US back to the drawing board in
Afghanistan By Syed Saleem
Shahzad
KARACHI - Top Pakistani and US
officials are to develop a new consensus strategy
to combat the renewed al-Qaeda and Taliban threat
as US-led coalition intelligence is convinced that
this nexus has consolidated in Afghanistan to such
an extent that it is using the country as a
sanctuary from which to direct global
operations.
It was for this very reason
that the US invaded Afghanistan in late 2001 as
the Taliban had allowed Osama bin Laden to take up
residence in the country, set up jihadi training
camps and, among other things, plan for September
11.
Since the Taliban's almost overnight
retreat in face of that invasion, they have slowly
reestablished themselves in parts of
Afghanistan, as
well as in Pakistani territory in remote border
areas.
Against this backdrop, US and
Pakistan officials are expected to meet in
Islamabad in the near future. "The date of the
meeting is yet to be determined and so far
Washington has conveyed to Islamabad a message on
the extraordinary nature of the meeting," a senior
security contact told Asia Times Online.
High on the agenda will be the issue of
drawing up a new roadmap to combat terror in
Afghanistan. According to the contact, who is
familiar with the preparations, the meeting is the
first of its kind since the immediate
post-September 11 period and officials will brief
one another on sensitive intelligence issues, and
share ideas.
Although Pakistan has
supported the US's "war on terror" since September
11, the US has frequently accused Islamabad of
being less than whole-hearted and forthcoming in
rooting out al-Qaeda-linked people from its
territory, this despite several arrests of such
characters.
Many in the Pakistani military
and intelligence establishments are also known to
still be sympathetic to the Taliban as they helped
put the extremists in power in Kabul in the first
place, in 1996.
Amid these concerns,
Pakistani security forces announced on Tuesday the
arrest of Abdul Latif Hakimi, the purported chief
spokesman for the Taliban. Interior Minister Aftab
Shir Pao confirmed Hakimi's arrest, but did not
disclose details. Some reports said he had been
apprehended in Pakistan's Balochistan province.
In Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai's
office welcomed the news and thanked Pakistan for
the arrest. Hakimi has often spoken on behalf of
the Taliban, mostly claiming responsibility for
attacks against US-led coalition forces.
Hakimi began giving telephone interviews,
beginning with Pakistan-based news organizations
and then to other outlets, including Western and
Kabul-based media. He seemed to have no fear of
being found through his telephone number and gave
almost daily and lengthy interviews, much to the
public annoyance of officials in Afghanistan,
Pakistan and the US.
The Pakistan Army is
currently engaged in a military operation in the
North Waziristan tribal area on the border with
Afghanistan to flush out foreign fighters. Over
the past few years it has launched several such
operations, including in South Waziristan, with
limited results, apart from inflaming local
passions in the volatile area.
Resistance takes new shape With
an intensification in the Afghan resistance, a new
phenomenon has become apparent in recent guerrilla
activities: the attackers included Chechen, Uzbek
and Arabs fighters. This in itself is not entirely
new, foreign fighters have for a long time been a
part of the resistance.
What is new is
that while previously the foreign fighters were
involved in raids close to the Pakistan border
(across which they could return), the latest
attacks were carried out in provinces such as
Logar and Ghazni, well inside Afghan territory,
where foreign fighters targeted US conveys or
bases and then melted into the local population.
"The US and coalition troops only stay in
their bases and only carry out special search
operations. The responsibility of routine
patrolling and local intelligence-gathering lies
with the Afghan National Army and police. However,
there are frequent signs in recent months that
local forces are looking the other way. The trend
is so frequent that it cannot be named as
ignorance. Apparently it is deliberate and points
to a more dangerous trend for the coalition
forces. In the near future, more foreign ground
troops will be inevitable to more closely monitor
the performance of the Afghan troops and increase
its coordination in search operations," a security
source told Asia Times Online on condition of
anonymity.
Apparently, a picture is
emerging in which foreign fighters and their
Afghan comrades have established pockets around
various strategic centers, on which they launch
sporadic attacks.
These developments are
clearly unsatisfactory for the coalition forces,
as it appears that after four years they have
still to stamp their control on the country. The
al-Qaeda presence in the country is nothing like
it was, but the mere fact that it is gaining calls
for a new approach.
To start with, and
this is expected to be discussed at the highest
level, is the loyalty of the Afghan security
forces. Various warlords and their followers were
given administrative positions in the army, police
and intelligence as a part of a reconciliation
program. They are already suspects. They include
former Taliban, but mostly former mujahideen from
the days of the anti-Soviet resistance in the
1980s.
They could be expected to have a
strong influence on people active in the field,
which would explain recent concerns of soldiers
looking the other way during resistance attacks.
Even Afghanistan's chief of army staff,
General Bismillah Khan, is under discussion. He is
a warlord from the days of the former Northern
Alliance, which fought against the Taliban during
the US invasion after September 11, but he was in
negotiations with the Taliban to change sides.
Khan was talking to no other than Tahir Yaldevish,
leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, who
is currently fighting alongside the Taliban in
Afghanistan.
Similar cases exist at all
levels within the resistance, as well as in the
administration throughout Afghanistan. Many of
these people have been elected to Afghanistan's
new parliament (official results are due this
month).
One could say that the same
politics and ideology that govern Afghanistan,
also drive the resistance.
Syed
Saleem Shahzad, Bureau Chief, Pakistan Asia
Times Online. He can be reached at
saleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com
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