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A bloody destiny for South
Waziristan
By Syed Saleem Shahzad
KARACHI - With guerrilla activity on the rise in
Afghanistan, sources along the tribal areas bordering
Pakistan believe that it is inevitable that US forces
based in Afghanistan will continue to cross the border
in pursuit of fleeing militants. Consequently, they
believe that further clashes similar to the New Year's
Day gun battle in which two Pakistanis died and at least
one US soldier was wounded are only a matter of time.
For now, tensions have been defused in the
re gion by an apparent agreement between
US and Pakistani forces on closer communications between
the border commands on both sides of the divide. The
hope is that the immediate transfer of information will
facilitate the capture of fleeing fighters. However,
sources in South Waziristan Agency cast doubt on the
practicality of this arrangement, maintaining that it is
inevitable that US forces will continue to cross the
border in hot pursuit.
They
also cast doubt on the official version of events that
precipitated last week's gun battle. Although media
reports suggest that only one US soldier was injured,
credible sources in Pakistan intelligence suggest to
this correspondent that actually several US soldiers
died in the clash and more were injured.
(Terry White, the spokesperson for the US Embassy
In Islamabad, said on Thursday that he had no
information about the incident beyond the official
US military statement describing a single US soldier wounded.)
An account
of the clash dug out by this correspondent on the basis of telephone conversations
with tribal elders in South Waziristan Agency
and Pakistan intelligence shows that the issue may not
have been as simple as some have previously suggested.
The account suggests, first, that US forces may have
been used by feuding local Waziri religious leaders in
an attempt at score-settling. Second, it also suggests
that tempers may have been inflamed to the point
where the current fighting in Afghanistan risks spilling
over into the border areas, adding to the pressure on
the government of Pakistani President General Pervez
Musharraf and possibly setting off a crisis in his
government.
Angoor
Adda, the location of last week's clash, is a border town about
65 kilometers from Wana, the district headquarters of the South
Waziristan Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas
(FATA), in the west of Pakistan. South Waziristan, which
comprises about 6,500 square kilometers, is the most
sensitive agency of Pakistan; it is not under the direct
administration of the government of Pakistan, but
indirectly governed by a political agent - a system that
was enforced by the British rulers. Wana is situated
about halfway between and 500 kilometers from both
Quetta (provincial capital of Balochistan province) and
Peshawar (provincial capital of the North West Frontier
Province). Economically, Wana is a key city, being the
most feasible transit station for a proposed gas
pipeline from Turkmenistan to India and also a likely
connection along any pipeline route from Central Asia to
the coastal areas of Pakistan.
Inhabiting this
region are the Waziris, reputedly one of the most
dangerous and warlike tribes living along the
Afghan-Pakistani border. The Waziri tribes have
maintained close relations for centuries with other
Waziris residing in Afghanistan. There are nine clans of
Wazir tribes, with the biggest clan being Zali Khel,
famed for its armed resistance to the British army in
the 19th century. Possession of modern weapons is the
old tradition of these tribes, as is use of heavy
weapons - including mortars - in ordinary fighting
between rival clans.
Another old tradition is
the ease of travel - people of all clans come and go
into each other's area and have never followed visa
regulations. In fact, to them, the rules and regulations
do not exist. Tribals from Afghanistan often come into
the Pakistani area for trade, make camp and live for
months. Some of the people come for other reasons, like
weather conditions. The appearance of the Waziri tribe
on each sides of the divide is the same; nobody can
identify who is Pakistani and who is Afghan.
Thus it was no surprise that, after the US
attack on Afghanistan in late 2001, US intelligence
gathered reports that lashkars (guerrilla
fighting groups) were frequently using the South
Waziristan Agency to cross the border from Pakistan to
Afghanistan and vice versa. Due to the frequent movement
of the tribes, as per their traditions, it was hard to
make a distinction between combatants and
non-combatants.
In response, operatives of the
US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) established a
network of spies on both sides of the divide. In the
Pakistani area, they targeted as agents politicians,
security forces and clerics. Political agents and
security personnel are bound to cooperate with the FBI,
but there are few clerics who were swayed by US
pressure; most clerics in the agency still maintain a
strong anti-US stance.
