Some Frontier Corps jawans desert force
Some Frontier Corps jawans desert force
By Iqbal KhattakPESHAWAR: Some jawans of the Frontier Corps (FC) are reportedly deserting the force due to regular and violent attacks by the militants in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, sources told Daily Times on Friday. Military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad, however, called the desertion of a “few jawans insignificant incidents”.An FC soldier who met Daily Times earlier this week said he had deserted from the force days before his deployment to North Waziristan because he did not “want to fight his own people”. The soldier, asking not to be named, said that he did not desert the force because he feared death, but it was difficult for him to understand whether the fighting in Waziristan was “Islamic or not”. Asked why he thought so now after remaining in the force for 14 years, the soldier said: “This question is haunting several other soldiers and this confusion is stopping them from putting up a tough fight.” “We ask ourselves that if we die fighting in Waziristan will we be martyrs? No one is here to give an answer,” said the deserter who is now looking for a job to feed his family. Maj Gen Arshad said that small-scale desertions could take place in any force and in any country for one reason or another. He added that thousands of people had enrolled for recruitment in the FC recently. The deserter hails from a poor eastern suburb of Peshawar where around six FC jawans reportedly deserted the force – the first line of defence against the Taliban and Al Qaeda elements in North and South Waziristan. Another deserter said that insufficient salary was also one of the reasons the soldiers had deserted the force. “I was being paid Rs 4,500 only,” he said. There are also reports of desertion among army soldiers in Waziristan, but these desertions don’t reflect the overall situation prevailing among the security forces. By 2006, more than 700 soldiers, including officers, were reported killed in clashes in the ongoing war on terror. A military officer said the army suffered higher casualties because “the soldiers do not follow the standard operation procedures”.
By Iqbal KhattakPESHAWAR: Some jawans of the Frontier Corps (FC) are reportedly deserting the force due to regular and violent attacks by the militants in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, sources told Daily Times on Friday. Military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad, however, called the desertion of a “few jawans insignificant incidents”.An FC soldier who met Daily Times earlier this week said he had deserted from the force days before his deployment to North Waziristan because he did not “want to fight his own people”. The soldier, asking not to be named, said that he did not desert the force because he feared death, but it was difficult for him to understand whether the fighting in Waziristan was “Islamic or not”. Asked why he thought so now after remaining in the force for 14 years, the soldier said: “This question is haunting several other soldiers and this confusion is stopping them from putting up a tough fight.” “We ask ourselves that if we die fighting in Waziristan will we be martyrs? No one is here to give an answer,” said the deserter who is now looking for a job to feed his family. Maj Gen Arshad said that small-scale desertions could take place in any force and in any country for one reason or another. He added that thousands of people had enrolled for recruitment in the FC recently. The deserter hails from a poor eastern suburb of Peshawar where around six FC jawans reportedly deserted the force – the first line of defence against the Taliban and Al Qaeda elements in North and South Waziristan. Another deserter said that insufficient salary was also one of the reasons the soldiers had deserted the force. “I was being paid Rs 4,500 only,” he said. There are also reports of desertion among army soldiers in Waziristan, but these desertions don’t reflect the overall situation prevailing among the security forces. By 2006, more than 700 soldiers, including officers, were reported killed in clashes in the ongoing war on terror. A military officer said the army suffered higher casualties because “the soldiers do not follow the standard operation procedures”.
Labels: army, desertion, Pakistan, waziristan
posted by India News Watch at 9:45 AM
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