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Instability - Afghanistan's only
constant
By Syed Saleem Shahzad
KARACHI - At a time when United States forces
will start a renewed crackdown on bands of Taliban
fighters operating in southern and southeastern
Afghanistan, Pakistani intelligence agencies are focused
on reestablishing their contacts with local warlords in
the east to help organize them against the Afghan
officials in power there, sources have told Asia Times
Online.
Following recent attacks on US forces in
Kandahar, Hilmand and Gardez, in which a number of
American soldiers were said to have been killed and
several of their bases damaged, US forces have decided
to launch a comprehensive attack to eradicate all
Taliban sanctuaries around Kandahar. This operation will
involve US air and land troops and Afghan militia, and
it will also aim to track down Taliban leader Mullah
Omar, who is suspected of being holed up in the
mountains north of Kandahar.
Sources have
reported extraordinary US military activities in
Jacobabad and at Shebaz airbase, which would indicate US
plans for the attack are well under way. The sources say
that these activities have also followed reports that
people close to Osama bin Laden say that al-Qaeda is
going to launch new strikes before September 11, the
anniversary of the devastating attacks in the US last
year, and that increased efforts are in place to track
down bin Laden. The London-based Arabic Al-Owsat
newspaper has also recently carried reports that bin
Laden will make some announcement soon.
In
Afghanistan, the entire Pashtun belt in the south and
the southeast is in the grip of unrest. In the past two
months, Gardez, Khost, Hilmand, Kunhar and Kandahar
guerillas belonging to the Taliban and the Hezb-e-Islami
Afghanistan of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar have attacked US
bases, while at the same time rebel commander Badshah
Khan has stepped up efforts to wrest control of Khost
from official forces.
In Nangarhar, Haji Qadeer
had managed to unite all Afghan factions, but since his
departure to take up a vice-presidency in Kabul and his
subsequent assassination, different warlords have
emerged to vie for control, including Malik Hazrat Ali.
Although the new governor is the elder brother of Haji
Qadeer, he has failed to exert any discipline on the
warlords. Hazrat Ali belongs to the Professor
Burhanuddin Rabbani-led Jamiat-i-Islami Afghanistan and
receives direct orders from General Mohammad Qasim
Fahim, defense minister in the central government of
Hamad Karzai.
Pakistani intelligence sources
have received credible information that Jalalabad has
been turned into a new post of Indian intelligence, and
the warlords there are free to launch operations against
Pakistani interests. Just a few weeks ago, Hazrat Ali
handed over several Pakistani and Arab pro-Taliban
captives to Kabul. They were later flown to Delhi and
passed on to Indian authorities. It is likely that these
captives will be forced to admit to atrocities in
Indian-held Kashmir. The situation has become so grim in
this region for Pakistan that Hazrat Ali even creates
problems for Pakistani security forces on the borders,
where he is said to be engaged in drug and other
trafficking.
Since Pakistan severed all its ties
with Shura-i-Nazar (Northern Alliance) commanders (such
as Fahim), only those commanders who used to be in the
Hezb-e-Islami or with Taliban were left, but efforts to
cultivate them in Jalalabad have failed. Efforts have,
however, been made in Peshawar to contact leaders of the
Soviet resistance days to help Pakistan make inroads
into Afghanistan. Most of these people belong to either
the Hezb-e-Islami or the Ittehad-i-Islami Afghanistan.
In the western province of Herat, the governor
and legendary commander of the resistance movement,
Ismail Khan, has also become a problem for the Karzai
administration and the forces of Fahim. He has now
openly developed direct links with the Iranian
administration, and his area has become a fertile ground
for those opposed to US interests in Afghanistan.
There have been reports of a number of sightings
of prominent Taliban leaders in Spin Boldak near the
Kandahar-Pakistan border. It is reasoned that they have
redeveloped their support among certain anti-Karzai
Pashtun tribes.
Given the revived efforts of the
Pakistani intelligence to gain influence in Afghanistan,
the internal conflicts among pro-Karzai commanders and
the guerrilla activities of Taliban and anti-US forces,
the prospects of any semblance of peace in the country
remain as distant as ever.
(©2002 Asia Times
Online Co, Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact content@atimes.com
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policies.)
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