Islamabad(Xinhua) : Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto said Thursday that the armed forces have been “over-engaged” in parts of the country.
The military is currently engaged in operations against the militants and insurgents in the tribal regions, the Swat valley in northwest and southwestern Balochistan, Bhutto said at a news conference at her residence in Karachi.
“The armed forces are over-engaged. The armed forces have been made controversial,” said Bhutto, also chairperson of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
She demanded the government announce a general amnesty in Balochistan and release all political prisoners in the province.
She said her party was concerned that leaders of the biggest province in the country were being detained. She alleged that a plan had been prepared to rig the upcoming parliamentary elections and said government resources were being used to help her rival candidates.
Pakistan has also deployed around 80,000 troops along its border with Afghanistan to check illegal cross-border movement and also to curb the militants in the troubled Waziristan tribal region, she said.
Thousands of troops have also been deployed in the Swat valley in the North-West Frontier Province to deal with the militants there.
The deployment of troops in the tribal regions has been a controversial matter in Pakistan and religious parties are also opposing the army’s operations.