Taliban put their heads together
By Syed Saleem Shahzad
ISLAMABAD - Accusations and counter-accusations between President Hamid Karzai
and his opponents over the August 20 Afghan presidential elections could drag
on for months, placing at risk a stable post-election phase that was to have
seen the opening of dialogue with the Taliban.
At the same time, regional armed groups have buried their differences in an
effort to develop a counter to Washington’s AfPak strategy that has seen a
surge in the number of troops - and deaths - in Afghanistan, while also
striking some telling blows against militants in Pakistan.
In Pakistan, United States Predator drone missile attacks have caused havoc
with the command structure of the Pakistani Taliban-al-Qaeda nexus. Key
Pakistani Taliban (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan) leader Baitullah Mehsud was
killed in August, while the
low-profile Ilyas Kashmiri, a Kashmiri veteran commander who joined al-Qaeda
and changed the dynamics of the regional war theater, was killed recently.
In addition, ongoing military operations in Pakistan's tribal areas on the
border with Afghanistan have gone a long way to breaking the militant networks
that had been built up since 2002 and which fed into the insurgency in
Afghanistan.
Decision-makers in Washington and London have adopted a twofold approach under
which they would on the one hand escalate military operations against the
Taliban, while also offering political deals to those Taliban commanders they
believed could be isolated from extremist elements.
In this way, a broad-based consensus government that included the Taliban would
be set up in Kabul, and Western forces would finally be able to exit the
country they invaded in 2001 to topple the Taliban regime.
The contested Afghan election has derailed this idea. A second round of voting
will take place if Karzai's share of the total vote - which currently stands at
54% - drops under 50%. With 10% of the ballots cast in the polls being
rigorously investigated after complaints by the main challenger, Abdullah
Abdullah, this is possible, and it could take months.
While there is discord and disunity in Afghanistan, in an unexpected
development, four strange bedfellows from regional armed groups gathered in the
Afghan province of Khost about 10 days ago for prolonged discussions on the
course of the regional resistance against the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) and the Pakistani security forces.
These leaders included Sirajuddin Haqqani, who commands the largest Taliban
group; the newly appointed chief of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, Hakimullah
Mehsud; his rival Mullah Nazir, a Taliban commander from Pakistan's South
Waziristan tribal area who commands the biggest Taliban fighting network in the
neighboring Afghan province of Paktia; and Gul Bahadur, a Taliban commander in
North Waziristan.
Sources familiar with the meeting told Asia Times Online that it had been
convened at the personal initiative of Sirajuddin Haqqani, whose emphasis was
on immediate reconciliation between all Taliban factions - the Taliban are
divided in the Pakistani tribal areas along tribal lines.
Although they all pledge allegiance to Taliban leader Mullah Omar and his
resistance against foreign forces in Afghanistan, in their own constituencies
they remain divided. For example, Mullah Nazir and Gul Bahadur are from the
Wazir tribe and have always been at odds with Mehsud tribesmen. At times, they
have supported the government's military operations against one another.
One of the main issues addressed at the meeting was the military operations in
Pakistan as these have devastated the Taliban's supply lines into Afghanistan.
In past years, the Taliban have launched thousands of men annually across the
border; this number has now been severely reduced.
The leaders agreed that all Taliban groups, whether they were rivals or not,
would maintain close coordination and also develop joint operations when
required. Such coordination among assorted armed groups has worked in
Afghanistan, but this is the first time it has happened at a regional level.
Cooperation between different anti-coalition groups, especially in north
Afghanistan, has brought unexpected success. The attack on Italian paratroopers
in a NATO convoy in Kabul on Thursday is a case in point.
The suicide attack, which claimed the lives of six soldiers and 10 civilians,
according to official reports, was the result of coordination between a number
of anti-coalition groups, even including the local administration.
A senior commander who is not authorized by the Taliban to issue statements
did, however, talk to Asia Times Online. He called himself a jihadi with the
name of Abu Abdullah.
"The [Kabul] operation was planned by Sirajuddin Haqqani, and about two dozen
people were sent from Khost to Kabul at different times. They stayed at
different locations in the Taliban's safe houses. One person was then picked
for the suicide mission. The others are waiting for further operations in
coming days," Abu Abdullah said.
According to Abul Abdullah, the operation was coordinated with local
pro-Taliban people in Kabul who have deep penetration in the local
administration and who track the movements of NATO convoys. An observation post
was set up with the help of local sympathizers in the administration who
alerted the attacker to three vehicles approaching through a main artery. The
bomber's car then rammed smack into one of the vehicles.
Abu Abdullah claimed that all three vehicles had been destroyed and that 25
NATO soldiers had been killed.
"This is one of several successful attacks on NATO troops which has been
actively supported by the masses, like the masses supported the resistance
against the Soviets [in the 1980s]. If God is willing, we will carry out
similar actions in the future," Abu Abdullah said.
In addition to such attacks, the Taliban are expected to concentrate on
disrupting NATO's supply lines through Pakistan as well as those from Central
Asian countries going into northern Afghanistan. Further clashes with the
Pakistani security forces are also inevitable.
Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can
be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com
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