Taliban militants in a troubled Pakistani tribal region near the Afghan border yesterday offered a unilateral ceasefire as a two-week-old military operation left some 500 people dead, a spokesman said. "We have directed our militants to stop attacks against the government and security forces in Bajaur from today," Maulvi Omar, spokesman for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (Taliban Movement), told AFP.The decision has been taken following talks with tribal elders, he said in a telephone call from unknown location. "The jirga (elders council) insisted that Taliban should stop fighting in the interest of the people of Bajaur." The jirga has "assured" that troops will also suspend shelling and bombing raids in the area, he said. "We are ready for talks with the government and the truce is an important development towards dialogue," Omar said.
Pakistan on Sunday rejected a ceasefire offered by Taliban militants in a troubled tribal region near the Afghan border as troops killed seven rebel fighters, officials said.
That means they'll be negotiating behind closed doors so nobody sees what they're giving away. A month or two after the agreement's reached the festivities will resume.
Pakistani forces moved into Bajaur, a known hub of al-Qaeda and Taliban militants, earlier this month. The government says at least 500 militants have been killed since then. Troops fired artillery shells and gunship helicopters pounded suspected militant hideouts almost daily since the operation was mounted on August 6.
Beat hell out of sending pickup teams of Frontier Corps to fight them, doesn't it?
The offensive displaced nearly 200,000 people in the region. Pakistan's fragile coalition government, which forced US ally president Pervez Musharraf to resign on August 18, is under heavy international pressure to tackle al-Qaeda and Taliban militants. US and Afghan officials say the rebels have sanctuaries in the rugged tribal border regions of Pakistan that they use to train, regroup and launch attacks on international troops in Afghanistan.
Yeah, but just because we say it doesn't make it so. These guys could be somebody else entirely, right?