Wednesday, February 18, 2009
AFTER PAKISTAN, TALIBAN NOW PLAN TO TARGET INDIA
After Pakistan, Taliban has now set its sights on India, intelligence sources said on Tuesday. Pakistan has gambled that an offer to introduce Islamic law to parts of the northwest will bring peace to the troubled Swat valley, but analysts fear any lull won't last long and appeasement will embolden the Taliban.
Western officials fear Pakistan is taking a slippery road that will only benefit al Qaeda and the Taliban, but Pakistani authorities believe the alternative of using overwhelming force on people who are, afterall, Pakistani posed a greater danger.
The central government has said the Sharia Nizam-e-Adl, or the judicial system governed by Islamic sharia law, won't be implemented in the Malakand division of North West Frontier Province, which includes Swat, unless the guns fall silent. The Taliban announced a 10-day ceasefire on Sunday, while the NWFP government has said that while the military will remain deployed in Swat, there won't be any offensives, only reactive actions.
Amnesty International estimates that between 250,000 and 500,000 people have fled their homes since late 2007, when the Taliban revolt began in Swat, an alpine region 130 km (80 miles northwest of Islamabad. Tens of thousands have fled since August last year after an earlier peace deal broke down.
Western officials fear Pakistan is taking a slippery road that will only benefit al Qaeda and the Taliban, but Pakistani authorities believe the alternative of using overwhelming force on people who are, afterall, Pakistani posed a greater danger.
The central government has said the Sharia Nizam-e-Adl, or the judicial system governed by Islamic sharia law, won't be implemented in the Malakand division of North West Frontier Province, which includes Swat, unless the guns fall silent. The Taliban announced a 10-day ceasefire on Sunday, while the NWFP government has said that while the military will remain deployed in Swat, there won't be any offensives, only reactive actions.
Amnesty International estimates that between 250,000 and 500,000 people have fled their homes since late 2007, when the Taliban revolt began in Swat, an alpine region 130 km (80 miles northwest of Islamabad. Tens of thousands have fled since August last year after an earlier peace deal broke down.
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