US to crack down on Fazlullah’s Taliban militia

The United States has assured Pakistan that NATO troops based in Afghanistan would take effective measures against Maulvi Fazlullah-led Pakistani Taliban, who are involved in cross-border militant attacks on Pakistani posts from the Afghan provinces of Kunar and Nuristan and their hideouts, if found, would be eliminated. Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General Lt General Zaheerul Islam, who visited Washington in the beginning of this month, had focused talks with Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director David Petraeus and other senior American officials on the repeated attacks by Afghanistan based Pakistani Taliban (Fazlullah group) in Dir, Chitral and Bajaur border regions. Pakistani officials said on condition of anonymity that the ISI chief had also given “concrete evidence” to the CIA director and other officials in Washington about the hideouts of Fazlullah-led militants in Kunar and Nuristan, telling them that according to intelligence information, these terrorists had also been provided arms and ammunition from the other side of the border. Fazlullah and dozens of his followers crossed over to Afghanistan after they were defeated by the Pakistan Army in a major military operation in Swat in 2009. The group kept a low profile there, but began attacking Pakistani forces some months later, killing several soldiers deployed in the border regions. There has been a renewed surge in these militant attacks in recent months. “The ISI chief asked for immediate measures by US and NATO forces against Fazlullah’s group, telling CIA officials that as a friendly state and major partner in the war on terror, it was Washington’s responsibility to eliminate threats to the security of allies like Pakistan,” said an official seeking anonymity. He said the US officials in response came up with assurance that they would take all possible measures against the militants and their alleged hideouts in Kunar and Nuristan. However, he said the US once again asked for a full-fledged military operation against the ‘Haqqani network’ allegedly based in North Waziristan. Another official confirmed that the ISI chief had shared evidence with the American authorities against Maulvi Fazlullah-led Taliban, but it would be wrong to suggest that US had linked any action against the group with an offensive in North Waziristan. He said the operation in North Waziristan was an old American demand and they raised the issue with the ISI chief again. The official said Pakistan could go for a ‘selected’ and ‘targeted’ military action in North Waziristan without any discrimination against the militants there, but a major and full-fledged army operation in the near future couldn’t be carried out. “They (Americans) shall understand Pakistan’s constraints. Our security forces are engaged in anti-terrorist efforts in several areas across the country and they are overstretched, so it would be asking for too much to involve them in another full-fledged military operation,” the official said.