Monday, January 12, 2009

Pakistan Tested By Battles With Al Qaeda, Taliban

Photo: New ties: Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani met with Vice President-elect Joe Biden in Islamabad Friday. Mian Khursheed/Reuters

From Christian Science Monitor:

The US pursuit of Al Qaeda with airstrikes complicates Pakistan's struggle against the Taliban, who launched their largest attack in months over the weekend.

Islamabad, Pakistan - US military officials said over the weekend that a Jan. 1 drone aircraft strike in Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal area killed two senior Al Qaeda operatives.

But the continuing strikes inside Pakistan are doing little good in the war on terror, many observers here charge – or for a Pakistani government that is trying to sell it as "Pakistan's own war" rather than an American imposition, which is the popular perception.

Pakistan's government also maintains that such air strikes are strengthening the cause of the Taliban militancy at home.

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