Pak Army should declare “jihad” against US forces’ ground raids in tribal areas: JUI-F

ISLAMABAD - Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Fazalur Rehman has strongly criticised US media reports on the military operation in Pakistan’s tribal region, saying the Pakistan Army should declare ‘jihad’ in response to the US forces’ ground raids in North Waziristan.

Speaking in the National Assembly, Fazl expressed dismay over the policies adopted by the Pakistan People’s Party-led government, particularly regarding the ongoing war against terror in the country.

Referring to a US newspaper report that “senior American military commanders in Afghanistan are pushing for an expanded campaign of Special Operations ground raids across the border into Pakistan’s tribal areas”, he announced that his party would not let any foreign troops into the country’s soil, and also urged the army to announce jihad in case US troops carried out any such attack.

Pakistan wants good ties with the US, but the relationship must not be that of a “slave and master,” the Daily Times quoted Fazl, as saying.

The JUI-F chief also termed the PPP-led government a threat to the shariah and Tahafuz-e-Namoos-e-Risalat movement.

“The JUI-F can continue to be a friend, but not a ‘peasant’ for the prime minister,” he added. (ANI)