ISLAMABAD, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan will continue military operation against militants as the violent attacks like Friday's blast in the country's northwest spread hate among common people, analysts said.
A powerful blast hit a village in Lakki Marwat, southern district in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) that borders the restive Tribal areas of the country, killing more than 90 people and injuring 60 others at the New Year's Day.
This time the target was a volleyball ground where some local players, in the presence of 300 spectators around them, were busy in match.
Commenting on the blast, Mehmood Shah, former Secretary of Federal Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and a well-known defense analyst, told Xinhua that the militants have been divided into groups and lack of leadership, inducing them to commit violence without thinking it over.
Mehmood Shah said, "The militants' groups in Pakistan have no specific agenda. Neither do they understand so many things, nor do they have specific strategy. After the killing of Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, the militants were dispersed in several groups. Baitullah Mehsud had a strategy, he wanted to establish writ in some part of Pakistan and gathered powers as result of his peace dialogue with the government, but the new leadership of Pakistani Taliban doesn't know what they want."
So military operation instead of dialogue is the solution to the problem of militancy in this country, he added.
The attacks on public places and civilians increased in 2009 as more than 494 attacks were carried out in various parts of Pakistan, killing more than 3,318 people including civilians, tribal elders, security personnel, journalists, religious scholars, students and others belonging to various segments in society in separate incidents. The public and the society are moving against militancy. The analysts, common people, security agencies, and the government all want to halt the militancy in the country.
Analysts said that Taliban are gradually losing support when they started torturing and killing civilians, tribal elders and security personnel, and destroyed several educational institutions.
In Feb. 2009 the Pakistani government agreed to accept certain demands of the militants in Swat. However, in March, Pakistanis were horrified when a videotape surfaced that showed Taliban militants publicly whipping a 17-year-old girl in Swat accused of having an affair. Protests broke out all over Pakistan to demonstrate against the flogging.
Then in April, Taliban militants broke out the peace deal and expanded their control in Buner district, only 100 kilometers north of the capital Islamabad, compelling the government to start the military operation against Taliban in the area.
In October the militants' attack against Pakistan army' General Headquarters forced the army to launch a decisive operation against the militants in South Waziristan tribal area.
Mehmood Shah said that neither the opposition parties nor the religious parties this time demanded any agreement with the violent groups in Swat or FATA. Violent acts by Taliban changed the mind of the military establishment, the government and the political elites in Pakistan.
Defense analyst Imtiaz Gul told Xinhua, "Until February or March in 2009 the ISI (Inter Services Intelligence) and some army institutions thought that they could co-exist with Taliban as they could provide security at the western border, but when Taliban tried to occupy some positions in Swat and Buner, the army then realized that they are no friends but blackmailers."
When asked whether suicide attacks will continue in 2010 in Pakistan, political analyst Zahid Hussain told local media that situation in Pakistan is very complex as it also depends on situation in Afghanistan and the success or failure of the United States in the country, adding "we can not think very optimistically".
Meanwhile, Imtiaz Gul told Xinhua that "I am not pessimistic because 2009 I think was a year that will be remembered for a change in the military establishment policy towards Taliban."
"The military operation will weaken the militants, and that's the hope," he added.
Special Report: Pakistani Situation
