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ISLAMABAD — Analysts are
dismayed the government has accepted a cease-fire from the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) just as the TTP was reeling from Air Force
and Army attacks launched in retaliation for the recent attack on a polio vaccination team. They say it shows the TTP can still dictate the course of events despite a new government security policy designed to tackle
internal security threats.
Brian Cloughley, a former
Australian defense attaché to Islamabad, says he cannot
understand the decision.
"I am at a loss to follow the
government's logic in agreeing to a ceasefire, if only because when rebels propose such a thing it
almost always means that they are suffering and want time and space," he said.
"The public seemed to be firmly on the government's side about maintaining pressure, but they will wonder what on earth is going on. Perhaps the attack in Islamabad will alter the
government's mind about the risks in accepting a cease-fire proposal. If [Prime Minister] Nawaz Sharif continues to abide by it, however, he is going to be
politically isolated," he said.
The TTP has stressed it was not connected to Monday's attack on a court complex in Islamabad. That attack was claimed by what, until
recently, was the Mohmand
Agency chapter of the TTP, and is now called the Ahrarul Hind. Similarly Haris Khan of the Pakistan Military consortium think tank said the TTP has been hit hard by the Air Force and Army,
which has "more or less taken out a lot of their local command and training structures."
Read more here:
Dismay at Pakistan's Acceptance of Taliban Cease-fire | Defense News | defensenews.com
dismayed the government has accepted a cease-fire from the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) just as the TTP was reeling from Air Force
and Army attacks launched in retaliation for the recent attack on a polio vaccination team. They say it shows the TTP can still dictate the course of events despite a new government security policy designed to tackle
internal security threats.
Brian Cloughley, a former
Australian defense attaché to Islamabad, says he cannot
understand the decision.
"I am at a loss to follow the
government's logic in agreeing to a ceasefire, if only because when rebels propose such a thing it
almost always means that they are suffering and want time and space," he said.
"The public seemed to be firmly on the government's side about maintaining pressure, but they will wonder what on earth is going on. Perhaps the attack in Islamabad will alter the
government's mind about the risks in accepting a cease-fire proposal. If [Prime Minister] Nawaz Sharif continues to abide by it, however, he is going to be
politically isolated," he said.
The TTP has stressed it was not connected to Monday's attack on a court complex in Islamabad. That attack was claimed by what, until
recently, was the Mohmand
Agency chapter of the TTP, and is now called the Ahrarul Hind. Similarly Haris Khan of the Pakistan Military consortium think tank said the TTP has been hit hard by the Air Force and Army,
which has "more or less taken out a lot of their local command and training structures."
Read more here:
Dismay at Pakistan's Acceptance of Taliban Cease-fire | Defense News | defensenews.com
