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security plan is, however, being designed to protectPeshawar from attacks by the Taliban. Around 3,000 security force personnel areto be deployed to guard the city and 26 security posts would be set up tomonitor militant activities. An unnamed senior police official had earlierstated that Police had told the government it could not control militancy on itsown and needed the assistance of the Frontier Constabulary, the Frontier Corpsand the Army.
Ambiguous peace agreements initiated by Islamabad and the NWFP government arecurrently allowing the Taliban, al Qaeda and allied jihadi groups to regroup,build up their strength and consolidate. Having secured immense gains fromprevious pacts, the Taliban/al Qaeda combine are now pushing for a furtherconsolidation which would not only ensure rapid geographical expansion, butforce further capitulation on the state, which remains, regrettably, a prisonerof its own vacillations.
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hile there have been earlier reports about desertionsamong the besieged Pakistan armed forces fighting the Islamists, classified USdocuments now indicate that the Frontier Corps has been heavily infiltrated andinfluenced by the Taliban. There are "box loads" of reports of thetroops joining militants in attacks on coalition forces, according to theclassified US 'after-action' reports, compiled following clashes onPakistan-Afghan border. "The United States and Nato have substantialinformation on this problem. It's taking place at a variety of places along theborder with the Frontier Corps giving direct and indirect assistance," The
Observer quoted an unnamed American official as saying. "The USdocuments reportedly describe the direct involvement of Frontier Corps troops inattacks on the Afghan National Army and coalition forces, and also aboutdetailed attacks launched so close to Frontier Corps outposts that Pakistanico-operation with the Taliban is assumed."
Pakistan’s incapacity to prosecute the war on terror in the FATA and NWFP dueto disastrous deals with the militants has also augmented the already giganticterrorist problem in neighbouring Afghanistan. In fact, Afghanistan PresidentHamid Karzai threatened to send Afghan troops across the border to fight Talibanmilitants within Pakistan. Accusing Pakistan of sheltering most of the militantsinvolved in recent incidents in the Garmser District of Helmand Province, hetold a Press Conference that Afghanistan had the right to self-defence and,since militants cross over from Pakistan "to come and kill Afghans and killcoalition troops, it exactly gives us the right to do the same." Inresponse, the PM’s advisor, Rehman Malik, warned the "borderingcountry" against launching attacks inside Pakistan, adding, "Otherwisewe will also launch action." Meanwhile, on June 26, Pakistan rejectedAfghan accusations that its Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was behind anassassination attempt against President Hamid Karzai in April 2008.
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slamabad’s failure to arrive at an effectivecounter-terrorist strategy has, unsurprisingly though rather late, invitedcriticism from the US. US Defence Secretary Robert Gates stated in Washington onJune 27 that Pakistan's failure to put pressure on Taliban forces on thecountry's border with Afghanistan had fueled a rise in violence. A 40 per centspike in violence in east Afghanistan in the first five months of 2008 "isa matter of concern, of real concern, and I think that one of the reasons thatwe're seeing the increase... is more people coming across the border from thefrontier area," Gates said. He noted, further, "the ability of theTaliban and other insurgents to cross that border and not being under anypressure from the Pakistani side of the border is clearly a concern." Healso said cross-border infiltration and violence had increased in the past fewmonths after peace deals were negotiated with Taliban and other militants.According to Gates, "What has happened is that, as various agreements havebeen negotiated or were in the process of negotiation with various groups by thePakistani government, there was the opportunity – the pressure was taken offof these people and these groups… And they've therefore been more free to beable to cross the border and create problems for us." Earlier, on June 10,the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Michael Mullen had declared thatany future terrorist attack against US interests would most likely be carriedout by militants based in FATA. He noted that tribal groups with ties to alQaeda in the FATA represent the worst security threat to the US.
Further, the US is now finding it difficult to initiate and sustain its ownagenda in Pakistan. The problem partly lies in the fact that it does not have acompletely acquiescent government or an obliging Army establishment inIslamabad. Adding to the complexity is the status of the besieged and weigheddown President Musharraf who, contrary to what a lot of people anticipated,refuses to ‘go quietly into the night’.
Amid growing apprehensions in Washington, Kabul and elsewhere on the mountingdisorder in Pakistan, Islamabad may be pushed into launching selective, if notlarge-scale, military operations in the NWFP and FATA. Given the prevailingdynamic, however, this will only raise violence even further – even as anyeffort to hammer out a negotiated deal with the extremists offers no relief.Pakistan, it appears, remains caught in a cleft stick, with no avenues ofescape.