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Afghanistan/South Asia |
Pakistan seeking tribal good will in al-Qaeda hunt |
2004-07-15 |
With its freshly-built roads, schools, clinics and wells, the tribal district of Mohmand along the Afghan border is a showpiece for the Pakistan armed forces. Just 200 kilometres further south in Waziristan, the military is engaged in a bloody conflict with local tribesmen sheltering Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants who have fled over the border from Afghanistan. But in Mohmand, some 50 kilometres northwest of Peshawar, the soldiers see themselves more as aid workers than fighters. ‘We have asked the Army to ‘For decades we have been left alone, but now all that is gone,’ explained Malik Ashraf, a wizened old man A few metres away, two wells are being dug. ‘Before, the villagers had to walk 20 kilometres to fetch water,’ said General Mohammed Iqbal, the commander of the brigade in charge of development aid for Mohmand. So far around 100 kilometres of roads have been built, along with dozens of schools and clinics, and around 200 wells. Most of the projects have been built and financed by the military. While the Army refuses to divulge figures, the local civilian administration estimates it has spent around 784 million rupees ($15.3 million) on development projects this year. |
Posted by:Dan Darling |