Swift & decisive action need to curb Taliban

NEW YORK: Warning that Islamic militants and Taliban fighters were rapidly spreading beyond the country's lawless tribal areas, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said that without 'swift and decisive action,' the growing militancy could engulf the rest of the nation.

The warning came in a document from the Interior Ministry, which said Pakistan's security forces in North-West Frontier Province abutting the tribal areas were outgunned and outnumbered and had forfeited authority to the Taliban and their allies, 'The New York Times' reported.

"The ongoing spell of active Taliban resistance has brought about serious repercussions for Pakistan," said the 15-page document, which the Times says was shown to it.

"There is a general policy of appeasement towards the Taliban, which has further emboldened them."

The document, the report said, was discussed by Pakistan's National Security Council on June four while Musharraf was present.

It appears to be the first such document to emerge from the Pakistani government formally recognising the seriousness of the spreading threat here from al Qaeda and the Taliban, the Times said quoting a Western diplomat.

The diplomat, who was not authorised to speak for attribution, called the document 'an accurate description of the dagger pointed at the country's heart'.

"It's tragic it's taken so long to recognise it," the diplomat added.

It gives the names of well-known Taliban commanders in this country, like Mullah Muhammad Nazir, also known as Maulavi Nazir, who has close links to the Afghan Taliban, but also lesser-known militants who lead the Taliban patrols responsible for assassinations and suicide bombings in smaller jurisdictions in North-West Frontier Province.

The mention of lesser-known but potent Taliban figures by name shows that the Pakistani government is aware of the far-reaching tentacles of the Taliban and other extremists but cannot do anything about them or chooses not to do anything, the diplomat said.

Indeed, the Times says, the recognition of the scope of the extremists' authority comes after heavy pressure on Pakistan from the United States to contain the lawlessness in the tribal areas.

Washington has poured some $one billion a year into Pakistan in the last five years for what are described as reimbursements for Pakistan's counterterrorism efforts along the border with Afghanistan.

The prime purpose of the sizable financial support, it said, has been to stop the area from becoming a haven for the Taliban and Al Qaeda as they wage their insurgency in Afghanistan.

But now the Interior Ministry is telling Musharraf that the influence of the extremists is swiftly bleeding to the east and deeper into his own country, threatening areas like Peshawar, Nowshera and Kohat, which were considered to be safeguarded by Pakistani government forces.