Please tell us about Pakistan and the current situation.

Pakistan: the frontier of the war on terror

It is a difficult journey from Peshawar, a city in northern Pakistan, to the Mihne post on the Afghan border. Roads meander like ribbons in the mountains, and these barren and steep bald mountains are the home of Pashtun tribes.

Although the road is dangerous, it is not deserted. Unique Pakistani trucks come and go. These beautifully decorated vehicles transport all kinds of goods from Afghanistan to Pakistan, and also send some Afghan refugees home. According to postal statistics, more than 1000 vehicles cross the border every day.

In the Afghan refugee camp on the outskirts of Peshawar, many refugees are packing their bags and preparing to return home. Many refugees live in mud houses. It is said that such a house is warm in winter and cool in summer, which is very suitable for living. After the refugees moved away, their mud houses were demolished, forming a large flat land. Right next to this clearing, mud houses are still dense.

Because Afghan refugees may provide shelter for Taliban extremists, which has caused a huge economic burden to Pakistan, the Pakistani government has been trying to cooperate with UNHCR to repatriate refugees. Despite this, there are still nearly 3 million Afghan refugees living in Pakistan, most of them in Peshawar.

A large number of refugees is just one of the many challenges Pakistan has encountered in participating in the war on terrorism. "The environment in tribal areas is the worst in the world," said Major General Oida Assad, head of the Pakistani military news agency ISPR. "Not only is the terrain extremely difficult, but it is also very difficult to control cross-border behavior." He said that no laws have ever been implemented in tribal areas, and tribal residents who advocate independence oppose any form of external intervention. In addition, after the Soviet Union withdrew its troops from Afghanistan in 1989, neither the West nor Pakistan paid attention to this region and completely lost its influence in this region. After 9/ 1 1, when the international war on terrorism began, it was impossible to obtain information from these tribal areas.

All-round counter-terrorism strategy

The border between Pakistan and Afghanistan is 2560 kilometers long, of which 1360 kilometers is in tribal areas. Pakistan has seven federally administered tribal areas, which belong to the Northwest Frontier Province. Residents in tribal areas believe in Islam and make a living by farming on small plots of cultivated land in mountainous areas and engaging in border trade. Traffic here is inconvenient and conservative. Tribes enjoy autonomous status according to law, and all affairs operate under various traditional norms.

Historically, tribal areas have never succumbed to any regime. During the British colonial rule, there were three wars here, but the tribal areas were still not controlled. For hundreds of years, tribal areas have been "impregnable", and no regime can conquer them, let alone station troops and promote the legal system here. After the beginning of the war on terror, Pakistan realized that it was necessary to control tribal areas to prevent the infiltration of Taliban forces. The regular army has been marching into the tribal areas, and the total number has reached 80 thousand. More than 0/000 border posts, such as Miccini Post, are always guarding this unstable border.

According to the latest statistics of ISPR, Pakistan has captured more than 700 al-Qaeda terrorists, and 1500 Taliban including Taliban leaders have been arrested and repatriated to Afghanistan. Pakistan, on the other hand, sacrificed 457 soldiers and seriously injured 1 15 1, and the number of casualties exceeded the total number of Afghan Coalition forces.

Military action is the first of the trinity policies implemented by the Pakistani government in tribal areas. In addition, the government has initiated a political process to integrate tribal people into the mainstream society of Pakistan. Promoting the development of tribal areas is another policy focus, such as building roads, supplying water, building schools and hospitals, and improving the living environment in tribal areas. The government also encourages young people to study in big cities and receive a good education.

ISPR said that the political process stimulated the participation of residents in tribal areas, who expressed their support for the government's anti-terrorism policy and helped the government ensure that there were no foreign militants in the area.

Pakistan's military maintains cooperative relations with the Afghan National Army and Coalition forces in Afghanistan through the Tripartite Commission. In addition to exchanging information, several joint military operations were conducted, and the anti-terrorist forces on both sides of the border cooperated with each other and achieved satisfactory results.

