Pak govt, military facilities on Taliban radar

The Taliban has vowed to launch more "high-profile" attacks against government and military installations in Pakistan. The terror group says its aim is to force the authorities in Islamabad to end their alliance with the United States.

Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan leader Maulana Faqir Mohammad said his group, which was earlier focusing on the war in Afghanistan, had changed its strategy.

Mohammad said they would now launch more large-scale attacks against Pakistani security forces like the one on the PNS Mehran naval airbase in Karachi and assaults that targeted border check posts in Dir region of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

Individual strikes by militants in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and other parts of Pakistan will continue but the "preferred option would be to mount high-profile attacks against government and military installations," Mohammad told The News daily.

Mohammad, who was deputy head of the TTP before disappearing from the scene last year amid reports that he had patched up with the government, spoke to the media after a considerable gap.

The commander "appeared determined to carry on his fight with the Pakistani state," the report said. It is the first time that a TTP commander has explained the group's new strategy.

"Our strategy of launching big attacks on military installations was aimed demoralising the ranks of the security forces and tiring out the government. We also want to limit civilian casualties. Our ultimate objective is to force the government to end its alliance with the US," Mohammad said.

Ten security personnel were killed and two US-made surveillance aircrafts were destroyed when a small band of heavily armed Taliban fighters attacked the PNS Mehran base in Karachi on May 22.

In a separate incident, nearly 30 security personnel were killed after hundreds of Taliban fighters sneaked into the remote Dir region in Pakistan from Afghanistan and targeted security forces earlier this week.

When asked why the Pakistani Taliban were attacking targets within the country and killing fellow Muslims and Pakistanis, Mohammad said that the Pakistani security forces first attacked them and forced them to retaliate. "We turned our attention to Pakistan when we were attacked. Before that our attention was focused on the war in Afghanistan," he said.

Asked how Pakistani militants were operating from Afghan soil without the Afghan government and North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces taking action against them, Mohammad said there were areas in Afghanistan's border provinces like Kunar and Nuristan where authorities and US-led foreign forces had no control.

Mohammad said the TTP and Al Qaeda were separate organisations but sometimes had similar objectives. He said the attacks within Pakistan were being carried out by the TTP and its affiliates.

"Militants previously aligned with Al Qaeda are coming under the fold of the TTP and contributing to its strength," he claimed.

The commander, who said he was speaking from somewhere in Afghanistan close to the Pakistan border, claimed he was in touch with Pakistani Taliban head Hakimullah Mahsud and other top commanders through couriers and other means.

Asked about reports that the Pakistani Taliban might be receiving funds from India, Mohammad said, "India is ruled by non-Muslims. We have always considered India an enemy country. How can we accept funding from the Indians?"