AJ Strata provides an excellent link to an article which discusses the Pakistani’s efforts in outlying regions against Taliban/AQ elements:

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said, Pakistan is using multilateral and multi-pronged strategy to curb the menace of terrorism. Talking to private TV channel ARYONE, the Minister said, “We are of the view that political engagement of the people and economic development of the stakeholders should also be kept in view, and use of force should be the last resort for curbing the menace of terrorism”.

Still the PM points to their military efforts as proof they are attempts at engaging the enemy:

Meanwhile in an interview to BBC TV, the Minister said “Pakistan is taking Al-Qaeda very seriously. And we have arrested over six hundred terrorists, broken the network effectively, moved over a hundred thousand troops into the tribal areas and have thousand of check posts on Pak-Afghan border.”

He said, “Nobody is denying the fact that Al-Qaeda is still present, but they are on the run. We are chasing them.”

And about cooperting with US forces:

He said, Pakistan and Afghanistan are partner with America in war on terror. So, both the countries will have to resolve all the issues with mutual understanding by convincing each other through dialogue.

To a question he said, if the allies have any information about any movement, they should share the intelligence with Pakistan.
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“Pakistan forces are present in the areas and are ready for extending full cooperation with them”, he added.

As Strata points out, it is a wide decision of the Pakistani’s to engage local populations in addition to the application of force. This seems similar in theory to the Iraqi model which combined the Awakening and the Surge.

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This post was written by bobsikes on July 25, 2008