Pakistani Taliban take control of Waziristan

Saturday, May 27, 2006

Pakistani Taliban take control of Waziristan

TANK: When the Pakistan Army’s front line, in their war against terrorism, moved away and the Talibans took control of his home town, Baidar decided that it was time to leave.

“The government is helpless. The Talibans, not the religious students but militant Taliban, are in complete control there, “ said the 30 year old Waziristan tribesman. Baidar closed down his medical store in Bazaar at Wana, the main town in South Waziristan, and moved to Tank, just across the boundary in NWFP.

“The businessmen and the educated people are in real danger of being killed by the Talibans on suspicion of being informers of the America government,” said Baidar, who unlike many others, dared to give his name.

In the words of President Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistan Army has defeated and chased Al- Qaeda out of South Waziristan in all the encounter that took place between late 2003 to early 2005.

Now the focus has switched to North Waziristan, where more than 300 militants have been killed since the middle of 2005. A few of them are the leading members of Al Qaeda, such as an Egyptian wanted for the 1998 bombings of US embassies in East Africa, but most of the 75 or so foreigners killed were from Chechnya or Islamist guerrillas from Central Asia.

In an interview with Avt Khyber TV on May 19, an independent Pashto-language channel, President Musharraf said that the operations against Al -Qaeda have been very successful, but then he contradicted his statement by saying, “Extremism and Talibanisation are spreading and now the focus has shifted from terrorism to extremism.”

“If you say there is peace, I would agree with you that there is no trouble but if you ask whether there is any government I would not agree,” said a member of the Mehsuds, the other dominant tribe in South Waziristan, who had also moved to NWFP to escape the tyranny of the Talibans. The old social order has vanished from the towns and villages of Waziristan, a region populated by some of the most disobedient tribes on Pakistan’s side of the Pashtun Belt.

As the military campaign has moved towards the north, political assassinations have became common in the south. Unknown gunmen have started to ambush administrators, pro-government tribal elders and journalists and force them to flee with their families to the settled areas of NWFP. “Almost all Malakan (pro-government tribal elders) have left Waziristan,” said Baidar.

A power vacuum has opened the door for militant Muslim clerics, dubbed Pakistani Taliban by the media. President Musharraf said that they have no single leader, although they may have ties with Mullah Mohammad Omar, the Afghan Taliban chief. Residents say that his men roam around Wana with rocket launchers mounted on the back of their pick-up trucks.

“We have brought peace in Waziristan. We have eliminated excesses, oppression, robberies and drugs from Waziristan,” said Omar during a telephonic interview with Reuters. The militants have also opened offices and set up check posts in Wana’s main market, to collect fees from vehicles entering the towns. They have also set up a court to conduct summary trials. Executions have become rare since the clerics increased the fine for murders, although a man convicted of killing his son was shot dead in front of a crowd of 150 tribesmen in late March.

A veteran of the Mujahideen Guerrilla War against the Soviet Occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s, Omar later fought with the Taliban and met Al-Qaeda Chief Osama bin Laden.

Now, after being granted an amnesty and being paid to stop causing trouble in 2004, Omar has openly admitted of recruiting fighters to send them across the border to fight the US and Afghan forces.

He has also accused President Musharraf of “allying with the infidels”. Critics say the government erred by giving militant leaders too much respect, and by buying them off.

“These deals gave legitimacy to these people and that’s why they are now expanding their influence,” said Rahimullah Yusufzai, a newspaper editor and expert on tribal affairs. “Much of the Talibanisation was spread by the militants who were handed out massive bribes,” stated a Daily Times editorial in May.

According to the Intelligence and government officials, majority of the deeply conservative and largely illiterate people support the self-styled Taliban of Waziristan, which is worsening the situation. These Talibans advise men to grow beards and veil their women, ban the cameras, and are trying to stop people from watching television or listening to the music. President Musharraf cited a report he had received of televisions being set ablaze in Malakand. He said, “This is a Talibanised mindset. It has spread and needs to be stopped. Now we are in a different ball game...h

The government is trying to set up councils of respected tribal elders and administrators, but will take time. In the meantime, President Musharraf says military operations must go on, although the critics fear Pakistan will suffer from the backlash for years to come.

He also warned that the Taliban’s influence was spreading from tribal areas to the neighboring areas. In Tank, armed men roam the streets at night on motorcycles. They’re Taliban, townsfolk mutter in fear. “It is just like cancer. It is bound to spread if not properly treated,” said a senior security officer in Peshawar. reuters