We are luring Pak army into a trap, and will then fight a long war: Taliban

November 3rd, 2009 Pakistan Taliban: 'We are prepared for a long war'PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A Taliban spokesman denied Tuesday that Pakistan has won a series of battlefield victories in its offensive in tribal South Waziristan, saying the militants are drawing government soldiers into a trap. "We are prepared for a long war," Azam Tariq told an Associated Press reporter by telephone.

October 23rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - The Pakistan Army may have pledged that it is going to root out the Taliban from its den in South Waziristan through the operation named 'Raah-e-Nijaat', but local residents are far from convinced that the government is really determined to wipe out the extremists, that it once nurtured. Despite repeated claims from the Pakistan Army that it is going to crush the extremists once for all in what has been termed as the 'mother of all battles', people see little change in the military's tactics.

October 18th, 2009 LONDON - Indians are now rushing to join the British Army to fight the Taliban.hey will be entitled to sign up as Commonwealth nationals. The current trend can be attributed to the recent threat of a Taliban victory in Afghanistan, which can have dangerous implications for Pakistan.

October 16th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Even as the Pakistan Army is all prepared and waits for a nod from the government to launch an all out offensive in South Waziristan, the Taliban's stronghold, many inside the Canadian government who deal with Pakistan and Afghanistan issues are suspicious of Islamabad's efforts. They believe that Pakistan's Army and intelligence (the Inter Services Intelligence) are far more concerned with countering India, than taking on the real enemy, which poses an existential threat to the country itself.

October 11th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Saturday's brazen terror attack on the Pakistan Army General Headquarters in Rawalpindi has added to the growing concerns about the stability of the nuclear armed nation, and experts have now pointed out that President Barack Obama should focus more on targeting the Taliban and other extremists in Pakistan. Military advisors believe the Taliban would keep on expanding and multiplying unless the Obama administration sends additional troops to thwart the challenge.

July 23rd, 2009 RAWALPINDI - The Pakistan Army has killed at least 27 Taliban fighters in various districts of the Malakand division in the last 24 hours. According to an ISPR statement, fighter jets pounded Taliban hideouts in South Waziristan killing six close aides of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud.

June 19th, 2009 PESHAWAR - The Taliban not only used sophisticated arms and ammunitions to install their command on key installations in Mingora, but also resorted to 'psychological warfare' against the security forces, Subedar Fazal Hameed, who defended the Mingora electric grid station for 20 days continuously before getting help from the military, has said. Hameed, a Frontier Corps subedar, denied the Taliban an access to the grid station, and fought bravely against the insurgents despite being short of arms and ammunition.

June 10th, 2009 LAHORE - One of the commanders of the Swat Operation, Major General Ijaz Awan, has said the Taliban started to arm themselves against the Pakistan Army after parliament decided to enforce the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation in Malakand Division. In an interview with a private TV channel, he said the Taliban had made Mingora their base, and then advanced towards Buner and other adjoining areas.

May 20th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The Swat military offensive may well see Pakistan recapturing the regions upon which the Taliban has established its control in the Valley, but the real question is that for how long it would be able to sustain the areas within its control. Experts fear that the Pakistan Army may not be able to hold the region under its grip for long.

May 20th, 2009 LAHORE - The Taliban is forcibly recruiting young men and training them to fight against the army. A young Taliban operative arrested by security personnel from the Mata tehsil region of the Swat Valley has disclosed that the outlawed unit is recruiting teenagers in large numbers to fight against the military in the ongoing operation in the Valley.

May 10th, 2009 TORONTO - The Pakistan army had vowed to quell the insurgency completely. Questions are being raised about whether the Pakistan Army is up to the task of defeating the Taliban in the Swat Valley, after it announced all out war against insurgents.

May 10th, 2009 LONDON - Pakistan Government may claim that it is fighting its 'own war' in the North West Frontier Province's Malakand and Swat Divisions, and is not merely taking action under the US pressure, but one thing is quite evident that the Pakistani army do not want to pump bullets into their 'muslim friends' rather they prefer fighting against India. Amid all frantic calls being made by the international community, and especially by the Obama Administration that the real threat to Pakistan comes from its internal factors and not from India, majority of its security personnel still believe that India remains their primary threat, the Telegraph reports.

April 29th, 2009 LAHORE - The Pakistan Army, which has until now vowed to stay away from the country's politics, may be compelled to act and initiate a coup if the government continues its submissive performance, a former Saudi intelligence chief has said. According to Turki al-Faisal, Pakistan has failed to deal with the Taliban in the right manner.

April 28th, 2009 LONDON - Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Kiyani has done an about-turn from his quiet, but shocking position that the Government's appeasement of the Taliban in the Swat Valley was a necessary step, a leading UK based daily has said. His view, it has emerged in the year and a half since his appointment, is that the army was built to fight India, not Pakistanis, The Times has said.

April 23rd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Pakistani Army must end its age old anti-India strategy and try to save Pakistan from becoming the caliphate of al Qaeda and the Taliban, according to a leading Islamabad based daily. The Taliban are linked to al Qaeda and they are counting on such elements in Punjab to help them take their war down to other parts of Pakistan.