illusion8
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SAEED SHAH in Islamabad, SAFDAR DAWAR in Peshawar and ADAM ENTOUS in Washington
The Pakistani army isn't targeting Afghanistan's deadly Haqqani network, which is based in a Pakistani tribal area, despite Islamabad's assertion that it is going after all insurgents during its current offensive, local tribesmen and U.S. officials say.
Both leaders and foot soldiers of the Haqqanis, an affiliate of the Afghan Taliban that has been based in Pakistan's North Waziristan for decades, left the area just as the operation began on June 15, said locals and militants.
Many Haqqani members left to other parts of Pakistan through the northern part of the area, via the town of Thal, locals said, while others went across the border to Afghanistan.
Lack of action against the Haqqanis threatens hundreds of millions of dollars in future U.S. aid to Pakistan, which is dependent on moving against the group, designated as terrorists by Washington, U.S. officials said.
Until last month, North Waziristan was a sanctuary for Pakistani militants, Afghan insurgents, al Qaeda and central Asian militants. The area is part of the wild Federally Administrated Tribal Areas that run along the Afghan border.
But residents said many militants escaped North Waziristan before the start of the operation, which the Pakistani media had for months widely reported was imminent, as peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban foundered.
Since the 1980s, Pakistan's military and its Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency have backed jihadist militants to act as its proxies in Afghanistan and India. Islamabad was one of the few governments to recognize and support the Taliban regime in Afghanistan in the 1990s.
After 2001, however, when Pakistan allied with Washington, a branch of the Pakistani jihadist movement turned on their country, under the influence of al Qaeda. That branch later coalesced into Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TPP, as the most violent arm of the Pakistani Taliban is formally known.
The North Waziristan operation has targeted the TPP, considered by Pakistani security officials as "bad" Taliban, as well as Central Asian and Arab militants who had taken refuge there.
Other militants, who don't attack Pakistan, such as the Haqqani network and Gul Bahadur, are considered by some Pakistani officials as "good" Taliban.
Pakistan's Defense Minister, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, told The Wall Street Journal this month that Pakistan's policy of favoring some militant proxies was in the past, and that the North Waziristan operation "has to be without making any differentiation between our Taliban and their Taliban, or good Taliban and bad Taliban."
So far, the Pakistani army says it has killed some 450 militants, mostly through airstrikes, while more than two dozen soldiers have lost their lives. The army hasn't announced the killing or capture of a major militant leader or Haqqani member.
"Since the operation started, we are going against all terrorists and their sanctuaries. We're doing our best to make sure no one is allowed to escape," said Maj. Gen Asim Bajwa, the Pakistani military's spokesman.
He said that if any militants had left North Waziristan before it was cordoned off for the operation, to other parts of Pakistan, "we will chase and hunt them down."
Washington and Kabul see the Haqqani network as a major threat to stability in Afghanistan.
"With this operation, it seems that the tactics have changed, but not the policy," said Saifullah Mahsud, director of the FATA Research Center, an independent think tank in Islamabad. "When they go after all militant groups, then there would be a change in policy."
The ground offensive is focused on the towns of Mir Ali and Miranshah and their surrounding villages, which had formed the base for the command and control headquarters of militant groups, the army has said.
But certain Pakistani militant groups, primarily those not at war with their own country, especially those led by warlords Gul Bahadur and Khan Said Sajna, remain in the other districts of North Waziristan, sometimes moving around openly, local tribesmen who live there said.
Much of the civilian population fled because of the offensive, with many militants believed to have slipped out with them, but significant numbers of civilians remain within North Waziristan, outside the operational area, locals said. Residents remain in many outlying areas of North Waziristan, including Razmak, Datta Khel, Shawa and Spinwam.
In the market in Datta Khel, west of the operational area, traders said their shops remained open. One resident in a village next to Datta Khel said that there has been an influx of "long haired people," a reference to militants, who often grow their hair, who they have seen shopping. Datta Khel is known as the base for Gul Bahadur, whose men fight only in Afghanistan.
