Kayani rejects notion of Islamabad ‘not doing enough’
ISLAMABAD: Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani vowed to defeat terrorism and rejected the notion of Islamabad “not doing enough” in the anti-Taliban fight, the military said on Thursday.
His comments followed remarks by Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, accusing the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency of having ties with the Afghan Taliban in tribal belt.
The Army chief “strongly rejected the negative propaganda of Pakistan not doing enough and Pakistan army’s lack of clarity on the way forward,” the military said in a statement, a day after Mullen met top generals in Islamabad.
Kayani said that the “army’s ongoing operations are a testimony of our national resolve to defeat terrorism”, according to the statement. In an interview with Geo, Mullen – the highest ranking officer in the US armed forces – said: “ISI has a long standing relationship with the Haqqani network, that does not mean everybody in ISI but it is there.”
The statement did not mention the Haqqani network. The army defended its stance against terrorism in general and acknowledged that a “trust deficit between the institutions as well as the people” existed between the US and Pakistan.
But Kayani and Mullen re-stated their aims of building “reciprocal respect towards each other’s sovereignty” and the statement said “security ties will not be allowed to unravel between the two armed forces”.
Kayani said public support was key to success in the war against terrorism but said that controversial US drone strikes “not only undermine our national effort against terrorism but also turn public support against our efforts”. -AFP
Our Peshawar Correspondent adds: COAS General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani Thursday visited the Mohmand Agency where the security forces have launched another round of operation to secure the strategic Suran Darra from militants, led by Abdul Wali alias Omar Khalid.
An ISPR statement said Gen Kayani’s visit to the Mohmand tribal region coincided with the successful beginning of Phase-2 of Operation Brekhna launched to clear the Suran Sector of Mohmand Agency.
The security forces in the past couple of years conducted series of military operations in the region against tribal militants affiliated with the TTP commander Abdul Wali. The ISPR in the statement said the operation to clear Mohmand Agency of insurgents was launched on the strong demand of local population and political administration, who were constantly being subjected to atrocities including suicide bombings, target killing of tribal Maliks, kidnappings for ransom and extortions.
Kayani lauded the efforts of the political administration for efficiently managing more than 50,000 persons displaced as a result of the military operations and ensuring return of approximately 45,000 of them in record time.
Source: The News
Date:4/22/2011
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