The military called on al-Qaeda-linked militants to surrender on Saturday after security forces killed a top tribal commander, Nek Muhammad. Military spokesman Major-General Shaukat Sultan said an amnesty would be offered to foreign fighters with al-Qaeda network and the local tribespeople who had sheltered them, but only if they laid down their arms. "In case of locals, amnesty will be given to those who lay down their weapons and denounce militancy," Sultan said. "Foreigners will have to do the same, but they will also have to get themselves registered, photographed and fingerprinted." Failure to take up the offer, he said, would invite a further crackdown by the military, which has been battling the militants for months in a campaign to rid the country of radicals. "If there is any backlash, we are prepared to deal with it," Sultan said, adding that more than 80 militants, mostly foreigners, and 18 soldiers had been killed in fighting so far this month.
| 1:4 kill ratio's a little low. The Paks prob'ly need more practice? Might I suggest a seris of live-fire exercises? North Waziristan? Balochistan? Cleaning out the Bugtis? Then, when they think they're ready for a full-scale operation, stage an assault on Karachi. |
Sultan said the local tribesmen would help the security forces to hunt foreigners. "A tribal army of 2,000 drummers men is being raised for this task."
| That's got the Bad Guys quaking in their curly-toed slippers, I'm sure... |
In Kabul, the coalition forces’ Lieutenant-Colonel Tucker Mansager said Nek Muhammad’s death would be a blow to the foreign militants. "It’s our hope that his death will help disorganise the ongoing fight by the foreign fighters in the tribal areas of Pakistan and allow the Pakistani military to better destroy the terrorists that remain in that area." |