A 2014 U.S. military spending bill stipulates that $300 million of military assistance be withheld "unless the Secretary of Defense certifies that Pakistan has undertaken military operations in North Waziristan that have significantly disrupted the safe haven and freedom of movement of the Haqqani network in Pakistan." Other aid streams require more general action against militant groups.
A senior U.S. official said that there was concern that the Haqqani sanctuary in North Waziristan could be allowed to be re-established after the operation. If that were to happen, aid would be under threat.
"Our hands are tied on this and they need to show that they are taking it seriously," the senior U.S. official said.
A road that exits north from Mir Ali, the second biggest town in North Waziristan, to Thal, which lies just outside the tribal areas, is said by locals and militants to have been used to escape by many Haqqani network members. A resident of Shawa, the last district of North Waziristan as the road goes north, said that he saw "these people come through here," referring to militants. He wasn't able to identify which groups they belonged to.
Afghan officials blamed the Haqqani Network for a car bomb in eastern Afghanistan this week, which killed as many as 89 people, according to Afghan defense officials, in one of the bloodiest attacks since the 2001 U.S. invasion of the country.
"We believe these [Pakistani] operations will not have any impact on the existence of the Haqqani and of the [Afghan] Taliban," said Sediq Seddiqi, a spokesman for Afghanistan's ministry of interior. "We have not seen any sincere commitment by the Pakistani military and we also have information that the Haqqani Network have been tipped off before the start of this operation."
Local residents, as well as Afghan officials, said that many members of the Haqqani had relocated to camps in Thal, a remote area that is part of Hangu district. Thal lies outside the tribal areas, which come under special colonial-era laws, in a regular part of Pakistan, known as a "settled" area. In November 2013, a U.S. drone hit an Islamic seminary in Thal, a rare strike in a settled area, killing several important Haqqani commanders.
Militants and foreign officials said that Sirajuddin Haqqani, an Afghan who leads the Haqqani network, and its other top personnel, are likely to be in Pakistani cities, possibly even Islamabad. Late last year, Sirajuddin's brother, Nasiruddin, was gunned down in a drive-by shooting on the outskirts of Islamabad, where he had apparently been living for some time. Pakistani security officials blamed the assassination on Afghan intelligence operatives.
According to one militant from North Waziristan, Sirajuddin Haqqani called a meeting of his group in Miranshah, just as the operation began. He told them to leave the area.
"When we saw even the Haqqanis get out, so we others decide it was time to go," said the militant. "Knowing how close the Haqqanis are to the authorities, we could see this was serious."
Jan Achakzai, a spokesman for Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl, a religious political party that is part of the ruling coalition government in Islamabad, said Pakistan shouldn't target the Haqqani network, as the group would be a player in any future peace deal in Afghanistan. But Haqqanis shouldn't be allowed to operate from Pakistani soil, he said.
"It would be insane for us to give up our leverage over Afghan Taliban and Haqqani Network, to be used for Afghan reconciliation," said Mr. Achakzai. "Pakistan should not bow to U.S. pressure, and give up our legitimate national interest in Afghanistan, all for $300 million, which is peanuts."
The operation started on June 15, with airstrikes, and a ground offensive followed from June 30. The Pakistan army said this week that Miranshah, the administrative capital of North Waziristan had been cleared by ground troops, and Mir Ali, the second biggest town, was now being searched by troops.
A security official said that more resistance was being encountered in Mir Ali, which was known as a hub for the Pakistani Taliban and central Asian militants. Television pictures from Miranshah last week showed a town center devastated by air bombardment and artillery fire.
— Habib Totakhil, Margherita Stancati, Dion Nissenbaum and Siobhan Gorman contributed to this article.
