As Pakistan army celebrates the capture of a key Taliban complex in the Bajaur tribal region on the Afghan border, terrorism experts suspect that the Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence, ISI, allowed one of the most dangerous terrorist slip through the crack.
Interviews in Islamabad, Peshawar and Washington DC in last two days suggest that Maulavi Faqir Mohammad, chief of Pakistan’s Taliban in Bajaur, received protection from ISI army in exchange for foreign fighters.
Our sources claim that Maulvi Faqir Mohammad was ISI’s asset in the region facilitating cross border interaction of Taliban’s and al-Qaeda.
“He provided logistical support to foreign fighters,” said a Pakistani source on the condition of anonymity.
Pakistan army Tuesday took a group of journalists for a guided tour of the area which they have captured after killing nearly fifty foreign militants.
“There were Afghans, Chechens, Egyptians, and Uzbeks,” said Major General Tariq Khan who accompanied journalists to the Damadola complex.
Reports going back to 2006 had claimed that Damadola was a key militant headquarters for Talibans and al-Qeada. Pakistan army took over this area after an offensive launched in January 2010.
When asked where Maulavi Faqir Mohammad is, Major General Tariq Khan told journalists: “we will deal with him.”
He did not elaborate ‘how’ or ‘when’ he will be dealing with Maulavi Faqir Mohammad.
American analysts, however, still commend Pakistan army for capturing a key complex of 156 caves developed over seven years, within clear view of eastern Afghanistan.
Journalists who went on this guided tour saw pillows and mattresses, which suggested terrorists had camped out for significant periods.
Major General Tariq Khan was quoted saying this is “the first time Pakistan army uniformed soldiers have arrived in Damadola and the Pakistan flag has been raised for the first time since (independence in) 1947.”
Anayslysts in Islamabad agree with Major General Tariq Khan that no ‘uniformed soldier’ ever reach Damadola but claim that ISI agents frequented the area as if it was their backyard.
In 2006, a US drone struck in Damadola to kill Al-Qaeda number two Ayman Al-Zawahiri. But Zawahiri had managed to escape.
In 2008 this area was run by an Afghan warrior Qazi Ziaur Rehman, who was in charge of administration and collected tithes from local people. However, in 2008 Maulavi Faqir Mohammad, who headed Pakistan’s umbrella Tehreek-e-Taliban faction in Bajaur was installed as the chief by ISI.
Pakistan army launched an operation in Bajaur in August 2008 and claimed victory in February 2009, only for violence to return when their focus switched to Pakistani Taliban fighters in Swat and South Waziristan.
Latest Pakistan army offensive killed 75 militants, 76 militants were arrested and 364 have surrendered.
Major General Tariq Khan told visiting journalists that Taliban “leadership does not exist. Twenty-five per cent of them have gone to Afghanistan, 15 per cent have gone back to Swat and other native areas.”
Pakistani analysts, however, are not optimistic because the key man- Maulavi Faqir Mohammad is either on a run on his own- or worst, was allowed to escape.
It is interesting that Journalists were taken on this guided tour because in December 2005 a Pakistani reporter – Hayatullah Khan who was 32 years old at that time and worked for The Nation was allegedly kidnapped by Pakistani intelligence agency and later found dead.
Reports confirm that a Pakistani intelligence officer had warned Hayatullah Khan, to leave Bajour, along the Afghan border. He stayed and reported on December 4, 2005 that a U.S. missile had killed Hamza Rabia, an al-Qaeda leader, in Miran Shah. He had photographs that showed missile parts with U.S. markings.
“The next day, Khan disappeared. His body was found June 2006, his hands still bound, the newspapers reported, with government-issued handcuffs. The government launched an investigation, but The Nation noted today that its findings have not been made public,” writes Jere Van Dyk for Carnegie Council.
