Are the Pakistani Taliban defeated
The Times says that Pakistan has put the hurt on its home-grown Taliban menace in the tribal area:
Significant leaders of the Pakistani Taleban have been killed or captured in an onslaught of frontier ground and air attacks, a Pakistani general has told The Times.â??The militant command and control centres and their caches have been dismantled or captured,â? said Major-General Tariq Khan, one of the countryâ??s most experienced commanders in the frontier war with the Taleban. â??The kind of hits the leadership has taken, the casualties they have taken, the TTP [Pakistani Taleban] is no longer significant,â? he said. â??It has ended as a cohesive force. It doesnâ??t exist any more as an umbrella organisation that can influence militancy anywhere.â?
Given that the Pakistani Taliban are a huge menace to Pakistani society, it wouldn't make much sense for Khan to engage in empty boasting (whereas such claims made about the Afghan Taliban would have to be taken with huge grains of salt). But still, it seems a bit premature. Insurgent groups can remobilize under the radar, and how much infrastructure do the Pakistani Taliban need to carry off terrorist attacks in Pakistan's cities? Still, certainly encouraging news.
But what of al Qaeda, which is thought to be hiding in the tribal zone?
General Khan said: â??There was some Arab influence in terms of resources and money. We havenâ??t found a dedicated al-Qaeda command-and- control centre. My commandant in Bajaur . . . says itâ??s like a pinch of flour in a bag of salt â?? you get the flavour but canâ??t catch the individuals.â?
(AP Photo)
