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| India-Pakistan |
| Taliban eye new allies |
| 2009-07-10 |
| In the wake of renewed attacks by the Pakistan military and the United States, the Taliban and Al Qaeda might join Jundallah, a group that has staged attacks on Iran and strained Iranian-Pakistani relations, military specialists told Washington Times on Thursday. Ashraf Ali, a Peshawar-based specialist on the Taliban, told the paper that given Jundallah's historical connections with Al Qaeda and the Taliban, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, led by Baitullah Mehsud, might seek refuge in Balochistan or join the ranks of Jundallah. "This would give a totally new dimension to the dynamics of Taliban/Al Qaeda militancy in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region and may shift some of the problem to the Pakistan-Iran border region," Ali told the paper. "This is very much possible, as apparently there seems to be no [Pakistani] troops deployment on the south of the conflict zone towards Balochistan." Last week, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives at a hotel in Balochistan's Kalat district, killing four people and injuring 11. The attack appeared aimed at disrupting supplies to NATO forces in Afghanistan, since drivers of NATO supply vehicles were eating at the hotel. Analysts said the incident was a sign of rising Taliban/Al Qaeda activities in Balochistan, as well as a possible indication of growing contacts between Waziristan-based militant groups and Jundallah. Malik Siraj Akbar, a journalist in Quetta, told The Washington Times that Abdul Malik Rigi, the leader of Jundullah, studied at madrassas in Karachi, where Taliban leaders also got their schooling. The possibility of a new alliance among the Taliban, Al Qaeda and Jundallah could provide common ground among the United States, Pakistan and Iran against the terror threat. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 This could be very interesting in any number of ways. Baluchistan is a divided (between Pak and Iran), very mineral rich non-country, full of very troublesome Baluchis, who are typical "borderers", tough people who love nothing more than to make trouble on both sides. The Pakistani part is also home to the new, deep water modern, Chinese built, strategically important military and commercial port of Gwadar. The Iranian part has essential metals for their nuclear program. For the Taliban and al-Qaeda to move there could be a major problem for the Iranians, as long as the Taliban and al-Qaeda focused on them, and the Pak army would let them. And if they turned their attentions to the port, the Chinese would get seriously bent out of shape. In either case, it would take a lot of pressure off Afghanistan, and really be a serious pain in the butt to Iran or China, or both. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2009-07-10 10:58 |