Pakistan: Gen Bajwa’s claims of turning tide of terrorism run counter to ground reality

Islamabad [Pakistan], October 11 (ANI): Pakistan’s army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s claims that the army has “successfully turned the tide of terrorism” run counter to the ground reality.
At a speech delivered at the Passing-out parade of the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) on October 8, Bajwa underlined that the Pakistan Army, with the full support and confidence of the nation, had “successfully turned the tide of the menace of terrorism in the last two decades and has ensured that organised terrorism is decisively rooted out from Pakistan. This is indeed a unique accomplishment that not many countries or armies can claim,” reported Geo-politik.
Contrary to his claims, on October 6th, the Interior Ministry issued a nationwide alert asking for ‘extreme vigilance’, in wake of negotiations between the government and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) that so far have failed.
Moreover, Al Qaida founder Osama bin Laden was eliminated in Pakistan’s Abbottabad in 2011. Osama’s successor, Ayman Al Jawahari, similarly was eliminated through a drone-driven missile by the US in downtown Kabul earlier this year.
Security analysts have noted that this speech came within days of his visit to the United States, where he conferred with the top officials of the Biden administration dealing with foreign policy and security issues, reported Geo-Politik.
It is most likely that Gen Bajwa apprised the Americans of the actual situation while seeking funds and facilities for his security forces, doubled with the claims of how Pakistan was fighting terrorism fomenting in, and ‘exported’ from, the neighbouring Afghanistan, now confirmed as the new home of the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), besides Al Qaida.
The most glaring is his contention that the Pakistan Army has ‘defeated’ terrorism “over the last two decades”, when this is precisely the worst period, with Pakistan’s own claims of being a ‘victim’ of terrorism, having lost thousands of soldiers and civilians.
The US could not but be taking a larger view of the security situation in the wider Afghanistan-Pakistan region in which, besides the ISKP and Al Qaida, the role of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) must have figured. Bajwa may have blamed the Taliban regime in Kabul for not playing the ball on the TTP, but the US security establishment could not have accepted Bajwa’s claims at face value.
The Biden administration or anyone cannot be convinced by Gen Bajwa’s claims, made either in Washington or at PMA, when contradicted by the Interior Ministry, another key part of the Pakistan Government, reported Geo-politik.
Moreover, the actual situation in Pakistan is contrary to Bajwa’s claims as in a letter circulated in Pakistan Senate last month, the Ministry of Interior warned that more than year-long peace negotiations between the TTP and the government of Pakistan “had come to a standstill”, which has led to unease within the TTP’s ranks, Dawn newspaper reported.
According to analysts, Gen Bajwa’s claims run counter to the ground reality that is worsening by the day as the TTP continues to defy the government. (ANI)