8/14/2019 Hindostan Times Special Report on Pakistan Bomb
Blasts
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Agence-France Presse [email protected]
The casualtiesfromThursday'sattacksin Pakistan
meansmorethan160peoplehavebeenkilledin about a fortnightof
militantattacks. The floodgates areopening to a widening
guerril-lawarin Pakistanthatthe gov-ernment has no strategy
tocounter, analysts say.
Talibanand Al-Qaeda-linkedmilitants are striking
deeperthaneverinsidePakistan,exac-
erbating US security fears asthewar deterioratesacrossthe
border in Afghanistan.... First they were active in
North West Frontier Province,nowthey areengagedin
Punjab.Theyareterroristspaid todesta-
bilise Pakistan, said InteriorMinister Rehman Malik.
Despite ananticipatedoffen-siveagainstthe Talibanin trib-al belt
on the Afghan border,attention hasalso fallenon mil-itants
operating hundreds ofmilesawayin thepoliticalheart-land Punjab.
We arenot readyto acceptthe reality that militancy is onthe rise
in Punjab... They arenow working in collaboration
with the Taliban to challengethestate,saidsecurityanalystHasan
Askari.
Thestringof attacksoverthelast 11 days proves the
limitedimpactof a traditionalmilitaryoffensive in northwest
district
Swatandthe killingof BaitullahMehsud,the Pakistani Talibanchief,
in a US missile attack.
Analystsbelievethe Talibanand theirallies haveovercomethe
infighting about Mehsud'ssuccession and are bent onthwarting a
widely expectedground operation in SouthWaziristan.
These incidentsarea warn-ing to the government and theagencies
that they shouldrefrain from an operationagainst them, said
Askari.
Critics accuse the govern-
mentof failingto formulateanystrategyto countermilitants
both inPunjaband in the trib-al belt.
Themilitantswantto desta-bilisethe country andwant thegovernment
to collapse,
Ayesha Siddiqua, a Pakistanisecurity analyst, said.
Thegovernmentis ina stateofdenial...Al Qaedaand Talibanhave been
penetrating theirinfluence inthe Punjaband nowit is high time for
the govern-ment and our forces to realisethis danger.
18 |H I N D U S T A N T I M E S , N E W D E L H I
F R I D A Y, O C T O B E R 1 6 , 2 0 0 9
worldP A K I S T A N S D A Y O F T E R R O R
A secuirtyman removes an explosive-laden jacket from the body of
an attacker at FIA premises in Lahore on Thursday. ARIF ALI / AFP
PHOTO
Police and rescue workers carry the body of a policeman from the
Manawa police training centre afteran attack by gunmen in Lahore on
Thursday. PARVEZ RATHORE / REUTERS PHOTO
Stay out of Waziristanis Talibans messageBIG CONCERN Punjabi
militants joining the Taliban to challenge the state
Four people were killed in a USdrone missile attack on a
sus-pected militant hideout in aremote tribal area in
northwestPakistan early ThursdayThe pre-dawn strike targetedthe
suspected militant compoundin Dandey Darpa Khel in theNorth
Waziristan region near theAfghan border.Two missiles were fired by
thepilotless aircraft. They hit a house
belonging to an Afghan refugee,a secuirty official said. "It was
asuspected militant hideout." It was a drone strike and
initialreports said at least three peoplewere killed and several
wound-ed, an official said, requestinganonymity. A senior security
offi-cial later said four people werekilled and six wounded. Afghan
Taliban leaderJalaluddin Haqqani's group is
said to be active in the areaHaqqani served as a minister inthe
Taliban government whichwas ousted in late 2001 in theUS-led
invasion of AfghanistanNorthwest Pakistan is seeing asurge in US
strikes as the UnitedStates tries to stem the flow ofmilitants
waging a deadly insur-gency against about 100,000foreign troops
stationed acrossthe border AFP
DRONE STRIKE ON SUSPECTED MILITANT HIDEOUT KILLS FOUR
The overwhelming likelihood,analysts say, is that
Pakistanremains locked in a stalemate formonths or years, with
militantsable to launch frequent destabilis-ing attacks but no real
risk thatstate control will crumble andIslamists will seize
power.The planned Waziristan offensive
is likely to begin soon. The mili-tary has been hesitant to do
this
because of complex geopoliticalconsiderations and the
difficultoperational environment in thearea..., said Eurasia Group
ana-lyst Maria Kuusisto.Equally, however, the militantshave no
prospect of dealing aknock-out blow. Even if theyexpand the areas
under their con-
trol, or assassinate leaders, theycannot score a military
victory.
