AN ATOL
EXCLUSIVE Waziri 'oasis' braces for
attack By Ihsanullah Tipu
Mehsud
Residents in Wana, headquarters of
Pakistan's restive South Waziristan Agency, fear
that a recent spate of insurgent violence will
spur a major new government offensive in the
unruly tribal belt. A fragile ceasefire between
militants, a local warlord and authorities in the
town has been put under severe strain by the
increasing number of US drone attacks in the
region.
In the past few months, militants
purportedly affiliated with Pakistan's largest
militant umbrella organization, the
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or Pakistani
Taliban, have carried out a flurry of deadly
ambushes on military camps and checkpoints in
Wana. It is widely believed these attacks were
carried out by rogue members of a Taliban faction
led by the warlord Mullah
Nazeer, who has wielded
de facto control over Wana for the past five
years.
Wana has been an oasis of relative
peace in the violence-plagued region, where
development could continue despite the ongoing
attacks nearby. Although seen as the birthplace of
the Tehrik-e-Taliban-led militancy that has
ravaged Pakistan, the situation had been normal in
Wana since the signing of a 2007 peace agreement
between Nazeer and the government.
A
recent visit to the town before the spate of
attacks revealed a number of development projects
underway. "If the situation remains peaceful for
some more time, Wana would become a model town for
the Pakistan tribal area," a local official said
at the time.
In the past few years, Wana
was seen as a "no-go" zone for the TTP. However,
this the situation has changed this year with the
inception of the "Shura-e-Muraqaba" a consultative
body that has joined various heterogeneous
militant groups based in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The Shura-e-Muraqaba - a council of five
top Pakistani Taliban groups - has united outfits
that were formerly rivals, paving the way for
TTP-linked militants to set up sanctuaries in
Wana. The al-Qaeda leader for AfPak, Abu Yahya
Alibi - who the US claims was killed in early June
by a drone strike - was believed to have played a
pivotal role in formation of the Shura-e-Muraqaba
with the help of Mulla Sangeen Zadran, one of the
Haqqani Network's top military commanders in
Afghanistan.
"Basically Shura-e-Muraqaba
is a reformatory body formed by mujahideen to
bring reforms in our ranks and files. This is also
aimed at unifying different mujahideen factions
including our Arab mujahideen brothers. This shura
is also for defensive purposes, we will keep
defending ourselves against any external threat,"
TTP deputy chief, Mualana Wali-u-Rehman Mehsud,
told Asia Times Online though an intermediary.
The situation deteriorated recently when a
major Pakistani military camp in Wana came under
heavy rocket fire from unknown miscreants. Local
security officials said TTP-affiliated militants
were responsible for the attack and that Mullah
Nazeer was allowing them to live in Wana with
impunity, in clear violation of the 2007
non-aggression agreement with Islamabad.
In response, local Taliban have blamed
security forces for violating the agreement by
carrying out indiscriminate attacks against
civilians in the main Wana bazaar.
"Wana
was one of the most peaceful parts of Pakistan's
tribal region. But recent steps taken by the
government to demolish innocent tribesmen's shops
and rob their goods demonstrate well who is the
real threat to peace in the area, army or
Taliban," read a statement from Nazeer forwarded
exclusively to ATol.
"If this conflict
continues, it could spark a fully fledged conflict
in the area," said Taj Muhammad Wazir, a leading
political activist in Wana.
"Our demand is
to expel the army from Wana, we have defended and
will keep defending ourselves against any
aggression. If the army uses its presence here to
fight against the tribesmen then we know how to
defend ourselves," said Nazeer in the written
statement.
The people of Wana now fear a
Pakistani military operation which could result in
a mass exodus from an area in which they have
lived for centuries. They have witnessed the
misery of neighboring Mehsud tribesmen who in 2009
had to flee South Waziristan in the wake of the
Pakistani Army's Operation "Rah-e-Nejat" (Path to
Salvation) against the TTP.
Displaced
persons, estimated to number around 41,500, were
given promises by the government that they would
be able to return to their ancestral hometowns as
soon the operation ended. However, due the fraught
security situation aid workers say only around
6,700 had been able to return as of April.
"Mehsuds are the prime victims of the
Pakistan-led war on terror. They suffered almost
in all aspects, physically, financially,
psychologically. But there is no one to heal their
wounds. They are left abandoned," Riaz-u-Din
Mehsud, said a human-rights activist from
Waziristan. For tribesmen across the region,
military operations have only resulted in death
and destruction.
Nazeer was once
considered an arch-rival of the Tehrik-e-Taliban,
founded in 2007 by the late Baitullah Mehsud. One
of the main reasons behind the acrimony between
Nazeer and the TTP was his decision to expel
TTP-linked Central Asian militants from Wana
sub-division. According to militant commanders
linked with Nazeer, he was left with no other
option but to expel the militants from his
territory.
The rising number of drone
strikes in the area in recent months is seen as a
major reason behind the growing trust deficit
between Pakistani security forces and "good
Taliban" in both North and South Waziristan. In
recent months, Nazeer has lost prominent figures
of his group including Shamasullah, Haleemullah,
Amir Hamza and one of his own brothers, Hazrat
Omar in US drone attacks.
Local militants
affiliated with Nazeer say he is under immense
pressure from leading commanders of his group to
repudiate the 2007 peace accord and join hands
with the TTP against security forces, to avenge
the deaths of fellow commanders.
"The
drone attack on [leading commander] Mullah Malang
[on June 3], who luckily survived, could be a
tipping point that leads Nazeer to renounce the
peace accord. The majority among us believe that
Pakistani authorities are complicit in providing
ground intelligence to Americans for a drone
strikes against us", a militant commander loyal to
Mullah Nazeer said on condition of anonymity, as
he was not authorized by his group to interact
with media.
Since the eruption of tensions
between the two camps, efforts are also being made
at a local level to seek a peaceful solution to
the evolving crisis. "Hectic efforts are underway
by the local tribal elders and clerics to resolve
the differences between the two and to stop the
worst from happening," local journalist Din
Muhammad said by phone from Wana.
Ihsanullah Tipu Mehsud is
Pakistan-based freelance investigative
journalist.
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