Sacrifices made by Pakistan not fully realised: Pentagon

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WASHINGTON: The Pakistani military and government don’t get enough credit for the sacrifices they are making in the fight against terror, says a Pentagon report released a day after the US military chief urged Islamabad to be sensitive to American interests.

The report by the American Armed Forces Service noted that since the beginning of the Swat campaign, the Pakistani military has been involved in 16 months of continuous combat against extremist groups in Swat, other areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and South Waziristan.

The report is based on a background briefing by a senior US military official. Although, the report does not identify the official, it is worth noting that the news service’s correspondent accompanied US military chief Admiral Mike Mullen during his recent visit to Islamabad.

It noted that the Pakistani military had more than 140,000 troops involved in the operations — or more than seven infantry divisions. “It’s the longest military campaign in Pakistani history,” a US military official said. “They have never fought anything this hard, for this long.”

The official added that there had been thousands of military and civilian casualties in the affected areas. “The Pakistani military deserves our respect, and frankly, they deserve our support,” the official said. “They are fighting extremist elements that are a threat not just in Pakistan, but across the broader region.”

But the official also pointed out that there were things the US wanted Pakistan to do but it appeared unwilling to do so.

“It is not all straight progress. There are things that the United States would like the Pakistanis to do, but they either cannot or will not at this time,” the official said.

The report noted that counter-insurgency was one of the toughest campaigns to fight, and the Pakistanis — like the Nato and Afghan troops across the border — were learning as they went along.

The official said the Pakistani effort was not perfect and that there were groups that American leaders would like them to go after.

“Still, they have cleared thousands of square kilometres of extremist presence,” he said. “There are still thousands left to do, and the Pakistanis will be the first to acknowledge it.”

The report pointed out that the toughest aspect of this war was getting the civil-military mix correct.

“The mission is to get the people of these regions to side with the government and not the extremists. The government has to be able to deliver basic services to the people and give them a path towards progress, the official said. This is proving to be a tougher and longer slog,” the report added.

The report noted that the tribal areas did not have government trained or funded police, and local tribes provided the only security. Although the Pakistan Army had moved in to provide security, “the military cannot leave the region for fear the extremists will return”.

The report acknowledged that the Pakistani government had made progress in training police for the area, but there still were too few to allow army units to leave.

“The Pakistanis understand that their clearing operations cannot be the totality of what they are doing,” the US official said. “They know they have to develop law enforcement capabilities. They know they have to do development and governance.”

The bottom line was the Pakistanis had a plan for dealing with the problem of violent extremism in the tribal areas, the official said. “But that plan will take time and was hampered by lack of resources,” he said.

“That resonates with me,” the official said. “They are dealing with tens of thousands of violent extremists, and we ought to give them some space and some time, given what they have sacrificed for the last 16 months. The reality is they are headed in the right direction.”