Author: M Ilyas Khan
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: June 14, 2002
Five Arab militants stole into Pakistan
through Khyber Agency in the third week of May, blindsiding army troops
that have been watching out for Al Qaeda infiltrators in Tirah region since
last December. The militants trekked up the Susobi Kandao smuggling route
to reach the Bazaar town in Tirah. They then drove up to Akora Khattak
where travel arrangements were flnalised for their onward journey to Muzaffarabad
in Pok.
"Abu Talib and his four companions
had been hiding in Jalalabad," informs a source privy to the itinerary
of the Al Qaeda operatives. "When they moved to Akora Khattak they were
led by two ex-Taliban officials, Malik Jajan and Commander Shiraz. Curiously,
no Pakistani agency moved to apprehend them.
This is the latest in the continuing
influx of Al Qaeda militants that started with the US bombing of the Tora
Bora caves last December and accelerated after the fighting in the Shahikot
mountains of province in March. Ironically, it was to prevent just such
an influx that Pakistan had thrown a security cordon along its border with
Afghanistan. In May, Islamabad reluctantly deployed troops in north and
south Waziristan to help western forces encircle militants dispersed by
the Shahikot fighting. Some 8,000 Pakistan army troops are presently deployed
on the border in the tribal areas.
Thousands of Arab and Chechen militants
have crossed into Pakistan over the last five months. Most went to Karachi
Lahore and other cities in the Punjab while others reportedly travelled
to Kashmir. Anywhere between 100 and 1,000 militants are said to he present
in the highlands of north and South Waziristan where US-led forces impatiently
await the start of a combing operation code named Mountain lion.
The Pakistani position is enigmatic.
"We are here to arrest Taliban and Al Qaeda militants, not local smuggler,"
argues an army officer in Landikotal, headquarters of the Khyber Agency.
"Because if we do, the local trimmer may retaliate." In other words, Al
Qaeda militants disguised as camel drivers may get across the border without
hindrance.
Then there is the question of legality.
"The writ of the political administration only runs along the main roads,
therefore we cannot set up check points on unfrequented routes", says a
senior official in Wana, headquarters of South tan Agency. "So an Al Qaeda
member can leave his mountain hideout drive a pickup right into Wana town,
buy provisions and go back without anyone attempting to arrest him."
Where does that leave the intelligence
network" "Most intelligence agencies do not have full-fledged units in
Waziristan," explains an official of the department of home and tribal
affairs. "The intelligence network in Khyber Agency is better but is more
focussed on Torkham border crossing perhaps because there is more money
to be made there."
Even in cases where credible information
does become available, authorities have tended to look the other way. For
example, authorities knew about the itinerary of the group led by Abu Talib.
They are also said to be the aware of the activities of an Arab militant
who handles Al Qaeda's money transfer operations named Abdullah, who was
reportedly present in Khyber Agency until as recently as mid-May.
Against this backdrop, some Al Qaeda
members nabbed by Pakistani forces have been rounded up, to quote one analyst
"under duress". According to him, some 120 members of the al Qaeda that
escaped from Tora Bora were arrested in Kurram Agency last December only
after their presence became common knowledge. While descending on the Pakistani
side of the White Mountain, these men were robbed of their guns and communication
equipment by Mengal tribesmen in Kurram Agency's Parachamkani area. The
majority Parachamkani tribe, which ultimately offered refuge to the men,
was up m arms when it came to know about their story and raised lashkar
to punish the Mengals for their "un-Islamic" act. In the resulting commotion
one of Parachamkani's own maliks succumbed to political pressure and gave
up the wanted men.
In the second incident more than
50 Al Qaeda men-including Abu Zubaydah, a top Osama aide-were arrested
in Faisalabad hi March when the US FBI intercepted their communications
leaving local authorities with little or no excuse for refusing cooperation.
The Herald has been able to confirm
the presence in Peshawar of former Taliban finance minister Maulvi Abdul
Kabir. Recently, the Associated Press agency twice interviewed the Taliban's
ex-deputy chief of intelligence, Qari Obaidullah, in Peshawar. The western
media has in fact speculated that Osama may be hiding in Peshawar.
Down south, Taliban and Al Qaeda
activities have been more visible. "Hordes of them passed here to reach
Tank and Dera Ismail Khan en route to the Punjab and Karachi," say, Sailab
Mahsood, a veteran journalist based in Wana. "The traffic continued for
almost a month during April and May." Official sources confirm this, view.
"They were mostly Arabs and Chechen. They initially came in small numbers,
riding in hired double-cab pick-up trucks. Later they started arriving
in large cargo trucks. Some of them just transited through Wana while others
made a stop here, putting up in madaris or in houses belonging to known
Taliban sympathisers."
But the administration is apparently
pursuing a different agenda. Before the launch of Operation Mountain lion,
agency authorities met with separate jirgas of Wazir and Mahsood tribesmen.
"They told the tribesmen that harbouring Taliban and Al Qaeda members and
their families could not be tolerated," an official source confides. "And
that it could lead to the carpet-bombing of their homes and villages. But
instead of making it mandatory for them to hand the wanted people over
to the government, the authorities simply asked them to tell those people
to leave'. This is a strange policy. Leaving one home means that they move
to another".
Under such circumstances, Operation
Mountain lion is understandably proceeding at a snail's pace. The terrain
is decidedly tough, with elevations ranging from 4,000-11,000 feet and
thick forest cover stretching from Shawal valley in the north to the Khimran
Mountain range in the south.
Also, the al Qaeda operatives reportedly
possess satellite phones and other wireless equipment which they use to
communicate with each other as well as with their fiends in the towns of
Waziristan. They also face sympathy and face no shortage of money to buy
protection.
The real problem however, lies in
the modalities of the operation itself. "The western forces have the entire
Afghan side of the border covered. As such a combing operation from the
north would compel Al Qaeda elements to descend either to Razmak in the
east or Wana in the south," explains an official familiar with the terrain.
But Pakistani troops, which are supposed to initiate this, process, are
stalled at the northern extremity of Shawal valley, awaiting the
result of endless negotiations
between the North Waziristan administration and the Madakhel Wazirs who
appear reluctant to let the troops in. Analysts are convinced that the
prevailing deadlock is a hoax
Besides, even if the dispute is
resolved to the advantage of the Americans, chances are, the Al Qaeda fugitives
will have by then slipped away yet again, this time into Pakistan. As one
observer puts it, "Afghanistan's demons are crossing over to possess the
exorcist."
(Courtesy Herald Karachi)