The war on terror from a Pakistani perch
Posted: Tuesday, February 20, 2007 8:30 AM
Filed Under:
Islamabad, Pakistan
By Carol Grisanti, NBC News Producer
Sipping hot spicy tea and enjoying local delicacies on the roof of the Lwara Fort, a red brick outpost of the Pakistani army, 6,000 feet up in the snow covered mountains of North Waziristan and about a half mile from the Afghan border, it felt more après ski than a view onto one of the most dangerous frontlines in the war on terror.
"That’s the Chandi Gap where most of the firefights between the militants, the coalition and us takes place," said Brig. Rizwan Akhtar, the Pakistan fort’s commander, as he pointed out a pass in the icy hills leading straight into Afghanistan.
We were in Taliban country. The Taliban and al-Qaida militants hold sway here; not the Pakistani army.
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| Carol Grisanti / NBC News |
| A Pakistani border guard at Lwara Fort in North Waziristan, Pakistan. |
"It’s physically not possible to seal the border by deploying troops," said Maj. Gen. Azhar Ali Shah, Commander 7th Division, North Waziristan. "But we make it very difficult for them."
The army was keen to show us just how difficult it is to police this inhospitable terrain, a long mountain border of jagged peaks, some as high as 15,000 feet, deep rugged ravines and countless treacherous paths successfully traversed by smugglers for centuries.
Pakistan border post
We were taken in military helicopters through the mountains of the remote tribal area of North Waziristan on Saturday, visiting the border posts of the Pakistan Army’s 7th Division.
Pakistan has deployed 80,000 troops along its 1,500 mile border with Afghanistan; 20,000 troops, 97 border posts and 38 rear posts are in North Waziristan alone. (On the other side, by comparison, in Patikia Province of Afghanistan, NATO and Afghan forces have only six posts.)
But that hasn’t stopped the cross border raids and suicide attacks on U.S., NATO and Afghan forces. Pakistan rejects accusations that North Waziristan is a haven for Taliban fighters and a recruiting ground for would-be suicide bombers. And army officers bristle at accusations that soldiers guarding the border outposts sometimes turn a blind eye to the movements of Taliban fighters.
"If we were letting the Taliban cross back and forth, we wouldn’t be sitting here in this weather," insisted Shah.
Touching down at an altitude of 9,330 feet, we climbed the slippery steps to Mangro Tai, the army’s outpost in the Shakai Valley where fierce gun battles between the Pakistani army and militants have taken place. This is where NATO and Afghan forces killed 150 militants after they crossed from here into Afghanistan in January. The Pakistanis killed the rest as they tried to cross back.
All of this hasn’t been enough to stop the criticism that Pakistan isn’t doing enough to stem the Taliban threat. U.S. military officials in Afghanistan say cross border attacks in areas adjacent to North Waziristan have increased. And they are gearing up for an even greater surge in violence in the coming weeks as the snows melt.
Pakistan’s U.S. and NATO allies blame a controversial peace deal Pakistan signed last September with tribal elders and local pro-Taliban militants in North Waziristan. The militants promised to stop cross border attacks in Afghanistan and live peacefully in Pakistan in return for a halt in Pakistani army operations in the tribal agency.
Last week the outgoing commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry told the House Armed Services Committee that since signing the deal, cross border militancy has tripled.
Doing best they can
Shah defended the peace agreement and said Pakistan is doing all it can.
"This political agreement is not a switch-off-on business that you sign a deal and the next day everything is stopped. It cannot happen," said Shah.
To prove the point even further, the army invited the elders (or maliks) of the tribes and sub-tribes of North Waziristan to meet the media back at a main base in Miranshah, capital of North Waziristan.
"We will defend this agreement with full force," said Malik Gul Abad Khan wearing dark sunglasses and the traditional baggy pants and a long shirt. "There is no connection between us and the terrorists fighting across the border, we do not support them in any way."
The man who inked the peace with the elders and the militants on behalf of Pakistan’s government, Ali Muhammed Jan Aurakzai, governor of the North West Frontier Province, told reporters over the weekend that Pakistan has become a victim of terrorism because of what’s happening in Afghanistan.
"Outside of Kabul and a few military bases, Afghanistan is free for militants, terrorism and corruption," said Aurakzai. "Why should they come here to look for havens when they have an entire country."
Back at Lwara Fort, Shah told us that in about 15 days time, when the snows begin to melt, the army will start erecting a 8 to 12 foot high fence stretching some eight miles along the border's hills. "We hope to stop them sneaking past in the night," he said, "but it’s not only our responsibility."
