Pakistan tries--again--for "peace in our time" with Taliban/al Qaeda

Cross-border attacks from Pakistan into Afghanistan have more than doubled over the past month since negotiations began. "NATO and the United States say cross-border attacks aimed at Afghan and NATO troops have risen from 20 a month in March 2007 to 53 last month," The New York Times reported. "The United States is particularly concerned about the attacks because they appear to be aimed at Canadian and Dutch troops, whose governments are under pressure to withdraw from the NATO war effort."

While attacks have increased in Afghanistan, the violence is down in Pakistan. Prior to a cease-fire in February and the onset of negotiations in March, the country experienced several major suicide attacks a day prior. These suicide attacks have ceased, but the Taliban is still conducting attacks against government forces in the tribal areas.

...The Taliban has refused to abide by past peace agreements. The old Pakistani government attempted to placate the Taliban with negotiations in 2006, 2007, and early 2008, but these attempts failed to quell the violence. Peace agreements were signed with the Taliban in South and North Waziristan in 2006 and in Bajaur, Mohmand, and Swat in 2007. The Taliban took advantage of the peace deals to expand its control throughout the tribal agencies and the settled districts in the Northwest Frontier Province. The Taliban openly took control of Swat and neighboring Shangla in October 2007, prompting the Pakistani military to intervene.

Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and allied terror groups maintained 29 training camps in North and South Waziristan alone as of the summer of 2007. The numbers are not available for the other tribal agencies and the Northwest Frontier Province.