Pakistan: The new frontline in US 'war on terror'

 BBC.co.uk

Anti-American feelings are high in Pakistan

The BBC's Owen Bennett Jones in Islamabad looks at the changing patterns of Islamist militancy and violence in Pakistan's tribal regions, seven years after 9/11.

Pakistan is in the midst of a ferocious civil conflict.

Each day the newspapers report 40 or 50 dead. As well as frequent suicide attacks in Pakistan's cities, there is now fighting throughout the tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan.

It is the new frontline in America's "war on terror". US officials worry that al-Qaeda has found a safe haven from which it can plan new attacks on the West.

The newly-elected Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has said the Taleban has "the upper hand" and he has vowed he will defeat the Islamic militants.

His task is complicated by the differing nature of the insurgency in different tribal areas. Al-Qaeda is thought to be most active in North Waziristan and Bajaur.

The Pakistan Taleban meanwhile has control of most of South Waziristan and is using its base there to launch suicide attacks throughout Pakistan.

Strategic

In Kurram tribal agency the Islamic militants are mostly motivated by sectarian divisions between Sunnis and Shias, whilst in Khyber tribal agency there are criminal gangs posing as Islamists as well as an intra-Sunni sectarian dispute.

Although it is relatively peaceful at the moment, Khyber is probably the most strategically significant of all the tribal areas.

It has the historic trade route that leads from the Pakistani city of Peshawar, through the Khyber Pass, and on to Kabul in Afghanistan.

Today it is a vital supply line used to transport 85% of the fuel used by the Western forces in Afghanistan.

Earlier this week the Pakistani authorities were forced to close the road for a few hours amidst warnings of imminent Taleban attacks.

Officials say that the Taleban's intelligence is good. When vehicles on the road are destroyed they always contain Nato supplies rather than local products such as fruit and vegetables being moved by local traders.

In full swing

But for the most part the supplies do get through. Local tribes, which receive cash grants from the government, have agreed not to attack the road.

Elsewhere in the tribal areas that lie on the border with Afghanistan the insurgency is in full swing.

The Pakistan military has deployed 120,000 soldiers and paramilitary troops to fight the various militant groups.

There are some encouraging signs for the government.

Recent Pakistani offensives in Bajaur and Swat have made headway.

And in some remote areas such as Dir, local residents, weary of conflict, have started fighting the Taleban.

Recent US air strikes and ground assaults have complicated the situation.

The US insists that if it identifies al-Qaeda targets in Pakistan it will hit them.

On many occasions, however, the US has killed civilians, handing the militants a propaganda victory.

America wants Pakistan to fight harder but the government in Islamabad is well aware that many Pakistanis are reluctant to fight what they see as America's war.

Anti-Americanism is so rife that even relatives of suicide bomb attacks blame the US and not the people who admit responsibility for the attacks - the Taleban.

 Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7607998.stm

Voices from unstable borders

This week marks seven years since the 11 September attacks on the US which led President George Bush, who steps down in January, to declare a "war on terror".

Despite being driven from power, a resurgent Taleban is at large in parts of Afghanistan and militants are still active in tribal areas along the Pakistani-Afghan border.

Here, people in the some of the most restive regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan talk about security and militancy where they live.

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN

One Kandahari resident, Asif, says villagers in outlying districts are often forced to co-operate with the Taleban.

There is Taleban activity in districts outside Kandahar city like Panjwayi, Maywand, Zhari, Shah Walikot and Arghandab district.

The people who live where the Taleban live have to support them but this does not mean that people like them. The Taleban want food and accommodation from locals. If Nato forces attack or an air strike is called in, the Taleban escape but the local people suffer.

I have heard that the Taleban have small groups in the villages, they are not organised, not under one command and the villagers say they do not have one strategy.

The cost of living is high here. I know that in some cases, people are going to join military forces - either the government or the Taleban - because they need to feed their families.

Nobody likes the Taleban here. They took the people of the south by force. This year is the worst in recent times. I remember when we could go to any district in Kandahar with no fear. Now we cannot travel. 

Popal, a telecoms worker, says people have deserted the districts surrounding the city of Kandahar.

The militants are not threatening any civilians in the city. Only those who work for international organisations or the government receive threatening letters.

I come from the Durai area where Isaf [Nato-led] and Canadian forces are working near the main roads and the situation is very bad. Roadside attacks are very common and people are killed almost daily. It makes people afraid of going out of town and onto the roads.

There is a village called Pashimol which is particularly disturbed and I recently heard of heavy fighting there.

