The real locus of the Taliban lies not in the areas of NWFP bordering Afghanistan but in Balochistan, which is nearest to the troubled provinces of Zabul, Kandahar, Helmand and Uruzgan, according to a South Asia analyst. Kaushik Kapisthalam, an Indian freelance journalist based in Atlanta, wrote in the Washington Times that Pakistan has made what would appear to be a concerted effort to clean up cross-border militant operations in the tribal areas, but "regional experts" know that this is largely a "smokescreen." He recalls that two years ago British journalist Christina Lamb managed to interview top Taliban ministers including Maulana Abdullah Sahadi, former Taliban deputy defence minister in Quetta and a year later, American journalist Scott Baldauf was not only able to speak with Taliban commander Maulvi Pardes Akhund but was allowed to observe him recruit Pakistani fighters in Quetta for cross-border attacks on American troops in Afghanistan. It follows that if General Musharraf were serious about cracking down on the Taliban, his focus should have been Balochistan, not the tribal areas.
According to Kapisthalam, Pakistan's actions are not all that of omission. A recent report quoted US intelligence officials as saying that the United States possesses satellite photos that show Pakistani army trucks picking up Taliban troops fleeing back across the border after a failed attack. Other reports have also quoted US soldiers stating that they observed Pakistani border troops provide covering fire to retreating Taliban militants after cross-border attacks on US and coalition troops in Afghanistan.
While Pakistani officials pointing out that there are millions of Afghan refuges in their country and not every black-turbaned Afghan is a Taliban agent, the argument is facile. "Nobody has asked Pakistan to round up every black-turbaned Pushtun to stop all cross-border movement. The key is the ease with which former Taliban leaders and their financiers are able to plan, organise and stage attacks on Afghan and coalition troops across the border. Afghan leaders, including President Karzai as well as US officials have handed over list after list of Taliban leaders residing in Pakistan whom they want handed over, but Pakistan has been silent," the analysis continues. So far, Kapisthalam wrote, Pakistan has not arrested even a single middle or top Taliban leader, but there has been a crackdown on journalists to prevent embarrassing exposes.
Another Pakistani tactic is to claim that the Taliban resurgence is due to the "alienation" of Pushtun Afghans because of the Tajik-dominated government in Kabul. The violence in Afghanistan, reports have said, is largely cross-border in nature, originating in Pakistan. Pakistan has so far escaped America's "wrath", thanks to those in the US administration who portray the continued Pakistani support to the Taliban as actions of "rogue" military and intelligence officials and those who are sympathetic to the "Pushtun cause." A recent book by a CIA official takes the view that the Pakistani establishment always wants to see a Taliban-like regime in Afghanistan, failing which it would want to destabilise any alternative regime in place there. According to the writer, "To the Pakistanis, only an Islamist Afghanistan would serve as a bulwark against Pushtun nationalism as well as minimise the role of regional rivals like India and Iran ... the simple but unpalatable truth for US policymakers is that the Pakistani establishment's goals for Afghanistan are exactly the opposite of what the United States wants for that strife-torn nation." |