As hideouts go, the Shawal Valley in northern Pakistan is a militant’s dream. Lonely goat trails wind through a rocky 40km corridor that nudges the Afghan border. Its fiercely conservative tribesmen and forbidding high-walled compounds have sheltered Taliban fighters and probably al-Qaeda fugitives.
Last weekend Brigadier Imtiaz Wyne, a Pakistani army commander, stood on the top of one of its highest peaks and declared his 5 000 troops had tamed the wild valley — almost. ”This border is sealed,” he said, pointing to a line of observation posts along the border.
But the cornered militants were fighting back, he admitted. His soldiers had suffered five major attacks in the previous month; on one occasion a captured soldier was gruesomely mutilated before being executed.
”They are a mix — foreigners, locals, Afghan Taliban, criminals,” said the officer. ”It’s difficult to say who is the leader, but ultimately it is al-Qaeda.”
A vicious mini-war has erupted between the Pakistani army and the ”Pakistani Taliban” in North Waziristan, a turbulent tribal area that has moved to the front line of the Pakistani and US ”war on terror”. Every day sees fresh violence between the army and militants — a loose coalition of radical clerics, tribal leaders and al-Qaeda fighters.
The biggest upset occurred in early March, when 1 500 self-styled Taliban assaulted a military base in the main town, Miran Shah. The ensuing four-day battle involved artillery and helicopters gunships and left 145 militants dead, 25 of them foreigners, according to the army figures.
The fight is also ideological. Taliban clerics have imposed strict social edicts, such as a ban on music or films, and started to dispense summary justice. Last week Pakistan’s military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, told The Guardian he was concerned ”Talibanisation” was spilling into the settled areas. ”There is an extremist mindset — attacks on barbers, no television or songs,” he said.
A Pakistani intelligence officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the revolt was led by eight tribal and cleric leaders. Some have direct links to the Afghan Taliban. ”We have apprehended people on their way to attack US positions in Afghanistan,” he said.
Army generals, who have deployed 45 000 regular and paramilitary troops to quell the revolt, insist they have the upper hand. ”I am hurt when anyone says there is no writ of government, because my forces are everywhere,” area commander Major General Akram Sahi said. His forces had killed 324 ”miscreants”, arrested 142 and blown up a madrasa (religious school) used to train jihadi fighters, he said. The death toll may include some civilian deaths, western diplomats believe.
Sahi, who admitted that radical Islamic forces were supplanting traditional tribal rule in Waziristan, sought to discredit the revolt’s leaders. After searching a house used by cleric Abdul Khaliq his troops found ”the most dirty films”, he said. ”How can they talk of being Taliban?”
Measuring militancy
Gauging the militants’ strength is difficult. Foreign journalists are banned from the tribal areas, most local correspondents have fled, and it was not possible to interview any residents during a recent media trip. Analysts and local media believe, however, that the Taliban are gaining ground.
A diplomat with access to western intelligence, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the army was ”floundering” in its efforts to wrest control of the turbulent area. ”Military equipment, training, and communications are inadequate given the task at hand,” he said, estimating the number of Taliban fighters at more than 5 000.
The militants have tightened their grip using Iraq-style scare tactics. More than 150 pro-government figures have been killed in the past year, at least a dozen of whom were decapitated, according to Pakistani intelligence.
They are also supported by al-Qaeda fugitives who have found refuge in their homes. Haji Khalil, an elder in Miran Shah, told the Daily Times newspaper that ”hundreds” of foreign militants — Uzbek, Chechen and Arabs — were living in the tribal areas. ”Nobody can differentiate between them and the locals because they wear local dress and speak Pushto fluently,” he said.
The revolt is probably being funded from the Middle East, the diplomat said. Donors are recruited using videos showing Taliban attacks on American forces in Afghanistan or gory beheadings of alleged US collaborators.
Afghan links
The military says it has lost 50 soldiers in the last year and more than 400 since it started operations in South Waziristan in 2004. Even so, many Afghan officials question whether the army — and in particular its Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) — is truly committed to stamping out the Taliban. ”The ISI is not interested in a prosperous and peaceful Afghanistan. They want to see a weak Afghanistan,” said Governor Merajudin Pathan by phone from Khost, the closest Afghan province.
Waziristan has a rich history of militancy. During the 1980s struggle against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan it was a base for mujahideen fighters. The US and Saudi Arabia funded their fight; Pakistani intelligence organised it. That support has returned to haunt the US.
One of the main jihadi leaders to receive CIA weapons was Jalaluddin Haqqani, a cleric who ran a network of Wahabbi madrasas spanning Waziristan and Khost. He became a Taliban minister and helped Osama bin Laden establish a presence in Afghanistan. Now Haqqani’s son, Siraj, is believed to be a leading figure in the Taliban revolt.
The presence of al-Qaeda bases in South Waziristan sparked the first Pakistani military strikes in 2004. But the al-Qaeda hunt has failed to come close to the biggest catch of all. An intelligence source said Bin Laden was probably hiding in the tribal belt, although not in Waziristan. ”For now, it’s probably just too dangerous,” he said. – Guardian Unlimited Â