The militants have successfully regrouped.
JUBAIL, SAUDI ARABIA: After the army operation in Swat valley and adjoining areas in 2009, a relative calm returned to the valley and this allowed social and business activities to slowly return to normal. But the recent attack by hundreds of militants in Upper Dir spread over three days, in which dozens of civilians and security personnel were killed, suggests that the militants have successfully regrouped. For starters, it indicates that the militants who fled Swat during the 2009 operation may have gone to Afghanistan where they regrouped and gathered their strength again.
So if the Americas are telling the Pakistanis to launch an attack in North Waziristan, the premise being that militants are using the agency to launch attacks on the US and Isaf forces in Afghanistan, why cannot Pakistan ask America to do the same, following the Upper Dir attack? Isn’t it the responsibility of the US, Isaf and Afghan forces to ensure that no militants cross over into Pakistan and carry out such attacks?
Masood Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, June 6th, 2011.
