Pakistan's soldiers 'huddling in their bases'

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Pakistan's soldiers 'huddling in their bases'

16 June 2007 08:21


The Pakistani army is paralysed by the growing Taliban threat and some retired officers are covertly aiding the militants, according to a former CIA officer.

Soldiers posted to Waziristan, a tribal area that hosts an estimated 2 000 al-Qaeda fighters, are "huddling in their bases, doing nothing", said Art Keller, a CIA case officer who was posted to Pakistan last year.

"Their approach was to pretend that nothing was wrong because any other approach would reveal that they were unwilling and unable to do anything about Talibanisation," said Keller, who has visited Waziristan.

The Pakistani military insists it is doing its best. President Pervez Musharraf has repeatedly referred to the 80 000 soldiers posted to the tribal areas, about 700 of whom have been killed in action.

But Keller said that behind the scenes, the fight is riven by divisions among the officers.

"There are the moderates who fear Talibanisation, the professional jihadis who want to embrace the Taliban again, and the middle group who aren't too fond of the Taliban but resent doing anything under pressure from the US out of sheer bloody-minded stubbornness," he said. "Because of , the Pakistani military remains paralysed."

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Who could imagine why they'd decide such a thing.