Pakistan Surrenders Bajour to Taliban Tribes; Most of NWFP Under Taliban Control

[malaymishra123]

Pakistan Surrenders Bajour to Taliban Tribes; Most of NWFP Under Taliban Control

Pakistan signs its third "peace deal" with the Taliban in the tribal agencies. The much anticipated Bajaur Accord – a peace agreement purportedly with the local tribal leaders of the Mamoond tribe and the government - has been signed in Pakistan's lawless tribal agency.

The details of the agreement are not yet available, however the Daily Times has described it as “a step towards a North Waziristan-like peace accord. Bajaur Agency.” Pakistan conveniently finished negotiations as international attention is on the crisis over the removal of Pakistan's chief justice.

It appears, like in the North and South Waziristan deals, that the government has openly negotiated with the Taliban and al Qaeda. “We hope that a North Waziristan-like deal is also reached between the government and tribal militants, led by Faqir Mohammad,” sources told Dawnon condition of anonymity. Faqir Muhammad is a senior leader within the Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM, or Movement for the Implementation of Mohammad's Sharia Law), the “Pakistani Taliban” who has sent over 10,000 foot soldiers to fight alongside the Taliban during the U.S. invasion in 2001.

TNSM is a banned terrorist movement inside Pakistan, and has been implicated in terrorist activity inside the country, including a suicide attack on Pakistani Army training base in Dargai in the Northwest Frontier Province in October of 2006. The attack killed over 45 soldiers. Faqir Mohammad is believed to have sheltered none other than Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda's second in command. An attack in Damadola in January of 2006 on Faqir's compound was aimed at Zawahiri, but killed upwards of 5 senior al-Qaeda leaders, including Abu Khabab al-Masri, al-Qaeda's chief of its weapons of mass destruction program.

An airstrike on the Chingai madrassa, which doubled as a Taliban training camp, killed up to 84 Taliban, including Liaquat Hussain, the leader of the madrassa, and Faqir's deputy. The attack came just days before the expected signing of the Bajaur Accord in October of 2006. Just days before the raid, Faqir openly praised al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. Faqir referred to bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar as “heroes of the Muslim world,” and he vowed joint efforts to fight the “enemies of peace” in the Bajaur Agency. Faqir calls the United States the enemy of peace.

Under the leadership of Faqir Mohammed and his TNSM, Bajaur has become an al Qaeda command and control center which is used to launch operations into eastern Afghanistan. Kunar, the Afghan province which borders Bajaur, is one of the most violent in Afghanistan.

The North and South Waziristan Accords have been famous failures, as the Taliban and al Qaeda openly rule in the agencies, virtually free of harassment by Pakistani government security forces. Terror training camps have been established and battalion sized formations of Taliban fighters sortie from Waziristan into Pakistan. The Bajaur Accord, like the North and South Waziristan Accords, signal the Pakistani government is unwilling to police its own borders, and is prepared to hand over even more territory to the Taliban and al Qaeda.
http://www.india-defence.com/reports/2944

[kidwaibhai]

OH come the hell on !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. Seriously that is why we have so many army personal there because we have given controll of an entire region to the taliban. Please lets not propagate indian propoganda on this forum and discuss matter of real significance

[araz]

Malay.
You know this is not the truth and is more for local(Indian) consumption. The fact remains that Pakistan has always had a system which it adapted from the British Raj in not interfering with the tribal areas in exchange for peace in the region. There are various reasons mainly socioeconomical and political and terretorial, which makes thia approach expedient, which can be debated seperately. What Pakistan has had to do recently is to reinforce the system, but rather than leaving it to local discretion, has tild the tribal elders, that unless they sort their own house out, the Army will step in and do the job for them .This would be inconvenient for both parties and there is to some extent a common threat perception which is not appreciated by both parties. The situation is not ideal but it is the most likely to produce results in the long term.
I hope my response has shed some light on the prevailing situation.
Regards
Araz

[Keysersoze]

Ok I followed the links and it did make me laugh as the guy who wrote is a "embed" hence he will have no clue what the hell is going on in the region he is writing about.

[SMC]

Indian propaganda should remain on indian forums. Do not bring it here.

[kidwaibhai]

Originally Posted by Ahsan_R

Indian propaganda should remain on indian forums. Do not bring it here.

completely true. this is so stupid this guy has no idea about the geo political situation. Even the British have done the same thing in Iraq and Afghanistan

[Keysersoze]

Originally Posted by Ahsan_R

Indian propaganda should remain on indian forums. Do not bring it here.

Ahsan, rather than constantly beating the drum of " Indian propaganda " why don't you prove the article wrong through discussion. SHOW that it is propaganda through research and facts.

[kidwaibhai]

But sometimes thing are so absurdly wrong that they dont even need justification
just a though that is but i do agree with you

[niaz]

The way the article is written is a text book illustration of what I call media spin.It reminds me of long time ago when Communists were elected in Kerala and some Western Media Head Lines suggested as if part of India was taken over by the Russians.

