fawwaxs
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2009
- Messages
- 2,125
- Reaction score
- -2
- Country
- Location
Sunday, 07 Feb, 2010
QUETTA: If Afghan Taliban fighters and their top leaders are roaming around this remote part of Pakistan as the US alleges, the police chief here says he hasn't seen them.
''Point them out to me,'' Capital City Police Officer Abid Hussain Notkani says. ''I will arrest them.''
Interviews with residents and officials in and around Quetta, a dusty frontier city of 1.2 million, reveal widespread skepticism that Pakistan's vast Balochistan province harbors Afghan Taliban commander Mullah Omar, his aides or their foot soldiers.
It's a disconnect that does not bode well for Washington-Islamabad relations and America's already tattered reputation among Pakistanis as Balochistan grows in strategic importance for the United States.
The US is pouring in thousands of additional troops across the border in southern Afghanistan, a surge that could make Balochistan an alluring refuge and recruiting ground for the Taliban. Balochistan also is home to one of the two main border crossings used to ferry supplies to US and NATO forces a route that has come under attack.
The region also could figure prominently in another plan gaining support in the US reaching out to Omar and his aides in the so-called ''Quetta Shura'' or governing council to negotiate peace.
Washington is so convinced that Afghan Taliban traverse this province that it has debated firing missiles in the area, a move that would certainly infuriate residents. The US hasn't helped its case, offering virtually no public proof to back its allegations that Omar and his aides operate here.
Pakistan denies Balochistan is a Taliban haven, perhaps because it wants to avoid further unrest in a province already gripped by separatist sentiments. It also may be trying to maintain cordial relations with the Taliban, in case the US abandons Afghanistan and the militants return to power there.
Balochistan is a rugged region with a lengthy and porous border with Afghanistan and Iran. Geographically, it is Pakistan's largest province, covering 44 per cent of the country. It is also the most sparsely populated, with some 6.5 million people. A driver can go for hours without seeing anyone else.
When the US invaded Afghanistan in 2001, many Taliban fled to Balochistan, finding cover among their fellow ethnic Pashtuns, a group that lives on both sides of the border. Communities of Afghan refugees have also lived in Baluchistan for decades.
''We wouldn't recognise them,'' said Ahmadullah Noorzai, 38, a shawl merchant in Quetta. ''How could we? I have a beard. Am I Taliban?''
A long-running insurgency by Balochis ethnically distinct from Pashtuns feeds off resentment against the central government, which they say exploits the resource-rich region but leaves them to wallow in poverty. That insurgency is not believed to be linked to the Taliban, but it has made Pakistan especially sensitive about keeping control of the province.
A US counterterrorism official told The Associated Press that Afghan Taliban leaders use Quetta as a base to plan attacks in Afghanistan. He requested anonymity, because he was not authorized to discuss intelligence publicly, and declined to provide evidence to back his assertions.
Candace Putnam, the head of the US consulate in the northwest Pakistani city of Peshawar, told local journalists in December last year that al-Qaeda leaders also use Quetta as a base.
If the Taliban are in Balochistan, they keep a low profile.
Pakistani officials say there are no signs of convoys ferrying fighters across the border, no training camps, not even much Taliban propaganda. Unlike Pakistan's northwest, where the army is actively battling militants, any Taliban groups in Balochistan avoid contacting the media.
Quetta, the provincial capital, lies some 60 miles (100 kilometers) from the border. It has a heavy military and intelligence presence, and a reporter's every move is tracked. In communities beyond Quetta, residents said they were not aware of Taliban fighters in their midst, though some reported seeing them four or five years ago.
''There might be Taliban coming and going back, but they have not created any problems for our local administration,'' said Mohammad Akbar, 39, a shopkeeper in the town of Pishin, some two hours drive from Quetta.
US missiles routinely target militants in Pakistan's tribal regions in the northwest in attacks that are deplored by many Pakistanis. Nearly all those interviewed in Balochistan said expanding US missile strikes to their province would promote sympathy for the Taliban.
''If such missile attacks happened, they would be harmful not only to our people, but for America as well,'' said Abdul Qayyum, 35, a pharmacy owner in Chaman, a border town where many supply trucks headed for US and NATO forces cross.
