Well, I guess the Taliban in Pakistan wanted to make it official and it is becoming apparent that the Pakistani forces in the North West Frontier provinces are causing the Taliban some real grief. Here's the latest from the release at Breitbart:
Now, that looks like pretty tough talk from the Interior Minister but whether we can believe that or not is another story. We have been down this road one too many times with the Pakistan military and/or government acting tough and then backing down in a heartbeat. Everytime the government of Pakistan appears to have really hurt the Taliban and start putting them on the ropes, they let them off the hook and sign one of what seems to be a hundred peace agreements.
However, I think the government might be wising up and that would be an incredibly good sign. If the Taliban just have no rest in Pakistan's northwest and cannot rearm and stage new attacks across the border in Afghanistan, it will take a helluva load off of NATO forces in southern and easter Afghanistan.
It's my hope that at some point here, if the Pakistani government actually does stick to its guns, they will see that they need the help of NATO and U.S. predators, air strikes and special ops forces. To see the Taliban boxed in along the Afghan/Pakistani border would be nothing short of glorious.
"It is an open war between us and them," Pakistani Taliban spokesman Maulvi Umar told The Associated Press. "If these kinds of operations continue against us in Swat and in the tribal areas, we will continue this."
Pakistani officials could not be reached for comment or declined to react to the Taliban's statement, but earlier in the day Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik said the country would not yield in its attempts to end militancy in its frontier areas.
"It is our firm resolve that we will root out terrorism from Pakistan, and all of our security agencies are working together to achieve this goal," he told the AP.
Now, that looks like pretty tough talk from the Interior Minister but whether we can believe that or not is another story. We have been down this road one too many times with the Pakistan military and/or government acting tough and then backing down in a heartbeat. Everytime the government of Pakistan appears to have really hurt the Taliban and start putting them on the ropes, they let them off the hook and sign one of what seems to be a hundred peace agreements.
However, I think the government might be wising up and that would be an incredibly good sign. If the Taliban just have no rest in Pakistan's northwest and cannot rearm and stage new attacks across the border in Afghanistan, it will take a helluva load off of NATO forces in southern and easter Afghanistan.
It's my hope that at some point here, if the Pakistani government actually does stick to its guns, they will see that they need the help of NATO and U.S. predators, air strikes and special ops forces. To see the Taliban boxed in along the Afghan/Pakistani border would be nothing short of glorious.
Taliban: 'Open war' in Pakistan as bomb kills 14
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) - The Pakistani Taliban declared "open war" Tuesday in response to military offensives in the northwest, saying it staged a bombing that destroyed an air force truck and killed up to 14 people, including a child.
Authorities, meanwhile, investigated whether an insurgent reported killed in one of the military operations was a senior al-Qaida commander. The offensive in the Bajur tribal area reportedly has killed 160 people and caused tens of thousands to flee to camps farther north.
The blast in Peshawar, main city of the restive frontier with Afghanistan, escalated the conflict in a region where the new government is struggling to contain increasingly brazen militants. It dealt another blow to efforts to strike peace deals with hard-liners in the Swat Valley and other areas, pacts that U.S. officials contend would strengthen extremists.
"It is an open war between us and them," Pakistani Taliban spokesman Maulvi Umar told The Associated Press. "If these kinds of operations continue against us in Swat and in the tribal areas, we will continue this."
Pakistani officials could not be reached for comment or declined to react to the Taliban's statement, but earlier in the day Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik said the country would not yield in its attempts to end militancy in its frontier areas.
"It is our firm resolve that we will root out terrorism from Pakistan, and all of our security agencies are working together to achieve this goal," he told the AP.
The bomb hit the air force truck as it crossed a bridge on the outskirts of Peshawar. The blast tore a big hole in the bridge deck and reduced the Mazda truck to a smoldering wreck. The site was littered with debris, blood and a mangled motorcycle.
A provincial government spokesman, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, said the explosion killed 14 people, most of them air force personnel, and wounded more than a dozen.
An air force statement put its death toll at five airmen, two lower-ranking personnel and two civilian employees. Five air force personnel also were wounded, it said.
A 5-year-old girl in a nearby vehicle was among those killed, said Nisar Khan, a Peshawar police officer. He said police were trying to trace her relatives.
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