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| India-Pakistan |
| Taliban in peace talks with Kurram's Turi tribe |
| 2010-10-29 |
| [Pak Daily Times] The Taliban are negotiating a peace deal with a Pak tribe in the northwest, tribal elders said on Thursday, that could give the forces of Evil access to remote strategic areas on the Afghan border. The talk of a deal between members of the Haqqani network -- one of the most dangerous Taliban factions -- and the Turi tribe in the Kurram region is likely to raise concerns in the United States which has been demanding Pakistain get tough with the forces of Evil fighting Western forces across the border. "We are holding talks to end violence and fighting in the region. People have become fed up with fighting," Sajid Hussain, a member of parliament involved in the talks, told Rooters. Hundreds of people have been killed in festivities between the Turi tribe and their rivals backed by the Taliban in recent months. The deal, which has not yet been finalised, could lead to the lifting of the siege of the Turi tribe and release of its members kidnapped by forces of Evil and their allies. But tribal sources said the forces of Evil would likely demand the use of roads passing through their territory to the Afghan border, though Hussain said Taliban had not yet made any such demand. "Even if they do so, we will not accept it," Hussain said. Kurram is one of the seven Pashtun tribal regions in Pakistain on the Afghan border, an area widely considered the headquarters of al Qaeda forces of Evil and their allies from all over the world. The region is a strategic prize for Pakistain, the forces of Evil and even the United States. It lies opposite Afghanistan's Paktia, Nangarhar and Khost provinces and is next door to North Wazoo, the main base of the Haqqani network in Pakistain. Its capital, Parachinar, is just over the mountains from Tora Bora, Afghanistan, which US and Afghan forces assaulted after the September 11 attacks in pursuit of Osama Bin Laden. NATO forces in Afghanistan launched a cross-border air raid in Kurram last month, killing two Pak soldiers after mistaking them as bad turbans. Most of the Pashtun who live on both sides of the Pakistain-Afghan border are Sunnis. But Kurram and neighbouring Orakzai region have a large number of Shias. Turis are Shias while the Taliban are Sunnis. The Turi have blocked Talibs from crossing their territory, preventing the Haqqanis and other Taliban factions from having an easy ride to Kabul. In response, the Taliban have blockaded Turi territory for more than two years, effectively cutting them off from the rest of Pakistain and laying siege to their lands. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Nato/US must back the Turi Tribe as the Pak army will back the Taliban! |
| Posted by: Paul2 2010-10-29 06:56 |