Initial media reports on
last week's incident indicated that Pakistani scouts
exchanged fire with allied troops deployed in
Afghanistan just across the border from Angoor Adda.
These initial reports had maintained that the firing
started after a militia checkpost in Pakistani territory
came under rocket fire from across the border, fire
which lasted about two hours and produced no casualties.
It did, however, attract the attention of allied
helicopters and aircraft that circled the area
throughout the day, giving rise to fears that an air
raid might follow.
Following a heavy exchange of
gunfire between Pakistani and US troops, about eight
allied soldiers were severely injured, eyewitnesses
said. Later, US aircraft bombed one madrassa and
an adjacent mosque, killing two Pakistanis. Just after
the incident, Pakistan raised the numbers of its forces
in the area, while US troops also took forward
positions. To ease the tension, a meeting of the high
commands of the Pakistani army and US forces in Bagram
(a district of Afghanistan near Kabul) was held on
January 4, at which it was decided that US forces would
not enter into Pakistani areas and that instead,
Pakistan will eliminate the terrorists itself.
Reports indicate that the battle was actually
related to an ongoing feud between the leaders of two
rival madrassas in the agency. The administrator
of one of the madrassas, Maulvi Shakirullah, is
pro-US, while the other, Maulana Mohammed Hassan, is
not. Maulvi Shakirullah has a close relation with US
troops in the adjacent Afghan border areas and is a
frequent host of US commanders at his madrassa.
He also did dastarbandi for them.
(Dastarbandi is a local tradition of winding a
turban to signify respect and acceptance of command.)
Maulvi Shakirullah informed US forces that his
rival, Maulana Muhammad Hassan, was a supporter of
anti-US elements in the area and that he provided
shelter to those who were attacking US positions in the
Afghan province of Paktika adjacent to the border.
US forces tried at various times to seal
Hassan's madrassa but the Pakistani command in
the area always resisted. Last year, US and allied
forces conducted a search operation in the same area,
which resulted in heavy casualties. According to locals,
the operation resulted in the deaths of more than 30
Pakistani troopers - including a captain of the
Pakistani army - in an exchange of fire with angered
local tribes. At that time, however, there were no
reports of US injuries.
On the day of the most
recent incident, the Pakistani local command had pointed
out the location of four mortars to its US counterpart
in the Afghan area. After defusing the mortars, the US
command insisted on conducting a weapons search in the
Pakistani area and asked the Pakistani army to provide
an escort for that purpose. The request was refused by
the Pakistani side.
Furthermore, the Pakistani
side rejected allegations from US troops that
infiltrators had crossed the Pakistani border. During an
exchange of hot words, a scout from the Pakistani side
lost his temper and started firing on the US troops,
injuring more than eight, eyewitnesses said.
The
US forces then called in air support, and US bomber
aircraft shelled targets, including Hassan's
madrassa and an adjacent mosque. However, there
were no reported casualties, as the hostels of the
madrassa were vacant due to winter vacations.
It is not the first time US forces have been
used in the settling of old scores in Afghanistan.
During the carpet bombing of Tora Bora, US and allied
forces were forced to trust the information of local
agents who provided information through satellite phones
to the US command about the movement of Taliban and
al-Qaeda forces. In many cases, this information proved
false or an attempt to settle scores against old
enemies.
The US army has a circle of its
supporters in the area, having formally recruited more
than 80 Waziri tribesmen from the Pakistani area for
night duty to protect their camps. These tribesmen are
paid at a rate of US$200 a month, and several have been
hired as agents to note the movement of Taliban and
their supporters.
Sources say that in the
context of growing guerilla activities in Khost,
Afghanistan, where every day brings another strike
against US military bases and convoys, it is inevitable
that fighters will cross the porous borders and enter
Pakistan. And it will also be inevitable that US forces
will pursue these elements into Pakistan in hot pursuit.
But now there is complete unrest in the area due
to the bombing of a madrassa and a
mosque - the most respected thing for Muslims. Any
time, this unrest could be translated into a severe uprising
- as now anti-US forces have political cover in the
form of the local Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal party
whose power base is in west Pakistan.
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