ISLAMABAD, 14 September 2006 — The Pakistan Army can still carry out surgical strikes whenever it sees militant activity in North Waziristan, a senior official said yesterday after a pact signed last week to end fighting with pro-Taleban tribesmen.

Critics of the accord say the government had virtually caved in to the militants’ demands and the strategy risked creating a safe haven for the Taleban and Al-Qaeda in the semi-autonomous tribal area bordering Afghanistan.

“This agreement does not debar us from taking surgical action,” a senior government official told Western journalists in a briefing on Pakistan’s counterterrorism strategy.

Under the terms of the treaty some foreign militants, who were unable to return to their homelands, would be allowed to stay in North Waziristan provided they honored the law.

But the official said the treaty did not stop Pakistani security forces from arresting anyone on a wanted list compiled by the Afghan, Pakistani and US governments.

“It’s a very long list,” said the official, who declined to be identified.

Aside from Pakistani and Afghan Taleban, Arabs, Chechens and Central Asians have hidden in Waziristan. Critics of the accord also say the tribal signatories did not represent some of the most active militant leaders in the region.

Under the terms of the treaty, the Pakistan Army has withdrawn its troops from some checkpoints in Waziristan, but it is still deployed along the border.

Pakistan has the equivalent of two divisions, about 30,000 troops, stationed in North and South Waziristan, where it has been fighting Al-Qaeda and pro-Taleban tribesmen since early 2004. During that time it has lost 375 soldiers and militiamen. The official scoffed at suggestions that militants could simply drive to neighboring areas and cross into Afghanistan from there, saying they would be stopped by paramilitary forces.

Frequently praised by the US for helping fight the Al-Qaeda network, Pakistan has become increasingly sensitive to criticism that it is soft on the Taleban. The official said Pakistan had caught and handed over 104 Taleban to Afghanistan, though its record against Al-Qaeda suspects appeared far better, with 709 caught, of whom 542 had been extradited, and 123 released after being cleared.

He said it was harder to identify Taleban as they easily merged into the ethnic Pashtun population in border provinces, while it was easier to spot foreigners from Al-Qaeda.

But he rejected notions that Pakistan had gone easy on the Taleban because the government had supported Taleban rule in Afghanistan prior to Musharraf’s foreign policy U-turn days after Al-Qaeda’s Sept 11. attacks on the United States.

“We do not differentiate between the Taleban and Al-Qaeda - they are extremists,” he said.