Who are Taliban ? This was the name given to the volunteers who were students of religious madarassas in the NWFP and volunteered to fight for the unity of Afghanistan. Dir and Bajour agencies have been strongholds of Tehrek Nifaz Fiqah Mohammadia ( TNFM) since the Zia ul Haq time, when all the relgious parties got financial and poiltical backing to fight against the Russians in the Afghan Jehad.

Nearly all Talibans are Pashtoons but these are the sons of the soil of the NWFP and Afghanistan. One mustn't forget that NWFP was a part of Afghanistan until Sikhs defeated the Afghans and annexed it. When British defeated Sikhs and annexed Punjab all areas under Sikh control became British India and subsequently Pakistan.

MMA was elected on anti US platform as a direct reaction to PAK govt U-turn in its Afghan policy. For quite a while, religious parties have had strong influence on the Pashtoon population on both sides of the border. This is illustrated by the fact that Mulla Mufti Mahmood ( father of Fazlur Rahman ) was Chief Minister of democratically elected NWFP govt during ZA Bhutto's era. The term 'Taliban' had not even been coined then. At that time secular Wali Khan's ANP ( then called NAP) was the other political force. After the Soviet Afghan invasion, ANP sympathised with the Babrak Kamal regime and called the Afghan refugees as "Bhagoras" meaning people who ran away. The result of this and that ANP did not denounce US Afghan invasion, caused secular ANP to be wiped out during 2002 elections and replaced by JUI of Fazlur Rahman; a very pro taliban party.

An impartial observer would describe the events as "Rise of militant Islam as a reaction to US Afghan policies" instead of saying " Bajour surrendered to taliban'. This is just sensationalizing the facts to make it more shocking and since taliban are synonymous with terrorists, it re-inforces the view that Pakistan is a hot bed of terrorism.

Personally, I am anti mullah and anti taliban. However, I also believe in democratic right of the people at large; I would grudgingly accept who so ever populace elects. I am however dead against media spin because such articles have a malicious intent of harming Pakistan. There is no denying the fact that media spin can twist the facts to such an extent that the oppressed appear as terrorist and the oppressor as pacifist. Prime example is FOX News. The news reports show the killing of one innocent Israeli victim a hundred times over but only mention in passing that 30 Palestinians were killed in Israeli revenge strike. While I sympthatise with the Israeli victims ( most of those are totally innocent) but to me a Palestinain is also a human being and deserves as much sympathy as an Israeli. India verses Pakistan media coverage is no different.

let me quote an Urdu verse

Junoon ko khirad kah dia, khirad ko junoon
Jo chahe apka ka husne karishma saz karey

It means that you have called madness as wisdom and wisdom as madness.
Your miraclous beauty can do whatever it desires.

[Lahori paa jee]

This is bad.

I feel this is the so called enlightened moderation thats widening the divide between the liberals and the religious fanatics.

We should never forget that Irani revolution and Afghan revolution started when they were at the height of modernisation

[Owais]

This is nothing but just a crap!
taliban are still unable to regain control in their own country so how the hell they can come to pakistan??
the athour of that artical is a fantic minded Anti-Pakistan

[SMC]

Originally Posted by keysersoze

Ahsan, rather than constantly beating the drum of " Indian propaganda " why don't you prove the article wrong through discussion. SHOW that it is propaganda through research and facts.

The propaganda is so obvious that I don't need to prove it wrong. Its like saying that the earth is round. We know that statement is not true, so we do not need to prove it.

[Bull]

Originally Posted by keysersoze

Ahsan, rather than constantly beating the drum of " Indian propaganda " why don't you prove the article wrong through discussion. SHOW that it is propaganda through research and facts.

You can also take the lead Key..

Originally Posted by keysersoze

Ok I followed the links and it did make me laugh as the guy who wrote is a "embed" hence he will have no clue what the hell is going on in the region he is writing about.

[Srirangan]

Why shoot the messenger? If the report is untrue, dispute it with facts.

PS: The original report was by an American, so there goes the 'Indian Propaganda' theory. Hint - BillRoggio.com

One would question why Musharraf signs peace deals with the Taliban in NWFP & FATA, while Balochis, Lawyers and Journalists bear the brunt of the state machinary.

[Keysersoze]

Originally Posted by Srirangan

Why shoot the messenger? If the report is untrue, dispute it with facts.

PS: The original report was by an American, so there goes the 'Indian Propaganda' theory. Hint - BillRoggio.com

One would question why Musharraf signs peace deals with the Taliban in NWFP & FATA, while Balochis, Lawyers and Journalists bear the brunt of the state machinary.

Guys the point regarding the "embed" idea (as Bill Roggio's page clearly states he is) is an extremely valid point. An Embed will is stuck within a American unit and will only see what they see. So how the hell has he got any experience of what is happening across the border? He strikes me as the kind of guy who would not last 30 seconds across the border whilst away from the protection of the vast American military machine. Therefore his knowledge of the situation across the border will be virtually non existent.