With the advent of Ramazan fighting in the troubled north-west is expectedly winding down, but as to the present state of militancy in the embattled areas two somewhat mismatching pictures have begun to emerge. According to ISPR chief Major General Athar Abbas, consequent to the three-week military operation in Bajaur area the Taliban militancy has been routed, killing 560 Pakistani and foreign fighters in the air and land-based operation lasting three weeks.
The militants' main leaders are on the run, fleeing to Afghanistan or some other parts of the NWFP. The operation, which cost the security forces some 20 dead and 30 missing, successively thwarted the Taliban's push to turn the Bajaur agency into a militant fortress, added the ISPR chief. With the "back of militancy broken" the mission entrusted to the army has been fulfilled in the toughest Taliban-infested Bajaur area.
But if the glass is half-full in the eyes of military high command, it appears to be half-empty to the Gilani government's point man on militancy, PM's Advisor on Interior Rehman Malik. In his briefing to foreign media on Monday, he claimed that security forces had recently missed a chance to catch al Qaeda's second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, whose wife was recently seen in Mohmand Agency. The Pakistani Taliban, he said, are hand in glove with al Qaeda.
"They have not only connections; I would say Tehrik-i-Taliban is an extension of al Qaeda". In this background the government has only 'suspended' the operation against militants and as soon as Ramazan would be over it would be resumed. And if by any chance the militants fired a shot, he has warned, the forces would respond with 10 shots. He has also cautioned against thinking that the suspension of military operation is a cease-fire under some agreement with the militants.
Is the tribal region of Pakistan a safe haven for the al Qaeda? The Advisor does not rule out the possibility. According to him, along with the Uzbeks some Chinese 'from Eastern movements (East Turkistan Islamic Movement and Turkistan Liberation Movement) are also present'. "Their traces have been found in Fata. We are co-operating with the Chinese government and will ensure this thing does not happen".
He is worried that these militants are getting sophisticated weapons; "We have a great concern about it that somebody is supplying and why they are supplying?" But he is confident of defeating the Taliban, as was the case in Hangu and Bara. And as for the Mangal Bagh, Rehman Malik says he would be followed wherever he goes. All three organisations which were active in the Bara area have been banned, as well as the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan led by Baitullah Mehsud.
Both the Pak Army and the Interior Ministry are actively involved in combating militancy in the tribal areas. But of what is happening on the battlefront we get two versions. Of course these are not essentially contradictory of each other but definitely they betray a mismatch of perceptions as their nuances vary. On the fact of it, the version given by the ISPR suggests that Bajaur area has been fully recovered from the militants and thus the mission undertaken by the forces is complete.
But what we hear from Interior Ministry is that the Bajaur remains the hotbed of militancy infested with foreign elements including Chinese dissidents. Reuters cites Rehman Malik saying of Al-Zawahiri: "We certainly had traced him at one place, but we missed the chance. So he's moving in Mohmand and of course some times in Kunar, mostly in Kunar and Paktia". We need to put our act together. Such contradictions, though entirely unintentional, tend to undermine the credibility of the official version of action against militants.
Ideally, it should be the Prime Minister speaking from the floor of the National Assembly on such important developments as suspension of operation or the completion of military mission in Bajaur. By offering different versions we play into the hands of forces who accuse Pakistan of doing nothing against the militants, while the fact is Pakistan has suffered more losses than another stakeholder in this so-called war on terror.