The insurgents wait outside the city to attack by night. They seem to be almost everywhere. They want to terrorise and this is very easy for them. The police are only deployed around the city.

So the people who live outside the city have a very difficult life. Many of them have just come to Kandahar because life is more secure now here.

Most of the outlying districts are now empty. 

Anwar says life is dangerous for those Afghans working for international companies and coalition forces.

There are still security threats in Kandahar city

The districts next to the city feel the presence of the Taleban and no one dares work with the government or international NGOs. People even feel afraid to openly admire their activities in case of retaliation by insurgents.

If you work for yourself and keep a low profile you have no worries. But for people who work with the government and coalition forces you must keep an even lower profile. Those Afghans will be on the insurgents' blacklist.

Life is tough. We hear of killing and kidnappings. We can't make any long term plans - we just have to live life day by day.

The situation is worse than last year because insurgents are using new techniques to warn people not to help the government, coalition forces or NGOs. People are seeking ways to leave the country. 

KUNAR, AFGHANISTAN

Mohammed says the real danger in Kunar province follows the US soldiers.

Life in Asadabad, the capital of Kunar, seems pretty normal. But if you go to rural areas, there is violence. It is not so quiet there. I can't really talk about that because I generally remain in the centre of Kunar. In the city, I have seen very little violence in recent times.

It is hard to tell what is happening out in the districts. When I have been to rural areas I haven't seen anything myself. Here in the centre we get bad news and good news about development activities - life is as we would have expected it as residents.

But we know that there is real trouble in certain districts, where the American soldiers operate. Every time the American soldiers go somewhere bombs begin to blast.

SWAT VALLEY, PAKISTAN

Najaf, a resident of Swat valley, says locals are now fighting the militants themselves.

This has been the seventh day in a row that we have had curfew in our village.

 The locals say that if the militants come to their area, the army targets their places 

Najaf

The people they call Taleban militants move freely in the area. They are at large and move among the population.

We were expecting that after Musharraf left the tension would ease and there would be no more attacks and clashes between the militants and the army. But things are going from bad to worse.

People are terrified and they are dead against the army because hundreds of civilians have been killed in these operations.

There is a place about 20-25km away from us where local people have been fighting with the militants. The army hasn't even got there yet but people are so angry. The locals say that if the militants come to their area, the army targets their places and then they suffer.

That is why these people have come out of their area and are trying to remove militants from this area themselves.

People are very scared, they have been migrating from this area. 

Akash says militants roam freely in his part of Swat valley.

The situation is very bad. People are very worried. The behaviour of the government is very bad. Innocent people have been killed.

There are a lot of al-Qaeda people in our village as well as security forces. They hurt one another. In the middle of it all innocent people have died. But the militants go freely from one village to another.

About one month ago there was a bomb blast near my house. The government said the Taleban were there - but they were not. The wrong people are dying.

People from my village don't even want to talk about the militants because they are so worried.

I was born in Swat and now there is no education. My school is damaged. There is curfew all the time. I am at home now. College is closed. I am very tired of this. Many people are leaving the area. Neither the security forces nor the Taleban let us stay. 

NORTH WAZIRISTAN, PAKISTAN

A student from North Waziristan says people in his village used to support the Taleban - but not any more.

A number of militant groups operate in Waziristan

These militants are not fighting for Islam or Pakistan. I don't know what the hell they are. They want to harm Pakistan.

My home is in a village in North Waziristan and I spend a lot of time there and I know the situation there well.

People are very worried. The majority are sick of the bombardments by the Pakistani army and sometimes the US army as well.

On one side the militants attack and from the other side the Pakistan army and the Americans attack. We don't know what to do.

This is a tribal area. In some ways this situation is not new for us. People have already suffered a lot. There is no government here but we live according to our own culture.

Everybody used to support the Taleban. Nowadays I don't think they do. Maybe 20%-40% of people support them. They are fighting and nobody knows why. They lost the support of the locals because of attacks on Pakistani civilians.

The real Taleban who I used to see were local people. They just wanted to fight anyone who harmed Islam. People were in favour of the Taleban in 2001.

That Taleban is now dead. The new Taleban are different. They target civilians. They are not serving Islam.  

Some names have been changed to protect identities.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7595827.stm

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Turning to the Taleban in Pakistan

US raids on Taleban and al-Qaeda targets in Pakistani territory have caused outrage in Pakistan. And that has added to the loathing that some people there have long felt for the way that the US conducts itself on the world stage, as Owen Bennett-Jones discovers.

Many Pakistanis resent what they see as heavy-handed US tactics

"I would rather live in the dark ages under the Taleban than be subservient to any foreign power."