Despite the denials of any Afghan Taliban presence, a Pakistani intelligence official in Islamabad said that the CIA and Pakistani counterparts carried out 60 joint raids aimed at militants in Balochistan over the past few months. AP
QUETTA: If Afghan Taliban fighters and their top leaders are roaming around this remote part of Pakistan as the US alleges, the police chief here says he hasn't seen them.
''Point them out to me,'' Capital City Police Officer Abid Hussain Notkani says. ''I will arrest them.''
Interviews with residents and officials in and around Quetta, a dusty frontier city of 1.2 million, reveal widespread skepticism that Pakistan's vast Balochistan province harbors Afghan Taliban commander Mullah Omar, his aides or their foot soldiers.
It's a disconnect that does not bode well for Washington-Islamabad relations and America's already tattered reputation among Pakistanis as Balochistan grows in strategic importance for the United States.
The US is pouring in thousands of additional troops across the border in southern Afghanistan, a surge that could make Balochistan an alluring refuge and recruiting ground for the Taliban. Balochistan also is home to one of the two main border crossings used to ferry supplies to US and NATO forces a route that has come under attack.
The region also could figure prominently in another plan gaining support in the US reaching out to Omar and his aides in the so-called ''Quetta Shura'' or governing council to negotiate peace.
Washington is so convinced that Afghan Taliban traverse this province that it has debated firing missiles in the area, a move that would certainly infuriate residents. The US hasn't helped its case, offering virtually no public proof to back its allegations that Omar and his aides operate here.
Pakistan denies Balochistan is a Taliban haven, perhaps because it wants to avoid further unrest in a province already gripped by separatist sentiments. It also may be trying to maintain cordial relations with the Taliban, in case the US abandons Afghanistan and the militants return to power there.
Balochistan is a rugged region with a lengthy and porous border with Afghanistan and Iran. Geographically, it is Pakistan's largest province, covering 44 per cent of the country. It is also the most sparsely populated, with some 6.5 million people. A driver can go for hours without seeing anyone else.
When the US invaded Afghanistan in 2001, many Taliban fled to Balochistan, finding cover among their fellow ethnic Pashtuns, a group that lives on both sides of the border. Communities of Afghan refugees have also lived in Baluchistan for decades.
''We wouldn't recognise them,'' said Ahmadullah Noorzai, 38, a shawl merchant in Quetta. ''How could we? I have a beard. Am I Taliban?''
A long-running insurgency by Balochis ethnically distinct from Pashtuns feeds off resentment against the central government, which they say exploits the resource-rich region but leaves them to wallow in poverty. That insurgency is not believed to be linked to the Taliban, but it has made Pakistan especially sensitive about keeping control of the province.
A US counterterrorism official told The Associated Press that Afghan Taliban leaders use Quetta as a base to plan attacks in Afghanistan. He requested anonymity, because he was not authorized to discuss intelligence publicly, and declined to provide evidence to back his assertions.
Candace Putnam, the head of the US consulate in the northwest Pakistani city of Peshawar, told local journalists in December last year that al-Qaeda leaders also use Quetta as a base.
If the Taliban are in Balochistan, they keep a low profile.
Pakistani officials say there are no signs of convoys ferrying fighters across the border, no training camps, not even much Taliban propaganda. Unlike Pakistan's northwest, where the army is actively battling militants, any Taliban groups in Balochistan avoid contacting the media.
Quetta, the provincial capital, lies some 60 miles (100 kilometers) from the border. It has a heavy military and intelligence presence, and a reporter's every move is tracked. In communities beyond Quetta, residents said they were not aware of Taliban fighters in their midst, though some reported seeing them four or five years ago.
''There might be Taliban coming and going back, but they have not created any problems for our local administration,'' said Mohammad Akbar, 39, a shopkeeper in the town of Pishin, some two hours drive from Quetta.
US missiles routinely target militants in Pakistan's tribal regions in the northwest in attacks that are deplored by many Pakistanis. Nearly all those interviewed in Balochistan said expanding US missile strikes to their province would promote sympathy for the Taliban.
''If such missile attacks happened, they would be harmful not only to our people, but for America as well,'' said Abdul Qayyum, 35, a pharmacy owner in Chaman, a border town where many supply trucks headed for US and NATO forces cross.
Despite the denials of any Afghan Taliban presence, a Pakistani intelligence official in Islamabad said that the CIA and Pakistani counterparts carried out 60 joint raids aimed at militants in Balochistan over the past few months. AP
