Islamabad: Fearing an offensive by the Pakistan Army on their last bastion of North Waziristan, Pakistani Taliban have threatened to move into Afghanistan and launch an `unending war` from there.
A pamphlet purportedly distributed on Sunday by the "Mujahideen Shura of North Waziristan" in the market in Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan Agency, said the Taliban would ask Afghan president Hamid Karzai to provide them shelter if an operation is launched in the region.
"If the army starts another operation we will migrate to Afghanistan... But this will lead to an unending war in the region and jihad will continue ," the pamphlet said.
The shura or militant council said despite a few incidents , the Taliban will not violate a peace agreement they had signed with the government in 2007. It said such incidents would be investigated . The warning by Taliban comes amidst reports that the US is stepping up pressure on Islamabad to launch a military offensive in the tribal region, which they suspect to be the haven of al Qaeda and Haqqani faction of the Taliban.
The pamphlet further said there was a possibility that the Pakistan government will launch an operation in North Waziristan because it has received a fresh military aid package worth $2 billion from the US. It asked people to be prepared to "cope with the situation".
The wilds of North Waziristan , on Pakistan`s border with Afghanistan, have become a crossroads for terrorism . The US is pushing Pakistan to mount an offensive there before year end, but Pakistan is saying it won`t be rushed.
US chairman of the joint chiefs of staff admiral Mike Mullen has branded North Waziristan the "epicenter of terrorism," and President Barack Obama has said controlling it is key to winning the Afghan war.
Pakistani officers say the army will launch an offensive but the question is when.
Bureau Report
