London, July 02: Pakistan has claimed that it has
turned the tide in its battle against Taliban and al-Qaeda
with 95 per cent of the Swat and Malakand areas had been
cleared of Islamist militias.
"I think we've turned the tide and democracy has
played a significant role," Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah
Mahmood Qureshi was quoted as saying by The Guardian.
Qureshi said 95 per cent of the Swat and Malakand areas,
which were seized by extremists, had been cleared of Islamist
militias since a government offensive began in May.
"As we've put on the pressure, the militants have
realigned. We are taking them all on. We are not picking
between a bad and a good terrorist. A terrorist is a
terrorist," he said.
The army has eliminated a lot of the second and third
tier leadership and that has hit their effectiveness, and
their capacity to regroup and counter-attack is diminishing
gradually, he added.
Claiming that public opinion had turned decisively
against the extremists over the last few months, paving the
way for the government's military successes, the Foreign
Minister said "today, public opinion has converted to such an
extent that the local tribes have set up lashkars (militias)
to support army operations."
Qureshi said the army was pressing deep into the South
Waziristan tribal territory, striking at the base of one of
the most powerful Pakistani warlords, Baitullah Mehsud.
Islamabad accuses Mehsud of masterminding the
assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto in December
2007.
People in the Swat valley had realised what Taliban rule
cost them in terms of lost livelihoods and missed education
for their daughters, and the Pakistani media had lost its fear
and illusions about the extremists, once portrayed as Robin
Hood figures, he said.
The Foreign Minister said a video of a 17-year-old girl
being flogged by the Taliban for being seen with a man who was
not her husband had a pivotal effect on public opinion.
"It put people into shock. People asked- is this the
Pakistan we want? And their answer was no," he added.
The report also quoted an opinion poll stating 80 per
cent of Pakistanis believe that the Taliban and other Islamist
extremists pose a "critical threat" to the country.
A previous poll in September 2007 found that only 34 per
cent viewed the Taliban as a threat.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, July 02, 2009, 21:40