4 Threat Matrix: Taliban behead 2 Pakistani soldiers in North Waziristan

Written by Bill Roggio on May 7, 2012 2:39 PM to 4 Threat Matrix

Available online at: http://www.longwarjournal.org/threat-matrix/archives/2012/05/taliban_behead_2_pakistani_sol.php

According to The Associated Press, the Taliban captured two Pakistani soldiers in Miramshah in North Waziristan, beheaded them, and then displayed the heads on poles in the town. This occurred just one day after Taliban fighters ambushed and destroyed a Pakistani convoy near the town, killing nine soldiers. From the AP:

A Taliban commander said the military raided two houses in Miramshah on Sunday night, killing a militant commander and several of his colleagues. The militants seized two soldiers during the raids, beheaded them and hung their heads in different parts of Miramshah, said the commander.

The intelligence officials did not specify how the soldiers were seized, but confirmed that their heads were hanging from poles in Miramshah.

The officials and the Taliban commander spoke on condition of anonymity on Monday because they were not authorised to talk to the media.

If the past is any indicator, don't expect a major operation by the Pakistani military to deal with this problem. As we noted in February, the Pakistani Army has a garrison based in Miramshah, and yet the troops rarely venture off their base, as the Taliban run the show there.

For the past four years, the Pakistani military has resisted US pressure to launch an operation in North Waziristan, and instead has indicated it is interested only in keeping the peace agreements with the Haqqani Network and Hafiz Gul Bahadar intact. The Haqqanis and Bahadar are "good Taliban," and the Pakistani military has no desire to anger them, especially now that the US is rapidly drawing down in Afghanistan.