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| India-Pakistan |
| '2 more brigades deployed in tribal region' |
| 2007-07-04 |
| Two more army brigades have been deployed in the NWFP tribal region, according to a Pakistan embassy official. In a letter published in the Washington Times from the embassy’s press minister, M Akram Shaheedi, it has been said that the peace agreement in Waziristan was not concluded under pressure from the Pakistan army, but at the insistence of tribal chiefs who committed themselves to preventing terrorist activities in Pakistan or across the border into Afghanistan. Not a single solider has been withdrawn, he writes, “instead, more army brigades have been deployed quite recently, raising the troop strength to more than 85,000” in the region. The official claims that the policy is “paying dividends” as more than 300 foreign militants have been killed in the last couple of months. There are some “spoilers” but they would not succeed. The Taliban are not a “strategic tool” for Pakistan, as an article in the newspaper had suggested, he added. The letter suggests that the US should follow the same strategy in Iraq. |
| Posted by:Fred |