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Friday, May 21, 2010
Pakistan army paying heavy price in war against terrorism* Washington says Pakistan has poured most of its energy into preparing for war with India, not tackling the Taliban
RAWALPINDI: Retired army captain Zafar Tajammal dismisses US demands for Pakistan to do more to fight terrorists as he chokes back tears.
His son, Captain Bilal Zafar, was killed by a rocket-propelled grenade while leading a charge against entrenched Taliban fighters.
“I loved him so much that once I told him, I will not get you married because I love you so much I am afraid I will not be able to share my love with your wife,” he said.
“If there was an American dignitary sitting in front of me, I would certainly try to ask him, what else can a human being do more than sacrificing their life, has any other army in the world suffered so many casualties fighting terrorists,” he said.
That is a question that has often strained relations between the US and Pakistan, and it is being asked once again after US authorities said a Pakistani-American was behind the attempted bombing in New York’s Times Square.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility and threatened to carry out suicide bombings in major US cities.
Washington wants Islamabad to both crack down harder on Afghan Taliban who cross the border to Afghanistan to support a raging insurgency there, and on the homegrown Taliban.
Many in the US may wonder why Pakistan, with one of the world’s biggest armies, can’t just wipe out the Taliban.
The suggestion that Pakistan is not trying hard enough infuriates army officers who remember their fallen comrades. The military says the casualty figures speak for themselves.
Pakistan has lost 2,421 soldiers fighting militants since 2004, the military says. In Afghanistan, 1,777 US-led coalition troops have died since 2001.
There are currently 147,400 Pakistani troops stationed in the west and northwest along the Afghan border fighting Taliban, while total coalition troops in Afghanistan will number about 140,000 when a US troops surge is complete.
The army says a series of offensives have badly hurt the Taliban. But the Taliban still carry out suicide bombings and brazen attacks, including one on the army headquarters in Rawalpindi.
Preparing for war: Part of the problem – in Washington’s view – is Pakistan’s concentration on India. Pakistan has poured most of its energy into waging and preparing for conventional warfare against India, not tackling the Taliban.
The pain Major Ishtiaq Ahmed still feels everyday – years after his vehicle was hammered by a roadside bomb – reminds him of how effective the Taliban are.
Major Ahmed, who bristled at the suggestion Pakistani soldiers were not pressuring the Taliban enough, says he is ready for the battlefield again.
“They are damn good fighters,” said Ahmed. “The Taliban. All they need is a bottle of water strapped to their side, 50 bullets and a rifle, and they will just wait and wait on a hillside for a week for you to pass by, and attack.”
It’s a rare admission by a senior army officer that Pakistan’s all-powerful military is vulnerable.
Battling the Taliban is far more complex. For one, they often blend in with fellow ethnic Pashtun tribesmen and suddenly attack out of nowhere.
“If you find a person wearing a turban, with a Kalashnikov it does not mean he is a terrorist,” said another army official, Major Syed Imtiaz Shah. “You have to differentiate between friend and foe. You have to get local support.”
For now, Pakistan may have to rely on sheer determination to defeat the Taliban, and memories of those who died trying. reuters
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk