The truth about the Punjabi Taliban (II)

LONDON: This is with reference to Khalid Munir’s article “The truth about Punjabi Taliban” (July 7). I wish his comrades in the military recognised the reality he presents. Their persistence in forging links with the “good Taliban” to maintain their “strategic depth” in Afghanistan at a time when retired officers are openly acknowledging the existence of training camps since the 1990s makes little sense. The lives of scores of innocent Pakistani citizens and soldiers have been lost at the hands of the militants but still deals are made with them. What about the army officers and soldiers who have died over the past year? If there are training camps on Pakistani soil and the government and military choose to do nothing about it, they are failing in their duty.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 8^th, 2010.