Pakistan Loses Control

[Janbaz]

The Afghan Taliban’s three operational chiefs have gone deep underground, senior insurgent officials tell NEWSWEEK, and meetings of the leadership have been canceled until further notice. The three—former Taliban civil-aviation minister Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor, former Taliban provincial governor Mullah Mohammad Hasan Rahmani, and military commander and former Guantánamo inmate Abdul Qayum Zakir—had operated with impunity from their rear bases inside Pakistan for years until the arrest near Karachi in February of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the group’s director of day-to-day actions at the time. (Top leader Mullah Mohammed Omar has been in hiding since he fled Afghanistan in late 2001.)

Now, however, the three have dropped out of sight; they may no longer even be in Pakistan, several Taliban officials say. “They are in safe areas where the [Pakistani] military has no control,” says a top Taliban intelligence officer, requesting anonymity for security reasons. The fugitive leaders stay in separate locations to ensure their safety, the intelligence officer says, and they communicate only with oral or written messages relayed by couriers, never electronically. “These men are younger and stronger than Baradar and can stand the rigors of staying in Afghanistan or elsewhere,” he adds. “We are not going to sit quietly like chickens in a cage waiting for the butcher to grab us one at a time for slaughter.”

The disappearance of the Taliban’s top leaders might sound at first like good news for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. The trouble is that it comes now, as Pakistan has finally begun pushing for an end to the war. Taliban commanders say they’re thoroughly sick of Islamabad using them for its own foreign-policy purposes, and the group is now distancing itself from its former patrons and overseers. “Pakistan is worried that it is losing control,” says a similarly unnamed senior Taliban logistics official who shuttles between Afghanistan and Pakistan’s tribal areas. “The fact that our leadership can now survive and thrive away from Pakistani control and influence is a good sign and shows that the insurgency is becoming more free and independent.”

Taliban officials suggest their newfound autonomy explains why Pakistan is now claiming it can get the Taliban-allied Haqqani network to accept a power-sharing deal with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. “The Pakistanis are saying to us: ‘You guys are not the only Taliban. We have other clients, so we don’t care if you run away,’?” says the logistics officer. A defection of the Haqqanis—arguably the most effective antigovernment fighters in Kabul and eastern Afghanistan—would seriously divide and weaken the insurgency, which is exactly America’s strategy. But it’s doubtful Pakistan can deliver. “Ninety percent of Afghans and 100 percent of the Taliban hate Pakistan,” the intelligence officer says. “In the past we didn’t have any options, but we do now.”

http://www.newsweek.com/2010/07/25/pakistan-loses-control.html

 

[airuah]

The Afghan Taliban’s three operational chiefs have gone deep underground, senior insurgent officials tell NEWSWEEK, and meetings of the leadership have been canceled until further notice. The three—former Taliban civil-aviation minister Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor, former Taliban provincial governor Mullah Mohammad Hasan Rahmani, and military commander and former Guantánamo inmate Abdul Qayum Zakir—had operated with impunity from their rear bases inside Pakistan for years until the arrest near Karachi in February of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the group’s director of day-to-day actions at the time. (Top leader Mullah Mohammed Omar has been in hiding since he fled Afghanistan in late 2001.)

Now, however, the three have dropped out of sight; they may no longer even be in Pakistan, several Taliban officials say. “They are in safe areas where the [Pakistani] military has no control,” says a top Taliban intelligence officer, requesting anonymity for security reasons. The fugitive leaders stay in separate locations to ensure their safety, the intelligence officer says, and they communicate only with oral or written messages relayed by couriers, never electronically. “These men are younger and stronger than Baradar and can stand the rigors of staying in Afghanistan or elsewhere,” he adds. “We are not going to sit quietly like chickens in a cage waiting for the butcher to grab us one at a time for slaughter.”

The disappearance of the Taliban’s top leaders might sound at first like good news for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. The trouble is that it comes now, as Pakistan has finally begun pushing for an end to the war. Taliban commanders say they’re thoroughly sick of Islamabad using them for its own foreign-policy purposes, and the group is now distancing itself from its former patrons and overseers. “Pakistan is worried that it is losing control,” says a similarly unnamed senior Taliban logistics official who shuttles between Afghanistan and Pakistan’s tribal areas. “The fact that our leadership can now survive and thrive away from Pakistani control and influence is a good sign and shows that the insurgency is becoming more free and independent.”