Write to Saeed Shah at saeed.shah@wsj.com and Adam Entous at adam.entous@wsj.com
http://online.wsj.com/articles/militants-slip-away-before-pakistan-offensive-1405637710
SAEED SHAH in Islamabad, SAFDAR DAWAR in Peshawar and ADAM ENTOUS in Washington
The Pakistani army isn't targeting Afghanistan's deadly Haqqani network, which is based in a Pakistani tribal area, despite Islamabad's assertion that it is going after all insurgents during its current offensive, local tribesmen and U.S. officials say.
Both leaders and foot soldiers of the Haqqanis, an affiliate of the Afghan Taliban that has been based in Pakistan's North Waziristan for decades, left the area just as the operation began on June 15, said locals and militants.
Many Haqqani members left to other parts of Pakistan through the northern part of the area, via the town of Thal, locals said, while others went across the border to Afghanistan.
Lack of action against the Haqqanis threatens hundreds of millions of dollars in future U.S. aid to Pakistan, which is dependent on moving against the group, designated as terrorists by Washington, U.S. officials said.
Until last month, North Waziristan was a sanctuary for Pakistani militants, Afghan insurgents, al Qaeda and central Asian militants. The area is part of the wild Federally Administrated Tribal Areas that run along the Afghan border.
But residents said many militants escaped North Waziristan before the start of the operation, which the Pakistani media had for months widely reported was imminent, as peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban foundered.
Since the 1980s, Pakistan's military and its Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency have backed jihadist militants to act as its proxies in Afghanistan and India. Islamabad was one of the few governments to recognize and support the Taliban regime in Afghanistan in the 1990s.
After 2001, however, when Pakistan allied with Washington, a branch of the Pakistani jihadist movement turned on their country, under the influence of al Qaeda. That branch later coalesced into Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TPP, as the most violent arm of the Pakistani Taliban is formally known.
The North Waziristan operation has targeted the TPP, considered by Pakistani security officials as "bad" Taliban, as well as Central Asian and Arab militants who had taken refuge there.
Other militants, who don't attack Pakistan, such as the Haqqani network and Gul Bahadur, are considered by some Pakistani officials as "good" Taliban.
Pakistan's Defense Minister, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, told The Wall Street Journal this month that Pakistan's policy of favoring some militant proxies was in the past, and that the North Waziristan operation "has to be without making any differentiation between our Taliban and their Taliban, or good Taliban and bad Taliban."
So far, the Pakistani army says it has killed some 450 militants, mostly through airstrikes, while more than two dozen soldiers have lost their lives. The army hasn't announced the killing or capture of a major militant leader or Haqqani member.
"Since the operation started, we are going against all terrorists and their sanctuaries. We're doing our best to make sure no one is allowed to escape," said Maj. Gen Asim Bajwa, the Pakistani military's spokesman.
He said that if any militants had left North Waziristan before it was cordoned off for the operation, to other parts of Pakistan, "we will chase and hunt them down."
Washington and Kabul see the Haqqani network as a major threat to stability in Afghanistan.
"With this operation, it seems that the tactics have changed, but not the policy," said Saifullah Mahsud, director of the FATA Research Center, an independent think tank in Islamabad. "When they go after all militant groups, then there would be a change in policy."
The ground offensive is focused on the towns of Mir Ali and Miranshah and their surrounding villages, which had formed the base for the command and control headquarters of militant groups, the army has said.
But certain Pakistani militant groups, primarily those not at war with their own country, especially those led by warlords Gul Bahadur and Khan Said Sajna, remain in the other districts of North Waziristan, sometimes moving around openly, local tribesmen who live there said.
Much of the civilian population fled because of the offensive, with many militants believed to have slipped out with them, but significant numbers of civilians remain within North Waziristan, outside the operational area, locals said. Residents remain in many outlying areas of North Waziristan, including Razmak, Datta Khel, Shawa and Spinwam.
In the market in Datta Khel, west of the operational area, traders said their shops remained open. One resident in a village next to Datta Khel said that there has been an influx of "long haired people," a reference to militants, who often grow their hair, who they have seen shopping. Datta Khel is known as the base for Gul Bahadur, whose men fight only in Afghanistan.
