General Mirza Aslam Baig (Retd) has disclosed that the US has shifted Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan chief, Hakimullah Mehsud and other Taliban leadership to Afghanistan before Pak Army started operation. In an interview, Aslam Baig said when Pak army started operation in South Waziristan a helicopter flew from Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan and took Hakimullah Mehsud and other militants to Afghanistan.
He said Hakimullah Mehsud and other militants' commanders were now in Afghanistan. He further said the US was backing the militants fighting against Pak army in South Waziristan Agency. He said Indian agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) wanted to detach tribal areas from Pakistan but it could not succeed in its desires.
About the current wave of terrorism in the country, especially in Peshawar, he said these incidents could be reaction of Waziristan operation but possibilities of US and other foreign actors' involvement could not be ruled out. Responding to a question about operation Rah-e-Nijat, he said people were saying about the hardships in operation and trapping of army but with the help of effective strategy, the military succeeded to clean the area of militants within month and the remaining task would be completed in a month.
About the US efforts in Afghanistan, he said the US could neither succeed in Afghanistan nor would get a safe exit from Afghan soil until it corrects its attitude towards Pak army. Only Pak army and Taliban could give a safe exit to US from Afghanistan, he claimed. He added that corruption in Karzai administration was not the reason for not sending more troops to Afghanistan but it was the increasing opposition to Obama administration in the US.