Taliban attack NATO supply routes

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan

The Islamic fundamentalist threat to Pakistan is reaching frightening proportions as Taliban militants infiltrate the key city of Peshawar, boldly attacking military headquarters and NATO supply routes and seeking to spread Islamic rule.

Taliban militants who have been tightening their control outside Peshawar for months have for the first time been patrolling inside the city of 3 million, several eyewitnesses told The Washington Times. The militants last week attacked NATO transit terminals on the Ring Road, a key thoroughfare, and kidnapped officials within the city, including a deputy superintendent of police.

Peshawar is a new front line for Pakistan in the struggle to contain the Taliban. Just two hours by car from Islamabad, Peshawar is the capital of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and sits astride the route through which 75 percent of NATO supplies for Afghanistan pass.

Fazal Rahim Marwat, a senior associate of the provincial ruling Awami National Party, acknowledged the challenges and said the provincial government has diverted most of its developmental budget for fiscal 2008-09 to building the capacity of its security forces. He said the situation has deteriorated significantly since a recent agreement by three top Pakistani Taliban commanders to unite.

“What is happening in Peshawar and Khyber Agency is the outcome of this development,” he said. “It is a big concern that the Pakistan-Afghanistan route has become quite dangerous for people. … Recently, the militants have forcibly closed the road, which never happened earlier. Not only NATO, but Pakistan has lost a lot due to the problem with the Pakistan-Afghanistan road, as the $2 billion trade between the two countries has also been significantly reduced.”

NWFP Inspector General of Police Malik Naveed told Geo TV on Wednesday that “we have built up our capacity in the last one year, and the strength of our forces have significantly increased, and they are now ready to deliver.”

However, he added that to defeat the Taliban in the region, the provincial government needs more weapons, training of elite forces and enhanced salaries for security personnel.

The Obama administration is expected to announce this week a new strategy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan that includes $1.5 billion in nonmilitary aid to Pakistan each year and enhanced training and equipment for counterinsurgency forces.

Recent incidents emphasize the gravity of the threat:

c On Friday , militants seized a deputy superintendent of police, Pervez Khattak, of the Crime Investigation Department, along with his official vehicle, on the Ring Road.

c On the same day, militants belonging to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the largest Pakistani Taliban group, attacked the headquarters for the Khyber Agency in Landi Kotal with rockets and heavy weapons, killing 10 people, most of them civilians. Landi Kotal is just six miles from the main border crossing into Afghanistan known as Torkham.

TTP Khyber Agency spokesman Umar Farooq claimed responsibility for the attack in Landi Kotal and said it was designed to kill security forces and capture equipment.

The TTP spokesman vowed to hit the residence of the governor of the North West Frontier Province if the Taliban can acquire heavy weapons. In other recent incidents:

• The general manager of one of the NATO supply terminals, Waqar Ahmed Mir, who had come from Karachi to assess damage after the attack, also was kidnapped in Peshawar

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