PROLONGED STALEMATE AND LONG-TERM INSECURITY MILITARY STEPS UP
EFFORTS TO CRUSH MILITANTS ATTACK ON NUCLEAR ASSETS INSTABILITY
FUELS ANOTHER CONFRONTATION WITH INDIAPakistans military fostered
thebirth of the Taliban in Afghanistanand has shown reluctance
tolaunch a determined effort to crushthe militants. The audacious
attackon the military's headquarters inRawalpindi may well spur the
mili-tary to take a tougher line.We've seen an unprecedented
degree of support amongPakistanis for military action
against militants this year," saidClaudine Fry, Pakistan analyst
atControl Risks in London. Thiscould be an opportunity for
civilianand military authorities to pushhard against the
militants.But given the nature of asymmetricwarfare, the military
has littleprospect of significantly reducing
the capacity of militants to launchdestabilising attacks.
One risk scenario that worries poli-cymakers and analysts is
that mili-tants manage to penetrate one ofnuclear weapons sites,
and possi-bly steal some fissile material thatcould be used to
construct a "dirtybomb" a conventional bomb thatalso spreads
radioactive material.This would represent a serious
escalation that could spread panicin Pakistan and also lead to a
con-
frontation with the US and alliesover how to keep the material
outof the hands of Al Qaeda and itsallies.Security analysts say
thatPakistan's nuclear facilities areextremely well defended, and
themain risk is not of a militant assaultbut rather that
sympathetic workers
inside a nuclear facility manage tosmuggle out some fissile
material.
A second risk scenario is thatPakistan's government and
mili-tary, facing prolonged instabilityand eager to neutralise the
internalthreat from militants, fall back onthe old strategy of
trying to exportunrest.In a divided and unstable country,animosity
towards India is one of
the few unifying factors.Pakistani authorities may decide
that renewed confrontation withthe neighbouring country is a
priceworth paying to keep a lid on inter-nal unrest.If India
suffers more attacks likethe militant assault on Mumbai
lastNovember, and if Pakistan is seenas failing to prevent such
attacks,cross-border tensions would spiral
and markets across the regionwould suffer. REUTERS
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR PAKISTAN
[email protected]
A formerPakistanibureaucratwhoflirted withpolitics beforeturning
into a full-time colum-nistraiseda pertinentquestioninthe face
ofthe countrys sec-ond televised terrorist attackin less than a
week. Is it ademonstration of theirstrengthordesperation?
askedShafqatMahmood.
Desperate indeed. TheTalibanand theirAl-Qaedapart-ners are on
beating a retreatfrom Swat. But they havent
beenemasculated.Not yet.Thatcouldhappenif thearmy,
whoseRawalpindi headquarters wasunder audacious terrorist fire
five days ahead of the Lahoresiege,
isabletosortthemoutintheircitadelof SouthWaziristan
bordering Afghanistan in thevolatilenorthwest
The terrorist violencePakistan witnessed over thepast fortnight
cannot but belinked to the armys proposedthrust in the killer
groupsruggedly hilly tribal hideouts.
Having failed to trigger anIndo-Pak conflict post-Mumbai
thatwould haveinevitably causedwithdrawal of troops from
thenorthwestfordeploymenton theeasternborders, theyhaveven-turedto
realisethesamegoalbysetting Punjab aflame.
Theyre aggressive as theyf ea r b ei ng cor nered i n
Waziristan, argued SenatorJaved Ashraf Qazi, a formerchi ef of I
nter -Serv icesIntelligence(ISI)that rearedorenabled these human
assetsfor proxy wars in Jammu andKashmir and Afghanistan.
He saw in simultaneousattackson
threeLahore-basedpoliceestablishmentsthe stampofTehrik-e-Taliban
Pakistanson-ground coalition with sec-tarian Sunni groupings
whose
origins could be traced to theIran-Iraq war of 1980s.
