Taliban can never take over Pakistan: Experts

Washington, June 8 (ANI): Amidst world wide fears that the Taliban would take over Pakistan, and are within the striking distance from Islamabad, Pakistani analysts believe that their country would never fall into the extremists' hands.

Experts said that the paranoia about Pakistan's collapse was created by the United States, which has lost its objectivity in carrying on its 'war against terror' in the region.

"The Americans have become paranoid about Pakistan. They are losing their objectivity, and I think they need a reality check," a retired Pakistan military General, Talat Masood said.

Experts are of the view that there are number of reasons because of which the insurgents may not be able to expand their writ in the country.

Reasons such as the geography, ethnicity, military inferiority, and ancient rivalries would prevent the Taliban from expanding their foothold in Pakistan, The Christian Science Monitor reports.

Another military expert, Rifaat Hussain said that the main reason of the Taliban's success was that they reside in the tough terrains in the North Western parts of the country,, and the support they have garnered over the years from local tribes.

"The moment they begin to move out of the hideouts, they are exposed. If you have 100 truckloads of Taliban on the Peshawar Highway, all you need is two helicopter gunships to wipe them out," said Hussain, a military experts at Islamabad's Quaid-i-Azam University.

Moreover, there are 5,000 Swat Taliban, and the total from all factions in Pakistan is estimated at tens of thousands, at most, while the Pakistan military, the world's seventh-largest army, numbers more than half a million.

"There would have to be a collapse of will on the part of the Army to defend the country. Yes, it's a state that's under stress, but it's not a failed state in the sense that people refer to Somalia or Afghanistan," Hussain added. (ANI)