QUETTA:  The Government has admitted the existence of the Afghan Taliban’s
Quetta shura for the first time, and says it has taken them on.
In an exclusive interview with a Private TV Channel, Federal Defense
Minister, Ahmad Mukhtar has said that the security forces have taken on the
Quetta shura and have damaged it to such an extent that it no longer poses
any threat.
When asked about any arrest, he said, “I am sure that the Pakistan army is
on job and trying to locate those who are enemies of Pakistan. We have
finished them so that they don’t flight with us and create problem for us”,
he said.
Responding to another question about allegation of US about existence of
Taliban Shura in Quetta, he said, we have not any real reason not to believe
that.
A recent report by General Stanley McChrystal, the top US Commander in
Afghanistan, alleged that the top Taliban leadership was in Quetta and that
they were master-minding attacks on international forces in Afghanistan.
However, until this admission by the Defense Minister the Government has so
far denied the existence of any Taliban leadership or the Quetta shura in
Balochistan’s capital. Online