The unexpected comment comes from an urbane, sophisticated and, I had always thought, Westernised Pashtun lawyer.

He wears none of the badges of Islamic piety - a beard, for example - and he normally sports a navy blazer not the local shalwar kameez.

He is a former minister with the Pakistan People's Party, the most liberal in Pakistan.

Rejecting the West

The word liberal in the Pakistani context means modern, educated, secular rather than theocratic and, up until now at least, pro-Western.

"You can't mean it," I protested. "Do you know what the Taleban were like in Afghanistan when they ran it, with compulsory prayers five times a day, do you want that?"

"Look," he said. "I can deal with Taleban, they are my own people. They come from here. I know them.

"I will be able to get around them. But the Americans never. No way."

That is how badly the battle for hearts and minds is going in Pakistan. It could scarcely be worse.

Taken aback by that conversation, I chatted about it with another senior Pakistani politician, a senator, again a well known liberal.

"I agree with him," he said. "Is there is no end to it? The Americans are now bombing Pakistani people. What are they doing here 12,000 miles away from home?"

And he told me about his children, four boys.

"I sent them to the UK for their education," he said, "I spent all my money on it. They had five, six years in England at boarding schools, it was a crucial time of their lives, they were young.

"They could have stayed and settled down there but they all choose not to. They didn't want to. All four are living here in Pakistan and praying five times a day.

 Anti-Americanism in Pakistan has reached quite fantastic levels 

"I don't pray five times a day," he said. "They do. Why? Because you in the West have forced them away, forced them towards Islam. You have forced them out."

Again, I was taken aback. Apart from the familiar complaints about foreign policy, what had those boys seen in their English boarding school that they did not like?

Drunkenness, I guess. Consumerism, maybe. Disrespect for the elderly always shocks Pakistanis, so perhaps that.

I guess that seen through some young Pakistani eyes there are things we do that they do not want.

Still, anti-Americanism in Pakistan has reached quite fantastic levels.

There are now suicide bombs every few days and no-one doubts that the Taleban recruit, train and equip the bombers.

After one recent suicide attack, the brother of one of the victims was quoted in the press.

Did he blame the Taleban? He did not. "America is responsible for my brother's death," he said. "If the Americans went back home everything would be calm here."

There is, I think, universal agreement amongst Pakistanis that, if the US continues to rely so heavily on military firepower in Afghanistan, and increasingly in Pakistan too, then the Taleban will win.

Preaching moderation

And, in fact, elsewhere in the world, there are signs that the US is using much more subtle and maybe more effective tactics.

The Taleban are winning friends at the expense of the US in Pakistan

In a US base on the outskirts of Baghdad, for example, where captured insurgents are held, US taxpayers are paying the salaries of some heavily vetted Iraqi clerics who preach moderation.

I met one of them recently. When he relaxes he mooches around in an England football shirt, when he is working he wears the long flowing, gold-edged robes denoting his clerical status.

He told me about a session he had with a group of 20 recently detained Iraqi Takfiris.

Takfiris are really the last word in intolerance. They believe that anyone who does not share their very rigid interpretation of Islam is an infidel and should be killed.

The cleric described walking into the room where the Takfiris where waiting for him and offering the traditional greeting: "Salaam Aleikum".

The leader of the group responded by hurling his slippers into the cleric's face.

'With these guys you cannot let something like that go," the cleric told me, "or you lose all authority."

'Battle of wits'

The cleric looked the Takfiri leader in the eye and asked: "What did I just say to you?"

"You said Salaam Aleikum," the man replied.

"And what does that signify?" asked the cleric.

The Takfiri leader looked confused. "The word Salaam is one of the 99 names of Allah," the cleric went on.

"You have just thrown your slippers at Allah." He then turned to the other 19 Takfiris. "This man is an infidel," he said, "are you going to kill him?" He turned and left the room.

That night, the guards woke the cleric at 3am and rushed him down to the detention centre.

The Takfiri leader was huddled in the corner of the room shivering, his arms around his knees. "I didn't mean to offend you. Please get me away from here. I think they are going to kill me," he begged.

"So, in just 12 hours," the cleric concluded, "I dealt with the leader of some of the most hard-line people ever captured in Iraq."

"It's a battle of wits," I said. The cleric laughed. "Let's see who wins."

From Our Own Correspondent is broadcast on Saturday, 20 September, 2008 at 1130 BST on BBC Radio 4. Please check the programme schedules for World Service transmission times.

Source: BBC.co.uk

URL: https://newageislam.com/war-terror/pakistan-new-frontline-war-terror/d/771