Peshawar: Lieutenant General Ali Mohammad Jan Aurakzai, Governor of North West Frontier Province (NWFP), believes there is evidence to suggest India was involved in recent acts of terrorism in both the state's tribal areas and settled districts.
Talking to senior journalists at an iftar dinner in Peshawar, Aurakzai said the increase in terrorist activities in NWFP was a matter of concern for the government.
When pressed for evidence of Indian involvement in the attacks, he said he could not reveal everything at this stage.
"But I know there is an Indian hand in all this. The Indian consulates in Afghanistan are involved in fomenting trouble in the NWFP," he said.
The governor said talks had entered a sensitive stage in South Waziristan where a Mahsud tribal jirga was mediating between the government and the militants, adding progress had been made in the talks to bring peace to South Waziristan and secure the release of 244 soldiers from militants.
"The militants are demanding the Srarogha peace agreement signed in February 2005 be respected and implemented. Now there was a written agreement which was made public. The militants are claiming some verbal commitments were also made and we are trying to find out as to what were those points," he said.
Lightly armed
When asked repeatedly as to how such a large number of troops surrendered to the militants without a fight on August 30, Aurakzai said the soldiers were transporting rations or returning to their place of posting for duty and were, therefore, lightly armed.
He said the force didn't intend to launch a military operation in the Mahsud area as the militants suspected.
But he agreed that lapses on the part of the troops led to their capture by the militants. "We would know the details once the soldiers are released and return to their units," he added.
Aurakzai, who was the architect of the peace accord with tribal militants in North Waziristan in September 2006, defended his policy of negotiating with the local Taliban through jirgas and said this policy had brought normalcy to the area and enabled the people to heave a sigh of relief.
