Pakistan official: War until 'terror free'

[October 03, 2008]  ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- Pakistan's war against Islamic extremists will go on until the country is "terrorism-free," a senior official said Friday after mounting violence prompted the United Nations to raise its security stance.

Pakistan is under intense pressure from the United States to combat militants responsible for rising attacks at home and in neighboring Afghanistan.

Its faltering efforts so far have been met with a blur of suicide bombings that have killed nearly 1,200 people since July 2007, according to army statistics released this week.

In remarks broadcast Friday, Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik said the government was undaunted.

Previous Pakistani military campaigns against Islamic militants in the wild tribal belt along the Afghan frontier were halted too soon, he said -- an apparent reference to the policies of former President Pervez Musharraf.

Malik said the current government, which came to power after February elections and forced Musharraf to resign in July, will fight until militants are either killed or forced to flee Pakistan.

"There is no other option," Malik told Express News television. "We will not stop any operation unless we reach its logical conclusion. That means that this war will continue until we make Pakistan terrorism-free."

Pakistan's army is battling militants in at least three areas of the northwest. The most intense fighting has been in the Bajur tribal region, where the military claims to have killed 1,000 rebels for the loss of about 60 troops.

Most recent suicide attacks have been in the northwest. A blast on Thursday killed four people in a failed bid to assassinate a prominent anti-Taliban politician in the region.

There have also been several attacks in the capital, Islamabad, including the Sept. 20 truck bombing of the Marriott Hotel, which killed 54 people, including three Americans and the Czech ambassador.

The U.N. reacted to that blast on Thursday by ordering the children of its international staff out of the city -- putting it on a par with trouble spots such as Kabul and Mogadishu.

It insisted the move was temporary and would not affect its operations.

Britain announced Wednesday it was repatriating its diplomats' children and other countries may follow suit. Pakistan has long been a non-family posting for U.S. diplomatic staff.

[Associated Press; By ASIF SHAHZAD]

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