Some of these outfits
theDeobandiSipah-e-SahabaanditsoffshootLashkar-e-Jhangvi run
seminaries in southPunjab. Theyuselocal contactsto escape detection
while
assembling logistics for theirTaliban allies.Inreturn,thereis
nodearth
of funds, weapons and trainingfacilitiesfor themin
Waziristan,Qazi said in a commentary onGeoTV.He
sharedUrducolum-nist Haroon Rasheeds fears
ofattacksacrossPakistan,notablyPunjab,
withtheobjectiveofter-rorising people and demoralis-ingthe
securityforces.
Not that Taliban inspired
saboteursandhuman bombersare averse to wanton assaultssuchas
theonewitnessedinPeshawarsKhyberBazaar ear-lier this month.
But Lahore, Islamabad andRawalpindi have had a slew
oftargetedkillingsafter abomber
blew up a police post outsidethe high-security Lahore highcourt
in early 2008.
Thursdays was the secondattack on the police trainingacademy and
the FederalInvestigating Agencys (FIA)facilities in Lahore. The
NavalWar College was bombed a
week ahead ofthe FIAinMarch2008. The sensational
attacksonthevisitingSriLankacrick-et team and the police acade-my
came a year later inMarch 2009 to be precise.
The Lahore siege and thehostage dramaat RawalpindisGHQ brought
to the fore the
lack of actionable intelligenceandapprehensionsof
terroristmoles, informants and sympa-thisersin institutions sovital
tofighting terror. The issue isntdebated in public forums
inPakistan. Butthe vulnerabilityof the security apparatus hasraised
global anxiety over thesafety of its nuclear arsenal.Moreso
whenleadinganalysts
believethe countryisin a stateof war halaat-e-jang.
Beyondthe News
VinodSharma
Political editor
The debate: Are Taliban attackssign of strength or
desperation?
Security forces race towards the police training centre in
Manawa,in the outskirts of Lahore, on Thursday. REUTERS PHOTO
THOUSANDSFLEE AFGHANBORDER REGIONIshtiaq Mahsud
[email protected]
DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Streams ofcivilians packed into cars andtrucks
to flee the militantstrongholdof SouthWaziristanasthe
governmentpoundedthearea with air strikes ahead ofan expected
ground offensiveagainst theTalibanalong itsbor-der with
Afghanistan.
Bombing runsover suspect-ed militant hideouts haveincreased in
recent days afterastringofbloodyattackson mil-itary and civilian
targets killedscores ofpeople across Pakistan.
Government officialssaidthewave ofterrorwasforcing themto take
the fight to the insur-gents heartland. The army,
whichgaveno timeframefortheoffensive, has reportedly senttwo
divisions totaling 28,000menandblockadedthe region.
Fearing the offensive, about
200,000peoplehave fledSouthWaziristansinceAugust, a
localgovernmentofficial said, speak-ing on condition of
anonymity.
The exodus intensified withtheincreasein
airstrikes.Sincetheweekend,about 80vehiclesa
dayhavebeencarryingfami-lies past one checkpoint atChonda on the
edge of DeraIsmail Khan, said NaimatullahKhan, a police officer
basedthere. AP
Agencies [email protected]
WASHINGTON: US PresidentBarack Obama signed a $ 7.5
billion (Rs 3.45 trillion approx-imately) aid package
forPakistan intolaw on Thursday,after Congress offered assur-ances
the plan did not violatePakistani sovereignty.
Obamasignedthe EnhancedPartnership with Pakistan
Act of 2009 popularlyknown asKerry-LugarBill aday before the
expiry of themandatory 10 days time afterthe bill was sent to him
by theCongress.
Obama'smove followeddaysof drama over the package,
which saw Pakistani ForeignMinister Shah MehmoodQureshi rush to
Washingtonafter opposition eruptedin Islamabad to conditions ofthe
bill.
Some Pakistani politicianss ai d th e a id b il l w as a n
American attempt to micro-managePakistan'scivilian and
military affairs.Thepowerfulmilitaryestab-
lishment hadbalked atcallsonPakistanto
fightIslamicextrem-ists.
ThePakistanarmylastweekraisedseriousconcernsover theprovision
requiring periodicalassessments by the US secre-tary of state to
provide certifi-cation that the military is notsubverting
Pakistan's politicaland judicial processes.
