Fighting a 'losing' war with the Taliban

[unhappycamper]

http://atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/SOU-03-270314.html



Fighting a 'losing' war with the Taliban
By Ashfaq Yusufzai
Mar 27, '14

PESHAWAR - Pakistan is in the midst of a heated debate on continuing military operations against the Taliban in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), especially after the brutal killing of 23 army soldiers last month. Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan claims that the government acknowledges that the army's chances of success are very low. Khan, head of the Pakistan Tehreek Insaf (PTI) party, has been pressing for talks with the Taliban.

"Militancy has increased in spite of the army's presence. Around 50,000 people, including 5,000 soldiers, have been killed by the terrorists," Khan tells IPS. His party is in power in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that adjoins FATA in the north of Pakistan.

"We have been urging peace talks because the military's intervention is no solution to terrorism. The Taliban are killing our soldiers and civilians in a war started at the behest of the US," Khan tells IPS.

The government and the Taliban have formed their respective committees to hold peace talks. But the efforts came under strain after the brutal killing of 23 Frontier Corps soldiers by the Taliban in Mohmand Agency in FATA on February 16. The army men had been in captivity since 2010.

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