Shootout echoes across
Pakistan By Syed Saleem Shahzad
KARACHI - Tuesday afternoon's fierce gun
battle in this port city is stark evidence that
al-Qaeda-linked sleeper cells have been activated
against the Pakistani state.
At least
three members of Jundullah (Army of God) were
killed in the clash with police and paramilitary
forces. Two policemen also died. One of the dead
militants was the suspected leader of the cell,
Qasim Toori, who was wanted in connection with
previous deadly attacks in Pakistan.
Jundullah was founded in the South
Waziristan tribal area in 2004 and is now led by
Pakistani Taliban Baitullah Mehsud and Tahir
Yuldashev, head of the Islamic
Movement of Uzbekistan. In recent weeks, Jundullah
has become estranged from the main Taliban
movement led by Mullah Omar, who insists that
militant activities should be confined to
Afghanistan, and not directed against Pakistan.
A senior police officer told Asia Times
Online soon after the militants' hideout in a
residential area had been seized, "I was stunned
watching so much weaponry [being used], ranging
from RPGs [rocket propelled grenades] to light
machine guns. It appeared they were preparing for
a war."
Another top official of a major
intelligence agency told Asia Times Online the
discovery of the Jundullah cell confirmed
Pakistan's suspicions that South Waziristan-linked
groups had regrouped in all major cities.
Soon after its inception, Jundullah
carried out a foiled attack on a military chief in
Karachi in which several soldiers were killed.
Within hours, several members involved in the
attack were arrested and the network was largely
shattered, although Qasim Toori remained at large.
Tuesday's incident underlines fears that
the militant violence that has spread from the
tribal areas to cities in Northwest Frontier
Province is now targeting bigger cities across the
country. Most of the violence is blamed on Mehsud,
who is now isolated with his allies Yuldashev,
Abdul Khaliq Haqqani and assorted Pakistani
militants.
The Pakistani Taliban in North
Waziristan have already agreed on a ceasefire with
Pakistan, and are expected to make an announcement
to this effect within a few days.
In an
interview with this correspondent on satellite
phone from an unknown location, Afghan Taliban
spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that when the
Pakistani Taliban began fighting against the
United States and other allied forces who had
occupied Afghanistan, they were united. But
subsequently, he said, Baitullah and other
Pakistani militants had started fighting the
Pakistani military and "we have cut all ties with
them and openly disown them".
He said the
Taliban have a clear-cut policy of not fighting
with any other Muslim country, especially with
Pakistan, in any manner, and that they are
strictly against fighting the Pakistani military.
"We have been fighting for Afghanistan's
independence against foreign aggression since 2001
[when the Taliban were ousted] and the Afghan
nation has a lot of hopes resting on us. That's
why they have stood with us against the foreign
military might. They are not supporting us to
fight with Pakistan, but to fight against the
US-led NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization]
forces and liberate Afghanistan," Zabihullah
Mujahid said. He said the Taliban had already
issued a statement disowning Baitullah on their
website (http://www.alemarah.i67.org).
Shootout in the city A police
official present at Tuesday's shootout described
the circumstances leading up to it.
The
police were tipped off about the presence of a
group in the eastern part of the city called
Landhi which had been involved in a large bank
robbery. The police launched a raid against what
they thought was a bunch of criminals, and to
their horror were fired on by light machine guns.
Clearly, these were no ordinary robbers,
as their weapons and fighting skills quickly
demonstrated. After three hours, the paramilitary
Rangers were called in, but by then two policemen
had been killed.
While the police
regrouped, several people in the besieged house
jumped from the second floor onto the sandy ground
below, where cars were waiting for them and they
escaped.
But Qasim Toori was in one of the
cars when a hand grenade accidentally exploded and
the police were able to capture him. However, soon
after he died of injuries sustained in the grenade
blast.
Syed Saleem Shahzad is
Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can
be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com
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