News
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Army vows to fight using own resources* Corps commanders conference resolves to fight menace of terrorism in national interest
* Defence minister says government will withdraw armed forces fighting near Afghan border if all things become difficult
RAWALPINDI/ISLAMABAD: The country’s top military commanders, on Tuesday, reiterated the resolve to fighting the menace of terrorism in national interest using “our own resources”.
The reaffirmation of the decision came during the 140th Corps Commanders’ Conference at the General Headquarters. The military had, on Monday, said it could do without US assistance by depending on its own resources.
During the conference, which was chaired by Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the highest military forum was briefed in detail about the security situation in the country in general and ongoing operations in Kurram and Mohmand tribal areas in particular. Matters of operational preparedness were also discussed.
As the relations between the United States and Pakistan have been on the downward spiral after the unilateral American raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad without informing Islamabad beforehand, Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar in a televised interview on Tuesday threatened to pull back troops from the Afghan border in response to US aid cuts.
“If Americans refuse to give us money, then okay. I think the next step is, the government or the armed forces will move the soldiers from the border areas,” Mukhtar said, adding, “If at all things become difficult, we will just get our armed forces back.”
“We cannot afford to keep our military... it costs you extra amount of money when you are having soldiers in the mountains, so we will definitely use that tool.”
Mukhtar later told Reuters that Pakistan wanted the money spent on the maintenance of its army in the Tribal Areas. “This is what we are demanding,” he said. “It is our own money.”
Although Mukhtar has previously made statements that did not come to fruition, his remarks are significant at a time when public relations between Islamabad and Washington are at an all-time low since the war on terror began.
At the corps commanders’ conference, General Kayani appreciated the conduct of the ongoing military operations and the support of locals in flushing out terrorists from their area.
Referring to Mohmand Agency, he instructed that all efforts must be utilised in coordination with the civil administration for safe return of internally displaced persons (IDPs).
Kayani said that the aim of the operation in Kurram Agency was to clear the area of miscreants involved in terrorism, kidnapping, killing of locals and the blocking of a road connecting Lower Kurram with Upper Kurram.
The US had, on Sunday, confirmed that it had decided to withhold a third of its annual $2.7 billion security assistance to Islamabad, bringing relations to a new low. Cuts of $800 million reportedly include about $300 million used to reimburse Pakistan for some costs of deploying more than 100,000 soldiers along the Afghan border. agencies.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk