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Pakistan air strikes target Haqqani insurgents
Attack on militants accused of cross-border attacks on US forces may signal major shift in Pakistan’s attitude to Afghanistan
An insurgent group known for its deadly attacks on US forces in Afghanistan has been targeted by Pakistani military aircraft in what is believed to be the first such strike on a group long accused of enjoying the secret backing of Pakistan’s army.
In what might herald a major shift in Pakistan’s attitude to Afghanistan, military and intelligence officials said seven members of the Haqqani Network were among 20 militants killed by air strikes.
Officials said the strikes, carried out by a jet and an attack helicopter, were launched against hideouts belonging to both the Haqqani Network and an allied group run by militant warlord Hafiz Gul Bahadur.
The bases were in the Dattakhel area of North Waziristan, the tribal agency that for years has been a secure staging ground for militants launching attacks inside Afghanistan.
Rahimullah Yousafzai, a veteran observer of the combustible borderlands between Pakistan and Afghanistan, cautioned that there was no way to verify whether the off-the-record claims made by intelligence officials were true.
However, it was significant that they should want to take credit for killing Haqqani fighters.
“Definitely if Haqqani Network people are killed that is really something the US and Afghan governments would like to hear,” he said.
Some of the Haqqani Network’s daring and sophisticated attacks, including a day-long siege against the US embassy in Kabul, have been compared with special forces operations and enraged both Washington and Kabul. Last weekend, the bombing of a volleyball match in Afghanistan’s Paktika province, which killed 57 spectators, was blamed by Afghan officials on the Haqqani Network.
Even though Pakistan launched a major operation this summer to seize back control of North Waziristan, US officials were convinced the Haqqani Network was being spared while groups fighting against the Pakistani state were attacked.
Earlier this month, an official report by the Pentagon accused Pakistan of using militant groups, including the Haqqani Network, as “proxy forces to hedge against the loss of influence in Afghanistan and to counter India’s superior military”.
Tuesday’s development follows a dramatic thawing in relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan, which culminated on 14 November with the visit of newly elected Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, to Islamabad]. Ghani claimed the talks had “overcome obstacles of 13 years in three days” – a reference to the turbulent rule of his predecessor, Hamid Karzai, who deeply distrusted Pakistan.
President Ghani made a series of major concessions to Pakistan, which Karzai always resisted, including an agreement to let Pakistan train and equip some Afghan soldiers.
Islamabad, with its longstanding desire to limit the influence of arch-enemy India in Afghanistan, was also pleased by Ghani’s decisions to turn down an offer of Indian military assistance.
The two sides also agreed to set up a system to manage their joint border, a move Karzai resisted for fear of formally recognising the so-called Durand Line that Afghan nationalists claim gave away huge amounts of their territory when Britain drew it up in the 19th century.
Diplomats say the Afghans also agreed to fight members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) who have taken up sanctuary in eastern Afghanistan.
On Tuesday, Pakistani intelligence sources also claimed that a US drone strike inside Afghan territory killed a number of TTP fighters and narrowly missed the movement’s leader, Mullah Falzullah.
Yousafzai said another reason for the targeting of Haqqani was its alliance with Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a militant leader who for years was protected by a formal pact with Pakistan in return for agreeing not to attack the state.
The two sides have since fallen out and last week the group claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on security forces in Dattakhel that killed five soldiers including a senior officer.
Pakistan air strikes target Haqqani insurgents | World news | The Guardian
Attack on militants accused of cross-border attacks on US forces may signal major shift in Pakistan’s attitude to Afghanistan
An insurgent group known for its deadly attacks on US forces in Afghanistan has been targeted by Pakistani military aircraft in what is believed to be the first such strike on a group long accused of enjoying the secret backing of Pakistan’s army.
In what might herald a major shift in Pakistan’s attitude to Afghanistan, military and intelligence officials said seven members of the Haqqani Network were among 20 militants killed by air strikes.
Officials said the strikes, carried out by a jet and an attack helicopter, were launched against hideouts belonging to both the Haqqani Network and an allied group run by militant warlord Hafiz Gul Bahadur.
The bases were in the Dattakhel area of North Waziristan, the tribal agency that for years has been a secure staging ground for militants launching attacks inside Afghanistan.
Rahimullah Yousafzai, a veteran observer of the combustible borderlands between Pakistan and Afghanistan, cautioned that there was no way to verify whether the off-the-record claims made by intelligence officials were true.
However, it was significant that they should want to take credit for killing Haqqani fighters.
“Definitely if Haqqani Network people are killed that is really something the US and Afghan governments would like to hear,” he said.
Some of the Haqqani Network’s daring and sophisticated attacks, including a day-long siege against the US embassy in Kabul, have been compared with special forces operations and enraged both Washington and Kabul. Last weekend, the bombing of a volleyball match in Afghanistan’s Paktika province, which killed 57 spectators, was blamed by Afghan officials on the Haqqani Network.
Even though Pakistan launched a major operation this summer to seize back control of North Waziristan, US officials were convinced the Haqqani Network was being spared while groups fighting against the Pakistani state were attacked.
Earlier this month, an official report by the Pentagon accused Pakistan of using militant groups, including the Haqqani Network, as “proxy forces to hedge against the loss of influence in Afghanistan and to counter India’s superior military”.
Tuesday’s development follows a dramatic thawing in relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan, which culminated on 14 November with the visit of newly elected Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, to Islamabad]. Ghani claimed the talks had “overcome obstacles of 13 years in three days” – a reference to the turbulent rule of his predecessor, Hamid Karzai, who deeply distrusted Pakistan.
President Ghani made a series of major concessions to Pakistan, which Karzai always resisted, including an agreement to let Pakistan train and equip some Afghan soldiers.
Islamabad, with its longstanding desire to limit the influence of arch-enemy India in Afghanistan, was also pleased by Ghani’s decisions to turn down an offer of Indian military assistance.
The two sides also agreed to set up a system to manage their joint border, a move Karzai resisted for fear of formally recognising the so-called Durand Line that Afghan nationalists claim gave away huge amounts of their territory when Britain drew it up in the 19th century.
Diplomats say the Afghans also agreed to fight members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) who have taken up sanctuary in eastern Afghanistan.
On Tuesday, Pakistani intelligence sources also claimed that a US drone strike inside Afghan territory killed a number of TTP fighters and narrowly missed the movement’s leader, Mullah Falzullah.
Yousafzai said another reason for the targeting of Haqqani was its alliance with Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a militant leader who for years was protected by a formal pact with Pakistan in return for agreeing not to attack the state.
The two sides have since fallen out and last week the group claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on security forces in Dattakhel that killed five soldiers including a senior officer.
Pakistan air strikes target Haqqani insurgents | World news | The Guardian