America: not a stable alliance.

"Pakistan is a key ally in the war on terror," said Tariq Azeem Khan, Pakistan's minister of state for information and broadcasting. We are engaged in anti-terrorism not to please anyone, nor to obey anyone, but because we believe that terrorism is the root of evil and a demon that must be eliminated. "

He said that the Pakistani people have suffered greatly from terrorism. Both the President and the Prime Minister of Pakistan have experienced suicide attacks, and all kinds of violence, destruction and terrorist incidents have occurred in all parts of Pakistan. He believes that it is in Pakistan's own interest to eradicate terrorism as soon as possible.

Dr Shirin Mazzali, director of the Islamabad Institute of Strategic Studies, holds the same view. She pointed out that at the beginning of Pakistan's participation in the war on terrorism, no one in China raised any objections or protests.

However, she is deeply worried about the anti-terrorism attitude of the United States. She said that whenever the United States enters Pakistan's airspace or territory to pursue and attack Pakistani villages, there will be protests in Pakistan. Pakistanis will put pressure on the government. They think that the government has paid too much and got too little in cooperation with the United States.

At the same time, she expressed concern about the bill that is brewing in the US Congress to attach conditions to Pakistan's aid. "We feel that what the United States has done shows that there is no partnership in the war on terrorism, only wishful cooperation. Pakistan pays and the United States benefits. "

Although the Pakistani government has taken the opportunity of the war on terrorism to improve its relations with the United States, Mazzali believes that this is probably only a temporary phenomenon, as evidenced by the actions of the US Congress. The relationship between the United States and Pakistan is different from that between the United States and India and has a strong periodicity. As the US election approaches, the government will put pressure on Pakistan and attach conditions to win support. In her view, the United States is not a stable ally of Pakistan.

Afghanistan becomes the second Iraq?

Experts from Mazzali and the Institute of Strategic Studies found that there were a series of problems in the US-led war on terrorism. First of all, the anti-terrorism strategy of the United States places too much emphasis on the military, and measures should be taken simultaneously in economic and political aspects to prevent people from joining terrorist organizations.

The legitimacy of NATO in Afghanistan has also been questioned. Security Council resolutions have given legal status to the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. Although NATO has taken over the International Security Assistance Force, no Security Council resolution has given NATO any role. "NATO members are all European and American countries. Why do you want to expand the action area to Asia? " Mazzari asked.

The inability of NATO to control the situation in Afghanistan is an urgent problem. The marginalization of Pashtuns by Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the Northern Alliance is an important reason. Mazzali pointed out that the Pashtun national resistance movement has relations with the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Nationalists in Iraq are establishing ties with Al Qaeda, which may also happen in Afghanistan, because the Afghan government has made no efforts to establish political dialogue with Pashtuns and Taliban who do not use violence. In addition, the reluctance of member States to send troops to southern Afghanistan, where the situation is grim, will lead to the shortage of NATO troops in Afghanistan and the situation is out of control.

Mazzali criticized Washington's "wrong policy". For example, it is wrong for the United States to provide financial support to Afghan warlords and ignore poppy cultivation. Pakistan has been advising Europe and the United States to buy poppies from farmers and destroy them. Now the United States has also turned to support the British-led anti-drug campaign, but it is too late. Iran should also be included in the anti-terrorism Coalition and participate in the anti-terrorism battle, but the United States refuses to talk to Iran.

Mazzali said that the situation will not be stable unless the Karzai government makes a major adjustment in its handling of the issue and the United States' attitude towards the war on terrorism. "We must remember that the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan precisely because of domestic turmoil, and the situation now is very similar to that at that time." She warned.

Oaida Assad of ISPR admits that anti-American sentiment in Pakistan is very serious, which he believes is caused by the global policy of the United States, especially the policy towards Muslim countries. He believes that terrorism is only a superficial symptom, and its root lies in economic plunder, poverty and inequality. "We hope that the international community can eliminate the root causes of terrorism, which can be achieved at the global level and at the United Nations." Assad said.