Pakistan Rules Out U.S. Incursion into Waziristan
Pakistan's army chief of staff has played down the prospects of any "foolish" U.S. ground offensive in the militant-infested district of North Waziristan, lawmakers said Wednesday.
Any such attack by U.S. forces from across the Afghan border would prove 10 times harder than the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, General Ashfaq Kayani was quoted as saying in a briefing Tuesday with the Pakistani lawmakers.
Kayani's remarks reportedly came at the briefing at army headquarters on what the military called "ongoing military operations" and "matters related to the defense budget".
Washington last month escalated pressure on Pakistan to crack down on the al-Qaida-allied Haqqani network. Then military chief Admiral Mike Mullen accused Pakistani intelligence of involvement in a U.S. embassy siege in Kabul.
U.S. commanders want Pakistan to open a second front in North Waziristan against the Haqqanis and other militants accused of using Pakistani territory to launch attacks on American soldiers across the border in Afghanistan.
Pakistan has refused and the country has been rife with conspiracy theories that the United States could instead launch a unilateral ground incursion in North Waziristan, although there has been no evidence to support such a theory.
Four lawmakers who attended the briefing with Kayani gave Agence France Presse different accounts of what transpired and the military refused to comment.
One lawmaker said, on condition of anonymity, that Kayani was asked about media reports of U.S. troops massing in Afghanistan along the border with North Waziristan.
"General Kayani said 'we are assessing what their intentions are. So far it does not appear to be a buildup against Pakistan. But if they come across the border they will think 10 times before doing so," he told AFP.
Another lawmaker, also on condition of anonymity, told AFP that Kayani was asked whether U.S. troops could launch an attack on Pakistan before withdrawing from Afghanistan.
"General Kayani said 'the Americans are not so foolish, they have their experience in Iraq and Afghanistan and no comparison can be made'," the lawmaker quoted the general as saying.
"They can do it, but if they engage in any such an adventure they will find it 10 times more costly and difficult. It is not in their interest to launch such an attack," he added.
The United States has limited its military involvement in Pakistan to a covert CIA drone war focused on Waziristan. In May, its special forces raided a Pakistani garrison town to kill al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.
Source: Agence France Presse
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