Word: haqqani
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...Pakistan does not appear to be ready to take on the full array of militants in the region, though. The army has reaffirmed non-aggression pacts with Mullah Nazir, a commander based in South Waziristan along the Afghan border, and Hafiz Gul Bahadur in North Waziristan. The Haqqani network is also expected to remain passive during the imminent army operation. While it may ease Pakistan's task in South Waziristan, the deals will afford little comfort to U.S. military commanders in Afghanistan. All three militant commanders continue to mount cross-border attacks on U.S. and NATO troops there...
...need to take on what remains of the Mehsud network. While it continues to pound the area with air strikes, the Pakistan military is reluctant to mount a ground offensive in South Waziristan, citing the hazardous terrain. And in North Waziristan, Pakistan appears unwilling to confront the Haqqani network and other militants who mount cross-border attacks on U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan. Instead, it has focused on militants who challenge its own authority in Pakistan. (See pictures of the turmoil in Pakistan's Swat Valley...
...Obama Administration, the Pakistani military's reluctance to take on the TTP doesn't bode well for the pursuit of U.S. interests. Washington would like Islamabad to confront the groups that pose a direct threat to NATO forces across the border in Afghanistan - the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network. But "it's not clear that the Pakistanis are prepared to pay more than lip service to that," says Riedel...
...focus on Afghanistan may also suit another powerful commander in the region, Sirajuddin Haqqani, who has influence with the Pakistani Taliban. As the head of the Haqqani network, the son of mujahedin leader Jalaluddin Haqqani has used his madrassas in Waziristan to mount vicious attacks on U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Similarly, Mullah Omar, the leader of the Afghan Taliban, may intervene to back one of the men in contention. Aftab Sherpao, Pakistan's former Interior Minister, says Omar's support was crucial to Mehsud's ambitions when the Pakistani Taliban was formed...
Despite Thursday's ostensibly being a day of mourning, the mood on the streets was almost jubilant. A 2-year-old flashed the peace sign from a car on the jammed Haqqani Expressway. Groups of women waved green banners above their heads near Vanak Square. Protesters near Motahari Street, once they realized that nearby riot forces had been recalled to the massive Imam Khomeini Mosalla (mosque) prayer complex, burned tires and chanted all sorts of seditious phrases, including "Die Mojtaba" (a reference to the second son of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, thought by many to be groomed as his successor...