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Taliban profit from US
largesse
By Syed Saleem Shahzad
KARACHI - The US, content in the belief
that all support systems for the Taliban had been
withdrawn and their financial lifelines completely
dried up - and with moderate Taliban being drawn
into the mainstream political fold in Afghanistan
- has been shocked by a new phase of fierce
Taliban resistance this spring.
The visits
of Lieutenant-General David Barno, commander of US
troops in Afghanistan, and chief of US Central
Command, General John Abizaid, to Islamabad and
their insistence that Pakistan restart a powerful
campaign against al-Qaeda and the Taliban is the
result of a new realization that the Taliban
problem is back to square one.
Not only
are the Taliban primed in the latest techniques in
guerrilla warfare, they have also got their hands
on fresh resources - both in terms of personnel
and supplies - which the US had believed were
choked off.
Against the backdrop of a
strong re-emergence of the Taliban across south
and southeastern Afghanistan, especially when
Kabul is claiming to  have split the
Taliban, a powerful operation has been planned in
a specific belt along the Pakistan-Afghanistan
border that starts in the North Waziristan tribal
area in Pakistan and runs south as far as the
Afghan province of Zabul.
Zabul is where
the former student militia that became known as
the Taliban rose against feuding warlords who were
tearing Afghanistan apart in the mid-1990s, and
with an exemplary military mobilization seized
control of most major Afghan cities without much
bloodshed before taking power in Kabul in 1996.
According to some reports, the operation
in North Waziristan has already started. However,
it is unlike the ones adopted in South Waziristan
in the past to root out Taliban and foreign
fighters. The blueprint for this operation was
prepared on the advice of US intelligence, which
pin-pointed areas in Miranshah, Mir Ali and near
Data Khail. The operation is aimed at specific
targets, rather than broad actions.
Asia
Times Online has unconfirmed information that a
raid was conducted on Jalaluddin Haqqani's house
in North Waziristan, and that his son, Sirajuddin
Haqqani, was taken into custody. Jalaluddin is a
legendary mujahideen commander from the Afghan
resistance against the Soviets in the 1980s and a
key figure in the present Taliban resistance. (Through the eyes of the
Taliban, May 5, 2004)
Sirajuddin was apparently the main contact
in the Taliban's latest strategy of guerrilla
warfare which revolves around recruiting youths to
be given specialized training for targeted
attacks.
Apart from targeting the Taliban,
there is another reason for the latest offensive
in the North Waziristan region. Intelligence
gathered from local tribals by US operatives and
shared with their Pakistan counterparts suggests
that in the past several weeks top al-Qaeda figure
Dr Aiman al-Zawahiri had been sighted in different
places, including Birmal (in Paktika province in
Afghanistan, near North Waziristan) and in Zabul
province, today's epicenter of the Taliban
resistance.
Further, according to sources
close to Afghan tribals, Taliban leader Mullah
Omar was also seen in Zabul, as was the Taliban's
top commander, Mullah Dadullah. The presence of
these men, along with al-Zawahiri, suggests that
meetings took place in Zabul aimed at escalating
the level of the resistance.
Taliban
re-emergence
Up until 2003, the US was
appreciative of Pakistan's role in hunting down
al-Qaeda, but dissatisfied with its efforts
against the Taliban, complaining that Islamabad
still sided with them.
However, when the
US agreed to cultivate a Taliban force - on strong
Pakistani recommendations and assistance - to
support Hamid Karzai in the runup to last year's
presidential elections, the US was satisfied that
Pakistan had stopped supporting the Taliban, and
hoped that the resistance would die a natural
death in the absence of material support and safe
sanctuaries. (See US turns to
the Taliban, June 14, 2003.)
And the US continued to broaden its base
of influential former pro-Taliban commanders. A
great success was Mullah Abdus Salam Rocketi, a
powerful warlord who supported the Taliban during
their rule, who sided with Karzai. Rocketi was
provided with huge funds to distribute among
tribal chiefs in Zabul and Kandahar to buy their
support to block Taliban activities in their areas
during the presidential elections.
A
similar deal was struck with veteran pro-Taliban
commander Saifullah Mansoor (son of a legendary
commander of the Afghan resistance against the
Soviets, Nasrullah Mansoor). He had previously
carried out deadly actions against US troops in
Shahikot, in which 18 US soldiers were killed, in
early 2002. Saifullah was paid a huge bribe to
ensure that he would not interrupt the election
process in Zarmat and Gardez.
Similarly,
bribes were distributed to local warlords in Khost
and Paktia to ensure smooth elections, which the
US-backed Karzai won easily. At the same time, to
gain support among Afghan warlords, the US and the
Kabul administration turned a blind eye to the
huge number of poppy fields in Afghanistan, from
which the majority of the world's heroin is now
produced.
However, in doing all of this, a
major factor was ignored: the powerful tribal
bonds of Afghan society. In giving money to people
like Rocketi and Mansoor, it is a sure bet that
some of it made its way to the Taliban. Similarly,
by allowing warlords to grow poppy, some of their
profits would filter through to the Taliban.
The logical result is the re-emergence of
the Taliban - more monied, more resourceful and
better organized.
Syed Saleem
Shahzad, Bureau Chief, Pakistan, Asia Times
Online. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com
(Copyright 2005 Asia Times Online Ltd. All
rights reserved. Please contact us for information
on sales, syndication and republishing.) |
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