ISI accused of helping Taliban in Afghanistan
Friday, March 27, 2009
US envoy links Afghan success to Pakistan crackdown on extremists
News Desk
WASHINGTON: The Talibans widening campaign in southern Afghanistan is made possible in part by direct support from operatives in Pakistans military intelligence agency, despite Pakistani government promises to sever ties to militant groups fighting in Afghanistan, according to American government official, the New York Times reported on Thursday.
The support consists of money, military supplies and strategic planning guidance to Taliban commanders who are gearing up to confront the international force in Afghanistan that will soon include some 17,000 American reinforcements.
Support for the Taliban, as well as other militant groups, is coordinated by operatives inside the shadowy S Wing of the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, the officials said. There is even evidence that ISI operatives meet regularly with Taliban commanders to discuss whether to intensify or scale back violence before the Afghan elections.
Details of the ISIs continuing ties to militant groups were described by a half-dozen American, Pakistani and other security officials during recent interviews in Washington and the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, the paper said. All requested anonymity because they were discussing classified and sensitive intelligence information.
The American officials said proof of the ties between the Taliban and Pakistani spies came from electronic surveillance and trusted informants. The Pakistani officials interviewed said that they had firsthand knowledge of the connections, though they denied that the ties were strengthening the insurgency.
American officials have complained for more than a year about the ISIís support to groups like the Taliban. But the new details reveal that the spy agency is aiding a broader array of militant networks with more diverse types of support than was previously known ó even months after Pakistani officials said that the days of the ISIís playing a ìdouble gameî had ended.
American officials have also said that midlevel ISI operatives occasionally cultivate relationships that are not approved by their bosses. In a sign of just how resigned Western officials are to the ties, the British government has sent several dispatches to Islamabad in recent months asking that the ISI use its strategy meetings with the Taliban to persuade its commanders to scale back violence in Afghanistan before the August presidential election there, according to one official.
But the inability, or unwillingness, of the embattled the civilian government, led by President Asif Ali Zardari, to break the ties that bind the ISI to the militants illustrates the complexities of a region of shifting alliances, NYT further reported.
Obama administration officials admit that they are struggling to understand these allegiances as they try to forge a strategy to quell violence in Afghanistan, which has intensified because of a resurgent Taliban. Fighting this insurgency is difficult enough, officials said, without having to worry about an allied spy serviceís supporting the enemy.
But the Pakistanis offered a more nuanced portrait, according to the paper. They said the contacts were less threatening than the American officials depicted and were part of a strategy to maintain influence in Afghanistan for the day when American forces would withdraw and leave what they fear could be a power vacuum to be filled by India, Pakistanís archenemy. A senior Pakistani military officer said, ìIn intelligence, you have to be in contact with your enemy or you are running blind.î
Dennis C Blair, the director of national intelligence, recently told senators that the Pakistanis ìdraw distinctionsî among different militant groups. ìThere are some they believe have to be hit and that we should cooperate on hitting, and there are others they think donít constitute as much of a threat to them and that they think are best left alone,î Blair said.
Top American officials speak bluntly about how the situation has changed little since last summer, when evidence showed that ISI operatives helped plan the bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul, an attack that killed 54 people.
ìThey have been very attached to many of these extremist organizations, and itís my belief that in the long run, they have got to completely cut ties with those in order to really move in the right direction,î Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said recently on ìThe Charlie Rose Showî on PBS.
The Taliban has been able to finance a military campaign inside Afghanistan largely through proceeds from the illegal drug trade and wealthy individuals from the Persian Gulf. But American officials said that when fighters needed fuel or ammunition to sustain their attacks against American troops, they would often turn to the ISI.
When the groups needed to replenish their ranks, it would be operatives from the S Wing who often slipped into radical madrasas across Pakistan to drum up recruits, the officials said. The ISI support for militants extends beyond those operating in the tribal areas of northwest Pakistan. American officials said the spy agency had also shared intelligence with the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based militant group suspected in the deadly attacks in Mumbai, India, and provided protection for it.
Agencies adds: Afghanistans intelligence chief accused the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of helping the Taliban militants in carrying out attacks on his country like the ones that killed 10 policemen on Thursday.
The allegations came ahead of the unveiling of US President Barack Obamas new strategy to curb rising violence in Afghanistan. Afghan intelligence chief Amrullah Saleh told the Afghan parliament on Wednesday that the ISI provided support to the Taliban leadership council in Quetta.
He said the council sent militants over the border into Afghanistan to attack the Afghan and international forces. Saleh criticised Pakistan for denying that Mulla Omar was based in its territory and said they refused to crack down on the Taliban militants on their border, viewing them as a kind of weapon that could be used in both Afghanistan and India.
The Pakistani government is making excuses by saying these areas are out of their control, said Saleh. By focusing the blame on militants in Pakistan, Saleh reinforced the recent remarks by Obama, who warned that militants using the Pakistani territory to launch attacks should not be allowed free reign.
ISI accused of helping Taliban in Afghanistan
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