Islamabad [Pakistan], April 25 : There is a popular demand for the Pakistan government to act and crush the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), writes Muhammad Ali Siddiqi, an author for Dawn.
According to Siddiqi, the little bit of support the TTP once enjoyed has vshed. Demonstrations are being held to crush the terrorists. The demonstrations are not only being held in Swat, which being a tourist paradise has suffered immensely from terrorism, but also elsewhere in the former Fata.
According to Siddiqi, the incorporation of Fata into KP has brought the tribal people into the national mainstream. This has been a blow to the TTP, even though all this has been done by democratic means and an act of parliament.
The TTP may threaten a long war and insist that their stand on Fata is non-negotiable, but it should know one bitter truth. All professional armies consider such insurgencies a training ground for their soldiers.
In fact, as some might point out, even a half-century of guerrilla war will not tire Pakistan out, because it will provide an excellent training ground in war conditions, according to Siddiqi for Dawn.
The Afghan Diaspora recently reported that the Pakist government and military do not seem to have a way out from facing persistent attacks from the banned TTP.
The demands of TTP have varied over time, and the group has been using violence as a means to make Pakistan accept them. One of its major demands of withdrawal of troops from the tribal areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) is a sore point with the Pakist Army.
The recent spike in attacks by TTP has made the civil as well as military leadership blame the Taliban for the problem.
Pakistan security forces have increased activity in the border areas and tightened controls at the border crossings since the TTP ended a cease-fire with the government in November 2022. Reportedly, a high-level Afghan delegation led by the country's Chief of Directorate of Intelligence Abdul Haq Wasiq recently visited Rawalpindi to discuss the issue with the high command of Pakistan's Army.
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