False truce

WHEN is a truce not a truce? When offered by the Taliban. Maulvi Omar, spokesman for the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), told a foreign news agency that the militants in Bajaur had been directed to “stop attacks against the government and security forces” on the insistence of a tribal jirga. The government swiftly — and rightly — rejected the peace offer. Rehman Malik dismissed the militants’ “verbal commitments” and demanded their surrender. For good measure, the TTP has been banned by the government. The latest offer of a ceasefire by the TTP in Bajaur comes at a time when the militants are under severe military pressure in Bajaur and Swat and a humanitarian crisis threatens to turn the local population against the militants.

In the operation that was launched by the security forces on Aug 6 the government claims to have killed at least 500 militants, including some high-profile members of Al Qaeda and the Taliban. There is no doubt that Bajaur is a hub of militancy and that the militants led by Maulana Faqir Mohammad in the agency have close ties to the Maulana Fazlullah-led militants in Swat. Which is another reason to reject the truce offered by the TTP in Bajaur: it is only specific to the agency and any breathing space offered to the militants there will be a fillip to the militants in Swat. However, the government must be careful not to lose the battle for the hearts and minds of the local population. Nearly 200,000 people in the region are believed to have been displaced so far by the fighting in Bajaur. With the month of Ramazan approaching, the people will be desperate to return to their homes — which is not possible while the fighting is going on. The TTP knows this and — in a bid to win over the local population and also hide amongst them — they are keen to have the people back in their homes in Bajaur.

The non-military imperative for the government is to ensure that the internally displaced persons are provided a reasonable standard of care in the makeshift camps that have sprung up in the region to accommodate the Bajauris. News of delays in the provision of food and shelter and of appalling sanitary conditions is troubling. If the situation does not improve quickly the government may find itself winning the military battle but losing the war against militancy.