Deadly clash
The violent clash involving the Pakistan Army troops, militants and gunship helicopters that were called in by the soldiers, came a day after 10 persons — described as insurgents — had died in a drone attack. Their true identities remain difficult to ascertain. But it seems that the ambushing of a military convoy close to the Amin picket point near Miramshah was intended as a retaliatory attack by the militants. Nine soldiers were killed as the convoy came under heavy fire with rockets and other weapons directed towards it. The Amin picket point has been struck before, but this was one of the most ferocious attacks that it had faced. The military, which called in air reinforcement, says several militants were also killed, but it is hard to determine what their number may have been.
Tragically, there were also civilian casualties. In the aerial shelling that took place as the clash intensified, a mosque is reported to have also been struck, killing three civilians — including according to some accounts — the prayer leader at the mosque. We need to ask ourselves how long we can sustain such fighting; what toll is it taking on our country and what the final outcome is to be. It is clear that the militants remain capable of striking where and when they please. They do not appear to have been weakened at all, and this raises before us many difficult questions. We need to see whether we need a rethink of the strategy employed in the tribal areas. We need to find a way to end the violence, which has shattered the lives of the people of the region.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 10th, 2012.
COMMENTS (4)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
Where we didn't have a check post,in past,we have thousands of our forces there.If we become more responsible,we will succeed and our people can proceed the developmental projects.The army troops who past away,have done their level best,but our nonsense people don't come up with force of brotherhood and hit all the things off.
During the period 1945-47, immediately after WWII and before Independence, the British Indian army was conducting operations in Waziristan. We were little children then and we heard some war stories from an elder brother of mine (now no more) who served in European locations during the war and in Waziristan later on. Even the British government in India did not have much control in these areas which were then, and probably still are, greatly attached to ideas of freedom – tribal freedom. Perhaps not many knew where exactly the Durand Line was and tribals travelled across it with ease and without interference by the authorities. Perhaps the Pakistan government after Independence has found the going tough in this area. It is important to remember, however, that the time honoured processes like education and development are the only measures available to government. Army operations on any considerable scale may not be the answer to the current situation. In the absence of education and development, tribals shall remain ready recruitable material for the so-called Islamist forces. Someone should arise even at this late stage to bring the area and indeed the country away from Islamization, which cannot be an adequate basis for a modern State. Pakistan needs to walk back from the brink – slowly and deliberately. V. C. Bhutani, Delhi, India, 11 May 2012, 0420 IST
If your really fighting a full scale civil war then why aren't you using the majority of that big expensive army? The reality is that your casualties are usually associated with small patrols that are easily ambushed - perhaps it's past time to mount a full scale military campaign in N Waziristan just like the American's have been asking for many years - and if you decide to mount a campaign do it with the goal of eliminating the enemy rather than moving it to another section of Pakistan.
I am not surprised to see any comment on this article. Because re-thinking our strategy (as you suggested) is a difficult concept to grapple with even for the brightest of our intellectuals; why because America Saab Bahadar won't agree to it and how can we anger our Lords?