Pakistani government trying to retake Buner

[Saddle Bronc 124]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8014167.stm

Pakistan bid to stop Taleban push

The Pakistan government has sent troops to tackle Taleban militants who have advanced into a region just 100km (67 miles) from the capital, Islamabad.

Officials say the forces will protect government buildings in Buner district, where insurgents have begun patrolling the streets and mounting checkpoints.

As the troops moved into the region, insurgents launched an attack on their convoy, killing at least one soldier.

The militants advanced from the Swat Valley, a region they largely control.

The BBC's Mark Dummett in Islamabad says if the government is trying to reassert control over the region, its efforts appear to be too little, too late.

The Taleban are reported to have moved several hundred men into Buner from the Swat Valley.

The government sent six platoons - up to 300 men - to deal with the insurgents.

A police official told the BBC that the troops were attacked as they were leaving the village of Totalai in the south of Buner district.

The convoy was heading for Dagar, the central town of the largely mountainous district.

Springboard

The confrontation comes just weeks after a peace deal was signed by President Asif Ali Zardari allowing the introduction of Islamic law in Swat.

The deal was designed to end a bloody 18-month conflict with the Taleban in Swat by yielding to some of their demands.

But critics say that the militants can now use Swat as a springboard to take over new areas of the country.

I guess Pak government thinks it has more "divine favour" than Neville Chamberlain did in dealing with Hitler--or that they never saw the parallel of their Swat deal with these

The BBC's Ilyas Khan says many people believe Buner could be the next battlefield for the Pakistani security forces after Swat.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier said the insurgency posed a "mortal threat" to world security.

A "solution" of sorts (which will not cover NWFP and FATA--as control of these has been irretrievalby lost) will probably be implemented this year--namely, a takeover as dictator by Kayani. Result: stable government in Punjab and Sindh, Sicily-like situation in NWFP and FATA, won't guess on Balochistan

Speaking to a Congress committee, Mrs Clinton said the Pakistani government was "basically abdicating to the Taleban and the extremists".

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good for them.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Get those Islamic terrorists!!!!! Woot!!

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Taliban leader ordered a temp withdrawal (they've already shown impotence of Zardari, now "marking time" and building up for next confrontation) which Zardari will attempt to spin-doctor.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8015949.stm

Taleban announce key withdrawal

The Taleban say they are withdrawing from a Pakistani district where their consolidation of power this week has caused deep concern in the US.

A Taleban spokesman said commander Maulana Fazlullah had issued the order for fighters to pull back from Buner, just 100km (62 miles) from Islamabad.

The US has accused officials in Pakistan of abdicating to the Taleban.

The Taleban have agreed a peace deal bringing Sharia law to some districts in return for ending their insurgency.

The peace deal covers six districts of Malakand division, including the troubled Swat region, in North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

The Taleban have almost full control of Swat and this week had strengthened operations in Buner.

Delegation

Taleban spokesman Muslim Khan said: "Our leader has ordered that Taleban should immediately be called back from Buner."

The move came after Maulana Fazlullah had met the commissioner of Malakand.

Administration officials in NWFP have confirmed that Taleban fighters have started to leave.

A delegation from the Taleban and the cleric who negotiated the peace deal, Sufi Muhammad, is on its way to Buner to oversee the withdrawal.

Muslim Khan said the militants had just crossed from Swat into Buner as "a gesture of solidarity" with local comrades.

He said the Taleban would be gone by Saturday but denied that the militants were leaving due to pressure from the government or under any deal.

But the BBC's Syed Shoaib Hasan in Islamabad says circumstances suggest the militants are now under pressure and that a national consensus is building among the public and political parties that they must be challenged with force.

Pakistan's government has clearly stated that unless the Taleban lay down their arms, other options will be considered.

Pakistan's chief of army staff Gen Ashfaq Kayani rejected criticism of army inaction in Malakand.

"The operational pause, meant to give the reconciliatory forces a chance, must not be taken for a concession to the militants," he said.

Sympathy for the militant movement has been on the decline, our correspondent says, since the airing of footage showing a young girl being flogged as a punishment in Swat.

Although the Taleban denied ordering the punishment, their public standing has plummeted.

At least 10 more paramilitary platoons totalling about 200 men have now arrived in Buner to take control of government buildings.

The latest moves followed a meeting of government officials in North West Frontier Province to discuss the faltering peace deal.

Ahead of the meeting provincial spokesman Iftikhar Hussain had said: "Those who took arms must lay them down. Those who went to Buner, they must get out from Buner.

"This is the only way, and we are asking them for the last time."

The Taleban had been expected to lay down their arms under the peace deal and allow police and other officials to resume their duties.

However, the Taleban had further consolidated their hold on Buner.

On Wednesday they ambushed a paramilitary convoy at the border village of Totalai and prevented it from reaching Buner's central town of Dagar.

The US had expressed deep concern over the developments.

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Pakistan posed a "mortal threat" to the world by abdicating to the Taleban.

On Thursday US Defence Secretary Robert Gates warned Pakistan that relations with the US would be threatened unless Islamabad combated the rise of the Taleban.

Translation: "we're ready to return Afghanistan to Taliban whom Jorge Bush ousted, but we still need Pakistan not to be in Taliban hands"