posted July 02, 2008 03:14 AM              

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KABUL: The latest terrorist attack on a prison in Kandahar was not the work of the Taliban alone. In fact, all significant terrorist attacks during the last several months in Afghanistan have the imprint of Al-Qaida both in the planning and execution.

Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai's harsh reaction against Pakistan, by threatening to send Afghan troops into Pakistani soil to fight Al-Qaida and the Taliban in their safe houses, shows the frustration of the Afghan leadership against Pakistan's latest peace agreements with the Taliban.

The US military in Afghanistan is convinced of Pakistan's duplicity and cannot ignore the threat coming from a reinvigorated Al-Qaida in Pakistan.

The series of well-organised terrorist attacks in Afghanistan since January of this year, such as the attack on Serena Hotel, an assassination attempt against Karzai and the latest attack on a prison in Kandahar, show that either the Taliban has improved its powers to strike or Al-Qaida has regained its lost influence in Afghanistan.

The 2007 United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan report on suicide attacks in Afghanistan indicated that Taliban suicide bombers are often inept.

In many instances they have killed only themselves and not their intended targets. Also, most of them are uneducated and come from the poorest segments of the population.

It seems highly unlikely that they could have improved in the short period of less than a year.

In addition, in all of the latest terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, the Afghan police seem to have assisted the terrorists.

The infiltration of Afghan security forces is out of reach and beyond the capability of the Taliban. Only Al-Qaida has the capacity to recruit security officials and organise highly sophisticated attacks in the heart of well-protected cities such as Kabul and Kandahar.

Since political turmoil started in Pakistan at least over a year ago, all military pressure has shifted away from the tribal area in Pakistan, where Al-Qaida and the Taliban have established their safe houses and training camps.

The recent peace agreement between the newly-elected civilian government of Pakistan and the Taliban has given the latter an implicit approval to intensify their attacks inside Afghanistan.

Indeed, Al-Qaida has benefited from the chaos in Pakistan and has had ample time to regroup and step up its terrorist attacks.

The Afghanistan president is disappointed by continuous deception from the Pakistani authorities. His recent threat to send Afghan troops into Pakistani soil and fight terrorists over there is symbolic of his personal frustration.

He was under tremendous pressure during the Paris conference held on June 12 for lack of improvements in Afghanistan. Indeed, increasing insurgency activities and growing terrorist attacks have blocked the development process in the entire southern region of the country.

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posted July 02, 2008 03:14 AM              

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This time, Karzai's frustration is also shared by the United States military in Afghanistan. The latest US attack in Pakistani territory, which killed 11 Pakistani soldiers, is a warning signal to the Pakistani military.

Indeed, the US authorities have for a long time trusted Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf as a key ally in the war against Al-Qaida and the Taliban.

It took Washington a long time to eventually become disillusioned with him. However, the civilian government of Pakistan is unable to impose its will on the powerful Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) branch of the military.

Since the early 1990s, successive prime ministers of Pakistan have had no other choice but to comply with the ISI's policy in Afghanistan.

There is a consensus among western intelligence services that Al-Qaida and the Taliban leadership live in safe houses inside Pakistan.

President Bush, during his speech in New York after the September 11, 2001 attacks, promised that he would "smoke out" the terrorists from their caves.However, nearly seven years later the Al-Qaida and Taliban leadership are still at large in Pakistan.

Lately, the current US administration has come under heavy criticism for going overboard to appease Pakistan. In an election year it is critical for the outgoing administration to show some success in the war against terror, and the best achievement would be to capture or kill a top leader of Al-Qaida or the Taliban.

Pakistani authorities take seriously the military threat coming from Afghanistan, even though an ill-equipped Afghan army of only 70,000 soldiers is not a match against a strong Pakistani military of 6,00,000 soldiers.

However, the Afghan army, backed by American special forces and the US air force, would be better equipped to fight Al-Qaida and the Taliban in the tribal areas bordering Pakistan than in Afghan villages and towns. Ultimately, Pakistan might face an existential challenge if the US is forced to intervene in Pakistani territory in the name of the "war on terror".

(The writer was a special assistant to Afghanistan's former defence minister Ahmad Shah Massoud.)

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posted July 02, 2008 10:07 AM            

So VDI, having read the article, I found the writer to be a no name editorial writer, not a reporter or journalist reporting the news.

