40 Taliban Killed in Pakistan
Pakistan continues to take on the Taliban in the Bajur tribal region. According to the latest reports, 40 Taliban militants were killed on Monday in a clash between government troops and Taliban.
The news came one day after Islamabad announced 24 for Al Qaeda militants, allies of the Taliban but not the same in every way, were killed as well.
And so, the war against Al Qaeda and the Taliban continues in Pakistan. For months, the West rightfully complained that Pakistan did not do enough against those groups. It now seems, however, that President Asif Ali Zardari is more serious about destroying (or at least severely weaken) them than many feared.
It is too early to celebrate, though. Islamabad is taking a tremendous risk by actively fighting against the Taliban and Al Qaeda. These groups can count on quite some support from Pakistani voters and, not unimportantly, have followers in the rest of the country who are more than willing to commit terrorist attacks, as we have seen several times in the last few months.
The Pakistani government considers to be divided between officials who believe the Taliban should be destroyed, and those who believe they are a valuable tool to increase Pakistan’s influence in the region and, especially, to use against India. For years, organizations like the Taliban have fought against Indian interests. The very first religion Osama Bin Laden declared a war on, for instance, was Hinduism.
We will see where it goes. For now, I’m moderately hopeful about Zardari’s convictions.
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