Pakistan intensifies fight against Taliban

On Monday, the Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat Mohammadi (TNSM), the Sufi Mohammad-led group that has been mediating between the Taliban and the Pakistani government, announced a suspension of talks with the provincial government, reports Dawn, a leading Pakistani newspaper.

A spokesman for Sufi Mohammad said there would be no further dialogue with the government until it stopped its operation.

'We are suspending talks with the government until the military operation in Dir is halted,' said Ameer Izzat, a spokesman for Sufi Mohammad.

'Our council of leaders met on Sunday night and decided to suspend peace negotiations with the government in North West Frontier Province,' said Ameer Izzat.

Religious political parties in the Northwest Frontier Province have also spoken out against the Dir operation, reports The Nation, an English-language Pakistani daily. The leader of the Jammat-e-Islami party in Rawalpindi – Islamabad's twin city – described the operation as a "violation of peace accord."

"It seems that the federal government has launched the fresh operation under the mounting pressure of US, which is remorseful," [City Amir Jammat-e-Islami Raja Abdul Waheed Advocate] added….

He also accused President Asif Ali Zardari [of consenting] to the military operation "just to make Americans happy before his departure for his scheduled visit to US."

The international community, however, is hailing the Dir operation, reports the Pakistani English-language daily, The News.

[British Prime Minister] Gordon Brown praised the action of the Pakistan's armed forces in Dir to flush out the Taliban from there. "The Pakistan Army and the government are already taking strong actions against the Taliban leadership."

Thousands of people have been displaced during the ongoing operation, reports Agence France-Presse.

Around 30,000 people in northwest Pakistan have been displaced by a military offensive to flush out Taliban militants, a provincial minister said Tuesday.

"Up to 30,000 people have left Maidan in Lower Dir district over the past few days, we are making arrangements for them in Peshawar, Nowshera and Timargarah districts," Mian Iftikhar Hussain told a news conference.

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