Pakistan’s army chief does not rule out US offensive

Pakistan’s Army Chief, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani did not rule out the possibility of a US ground offensive in North Waziristan tribal region, a news report said Wednesday. General Kayani told parliamentarians at a briefing at the army’s headquarters yesterday that Washington will think ‘many times’ before launching such an attack. “They [the US] might do it but they will have to think ten times because Pakistan is not Iraq or Afghanistan,” Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani was quoted as telling members of parliament’s defence committees at a briefing at the General Headquarters. Acknowledging that the US is pressing Pakistan to launch a military operation in North Waziristan, Kayani said that the ongoing build-up of Afghan and International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops along the Pak-Afghan border is a tactic to intensify that pressure, The Express Tribune reported. “We have made it clear to the US that we will decide the timing of any such action according to our situation and capabilities. We have also told them that the problem lies within Afghanistan. If anyone convinces me that everything will be sorted out if we act in North Waziristan, I will take immediate action,” a parliamentarian, requesting anonymity, quoted Kayani as saying. General Kayani’s statement came hours after senior Afghan defence officials said the country’s security forces and their NATO allies have launched a new push against the Haqqani network, which the US says operates from North Waziristan. General Kayani said that Pakistan had handed over its position on Afghanistan to the Obama administration in writing in 2010 and had asked the Americans to elaborate on their position but they had not done so. “We have long-term interests in Afghanistan, others might have short … For short-term gains, we cannot lose [sight of] our long-term interests,” the army chief said. But responding to a question on Pakistan’s interests in Afghanistan, Kayani sought to dispel the perception that Pakistan was seeking so-called strategic depth in Afghanistan. “We cannot leave both our eastern and western borders insecure,” Kayani asserted. “It is wishful thinking to achieve strategic depth in Afghanistan. The Russians tried, the Brits tried, the Americans are trying. We don’t have a magic wand,” a participant quoted Kayani’s response. Dawn newspaper reported that General Kayani described the US action in Pakistan unlikely. In a press release issued by the military after a recent corps commanders’ meeting, Kayani is said to have stressed that the Pakistan Army does not need US aid and that he had told American officials that he means what he said. “We got only 25% of the aid from the Kerry-Lugar Act. Pakistan Army has no objection if the US converts its military aid into civilian assistance,” he said. Stressing on civilian responsibility for peace, he said that the military can only secure areas where it conducts operations, but civilians need to take control and maintain law and order.