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Jihad without
borders
By Syed Saleem Shahzad
KARACHI - A line connects the resistance
strategy of Iraq's Ba'athists and Afghanistan's
Taliban militias as they both draw on the same
blueprint in their struggle against US-led forces
in their respective countries.
Significantly, their roadmap, conceived in
the mountains between Pakistan's South Waziristan
tribal area and Afghanistan and in the southern
parts of Baghdad, involves taking their battles to
the home countries of the invading forces.
The bomb attacks in London on July 7 can
be viewed as the first manifestation of this
approach.
The Jaishul al-Qiba al-Jihadi
al-Siri al-Alami was formed in South Waziristan in
the middle of 2003. Ansarul Sunnah was formed in
the southern parts of Baghdad at about the same
time. The organizations include Kurds, Arabs,
Pakistanis and Afghans committed to fighting
against the US and its allies all over the world,
by any means.
The two organizations have
established recruiting outlets throughout the
world to generate finances and, crucially, to
ensure a steady supply of recruits to training
centers established in Samarra and Fallujah in
Iraq and in South Waziristan.
Interrogation of some of Jaishul Qiba's
arrested men in Karachi revealed that they have
divided the organization in several cells and
given them different names. One name was
Jundullah, whose members carried out an attack on
a corps commander's motorcade in Karachi last
year. They were subsequently arrested.
Ansarul Sunnah basically draws its
leadership from Mosul and Sulemanyia, but now
central Iraq is its playing field. Its initial
leaders were Kurds from the Ansar ul-Islam, but
later many Ba'athist and other Islamic Arab groups
merged into Ansarul Sunnah.
During
military action in South Waziristan in late 2004
and early this year, in which Pakistani troops
entered the volatile area in search of foreign
fighters and al-Qaeda figures, the army discovered
a film studio where propaganda CDs were being
developed in Arabic, English and Pashto. Video
clips viewed by this correspondent included
instructions about developing explosives and their
applications. The clips also included scenes of
fighting between Pakistani troops and tribals.
The productions were clearly identifiable
as being those of the Jaishul Qiba. US forces have
recovered similar material from Samarra in Iraq.
Asia Times Online has learned that members
of the Iraqi resistance, comprising mostly
Ba'athists who have melted into various Islamic
groups in Iraq, and Taliban and al-Qaeda members
of the Afghan resistance met several months ago in
Baghdad, where they reconfirmed strategies for
their common goals.
Asia Times Online has
reported in detail on Mullah Mehmood Haq Yar, an
expert in guerrilla and urban warfare, (see Revival of the Taliban,
April 9) and how Taliban leader Mullah Omar sent
him to Iraq before the war. There, he interacted
with Islamic groups in northern Iraq before
returning to Afghanistan to introduce similar
tactics to those of the Iraqi resistance.
In essence, this involves the elimination
of a central command, and breaking the resistance
into small groups which then engage in guerrilla
activity on an independent basis. This
decentralization is the guarantee of their
security and successful clandestine operations.
The lawless situation in the
Pakistan-Afghan border areas, and in Iraq, provide
ample opportunities for the resistance to bring in
youths from all over the world and train them.
Security analysts in Pakistan confirm to
Asia Times Online that it is true that youths have
been coming to South Waziristan's camps from all
over the world to be trained, before returning to
their countries of residence.
Three of the
four London bombers were British Muslims of
Pakistani descent and, officials say, they entered
Pakistan through the southern city of Karachi last
year. The fourth attacker was a Jamaican-born
Briton. Immigration authorities have said that two
bombers, Shahzad Tanweer and Mohammad Sidique
Khan, arrived together at Karachi airport November
19 and left almost three months later. The third
bomber, 18-year-old Hasib Hussain, arrived last
July via Saudi Arabia but his point of departure
has not been established, according to immigration
officials.
There are no confirmed reports
at this stage that the London bombers attended
camps in South Waziristan, although it is thought
they visited madrassas (Islamic
seminaries).
Pakistan analysts stress,
however, that what has been dug up by various
foreign intelligence agencies is scattered
information that fails to focus on the broader
perspective of London's blasts, and how they were
different from September 11.
"The
resistance is a global franchise beyond the bounds
of specific geography. It is a human instinct that
has been triggered. So when Muslim youths saw
destruction through daisy-cutter bombs and other
weapons of destruction, they formulated their
targets according to their resources and
locations," said former director general of
Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, retired
Lieutenant General Hamid Gul.
"This global
franchise of resistance is a truth of the day. Now
the West blames madrassas, but the fact of
the matter is that the youths allegedly identified
in incidents [in London] were all educated in
Western education centers, very much like the top
al-Qaeda leadership. One or two visits to a
seminary has nothing to do with the radicalization
of a youth. It is more related to the reactions of
the individuals [to events]. Social details
available on the youths tell that they were very
much part and parcel of British society. They
lived like Brits, had girlfriends and all the
other things common in British society," Gul
commented.
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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