Guardian: Twelve years ago, a few weeks into the occupation of Afghanistan, I suggested (in these pages) that the euphoria aroused by an easy conquest was misplaced. It would be a long war and one of its side effects would be to seriously destabilise Pakistan. Unfortunately, events have not contradicted the analysis. The spillover into Pakistan has been creating havoc for years. The view that this has nothing to do with Afghanistan is too shallow to deserve serious consideration.
It’s no secret that, since 9/11, successive governments –Musharraf, Zardari and now the Sharif brothers – have agreed to US drone attacks and been aware of covert CIA operations being carried out in Pakistan. Opinion polls, however, reveal that a large majority of Pakistani citizens are opposed to US policies. The capitulation of liberal secular parties to Washington left the field wide open to armed groups of religious fundamentalists, who began to challenge the state’s monopoly of legitimate violence, presenting themselves as defenders of both Islam and the victimised Pashtuns in Pakistan. Their claims are false.
Last year alone the TTP (Pakistani Taliban Movement), the largest of the armed fundamentalist groups, carried out hundreds of attacks in different parts of the country, massacring several hundred innocents and half that number of security and military personnel. Who were the dead? Christians in Peshawar, Shias in other parts of the country, naval ratings in Karachi, intelligence operatives, and policemen and soldiers everywhere.
Categories: Asia
Pakistan enters peace talks with Taliban
Source: BBC
The first formal meeting between Pakistan’s government and a Taliban-nominated team has been held in Islamabad, officials say.
The talks are aimed at charting a “roadmap” for negotiations that will try to end a decade-long insurgency.
The government set out five conditions, including ending hostilities, saying a “journey for peace” had started.
The Taliban team agreed to travel to the north-west to discuss the conditions with the leadership.
Militants from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have been waging an insurgency inside Pakistan since 2007.
The talks initiative was announced last week by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, following a spate of attacks.
More than 100 people, including soldiers, died in Taliban attacks across the country in January. Thousands have been killed since the TTP came to the fore in 2007.
Continue reading the main story
I have been in the middle of terror for the past ten years (Iraq) and still cannot understand what use it is to murder innocent civilians … Perhaps some DNAs gone wrong? Malfunctioning genes?
The reason that Pakistan fate is tied with Taliban is that the government did not take courage to remove the bad laws due to the fear of Mullas. Those Mullas are the Taliban sitting within the country. They are the seniors of the Taliban. Had the government tried to remove the bad laws and done it, a good message would have gone to all, in and out of the country.
Because the legislators kept on sitting idle and the time passed away, The Taliban in hiding know that government is weak and afraid of the Maulvis. So they know they have good support from within country, and also from Taliban across the border. It won’t be easy for the Army to fight the menace.
Now, Nawaz Sharif has to pay a price or make sacrifice. That may also be to let in the Taliban into the government. God forbids.
Normally, I am not a great fan of Tariq Ali and his very visible anti-Pakistan triads in the past but this article is extremely nuanced and to the point.
Some people claim that Taliban were created by Pak army which is a direct incorrect rewriting of the history.
Taliban were created by CIA, with the help of Saudi money and Pakistan did help to set up training camps and supplied them fall back positions. But that was during Soviet era and not now.
Secondly, the question, no one is openly asking is; Who is supplying the Taliban sophisticated arms and training now as well as who is giving them sanctuaries. My guess is that Russia is heavily involved through its friend India to get the revenge of its defeat and make Pakistan as weak as possible for its strategic interests and get pipelines to the warm water ports.
Bashy! you live in a world of delusions, your own made hallucinations and you want to continue living in them.
Taliban are an offshoot of your own school of thoughts. They belong to you. As your are obsessed with brainwashed psychic of Russia or India enmity, a brainchild of Zia regime, you habitually make a failed attempt to annex this evil with India or Russia etc.
when these (Taliban) Muslims and your brothers according to Constitution of Pakistan, butcher innocent people, you and your brothers in Pakistan start saying……….whosoever do this they are not even humans rather than Muslims…………….but immediately soon after start saying….they are our angry brothers and were our vanguards of our religious and territorial borders so they should be brought round.
All leaders of Taliban have had close relations with Pakistani religious and political leaders and even journalists. They all inhabitants of Pakistan soil. all of them take oath on Afghan amir Mullah Omer.
So please stop distorting facts, it will only accelerate your retrograding position.
Taliban are punishment of Allah on these pseudo proud Muslims (real hypocrites) who still think the best Muslims on earth.
When you reject the Imam of times, the Allah appointed Imam Mahdi all disgraces will be poured on you.