Gabbar
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Qaida, Taliban present across Pak: NWFP police chief
NEW DELHI: In what will deepen fears about Pakistan's capacity to tackle al-Qaida-Taliban, a top police official from North-West Frontier Province -
where the jihadi groups have an entrenched presence - said the Taliban was present in every city and town and hoped to launch more 9/11-type strikes against the West.
NWFP police chief Malik Navid told the Pakistan National Assembly's standing committee that the extremist organisations were spreading rapidly through the country and were no longer confined to the mountains of NWFP or Waziristan. He said the terrorists' aims included destabilisation of current regimes in the Middle East - a long-term objective of al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden.
Pointing to the unchecked progress of jihadi groups, Navid said Taliban were moving towards major cities like Lahore and Karachi. "Their people are present in every city and town. In some places they are active, in others they are dormant. Taliban's philosophy is to create pockets everywhere," he said, adding that jihadi groups were moving through southern Punjab and eventually aimed to reach the financial hub of Karachi.
Navid, according to reports from Pakistan, said the al-Qaida-Taliban combo hoped to use parts of the Middle East as launch pads for attacks against the West and pointed out that the groups had developed some expertise in making bio-chemical weapons. He warned that the Pakistan government needed to urgently focus on containing militancy as it spread from its bases.
The frank assessment of the police official serves to confirm concerns about whether Pakistan and its military complex in particular was prepared to clearly acknowledge the threat posed by jihadists given the army and ISI see Taliban as allies in ensuring a "friendly" dispensation in Afghanistan while also feeding the jihad in Jammu and Kashmir. The Pakistan army's sporadic efforts to roll back jihadis has lacked conviction and have predictably shown poor results.
The patronage extended to Deobandi and Wahabi groups by Pakistan's army and ISI since the mid-90's for anti-India operations - as they were seen to be more brutal and ready to carry out the directions of their handlers than Kashmiri outfits - tied in with the rise of Taliban who came from the same cloth. Ironically, having facilitated escape of Taliban leaders from Afghanistan after 9/11, Pakistan now faces the same threat at home.
Navid's testimony also points to the virtual merger of al-Qaida with Taliban, with the latter being both part of the core and the major striking arm. The al-Qaida core of leaders like bin Laden and the Eqyptian Ayman Al Zawahiri has shrunk but its "vision" can be seen in the overall jihadi plan to topple the Pakistani state. Indian intelligence assessments see anti-India groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba being very much a part of this conglomerate.
It was only a few weeks ago that reports of Taliban establishing a network of cells in Karachi and setting up bases in nearby hills had sparked off alarm over the possibility of terror strikes in the port city. The NWFP inspector general of police said the 1,000-mile porous border with Afghanistan was a major source of weapons in the tribal areas. The Taliban, he said, were trying to turn the tribal areas into the Islamic Emirates of Waziristan.
Outlining the depth of extremist threat, Navid said al-Qaida specialised in turning out suicide bombers within three months. Five to 10% of Pakistan's madrassas were involved in this activity and he named an al-Qaida operative Qari Hussain for training suicide bombers. The jihadis were a mix of Pakistani Taliban, jihadis, local groups, criminals and Afghan Taliban besides a major al-Qaida component.
NEW DELHI: In what will deepen fears about Pakistan's capacity to tackle al-Qaida-Taliban, a top police official from North-West Frontier Province -
where the jihadi groups have an entrenched presence - said the Taliban was present in every city and town and hoped to launch more 9/11-type strikes against the West.
NWFP police chief Malik Navid told the Pakistan National Assembly's standing committee that the extremist organisations were spreading rapidly through the country and were no longer confined to the mountains of NWFP or Waziristan. He said the terrorists' aims included destabilisation of current regimes in the Middle East - a long-term objective of al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden.
Pointing to the unchecked progress of jihadi groups, Navid said Taliban were moving towards major cities like Lahore and Karachi. "Their people are present in every city and town. In some places they are active, in others they are dormant. Taliban's philosophy is to create pockets everywhere," he said, adding that jihadi groups were moving through southern Punjab and eventually aimed to reach the financial hub of Karachi.
Navid, according to reports from Pakistan, said the al-Qaida-Taliban combo hoped to use parts of the Middle East as launch pads for attacks against the West and pointed out that the groups had developed some expertise in making bio-chemical weapons. He warned that the Pakistan government needed to urgently focus on containing militancy as it spread from its bases.
The frank assessment of the police official serves to confirm concerns about whether Pakistan and its military complex in particular was prepared to clearly acknowledge the threat posed by jihadists given the army and ISI see Taliban as allies in ensuring a "friendly" dispensation in Afghanistan while also feeding the jihad in Jammu and Kashmir. The Pakistan army's sporadic efforts to roll back jihadis has lacked conviction and have predictably shown poor results.
The patronage extended to Deobandi and Wahabi groups by Pakistan's army and ISI since the mid-90's for anti-India operations - as they were seen to be more brutal and ready to carry out the directions of their handlers than Kashmiri outfits - tied in with the rise of Taliban who came from the same cloth. Ironically, having facilitated escape of Taliban leaders from Afghanistan after 9/11, Pakistan now faces the same threat at home.
Navid's testimony also points to the virtual merger of al-Qaida with Taliban, with the latter being both part of the core and the major striking arm. The al-Qaida core of leaders like bin Laden and the Eqyptian Ayman Al Zawahiri has shrunk but its "vision" can be seen in the overall jihadi plan to topple the Pakistani state. Indian intelligence assessments see anti-India groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba being very much a part of this conglomerate.
It was only a few weeks ago that reports of Taliban establishing a network of cells in Karachi and setting up bases in nearby hills had sparked off alarm over the possibility of terror strikes in the port city. The NWFP inspector general of police said the 1,000-mile porous border with Afghanistan was a major source of weapons in the tribal areas. The Taliban, he said, were trying to turn the tribal areas into the Islamic Emirates of Waziristan.
Outlining the depth of extremist threat, Navid said al-Qaida specialised in turning out suicide bombers within three months. Five to 10% of Pakistan's madrassas were involved in this activity and he named an al-Qaida operative Qari Hussain for training suicide bombers. The jihadis were a mix of Pakistani Taliban, jihadis, local groups, criminals and Afghan Taliban besides a major al-Qaida component.
