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More troops to deploy in NWFP and Tribal Areas
A high level meeting chaired by President Pervez Musharraf on Monday decided to deploy additional forces in NWFP and the tribal areas to combat a surge in militancy in the region, television news channels reported. According to Aaj TV, the government decided to expedite the recruitment of 15,000 troops in the security forces to maintain law and order in NWFP.

Some 100 people, mostly security personnel, were killed in three suicide bombings in NWFP and the tribal areas over the weekend, in attacks believed to be linked to the government operation to clear Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa in Islamabad of militants. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao, Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri and NWFP Governor Jan Orakzai also attended the meeting at the presidential camp office in Rawalpindi where the decision was made, Geo News reported. It added that the government also decided to enhance the capacity of the forces in these areas to effectively combat terrorism and militancy.

ISI Security officials at the meeting said they had warned the government about the expected reaction in the tribal areas and NWFP after the Lal Masjid operation. The meeting was told that a strategy was drawn up and approved by the president to cope with the expected backlash, but it could not be implemented at once.

Agencies add: The NWFP governor has been directed to hold the necessary parlays with tribal elders on the new security measures approved by the government, sources told Online.

Gen Musharraf said that the North Wazirstan accord was not signed with the Taliban but with tribal elders, and directed the NWFP governor to hold talks with these elders to revive the deal. He said Pakistan wants peace and stability in Afghanistan. The prime minister pledged at the meeting that the NWFP government would be given all the resources it needs to maintain law and order and the government’s writ in the province.

NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani did not attend the meeting, and the prime minister later called him up and discussed the security situation and the recent suicide attacks with him. He directed the chief minister to tighten security in the province.

The president and prime minister also held a one-on-one meeting where they discussed the North Waziristan peace, the “political role of opposition parties, role of religious parties, and increasing unrest among the people regarding law and order”, sources told Online.
Posted by: Fred 2007-07-17
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=193671