A fight to the death on Pakistan's
border By Syed Saleem Shahzad
BAJAUR, Pakistan - Since July 3, when
Pakistani troops laid siege and eventually stormed
the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) in Islamabad, more
than 100 people, mostly from the security forces,
have been killed in attacks in North-West Frontier
Province (NWFP), primarily in the Swat region over
the past few days.
The banned pro-Taliban
Tehrik-Nifaz-i-Shariat-i-Mohammadi (TNSM -
Movement for the Enforcement of Islamic Laws) has
extensive influence in this
region, fueled by its leader, Maulana Fazlullah.
Many of the militants at the Red Mosque
and associated madrassa students were
believed to have been from NWFP, where revenge is
now being exacted against security forces. The
army has mobilized thousands of troops to the
area.
Similarly, the Pakistani
Taliban in North Waziristan announced on Sunday
that their 10-month peace deal with the government
was over. Fighters said that the deal -
aimed at curbing cross-border
raids into Afghanistan - was no
longer in effect and that they would resume
attacks on the Pakistan Army.
To the south
of Swat in Mamoon, in Bajaur Agency of the
Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of
Pakistan, the situation is equally restive, but
the focus of local militancy is directed across
the border in Afghanistan against the foreign
troops there.
Western intelligence
believes that Osama bin Laden, his deputy Dr Ayman
al-Zawahiri, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and other top
al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders have free access in
this region to meet and plan operations.
Cross-border raids into Afghanistan are frequently
staged from here.
The Bajaur area has been
hit twice by Central Intelligence Agency predator
drones, one specifically after Zawahiri. However,
at a time when al-Qaeda is reactivated and the
Taliban's main focus is to lay siege of Kabul, via
adjacent Nooristan province in Afghanistan, aerial
surveillance is considered insufficient.
As a result, a large US base is under
construction on a mountaintop at Ghakhi Pass on
the Pakistan-Afghanistan (Bajaur) border.
Militants believe this is in preparation
for an operation inside Pakistan to clamp down on
them as well as to renew the hunt for bin Laden
and his associates. As a result, the militants
have attacked the new base in an attempt to delay
its construction.
"This
is a matter of life and death for the mujahideen.
We will shed our blood, but we will never let this
base be completed," Dr
Ismail told Asia Times Online while
standing at the grave of his son, who was killed a
few weeks ago by US forces while attacking the
base.
The tall and well-built Ismail is
the leader of the TNSM and a main source of
inspiration for the jihadis in Bajaur. "My son
sacrificed his life against American designs to
build this base over our heads. I shall never
allow them to complete it, I will fight till my
last.
"Martyrdom for the cause of jihad is
actually an open invitation to all Muslims to join
forces with the mujahideen. The fresh faces of the
mujahideen after martyrdom, the aroma from their
flesh and blood, are living miracles and prompt
youths of the area to join forces with the
mujahideen to defeat the Western coalition in
Afghanistan," Ismail said.
Ismail's
narrative of the "miracles" has been a revelation
for many and the number of jihadis has skyrocketed
in Bajaur Agency in the past few months, along
with a deterioration in the law-and-order
situation.
Bajaur is a relatively
progressive region in the FATA, in contrast to the
North Waziristan and South Waziristan tribal
areas. It has a high literacy rate thanks to its
network of schools and colleges, and boasts modern
road networks and sports complexes.
Groups
that operate in the area include the Harkat
ul-Mujahideen, the Tanzeem Ishat-i-Toheed Wal
Sunna of Maulana Faqir Mohammed and several Arab
outfits. Their activities have attracted a lot of
local fresh blood to join forces with the Taliban.
While most of the groups are focused on
Afghanistan, a few confront Pakistani troops in
the region.
Ismail is part of the TNSM,
but unlike Maulana Fazalullah of Swat Valley he
does not want confrontation with the Pakistani
establishment - he only aims to take on troops in
Afghanistan. (See A new battle front opens in
Pakistan, Asia Times Online, July 14.)
"We only aim to preach virtues in the area
and we don't work for the enforcement of Islamic
sharia [law] by confronting the state. Those who
want to fight with the Pakistani establishment do
not have any depth in their ideas.
"[Taliban leader] Mullah Omar once gave me
the example of a policeman who would never spare
anyone - not even his father - while doing his
duty in front of his superiors. But in the absence
of his superiors, he would give leeway to anybody
he wanted to.
"The same is true with
Pakistan, which is like a policeman whose officer
is America. When the Americans keep check on
Pakistan, it forces [Pakistan] to carry out
operations, but in the absence of the Americans,
it turns a blind eye against the mujahideen," said
Ismail.
Ismail admits, though, that he was
less philosophical in his earlier years and he
fought against the Pakistan Army in 1994 before
going into exile in Afghanistan. Since returning
to Pakistan he has twice been detained, most
recently a few months ago. On that occasion a
large rally had been arranged in his honor and the
Americans took the opportunity to bomb the area,
in the process killing scores of students at a
madrassa.
"I am convinced that
fighting against Pakistani troops is shortsighted.
We will never attain any longer-term goals,
instead we will deviate from the main cause of
fighting against Western troops in Afghanistan,"
Ismail said.
We were standing about 3
kilometers from the US base under construction and
could clearly see its newly erected walls. Ismail
pointed toward the base. "This is the American eye
on us. They have built the base at a height so
that once it is finished we will all be exposed.
"I know all the top Afghan officials in
Kunar [province in Afghanistan] and I am aware
that once this base is finished they will
frequently meddle in our area. This is also a
pressure for the Pakistani government. So if we
remove such pressure, certainly Pakistan will not
bother us, because whatever Pakistan does against
us is under duress," Ismail said.
"Initially I contacted the local people in
Kunar and appealed to them not to provide labor
for the construction of the base. But when that
did not have much effect, we asked the youths to
stir up attacks, and now we have succeeded in
delaying construction."
Bajaur has been
the target of coalition forces from Afghanistan
over the past two years, and their efforts can be
expected to intensify as part their counter-terror
operations.
Coalition leaders in
Afghanistan believe that the Taliban's influence
runs all the way from the Lal Masjid in Islamabad
(now cleared) to Swat Valley and then through
Malakand Agency into Bajaur Agency. From Bajaur
the swath enters Kunar and Nooristan provinces in
Afghanistan to the small province of Kapisa about
60km north of the capital Kabul. Bin Laden's
movements have been noted several times in this
belt, as have Zawahiri's. Hence renewed efforts to
track them.
"The mujahideen movement is
approaching a climax and soon NATO [North Atlantic
Treaty Organization] troops will lose the earth
beneath their feet in Kunar and their ambitions
will die down," Ismail predicted confidently.
Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia
Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be
reached at saleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com.
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raids into Afghanistan - was no
longer in effect and that they would resume
attacks on the Pakistan Army. 
Ismail told Asia Times Online while
standing at the grave of his son, who was killed a
few weeks ago by US forces while attacking the
base. 
