Two top militant leaders from Pakistan's troubled North Waziristan region have called on their supporters to wage a new 'jehad' against the security forces.
ISLAMABAD: Two top militant leaders from Pakistan's troubled North Waziristan region have called on their supporters to wage a new 'jehad' against the security forces and to seize control of the country's capital.
In a video, militant leaders Qadri Tahir Yaldeshiv and Abdul Khaliq Haqqani, who are linked to al-Qaida, called for 'urgent action' against Pakistani armed forces to 'avenge' the storming of Islamabad's Lal Masjid by the military last year.
The video was sent from Yaldeshiv's camp in North Waziristan, which borders Afghanistan, to the Italian news agency Adnkronos International (AKI).
"Jehad is compulsory in Pakistan as it is compulsory in Afghanistan," Yaldeshiv said in the video. Sitting on a chair and reading from a laptop computer flanked by a black flag, hetalked about the need to implement Sharia or Islamic law in Pakistan.
"Pakistan came into being on the name of Islam. Therefore Islam should be enforced in the country," he said.
Yaldeshiv's close aide and disciple Baitullah Mehsud has been blamed by President Pervez Musharraf for the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto and a string of suicide attacks across Pakistan. Mehsud has denied involvement in Bhutto's killing.
The video featured images of the military operation against the Lal Masjid in July last year and called for revenge. After a three-month standoff, Pakistani troops stormed the mosque. Over 100 people were killed in the operation.
Tahir Yaldeshiv is also the chief of Uzbek militants in North Waziristan.
Haqqani also urged the people to fight against Pakistani forces.
The video also featured what the two militant leaders said were images of an offensive by government forces in Mir Ali town in North Waziristan in October 2007. This included footage of dead soldiers and destroyed vehicles. It also showed graphic footage of a man slitting the throat of a Pakistani soldier.
Yaldeshiv is part of the 'Takfiri' movement, which believes contemporary Muslim society has reverted to a 'state of unbelief' and supports rebellion against the state and acts of violence against Muslim citizens.
His move is likely to thwart Pakistan's efforts aimed at reconciliation with the Taliban in North Waziristan.
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