November 15, 2007 (LPAC)--Holding a press briefing before a select group of journalists for the first time since 9/11, Pakistan's Directorate-General of Military Operations (DGMO) at the General HQ at the garrison city of Rawalpindi, said containment of the militants' groups in Pakistan's tribal areas bordering eastern Afghanistan, had failed. The DGMO said this was due to the over-militarization of Pakistan's counter-terrorism strategy under American influence.

Gen. Ashfaq Kiyani, the Vice-Chief of Armed Services (VCOAS), who will take over the command of the Pakistani army from President Musharraf by the end of this month, attended the briefing.

Ayesha Haroon of the daily The News International, one of the journalists who attended the briefing at the GHQ, said in her detailed report published on Nov 15, "The journalists were told that the VCOAS stressed that "military solutions must be politically acceptable" and "only minimum use of force must be resorted to."

Army officers refrained from accusing Benazir Bhutto, for mouthing the British/American sentiment of using even NATO forces from Afghanistan to eliminate the militants in the tribal areas. But it was pointed out that Islamabad is aware, that there is strong resentment developed among the tribal personnel of the Pakistani para-military forces, who feel that "Musharraf, under U.S. pressure, is not only making Muslims kill Muslims, but also Pushtuns kill Pushtuns, in the name of the so-called war on terrorism."