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| India-Pakistan |
| Pakistain: Taliban resisting US-backed attacks, claims Qari Ziaur Rahman |
| 2008-10-21 |
| (AKI) - By Syed Saleem Shahzad - A prominent Pakistani Taliban leader claims the Taliban has developed a successful strategy to survive a US-sponsored military operation by Pakistani troops as well as NATO troops in Afghanistan.Qari Ziaur Rahman, commander-in-chief of all pro-Taliban groups in the tribal regions of Bajaur and Mohmand in Pakistan and Kunar and Nooristan in Afghanistan, spoke to Adnkronos International (AKI) in a telephone interview from the border region of Bajaur. "We have made an arrangement with Baitullah Mehsud, leader of Pakistan's Tehrik-i-Taliban, to resist the US-backed operation against the Taliban and we have an arrangement with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan led by Mullah Omar to fight against NATO troops in Afghanistan," Qari Ziaur Rahman, said in an interview from Bajaur. Qari Ziaur Rahman is the main commander who led fierce resistance against Pakistani troops in Bajaur. Pakistan claimed he had been injured and fled to Afghanistan but he denied the reports. He told AKI that he was healthy and remained active in Bajaur actively resisting action by Pakistani troops. "A little pause occurred in the beginning of our operations against NATO troops in the Kunar valley when Pakistan launched attacks against the Mujahadeen in Bajaur but now we are very much back in business and carry out daily attacks against NATO troops," he told AKI. Asked whether groups operating in Bajaur were behind recent attacks such as the devastating Marriott Hotel bombing and the attack against the anti-terrorism cell in Islamabad, he said that various groups were operating in Bajaur and there could have been retaliation from any group against the brutal bombing by Pakistani air forces. Qari Ziaur Rahman said that the government's strategy to use tribal militias against the Taliban were ineffective. While they destroyed some Taliban properties in Bajaur he said the Taliban had succeeded in taking back control of all tribal towns on the ground, except for a few like Khar, and that the tribal militia men had fled. "The government forces do not dare to put their feet on the ground. They are just fighting us from the sky through bombardment and shelling," Qari Ziaur Rahman said. |
| Posted by:Fred |