HVK Archives: 'Jobless' Taliban may train guns on Kashmir
'Jobless' Taliban may train guns on Kashmir - The Indian Express
Nirmala George
()
16 February 1997
Title : 'Jobless' Taliban may train guns on Kashmir
Author : Nirmala George
Publication : The Indian Express
Date : February 16, 1997
Security analysts fear Kashmir could be the next target of the
dreaded Taliban militia, which is spreading its tentacles into
China and Bangladesh.
Their fear stems from the fact that the Taliban has a large number
of fighters now rendered unemployed in Afghanistan, where it has
thrown out the Burhanuddin Rabbani regime.
Both Government sources and defence analysts have voiced concern
over reports from China's Xinjiang province pointing to the
Taliban's involvement in rioting and violence which has left nearly
a score dead and hundreds injured this week.
"Once the action in Afghanistan finally gets over, there is going
to be a lot of heavily armed and motivated force idling its time.
They will be exploring the possibilities of pushing elsewhere. And
Kashmir could well be the next target," said a senior Government
official.
The Harkat-Ul-Ansar, which is already operating in Kashmir, and the
Taliban share a lot in common, analysts observed. "Only the names
are different. Otherwise it's the same fighters, with the same
affiliations and training and funded by the same sources,"
commented one of them.
Earlier this week, riots broke out in the mainly Muslim region of
Xinjiang, when protesters belonging to China's Uighur minority
rioted, looting and bunting shops and, vehicles. The Chinese
authorities blamed unidentified "hostile foreign forces" for
causing trouble in the highly restive region.
Though Pakistan has vehemently denied reports that China had
officially protested against its involvement in the Xinjiang
unrest, Pakistan's control over Taliban's activities remains
undisputed.
The Bangladeshi Press has also carried reports of the recent arrest
of several Taliban activists from southern Barguna and northern
Brahmanbaria districts of the country. in this case too, the
Bangladesh-based Taliban group said their objective was to "assist
the Islamic Mujahideens of Kashmir and to resist the 'unislamic'
activities in Bangladesh".
Already there are reports of Taliban-inspired Islamic
fundamentalists exerting their influence as far as in Sudan, Egypt,
Bosnia, Cheehnya and the Arab countries.
Experts following the developments in Afghanistan say that with the
fight almost over with the Uzbek warlord Rashid Dostam and former
military chief Ahmed Shah Masood. the Taliban would embark on
extending its influence in other parts of the world.
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