FRONT-PAGE
> ŒPakistan has moved 100,000 troops from eastern border¹
>
> By Our Correspondent
>
> Friday, 30 Apr, 2010 | 01:38 AM PST |
>
>
> WASHINGTON: Pakistan has deployed 140,000 troops in Fata, moving at least
> 100,000 soldiers from the Indian border to back up its Œunprecedented¹
> crackdown on militants along the Afghan border, says a Pentagon report.
>
> In its mandatory report to the US Congress on the situation in the
> Pakistan-Afghan region, the Pentagon notes that the deployment is the
> biggest in the country¹s history on the western border.
>
> ³This unprecedented deployment and thinning of the lines against India
> indicates that Islamabad has acknowledged its domestic insurgent threat.²
>
> The Pentagon also acknowledges that Pakistani military operations in the
> tribal regions have had an impact across the border, placing a ³high degree
> of pressure on enemy forces and reduced insurgent safe haven² in eastern
> Afghanistan.
>
> The Pentagon informs Congress that recent arrests by Pakistan of Afghan
> Taliban leaders, including the group¹s No. 2, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar,
> have ³increased insurgent leaders¹ concern over the security of their safe
> havens² and created ³financial and logistical² problems for them.
>
> This assessment contrasts sharply with the Afghan claim ‹ backed by India ‹
> that the arrests have weakened Kabul¹s efforts to seek a negotiated
> settlement with the Taliban leadership.
>
> The report quotes a senior US defence official as saying that the arrests
> in
> Pakistan produced ³a lot of concerned chatter² among Taliban sympathisers
> in
> Afghanistan, but there¹s no indication of ³a leadership crisis in the
> Taliban².
>
> The Pentagon notes that so far the crackdown in Pakistan is focused almost
> exclusively on internal threats and that¹s why it¹s not having any
> ³significant impact on the Afghan insurgency in the short term².
>
> But the crackdown ³offers opportunities in coming months to have a greater
> impact on the conflict in Afghanistan depending on how PAKMIL (Pakistani
> military) operations evolve,² the report adds.
>
> ³Pakistan has suffered attacks from terrorists in response to its
> successful
> operations. These attacks include mass casualty events in Mingora, South
> Waziristan agency close to clearing operations as well as in Lahore, far
> away from the fighting. ³While these attacks do not appear to have shaken
> Pakistan¹s commitment, they do demonstrate, for the time being, insurgent
> ability to continue attacks despite successful Pakistani operations,² the
> report warns.
>
>
> http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/
>
> front-page/pakistan-has-moved-100,000-troops-from-indian-border-pentagon-040<http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/%0Afront-page/pakistan-has-moved-100,000-troops-from-indian-border-pentagon-040>
>
> Copyright © 2010 - Dawn Media Group
>
>
>
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