“Independent cells” on the pattern of al-Qaeda inspired by the Taliban are actively spreading Talibanisation across the NWFP, and Tank district is the “litmus test” for these cells to prove how serious a threat they pose to the state, officials said on Thursday. “These independent cells are proving their point in Tank district,” said counter-terrorism officials.NWFP Information Minister Asif Iqbal said the people attacking Tank represented “small independent groups” operating under the Taliban name.
| “When the strongest arm of the government, the army, was neutralised it gave the cells hope that they could take on the relatively less equipped administration of a settled district.” |
Brig (r) Mehmood Shah, former FATA home secretary, told Daily Times, “I think the MMA is paying the price for its policy of opposing military operations in tribal areas as the same people it was supporting are attacking Tank.”
| “The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazlur Rehman’s group) is the political face of Islamic militancy in Pakistan,” he said. |