US must seal border for Waziristan push: Pakistani official
Pakistani soldiers at Pak-Afghan border. — File photo
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has told Washington that US forces must seal the Afghan border in the event of any offensive against the Al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network in North Waziristan, an official said Saturday.
The Haqqanis, blamed for some of the deadliest attacks in Afghanistan and whose leaders are believed to be based in the Pakistani tribal district, is one of the thorniest issues between Islamabad and Washington.
“The Americans have been repeatedly told that they will have to seal off the border on the Afghan side whenever an operation is launched in North Waziristan,” a senior Pakistani security official told AFP.
Without protecting the porous, mountainous border, militants would simply escape into Afghanistan, where Pakistan has no writ, the official explained.
He claimed that Americans have “never been encouraging on this point” and accused them of failing to seal the border when operations were planned twice before in North Waziristan.
On August 3, The Wall Street Journal reported that Pakistani and US officials were considering joint counter-terrorism campaigns in Afghanistan and Pakistan against the Haqqanis and Taliban fighters who attack Pakistan.
The paper said the campaigns would mark an upturn in cooperation after more than a year of rancorous relations and stamp out major threats facing each country.
Pakistani officials later denied any agreement with the United States for a joint operation in North Waziristan, and said “routine” actions on each side of the border “should not be mistaken for ‘joint operations’”.
What about freeing ourselves from the terror groups within out country, who are going around killing innocent Pakistani's. The gov job is to protect the citizens not allow them to be tortured and slaughtered by terrorist within the Country. Once the Army acts to root these terrorists the People of Pakistan can become a economic powerhouse inshallah.
Tahir you said 'world leader and economic powerhouse'; leader….no. We don not have leaders of any quality. Powerhouse…no. we cannot even power our own out-house. Inshaallah…yes that out to do it.
American will never seal the border , and even its not possible in reality……….. American know it very well, if they try to seal the border ……. they will pay heavy price in form of there own forces…….. All the americans are Good at shouting ” DO More and Do MOre “
Tahir, well said.
US will never seal the border from that side because their soldiers are more important than our soldiers. Every US demand in this war has resulted in higher death toll of our men – and yet we are allies!
How come the Pakistani legal system is not enforced in Fata and yet the Haqqanis & Taliban there want to influence through IK Pakistani foreign policy?
Pakistan needs to fight voilent extremists in its own interest, without outside proding.
Pakistan needs to stop the war on terror and not play into american hands who are determined to destroy the country from within. Any country that wants to prosper needs to respect it's citizens and not kill them. Pakistan needs new dynamic leadership which can free us from the yokes of america and make Pakistan a world leader and economic powerhouse inshallah.
dream on… smell the coffee honey.
unfortunately many Pakistanis live in "Fool's Paradise". They have no understanding of the Geo-Political realities of the present day world. . They should " trust in God, but also keep the powder dry". Your cannot survive in the world with friends. USA can be a good friend, if dealt properly. Learn from China, it opened up to US and western world and prospered. The Taliban live in stone-age, and want to drag Pakistan to the same era of Absolute Ignorance and barbarity. They are no friends of Pakistan, they want to destroy it.
"…respect its citizen…." seriously! These are the same people who have carried out suicide attacks, blown up mosques, schools and attacked/killed over 40, 000 Pakistanis to advance their obscurantist views of Islam. They have destroyed the economy, infrastructure and security of our beloved Pakistan and you have the gall to call them the citizens of Pakistan. You are living in a fantasy world. Pakistan can prosper only if these people are eliminated, its plurality is respected instead of converting everybody to a particular and harmful interpretation of religion as propagated by these illiterate mullahs and their followers. God Bless!
well said boss,unfortunately most of the pakistanis are not understanding the level of threat coming from these cold blooded killers,there are only two ways to deal with them, either lay down your arms in front of them and accept their way of life or fight with them and defeat them ,kill every memeber of their organisation and safeguard your nation,i think for survival,Pakistani nation has to adopt the second way.
Very well said Tahir.
Unless we seal the border, operation will never bear any fruit. Americans need to understand this.
Go ahead and seal the pakistani side of the border.Its the pakistan army's responsibility to make sure the border is sealed.
Why do we need to launch and operation there is the first place. So that it can help the US war on terror and further destabelise pakistan