 Former interior minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao told the New York Times in an interview published on Sunday that the rapid rise of the Taliban is to be attributed to the failure to take “swift and decisive action” against them.
Sherpao said, “The police are scared. They don’t want to get involved.”
The Frontier Corps was “too stressed”, he added, and while the Pakistan Army has forces in the Tribal Areas where the militants have built their sanctuaries, the soldiers have remained in their headquarters.
Total Talibanisation: He warned that there is a risk of “total Talibanisation” of the NWFP. He said the Taliban were well-financed, skilled at propaganda and paying political opponents to stay away from elections. “Unless you involve the political parties, civil society, [and] religious leaders, this is not going to make any headway.” |