Author: Anil Bhat
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: July 12, 2006
It is becoming increasingly clear that the
kind of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) used against the coalition forces
in Afghanistan is similar to the ones used in the Kashmir Valley, pointing
as strongly to the Pakistani connection as the suicide attacks in Kabul and
other places show similarity with attacks in Iraq.
A US Army report datelined Bagram Airfield,
Afghanistan, May 30, stated that as IEDs continue to ravage the area, more
than 70 leaders from the three nations and other coalition members attended
the Counter-IED Symposium from May 22 to May 24 at the airfield to work out
tactics to neutralise the threat of IEDs in the area. The report further stated
that the frequency of attacks against high-value targets in that province
was increasing and more attacks of varying types should be expected in future.
On May 30, in the Jawzjan Province, Mingajig
district of the Northern region, one male and three female international NGO
members were shot inside their car while they were travelling on the road
between Abas and Chapa Chi Ariq villages, by insurgents riding two motorcycles.
This was the first direct attack against an NGO in the Northern region.
The Wall Street Journal states if General
Musharraf is soft on domestic militant groups of his country because he wants
their help in Kashmir or Afghanistan, it is a flawed strategy because the
difference between Al Qaeda and these groups is vanishing.
A report of May 29, 2006 from Kabul, reads,
"Four and a half years after the US-led military offensive successfully
overthrew the Taliban government, which was protecting Osama bin Laden and
his Al Qaeda, Kabul has erupted in gunfire, leaving citizens shattered and
their confidence in the future shaken..."
As the Taliban have effectively regrouped
well enough, they are bound to become more adventurous in Kabul, and emulate
the style of their mentors - the Pakistan Army-mullah establishment - in India.
There have been reports that Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, which has been deeply involved
in murder and rape of innocent women and children in the Valley, recently
hosted a war council meeting of Afghan warlords and distributed a huge amount
of cash. Western intelligence sources believe that the money might have been
supplied by Islamabad.
