AKI : Pakistan: Militants blame US official's visit for fierce battles

Pakistan: Militants blame US official's visit for fierce battles

by Syed Saleem Shahzad | November 16, 2007

Karachi -- Fighting in Pakistan's north-western Swat Valley between security forces and supporters of pro-Taliban cleric Mullah Fazlullah, has increased in recent days because of a visit by a senior US official, a Fazlullah spokesman has claimed.

Deputy secretary of state John Negroponte arrived in Pakistan on Friday for talks on the current state of emergency and the future of the country.

"The operation in the Swat Valley was expedited in the last few days because of US official John Negoponte’s visit,” Fazlullah's spokesman, Sirajuddin told Adnkronos International (AKI) on Friday in an exclusive phone interview.

Negroponte was due to hold talks with Musharraf and other officials over the weekend.

“This is the policy of our government that they want to appease foreigners and spill the blood of their people,” Sirajuddin said.

Pakistani security forces have used artillery and helicopter gunships to target the hideouts of pro-Taliban militants in the north-western Swat Valley over the past few days.

Reports on Friday quoting army officials said that at least 40 rebels have been killed, raising the death toll from the past three days of clashes to 100.

However Sirajuddin claimed that over the past 28 days of fighting only 12 fighters loyal to Mullah Fazlullah died while 300 troops from the military and paramilitary forces were killed.

Unrest erupted in Swat in July when fugitive rebel leader Maulana Fazlullah launched a campaign for the imposition of Islamic or Sharia law in the valley. He ran a pirate FM radio station that called for a 'holy war' on government forces and the imposition of tough Islamic laws.

The government moved 2,500 troops into Swat earlier this month and the clashes between security forces and the militants have intensified this week.

There have also been reports that many civilians have been killed in the fighting and that the rebels have captured a string of villages and towns in Swat.

Pakistan's president General Pervez Musharraf, a close US ally in the fight against terrorism, cited rising militant violence as one of the reasons for his decision to impose a nationwide state of emergency on 3 November.

“They [the government] want to extract maximum dollars [from the United States]," said Sirajuddin referring to US aid to Pakistan.

"Sometimes they do that under the pretext of [helping] Afghan refugees, sometimes they extract dollars in order to attack madrassas [Muslim schools] and other times they do it through military operations," he said.

"The government helicopter gunships come and they strike the civilian population," said Fazllulah's spokesman.

"The mujahadeen are in good health at their locations," he said, adding that the militants manage to take cover even when the helicopter gunships strike but "in this process the helicopter fire hits common people."

Sirajuddin said that the army had decided to attack this area because it believed it was controlled by pro-Taliban militants.

"A ceasefire is a possibility but it is up to the government to decide," he said.

"However our government is under intense American pressure and therefore it is compelled to carry out the operation. But if you ask our opinion, a compromise is very easy.

"Our people want the enforcement of Islamic laws. If the government would enforce those laws, a ceasefire will happen immediately," said Sirajuddin.

Sirajuddin maintained that the despite military operations, neither the militants nor civilians have problems getting daily food items in the areas which are under the militants' control.

“However, this is the situation on our side," said Mullah Fazlullah's spokesman. "In areas which are under the government's control, people are facing difficulties in accessing food and other necessities.

"The government has imposed a curfew and its forces harass the people when they try to leave their homes,” he said.