Pakistani Taliban warned of war if operation launched in North Waziristan

The local Taliban in North West Pakistan have warned of a war against if the government launched any military operation against them on North Waziristan tribal agency.

A pamphlet issued by Shura Mujahideen (Taliban Council) North Wasiristan has said that the government has violated the peace agreement with the Taliban and is sending spies and troops to target Taliban.

The pamphlet distributed in the Miranshah Bazaar addressing the people of the area says the government has promised to withdraw troops from Janikhel and Baqkhel areas but it is increasing the number of troops which is complicating the situation.

Taliban in the pamphlet said they will be approaching the Afghan government to give a safe shelter to the people migrating from North Wasiristan Agency in case a military operation is launched.

The pamphlet has also accused the authorities of increasing the troops and targeting the innocent people in the name of war on terror.

The phamplet also condemns the operation in Machis Factory area in Mirnanshah and said it was targeted against civilians and innocent tribesmen.

Although Taliban claimed in the pamphlet that the Pakistani government had violated the peace accord, however, last year there had been some very brutal attacks against Army conveys in North Waziristan in clear violation of the agreement.

The Hafiz Gul Bahadur-led militants had attacked the army in the middle of the last year in North Waziristan with improvised explosive devices (IEDs).One such attack was an ambush on the military convoy in Madakhel area. At that time the Taliban spokesman Ahmadullah Ahmadi claimed that 60 troops were killed and 15 military vehicles were destroyed in the attack, the Pakistan Army spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas conceded the loss of 12 soldiers only. . Among the dead was a colonel, a major and a captain. Other sources claimed that in that attack about 40 soldiers were killed.

Another attack was on the Miramshah-Mir Ali road in which four soldiers were killed, besides students of Cadet College, Razmak, located in North Waziristan, were kidnapped by Baitullah’s men in the limits of Frontier Region (FR) Bannu, an area that Hafiz Gul Bahadur considers as part of his tribal fiefdom. There had been suspicions that militants loyal to Hafiz Gul Bahadur cooperated with Baitullah’s fighters while kidnapping the Razmak college cadets and their teachers.

All these and other such incidents show that the peace accord was violated by the militants though they had never announced scrapping the deal.

- Asian Tribune -