Editorials almost always present the views of the writer..in this case, an unidentified writer and are subject to rumor, supposition, innuendo and outright lies because they're not written for the truth of the matter but rather to sway public opinion.

I would never put any stock whatsoever in an editorial whose author doesn't so much as identify him/her self.

"This time, Karzai's frustration is also shared by the United States military in Afghanistan. The latest US attack in Pakistani territory, which killed 11 Pakistani soldiers, is a warning signal to the Pakistani military."

posted July 03, 2008 05:53 AM              

what i have highlighted are facts not views

posted July 03, 2008 11:05 AM            

Factual News...the who, what, when and where of the event being reported upon.

Notice what's missing from the list when "hard news" is being reported.

posted July 03, 2008 08:26 PM            

lol

posted July 04, 2008 01:36 AM              

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Better slightly blind than slightly senile!

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yeah....touche

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but editorials are just the opinions of the writer

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ok....is that his opinion then that the Taliban actually live in homes like us in Pak.??..

or that the US army in Pak actually conducted two airstrikes at terrorist hideouts without permision.....

or - i dare you to say THIS is an opinion...

The recent peace agreement between the newly-elected civilian government of Pakistan and the Taliban has given the latter an implicit approval to intensify their attacks inside Afghanistan.

THAT is a FACT...one you might get to substantite thru WND

posted July 04, 2008 04:54 AM              

this one actually has OUR President too....

posted July 04, 2008 05:08 AM              

THIS ONE...HITS IT ON THE HEAD

posted July 05, 2008 03:18 PM            

By RIAZ KHAN, Associated Press Writer
Sat Jul 5, 12:01 PM ET

Pakistani security forces have halted an operation against militants in the country's volatile northwest to try negotiating peace through tribal elders, officials said Saturday.

Tariq Hayat, chief administrator for the Khyber tribal area, said local tribal leaders have agreed in principle to conditions including handing over 16 wanted men and respecting government authority in the region. A tribal council also is mediating between authorities and militant leader Mangal Bagh.

Elders have historically wielded significant influence in the tribal areas, which are considered safe havens for pro-Taliban and al-Qaida militants.

Pakistan launched the paramilitary offensive on June 28 after militants began threatening Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province, as well as a key road used to send supplies to U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan.

Hayat said the tribal elders would meet with officials Sunday to hash out details. "Security forces will remain in the area" while negotiations proceed, Hayat said.

Muhammad Ali, an official in charge of a crisis management center set up by the government in Peshawar to monitor the offensive, said security forces had stopped demolishing militant centers. He said the round-the-clock curfew in the troubled Khyber town of Bara — a key focus of the operation — was being relaxed during daytime hours.

On Saturday, shops in Bara were open, selling cloth, electronics and food. Paramilitary forces had only a minor visible presence in the area.

The move to talk peace appeared more in line with the policies of the new Pakistani government than the paramilitary operation itself.

The government came to power after February elections with promises of using alternative methods to combating militancy, and it has sought peace deals with militants including the Pakistani Taliban, though officials usually insist the deals are with tribes.

But government officials said they could not ignore the potential threat to Peshawar, a key hub, and sent out troops to Khyber.

Still, the operation itself has faced criticism, with skeptics noting that it has met with scant resistance and appears to have led to the death of only one militant. Many militants apparently fled before the operation started.

A key target of the offensive is Lashkar-e-Islam, a militant group headed by Mangal Bagh. It and a rival group, Ansarul Islam, are accused of trying to impose their own Taliban-style Islamic rule in Khyber.

A tribal council leader, Amal Khan, said he had met with Bagh and the militant leader had shown interest in a peaceful end to the operation.

A senior politician in the North West Frontier Province has said supporters of Lashkar-e-Islam and Ansarul Islam fled to the remote Tirah valley ahead of the crackdown. The politician requested anonymity because his party is a member of the ruling coalition and does not want to publicly criticize the government.

Despite the operation, the two militant groups have been reportedly fighting each other in the valley, reportedly killing dozens.

The previous government, led by allies of U.S.-backed President Pervez Musharraf, relied heavily on military action against insurgents.

On Friday, Musharraf defended his approach and warned that without a united effort, Talibanization would spread in the frontier. "We need to check this terrorism and extremism and act against it collectively as a nation," he told a gathering of business leaders in Karachi.

The new government has insisted it is serious about ending militancy in Khyber.