Islamabad, Dec 01: Pledging complete support to the government in the event of hostilities with India, tribal elders in Pakistan's restive northwest asked the establishment to end anti-militancy operations in the region and divert troops to the eastern frontier.
Addressing a news conference in Miranshah, the elders said the government should end military operations in the tribal areas due to the tensions between Pakistan and India in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai.
The government should withdraw troops from the tribal areas and instead deploy three million tribesmen on the Afghan border, they said. The troops thus freed could be sent to the eastern frontier.
They said they would mobilise tribesmen to fight in the event of hostilities with the neighbouring country.
The outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan too offered unconditional support to the Pakistani government if hostilities broke out with India.
If India attacked Pakistan, the local Taliban would set aside its differences with the government and defend the frontiers, militant leader Maulana Faqir Mohammad told reporters in Bajaur tribal region.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, a key leader of the ruling coalition, said the government should not succumb to Indian pressure as the entire nation was with it.
Addressing a news conference in Lahore, he said the allegations made by India about a Pakistani link to the attacks in Mumbai were baseless.
"Call back the troops from the tribal areas, end the military operation and deploy the forces on the eastern border," he said.
IANS
First Published: Monday, December 01, 2008, 00:00