South Waziristan operation: The fallout worsens

“With blood and terror all around, the public and the government might want to consider yet another deal with the militants – just to stop the bleeding, if nothing else.”
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By Qurat ul ain Siddiqui
EXCLUSIVE FROM PAKISTAN

(November 02, Karachi, Sri Lanka Guardian) Pakistan is in a state of war – a war which is likely to continue and cause more and more casualties across the troubled state. While Pakistan’s fight against terrorism rages on in Waziristan, a region known for being a ‘valley of death’ for whoever has wanted to invade it in the past, two blasts in the cities of Rawalpindi and Lahore have broken the relative lull in terrorist activities.

Monday’s blast in Rawalpindi has killed at least 30 people, mostly civilians, in the garrison city and at least 45 people have been injured. The blast that struck a police check post in Lahore has injured at least 20 up till now.

While the average Pakistani citizen tries to struggle through the conflict that is slowly becoming a way of life in parts of the country, the war between the militants and the Pakistani state has now entered a rather advanced phase – a phase in which targeting civilians has become kosher. The recent suicide attack in Peshawar that led to 118 deaths is testimony to this.

The relatively new face of this insurgency is the emergence of the Punjabi Taliban, most of whom come from southern Punjab, the province’s poorest and most under-developed region. It is also in this region where Lashkar-i-Jhangvi (LJ), Lashkar-i-Taiba (LT), Jaish-i-Mohammad (JM) and Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) have been thoroughly entrenched for many years. And in the current context, the nerve centre of the Punjabi Taliban leads directly to the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan in Waziristan. And now that the seat of the insurgency is under attack, the terrorists’ sleeper cells elsewhere, including in south Punjab, have been activated.

As terrorists continue to inflict casualties on the state and the citizens, the army is continually claiming gains inside South Waziristan. While many believed the government and the military – clearly inefficient at ensuring internal security – would strike a deal with the Tehrik-i-Taliban militants, the security forces have secured Kotkai and Kaniguram. The town of Kanigurram has been an important operational centre for the Waziristan Taliban. But while its capture to some extent signals toward a success that the military operation may eventually achieve, the army’s capability to eliminate the militants and thereby sustain that success is what many have been hoping for.

(Photo: A policeman in a bullet-proof vest stands as he controls people, fleeing a military offensive in South Waziristan, as they queue at a distribution point for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Dera Ismail Khan, located in Pakistan's restive North West Frontier Province, November 2, 2009. Pakistani soldiers are zeroing in on two major Taliban sanctuaries in their South Waziristan bastion as government forces pressed ahead with their offensive in the lawless tribal region on the Afghan border. - AFP)

“We should leave all other fronts and focus completely on making the operation in South Waziristan a success,” a source in the military, requesting anonymity, opined. “There is no going back now. There can’t be. The country no longer has a choice in the matter. We no longer have a choice in the matter.”

What’s troubling is that as the fall out from South Waziristan worsens and takes its toll on the average Pakistani, the public support that the government managed to accomplish in
this regard may change its course. With blood and terror all around, the public and the government might want to consider yet another deal with the militants – just to stop the bleeding, if nothing else.


(Qurat ul ain Siddiqui is a journalist based in Pakistan. Her work focuses on terrorism and separatist movements inside Pakistan. She can be contacted at quratulain.siddiqui@gmail.com )
-Sri Lanka Guardian
Anonymous said...

Let’s face it, we are at war. The ridiculous arguments about the terrorists only targeting government establishments, or it is the West’s war, it’s a Jihad against infidels, etc, were blown to smithereens last Wednesday afternoon in Peshawar’s Meena Bazaar. The powerful car bomb, which ripped through the thickly-congested market place — a favourite shopping area of lower and middle class families in particular — showed that it is a war with terrorists standing on one side of the blood line, and we the people on the other.

http://ahraza.wordpress.com/2009/11/02/we-must-declare-state-of-war/

Saj said...

Hello

There are few points in the articles, which could not be agreed upon. The writer, first of all is feard about a deal between government and the terrorists. While she completly ignored that the government of Pakistan had recently and publically said that the terrorists are operated from Indian terrorists centers aka embassies in Afghanistan. They have indian arms and amunation, india, medicals and lots of other things, including wine, girls etc. Such people could neither be trusted nor their is any need to talk to them. That is another thing if the government of Pakistan talk with the tribal elders to convince them not to support/harbour these terrorists and THAT, government of Pakistan is always doing.

Secondly, she said that LT, Jaish Mohmmad etc have strong holds in southern punjab. Well, if thats true then why such organisations are unable to win the seats of Parliament from these areas??? A million dollar question,which she may or may not like to answer.

The conspiracies and the conspirators are always there. However, it must be considered full and final that these terrorists activities are intentionally conducted by India, Israel and United States. As they do not want to see a powerful Pakistan.

Thanks.

Sajjad Ahmad
Editor: http://www.markthetruth.com

Anonymous said...

are lashkar jhangvi and lashkare taiba political parties?? i dont think so.. so how can they be elected for office? also, why does pakistan blame everyone for the taliban in pakistan? and then why does pakistan protect afghan taliban in quetta???

weird...

and i think if u recall history.. pakistani government has made deals with waziristan taliban in the past also .. so it's a reasonable concern that a deal like that may be made.. but you sound like a blind pakistani who will defend everything their countrys do. if pakistan make deal with taliban people like you will defend it im sure..