Most Pakistanis back war against militants: poll

A policeman in a bullet-proof vest stands as he controls people, fleeing a military offensive in South Waziristan, as they queue at a distribution point for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Dera Ismail Khan, located in Pakistan's restive North West Frontier Province, November 2, 2009.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A majority of Pakistanis support military action against Islamist militants although more people blame the United States for the violence than blame the Taliban, a poll released on Tuesday showed.

Pakistan's army launched an offensive against Pakistani Taliban militants in their stronghold in the South Waziristan region on the Afghan border on October 17 after a string of militant bomb attacks and commando raids on urban targets.

The militants are being squeezed out of their strongholds but have retaliated by stepping up bomb attacks.

Many Pakistanis are suspicious of the government's support for the U.S-led global campaign against violent militancy and many have long opposed military action against Islamists.

But political analysts say the numerous bomb attacks in towns and cities over recent months have convinced many that action is necessary.

According to a Gilani Research Foundation poll conducted by Gallup Pakistan, an affiliate of Gallup International, 51 percent of people support the government offensive.

"There is cautious support in Pakistani public opinion for the military action currently underway in South Waziristan," the research group said.

Thirteen percent of more than 2,700 people surveyed across the country opposed the military action while 36 percent said they were unsure.

While a majority supported the action, only 25 percent of respondents said the Islamists were responsible for the offensive with 35 percent blaming the United States and 31 percent the government.

Thirty-six percent of people thought the offensive would improve security while 37 percent said it would lead to a deterioration, the poll found.

The research group said the sharpest change from previous surveys was on the question of whose war it was, with many Pakistanis long believing the army was fighting America's war.

"Public opinion is still divided on the issue but many more consider it Pakistan's own war compared to a year ago," the research group said.

In the latest survey, 37 percent of people considered it Pakistan's war while 39 percent saw it as America's war. Last year, only 23 percent of those questioned considered military action in the northwest to be Pakistan's war.

(Writing by Robert Birsel; Editing by Jerry Norton)