WASHINGTON: US General David Petraeus told a congressional panel on Friday that the Pakistani troops combating militants in Fata recognised the militants as an enemy and had the will to fight them.
The general, who heads the US Central Command, also said that Afghanistan and Pakistan were home to the ‘most pressing trans-national extremist threat in the world’.
Pakistan, he said, faced ‘a unique situation that requires unique and nuanced authorities’.
The general told a subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee that it needed to ‘fully fund’ the administration’s programmes for bringing peace and stability to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
‘Well, there is certainly a will on the ground among those troopers that are fighting in Fata,’ said Gen Petraeus when asked if the Pakistani military had the will to fight the militants. ‘And … they know what this enemy represents — they have sustained very substantial losses.’
The general, however, insisted that to defeat the militants, Pakistan needed ‘whole-of-government approach’ that would result from a complete commitment by the Pakistani senior leaders to enable their forces.
‘So again, you don’t have a situation where it is only the Frontier Corps and the army that is doing counter-insurgency operations. That’s not possible, literally. Again, military by itself can’t do it.’
Given Americas relationship with Pakistan and its military over the years, it was important that the United States be seen as a reliable ally in assisting with that work, he added.
The US military, he said, would focus its assistance to Pakistan in two main areas: expanding partnership with the Pakistani military and helping it build its counter-insurgency capabilities by providing training, equipment and assistance and also expand exchange programmes to build stronger relationships with Pakistani leaders at all levels.
The US military, he said, would also help promote closer cooperation across the Afghan-Pakistan border by providing training, equipment, facilities and intelligence capabilities, and by bringing together Afghan and Pakistani military officers to enable coordination between the forces on either side of the border.
‘These efforts will support timely sharing of intelligence information and help to coordinate the operations of the two forces,’ he said.
Gen Petraeus said the efforts to build the capacity of the Pakistani military would be aided substantially by the Pakistani Counter-insurgency Capability Fund. The fund will allow the US military to focus and expand its security development plan with Pakistan.
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