A 2014 U.S. military spending bill stipulates that $300 million of military assistance be withheld "unless the Secretary of Defense certifies that Pakistan has undertaken military operations in North Waziristan that have significantly disrupted the safe haven and freedom of movement of the Haqqani network in Pakistan." Other aid streams require more general action against militant groups.
A senior U.S. official said that there was concern that the Haqqani sanctuary in North Waziristan could be allowed to be re-established after the operation. If that were to happen, aid would be under threat.
"Our hands are tied on this and they need to show that they are taking it seriously," the senior U.S. official said.
A road that exits north from Mir Ali, the second biggest town in North Waziristan, to Thal, which lies just outside the tribal areas, is said by locals and militants to have been used to escape by many Haqqani network members. A resident of Shawa, the last district of North Waziristan as the road goes north, said that he saw "these people come through here," referring to militants. He wasn't able to identify which groups they belonged to.
Afghan officials blamed the Haqqani Network for a car bomb in eastern Afghanistan this week, which killed as many as 89 people, according to Afghan defense officials, in one of the bloodiest attacks since the 2001 U.S. invasion of the country.
"We believe these [Pakistani] operations will not have any impact on the existence of the Haqqani and of the [Afghan] Taliban," said Sediq Seddiqi, a spokesman for Afghanistan's ministry of interior. "We have not seen any sincere commitment by the Pakistani military and we also have information that the Haqqani Network have been tipped off before the start of this operation."
Local residents, as well as Afghan officials, said that many members of the Haqqani had relocated to camps in Thal, a remote area that is part of Hangu district. Thal lies outside the tribal areas, which come under special colonial-era laws, in a regular part of Pakistan, known as a "settled" area. In November 2013, a U.S. drone hit an Islamic seminary in Thal, a rare strike in a settled area, killing several important Haqqani commanders.
Militants and foreign officials said that Sirajuddin Haqqani, an Afghan who leads the Haqqani network, and its other top personnel, are likely to be in Pakistani cities, possibly even Islamabad. Late last year, Sirajuddin's brother, Nasiruddin, was gunned down in a drive-by shooting on the outskirts of Islamabad, where he had apparently been living for some time. Pakistani security officials blamed the assassination on Afghan intelligence operatives.
According to one militant from North Waziristan, Sirajuddin Haqqani called a meeting of his group in Miranshah, just as the operation began. He told them to leave the area.
"When we saw even the Haqqanis get out, so we others decide it was time to go," said the militant. "Knowing how close the Haqqanis are to the authorities, we could see this was serious."
Jan Achakzai, a spokesman for Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl, a religious political party that is part of the ruling coalition government in Islamabad, said Pakistan shouldn't target the Haqqani network, as the group would be a player in any future peace deal in Afghanistan. But Haqqanis shouldn't be allowed to operate from Pakistani soil, he said.
"It would be insane for us to give up our leverage over Afghan Taliban and Haqqani Network, to be used for Afghan reconciliation," said Mr. Achakzai. "Pakistan should not bow to U.S. pressure, and give up our legitimate national interest in Afghanistan, all for $300 million, which is peanuts."
The operation started on June 15, with airstrikes, and a ground offensive followed from June 30. The Pakistan army said this week that Miranshah, the administrative capital of North Waziristan had been cleared by ground troops, and Mir Ali, the second biggest town, was now being searched by troops.
A security official said that more resistance was being encountered in Mir Ali, which was known as a hub for the Pakistani Taliban and central Asian militants. Television pictures from Miranshah last week showed a town center devastated by air bombardment and artillery fire.
— Habib Totakhil, Margherita Stancati, Dion Nissenbaum and Siobhan Gorman contributed to this article.
Write to Saeed Shah at saeed.shah@wsj.com and Adam Entous at adam.entous@wsj.com
http://online.wsj.com/articles/militants-slip-away-before-pakistan-offensive-1405637710
