That all is not well between Pakistan and Afghanistan was apparent when the U.S. President George W. Bush indulged in some telephonic diplomacy on June 21, 2005, to resolve friction between two key allies in the 'war on terror', urging both to exercise restraint. Shortly after President Bush's call to General Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistani President called his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai and both of them reportedly promised to 'continue co-operation' in combating terrorism. But the seriousness of the situation was evident in the fact that the General called Karzai a second time on June 23 to reiterate Pakistan's claim that it was not involved in terrorist incidents in Afghanistan. President Bush was forced to step in after Pakistan reacted strongly to Afghanistan disclosing that it had arrested three Pakistanis for allegedly planning to assassinate the former US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad..The trio was reportedly waiting for suicide vests packed with explosives to come from Pakistan, but these never arrived, and they were instructed, instead, to carry out the assassination with the weapons they had in hand. While the group affiliation has not been disclosed thus far, a senior intelligence official was quoted as saying on Afghan National Television that they had trained in a "terrorist camp in Pakistan"..Jawed Ludin, President Karzai's spokesperson, has said that there have been a series of attacks in recent weeks, committed by terrorists who had allegedly entered from Pakistan, including a suicide bombing on June 1, 2005, at a mosque in Kandahar, which killed 20 people. Ludin was more assertive at a press conference in Kabul on June 22 when he said "some senior members of the Taliban, including some who are involved in killings and are considered terrorists, are in Pakistan.'' President Karzai, addressing a gathering of the Ulema (clerics), alleged that Islamabad was blackmailing the Taliban and threatening to hand their families over to the US unless they did as told.
Afghan officials have alleged for weeks now that the Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives were coming in from Pakistan, where they are reportedly based in areas of the North West Frontier Province and also from Balochistan. Since the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) launched 30 Arab and Pakistani militants into the Kunar and Nangarhar provinces almost a year ago under the leadership of Colonel Haq Nawaz, sources indicate that Taliban leaders have held frequent meetings with their handlers in Pakistan at Quetta, Peshawar (where the 'moderate Taliban' Jaishul Muslim is based), Kohat, Waziristan and other locations. For instance, on August 11, 2004, senior Taliban leaders, including Mullah Obaidullah, Akhtar Usmani (the 'commander' mentioned by Khalilzad), Akhtar Mansoor and Maulvi Razzak, had met in Quetta to discuss ways to disrupt the October 2004-presidential elections in Kandahar, Zabul, Uruzgan, Nimroz and Helmand provinces.
The more recent escalation in attacks along the border is partly due to the fact that the snow has melted from mountain passes, allowing terrorists to launch strikes from Pakistan and possibly due to the less-reported regrouping of the Taliban/Al Qaeda. U.S. military spokesperson, Colonel James Yonts, revealed on June 20 that foreign terrorists, backed by networks channeling them money and arms, had come into Afghanistan to try and subvert parliamentary elections slated for September 16, 2005. Since March 2005, some 195 persons, including at least 29 U.S. troops and 70 Afghan security force personnel, have died in various incidents of terrorist violence across Afghanistan. At the other end, approximately 300 terrorists have been killed in various security operations
The security establishment in Afghanistan, including coalition intelligence sources, has reportedly indicated a disturbing shift in terrorist tactics, with the Jehadis increasingly adopting 'Iraq-style' suicide attacks. And such attacks are bound to increase ahead of the September parliamentary elections. Defence Minister Rahim Wardak said on June 17 in an interview to the Associated Press that he had received intelligence that Al Qaeda had brought at least six Arab operatives into Afghanistan in the past three weeks. According to him, while one suicide bomber attacked a funeral service for a pro-government cleric at a Kandahar mosque on June 1, killing 20 persons, another rammed a vehicle laden with explosives into a U.S. convoy in Kandahar on June 13, injuring four U.S. soldiers. Suicide bombings are a relatively rare phenomenon in Afghanistan, with most of them suspected to have been carried out by non-Afghans, primarily Arabs. While the minister did not disclose how the suicide bombers entered Afghanistan, officials said men and material are usually moved through Pakistan, implying that Pakistan is again becoming a staging post for the Arab Jehadi. Incidentally, Pakistan's Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao told Daily Times on June 23 that the Al Qaeda had established a strong nexus with outlawed extremist groups in Pakistan. Although he did not provide names, the minister said banned groups were facilitating Al Qaeda operatives inside Pakistan.
Pakistan is noticeably seeking to regain the foothold it lost after the Taliban rout in Afghanistan, and is reframing its quest for 'strategic depth'. Pending a U.S. 'solution' or 'exit', the Pakistani leadership will continue to seek means to recover leverage in Afghanistan. More importantly and possibly critical to Pakistan's desire for strategic space, there are concerns that an Afghan regime that is friendlier to India could leave Pakistan sandwiched between two 'adversaries', something which no regime in Islamabad would find acceptable. |