There would be no crisis for Islamabad if Fazlullah’s attacks were not coming back over the border, but staying on the other side. Pakistan is again attempting to avoid international pressure over its double game by trying to create the impression that, hey, everybody’s doing it. “Pakistan wants Afghan action on Taliban cleric,” by Qasim Nauman for Reuters, October 17:
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan said Monday that Afghan and U.S-led forces had failed to hunt down a Taliban cleric responsible for a spate of cross-border raids despite repeated requests from Islamabad, a complaint likely to deepen tension between the neighbors.
The attacks in which militants loyal to Maulvi Fazlullah took part killed about 100 members of Pakistan’s security forces, angering the army which faces threats from multiple militant groups.
“We have given locations and information about these groups to the Afghanistan government and ISAF (International Security Assistance Force), but apparently there has been no action,” Pakistani army spokesman, Major-General Athar Abbas, told Reuters.
“The problem refuses to go away.”
Fazlullah was the Pakistani Taliban leader in Swat Valley, about 100 miles northwest of Islamabad, before a 2009 army offensive forced him to flee.
Also known as FM Mullah for his fiery radio broadcasts, he regrouped in Afghanistan and established strongholds, and poses a threat to Pakistan once again, said Abbas.
Fazlullah, a leading figure in the Pakistani Taliban insurgency, is based in Kunar and Nuristan provinces in Afghanistan, said Abbas. […]
The Taliban capitalized on a widely criticized government peace deal with the Taliban to take control of Swat, home to more than a million people. In April 2009, the United States termed the agreement an abdication to the Taliban.