Pakistan to send paramilitaries to fight Punjab militants
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan said Wednesday it will send paramilitary forces to crack down on Islamic militants in the Punjab province, a move that the ruling party of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had long rejected because of opposition among its Islamist supporters.
The decision to deploy the paramilitary forces, which have had some success against extremists in other hot spots, came after a wave of attacks killed more than 125 people last week, including an Islamic State suicide bombing at a famed shrine that killed 90.
Sharif’s younger brother is the chief minister of Punjab, the country’s most populous province. The Sharifs rely on support from Islamist parties that espouse extremist views but have not been linked to the latest attacks. Pakistan has long seen such groups as allies against its archrival India in the conflict over the Kashmir region.
Pakistan has maintained close ties to the Afghan Taliban as well as Islamic militant groups fighting in Kashmir while battling the Pakistani Taliban and other extremist groups that are bent on overthrowing the government.