Pakistanis support military action against Taliban in Waziristan

Nov 3, 2009, 14:44 GMT

Islamabad - A majority of Pakistanis support the military operation against Taliban and al-Qaeda militants in the country's lawless tribal region near the Afghan border, a poll released on Tuesday showed.

Pakistan launched a major assault in the South Waziristan district on October 17 against Islamist insurgents, who have been blamed for dozens of bombing and raids on civilian and official targets over the last two years, killing thousands of people.

A poll conducted by Gallup Pakistan, an affiliate of Gallup International, said some 51 per cent of Pakistanis backed the army action. Only 13 percent opposed it, while 36 per cent were unsure.

However, only 25 per cent of Pakistanis believed that the Taliban were to be blamed for the operation.

Most of the 2,700 people surveyed across the country during face- to-face interviews during the last week of October held the American and Pakistani governments responsible for the conflict - 36 per cent and 31 per cent respectively.

Pakistan's right-wing media has long circulated stories about American conspiracies to destabilize Pakistan by promoting violence through various means, even by financially aiding the Pakistani Taliban, so that the superpower could invade the country, as it did in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Militant attacks killed more than 200 people in October and the first three days of November. However, militant groups denied a hand in a deadly suicide bombing in Peshawar, the capital of North Western Frontier Province, which killed 119 people, mostly women and children, in a crowded market.

The bombing coincided with a three-day visit to Pakistan by US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Taliban agents have speculated that the bombing was the work of an American private security firm.

The opinion in Pakistan over whether the military offensive can put an end to the violence in the country, which is reeling from a wave of terrorism, was evenly split.

Thirty-six per cent of respondents thought the army assault would improve the situation on the ground, while 37 per cent believed it would make matters worse, according to the poll, which comprised a cross-section of all ages, income and education levels, and linguistic groups in the country.

Pakistanis also seem sharply divided over which nation had an interest in the war, a change from 2008 survey results.

Thirty-seven per cent believe it is Pakistan's own war, but 39 per cent still consider it an American war. Another 22 percent thought both countries had 'shared interest' in the war.

In 2008, only 23 per cent considered military action in the north to be a war of Pakistan's own making.

The error margin for the survey was plus or minus 2 or 3 per cent, reported the poll organizers.

Pakistani military officials have claimed that Taliban forces are on the run in South Waziristan, as security forces have seized some of their stronghold in recent days.

An army statement said on Tuesday that 21 'terrorists' were killed in the latest clashes, while one soldier died and two were injured.

More than 364 Taliban and 37 soldiers have so far been killed in the offensive. The figures could not be independently verified because reporters have been barred from the conflict zone.

The United States has hailed the offensive against the militants, who routinely launch cross-border attacks on international forces in Afghanistan.