Fears forthe package's future were quelled when SenatorJohnKerry
and RepresentativeHoward Berman, whohead thecommittees handling
foreign
relations in Congress, gaveQureshia documentstatingthatthe plan
did not impose condi-tions or infringe on Pakistanisovereignty.
Thislaw isthe tangibleman-ifestation of broad support
forPakistanin theUS,as evidenced
by its bipartisan, bicameral,u na ni mous pas sa ge i nCongress,
White Housespokesman Robert Gibbs saidin a statement.
Gibbs said the new law wasbasedon a sharedcommitmentto improving
living conditionsin Pakistan, strengtheningdemocracy and the rule
of law,andcombatingextremismthatthreatensbothPakistanandtheUnited
States.
TheWhiteHousesaidtheaidpackage provides $1.5 billionannuallyfor
economic andsocialprogrammes as the Obamaadministration works to
shoreup Pakistans return to civilianrule and to encourage it in
thefight against Taliban and Al-Qaida militants.
Obama signs huge aid packageinto law, assures no
interference
$ 7 . 5 B I L L I O N P A C K A G E
( )The Al-Qaeda centre of
gravity is not Afghanistan.It is Pakistan. A loss of
Afghanistan is a win for theTaliban, Al-Qaeda in Pak...
G E N ( R T D ) J A C K K E A N E ,
Former vice-chief of US army
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) is one of the most noto-rious Al
Qaeda-linked groups with roots in Punjab.It also has forged strong
ties with the PakistaniTaliban groups operating in the tribal
borderareas. A senior LeJ leader, Qari Muhammad Zafar,appeared in
South Waziristan last week with newPakistani Taliban chief,
Hakimullah Mehsud. LeJ emerged as a sectarian group in the
1990stargeting minority Shi'ite Muslims but later grad-uated to
more audacious attacks. Outlawed inPakistan in 2001.
TERRORIST ATTACKS Truck bombing of Islamabads Marriott Hotellast
year; 55 killed Assault on Sri Lankan cricket team; 7 killed.
Attack on army HQ led by LeJ member, Aqeel;20 killed.
SSP is a pro-Taliban anti-Shi'ite militant groupbased in central
Punjab. The group was banned in2002 for attacks onminorities.
TERRORIST ATTACKS Several attacks on Shia congregations and
pro-cessions over the years. Recently burnt to death seven
Christians on sus-picions of blasphemy.
Jaish-e-Mohammad, or army of the ProphetMohammad, is a militant
group with links to theTaliban and Al Qaeda. It was banned in
Pakistan in2002. Founded by firebrand cleric Maulana AzharMasood
after his release by India in exchange for155 hostages on an Indian
airliner hijacked in1999. Masood was arrested in 2002 but has
sincedisappeared since 2005. The group focussed its fighting in
Kashmir butlater forged links with Al Qaeda and the Talibanand now
carries out attacks in the NorthwestFrontier Province.
TERRORIST ATTACKS Part of the attack on Indian Parliament in
2001. Murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl andattempted
assassination of Pervez Musharraf in2002. British militant behind
2006 plot to blow up air-liners over the Atlantic masterminded by
RashidRauf, a Jaish member.
Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT), or the armyof Tayyeba the old name of
Medina.
Founded in 1990 to fight in Kashmir.Banned in Pakistan in 2002.
A UN
Security Council committee lastyear added Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a
charity headed by LeT founderHafiz Mohammad Saeed, to a Al
Qaeda-Taliban watch list.TERRORIST ATTACKS Carried out Mumbai
terror attacks
last November: 166 killed.Part of the attack on Indian
Parliament in 2001.
KABUL
Lahore
HT GRAPHIC
Peshawar
Swat
Buner
NWFP
FATAISLAMABAD
Punjab
PoK
LoC
AFGHANISTAN
INDIA
PAKISTAN
Talibanstrongholds
Kohat
North Waziristan
South Waziristan
Major militantgroupsinPakistani PunjabLashkar-e-Jhangvi
Sipah-e-SahabaPakistan
Jaish-e-Mohammad
Lashkar-e-Tayyeba
quotemartial
(
Itsbecomeclearthatitsnotaseriesofpitchedbattlesanymore...werealisethattherehastobearealclearconsensusagainsttheTaliban.S
H E R R Y R E H M A N , PakistanPeoples Partylawmaker
)
