Pakistan is not only facing a serious threat from the Taliban but is also confronted by an "internal insurgency" from other different militant groups, a fact now realised by the country's establishment, a top US army commander has said.
"In Pakistan they now have what has become an internal insurgency. It's not strictly Taliban, although it uses that monicker," Lt Gen Stanley A McChrystal told the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee.
"It is a collection of different groups that have essentially turned inward against the government of Pakistan, and unless they can bring that insurgency under control and re-establish governance I think that they will have tremendous problems," he said.
McChrystal has been nominated by President Barack Obama to become the next commander of both the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and US Forces in Afghanistan was deposing in his Senate confirmation testimony on Wednesday.
Such a situation in Pakistan, he observed, made the US job much tougher in Afghanistan, as the militant groups have sanctuaries which any guerilla force or insurgency benefits from making them difficult to defeat.
Observing that unlike Afghanistan, Pakistan has a functioning government with a strong history, he said, if they continue with their counter-insurgency campaigns they can win against their internal insurgency.