Taliban officials suggest their newfound autonomy explains why Pakistan is now claiming it can get the Taliban-allied Haqqani network to accept a power-sharing deal with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. “The Pakistanis are saying to us: ‘You guys are not the only Taliban. We have other clients, so we don’t care if you run away,’?” says the logistics officer. A defection of the Haqqanis—arguably the most effective antigovernment fighters in Kabul and eastern Afghanistan—would seriously divide and weaken the insurgency, which is exactly America’s strategy. But it’s doubtful Pakistan can deliver. “Ninety percent of Afghans and 100 percent of the Taliban hate Pakistan,” the intelligence officer says. “In the past we didn’t have any options, but we do now.”

Pakistan Loses Control - Newsweek

the highlighted part says 3 things

1)the taliban terrorists- may be present/are in /may have fled pakistan

2)pakistan military does not have control of its own territory fully

3)the writer of this article considers the part(area) that is not under control -not a part of pakistan territory.


since there is an acknoledgement that the three big shots had been in pakistan so far...and at present may be hiding in the territory not under control of pakistan army.....does this not justify the statement made by american diplomats that osama is in pakistan???

second why is the pakistan army hesitating to bring all of pakistan under control(i mean why is their parts in your country where your military cannot step in?)

 

[Ahmad]

second why is the pakistan army hesitating to bring all of pakistan under control(i mean why is their parts in your country where your military cannot step in?)

they probably cant, at least for now.

 

[Donatello]

the highlighted part says 3 things

1)the taliban terrorists- may be present/are in /may have fled pakistan

2)pakistan military does not have control of its own territory fully

3)the writer of this article considers the part(area) that is not under control -not a part of pakistan territory.


since there is an acknoledgement that the three big shots had been in pakistan so far...and at present may be hiding in the territory not under control of pakistan army.....does this not justify the statement made by american diplomats that osama is in pakistan???

second why is the pakistan army hesitating to bring all of pakistan under control(i mean why is their parts in your country where your military cannot step in?)

These parts are known at the FATA which is Federally Adminstered Tribal Areas. At Partition in 1947, it was agreed upon that these people will live their way and Pakistan government will not interfere in their politics and they wont interfere in Pakistan's main land (which they never did to this day, these people are as loyal as anything)

The problem came when US invaded Afghanistan and the militants came to these lands knowing the Pakistani Government cannot exert control here.

It's not that Pakistani Military doesn't have control over them. That was agreed upon during partition and hence we cannot go after them unless they trouble us in mainlands.




i hope that clears the talk for you.

 

[Materialistic]

Ok, So for now Taliban are a credible source for world news media, usually what they used to say was their propaganda or claims just to not show that how hollow they have become from inside.

The trouble is that it comes now, as Pakistan has finally begun pushing for an end to the war. Taliban commanders say they’re thoroughly sick of Islamabad using them for its own foreign-policy purposes, and the group is now distancing itself from its former patrons and overseers.

Ohh so the problem is that Taliban want more fight and Pakistan says enough of fighting now go to bed.

 

[muse]

since there is an acknoledgement that the three big shots had been in pakistan so far...and at present may be hiding in the territory not under control of pakistan army.....does this not justify the statement made by american diplomats that osama is in pakistan???

All three of the leaders mentioned in the piece were/are in Afghanistan - does that mean Osama is in Afghanistan?


It's just flawed logic to conflate as the quoteed piece does

second why is the pakistan army hesitating to bring all of pakistan under control(i mean why is their parts in your country where your military cannot step in?)

Is it "hesitating" or is it seeking to "shape" the operational environment?

Lets take sensible positions and make better cases to further our positions and by doing so add to the understanding of all forum members.

 

[SMC]

North Waziristan operation is a merely formality. It will happen sometime soon after the security forces are done in Kurram and Orakzai. After that, I hope to see FATA become a full-fledged part of Pakistan as that will ensure that any future terrorists will have a much harder time gaining control over the territory.