WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD: The United States needs a big long-term effort with civilian and military elements to help Pakistan fight militants who pose America’s toughest national security problem, the top US military officer said.
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Reuters the United States wanted to help Pakistan counter militancy in tribal areas rather than conduct its own operations but would act to protect Americans.
Although it does not acknowledge them officially, the United States has stepped up operations in those tribal areas in recent weeks with several strikes by unmanned aircraft and at least one operation involving troops on the ground. Mullen, who took over the top job in the US military last October, has made Pakistan a central focus of his work, visiting the country five times in his first year in office.
“I think it’s the most challenging problem we have,” he said on board a US Air Force jet on Wednesday evening as he flew back to Washington from California. US officials say Pakistan’s tribal areas offer a safe haven for Taleban fighters to mount attacks on US troops across the border in Afghanistan and for Al-Qaeda militants to plot attacks on the United States.
Mullen said the United States had to boost both civilian and military assistance to Pakistan and to coordinate those elements closely, as it has done latterly in Iraq. “In too many cases, we were focused on Pakistan like it was just another country,” he said. “It’s not just another country - it’s a country with a growing insurgency, with a border that’s created a safe haven.” Mullen has commissioned a review of US military strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Bush administration is also conducting a broader review of the war in Afghanistan.
“We need a five or six or seven or 10-year program of support that’s predictable, that the Pakistani people and government and military can depend on,” Mullen said.
US officials say the best way to combat militancy in the tribal areas is a comprehensive effort by Pakistani authorities, with international assistance, to improve security, economic development and political stability.
Earlier in the day, Pakistan placed all airports on red alert after a telephone caller warned of a suicide bomb threat to Islamabad’s international airport, officials said. Passengers were briefly evacuated from the capital’s Benazir International Airport while security officials searched the area, but all flights were operating as normal, they said.
A senior official of the Airport Security told Arab News “we have received orders from our headquarters to place Benazir International Airport on high alert.” He added that the move was taken because “we received a threat yesterday morning. Our men are clearing every part of airport,” the official said.
Earlier, some unknown caller made a phone call at PIA head office and threatened to blow up Islamabad airport at noon. Security has been beefed up all around the major airports and all employees have been asked to remain vigilant.
The US Embassy in Pakistan has suspended its visa service for an indefinite since yesterday. A spokesperson of the embassy in Islamabad confirmed that the visa service has been suspended for an indefinite period. Only those applicants who were called for interviews yesterday were entertained. It is also been learned that the US government has issued a fresh advisory for its citizens to remain watchful in Pakistan and has directed them not to travel and stay unnecessarily in Pakistan.
The security boost comes just days after a massive suicide truck bombing at the Marriott Hotel in the capital on Saturday left 60 people dead and more than 260 wounded.
Meanwhile, seven Al-Qaeda-linked militants and two civilians were killed in continuing clashes between extremists and security forces in the troubled tribal belt bordering Afghanistan.
The casualties happened in the Bajaur tribal region, where the army launched an operation in August to deflect US pressure to tackle the militants. More than 800 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the offensive.
“Helicopter gunships pounded positions of militants in Damadola and Shinkot areas yesterday, killing seven rebels,” a security official told AFP. Two civilians were also killed in the shelling, he said. Seven Pakistani soldiers and at least 25 militants were killed in Bajaur during fierce clashes on Wednesday, the army said.
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has faulted the media for its reportage of Marriott suicide bombing, saying national interest had been ignored while finding faults with the system.
— With input from Azhar Masood
