Either extradite or eliminate TTP chief: Pakistan to Kabul

ISPR DG says Fazlullah sitting in Kunar or Nuristan, Afghanistan needs to do something about it * Operation in North Waziristan will target all terrorists, including Haqqanis

Pakistan on Tuesday asked the Afghan government to either eliminate Pakistan Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) chief Mullah Fazlullah or extradite him to Pakistan.

Inter-Services Public Relations DG Maj Gen Bajwa said that terrorists of all hues and colours are being killed in the military operation in North Waziristan Agency. Ruling out any discrimination in the operation against terrorists in North Waziristan Agency, Pakistan on Tuesday made it clear that it will never allow anyone to use its territory against any other country.

Minister for States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) Abdul Qadir Baloch said this during a joint press briefing along with Minister for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage, Senator Pervaiz Rashid and ISPR DG Major Gen Bajwa. The briefing was held for foreign media on the ongoing military operation, Zarb-e-Azb. The minister for SAFRON said that anybody involved in terrorist activities would be eliminated irrespective of the group he belonged to.

He said the internally displaced persons (IDPs) of North Waziristan have given the supreme sacrifice for the country by leaving their homes and they are our national heroes. He thanked the Pakistan Army for providing support to the civilian administration to cope with the IDP crisis. ISPR DG Asim Bajwa said that the army will eliminate Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Mullah Fazlullah whenever he comes to Pakistan.

Bajwa urged Afghanistan to do more to track down hardline cleric Fazlullah, who took over the TTP leadership last year after previous chief Hakimullah Mehsud was killed by a US drone. “This is something we have been crying hoarse – this has been raised at every level,” he said. “The leader of the TTP, Mullah Fazlullah is sitting across the border in Kunar or Nuristan and Afghanistan needs to do something about it.”

Nervous laughter rippled around the room as Bajwa faced aggressive questioning about whether the military was pursuing the Haqqanis or allied Taliban commanders who stage attacks inside Afghanistan but leave Pakistani forces alone. Although Bajwa did not refer specifically to the Haqqanis, he promised that the military would go after “terrorists of all hue and color” and there would be no discrimination between Taliban factions.

To a question, he said that it was totally Pakistan’s own operation and the country has only requested Afghanistan and ISAF to seal the border so that the terrorists do not cross the Durand Line. The ISPR DG made it clear that drone attacks were not part of the plan, as Pakistan was using its own air force very effectively and with precision.

He said that Pakistan has an estimate on the number of terrorists in North Waziristan and not a single terrorist would be spared in the operation. About the success of the operation, he said that the target was to re-establish writ of the state in the agency, eliminate all the terrorists and make the agency ready for development works like those in South Waziristan. To a question about delay in the operation, Abdul Qadir Baloch said that there was a popular demand that peace should be given a chance and the government was extremely sincere in talks, but the TTP broke the dialogue process and started terrorist activities.

Pakistan, he said, has given great sacrifices in the war against terrorism, and the terrorist sanctuaries present in FATA were not made by Pakistan. He said that Pakistan would not ask for any financial support from the international community but the world community should realise its responsibility and do what it was supposed to do. He said that target was to break the TTP and there were clear signs that it was breaking