Pak Government, Army clash over peace deal with militants

Islamabad, May 2 : Pakistan's new coalition government is reportedly having differences with the military over peace deals, secretly initiated with militants in the country's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

According to reports, former Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao has said: "The agreements are either done by the army or the governor. The Pakistan Government doesn't have anything to do with it. They were started by the agencies and the army in the caretaker period."

"The new government found out about the army's initiative only after it took power, and has since tried to rein in the military's plan of pulling out troops and leaving local tribes to police the area," an unidentified senior Pakistani official was quoted as saying by the Daily Times.

Washington and Kabul feel that the withdrawal of the Pakistan Army from previous peace deals has allowed the Taliban and Al Qaeda to regroup and launch attacks against North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) forces in Afghanistan.

ANI