When Taliban militant Syed Azizullah died during fighting in southern Afghanistan, his body was sent to his native Pakistan where a provincial official gave a eulogy before hundreds of Pashtun tribesmen. A flag of the Islamist militia fluttered by the grave. Pakistan strenuously denies granting sanctuary to the Taliban, yet their cause still finds succor among local Pashtuns and Islamic hardliners, fueling suspicions that jihadi leaders may be plotting their campaign of violence from southwestern Pakistan, with militants crossing the long, porous border to launch attacks. Pakistan denies that and says it does all it can to combat militancy. It has deployed 80,000 troops to fight Al Qaeda and local Taliban militants in the Waziristan tribal areas, a suspected hiding place of Osama bin Laden, and has lost hundreds of soldiers in fighting there.
But it appears far less active in tracking down Taliban in Balochistan province, where Azizullah was buried opposite southern Afghan regions where recent monthsÂ’ surge in rebel attacks has sparked the heaviest fighting since the TalibanÂ’s ouster from power in late 2001.