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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Tribesmen vow further violence |
| 2004-07-09 |
| Kaloosha (South Waziristan) â âPakistan created the Kashmir insurgency for India, we will turn South Waziristan into a Kashmir for Pakistan,â vowed a local Al Qaeda militant, who identified himself as a disciple of Nek Mohammad. âWe will avenge his brutal murder,â said another. All of them had congregated to condole the June 9 killing of Nek Mohammad. Also sitting by them was Haji Mohammad Omar, Mohammadâs successor. TFTâs Talib contact said it was still a no-go area for outsiders. This is the place where the Uzbek leader Tahir Yuladeshev had been cornered in the house of Noorul Islam on March 15. Tahir is still at large, but many of his followers are still around. That is the sense one gets from conversations with the Ahmedzai Wazir tribesmen. TFT encountered similar situations in Azam Warsak and on the way to Bagar, where the army has recently conducted operations against terrorists. The anti-establishment fever was quite high in the Azam Warsak bazaar and it was difficult to stay there for too long. For obvious reasons, not many local tribesmen wanted to talk or show the home hospitality for which Pashtun are famous. Those who do talk deny having any links with radicals. However, all of them mount a perfect defence of Al Qaeda and Taliban elements. âIf the rulers bring upon their own Muslim people the misery that the Israelis and Americans have imposed on innocent Palestinians and Iraqis, no God-fearing Muslim would hesitate in picking up the gun,â said Abdullah, a stout and wild-looking Waziri tribesman. Even Ameer Rehman, an educated lower-middle class political activist, who associates himself with the Awami National Party (ANP) ideology, had this to say when asked about foreigners the government believes are hiding in the area: âI have never seen foreigners here, some may be there but how can you connect them with every act of violence without any proof.â He blames the current situation on what he calls the mullah, military and malik Alliance (MMMA) adamantly wants to stick to the status quo, the century-old system devised by the British. Rehman also believes that the MMMA had been instrumental in the support to the Afghan mujahideen and subsequently the Taliban. The current situation in South Waziristan offers multiple reasons to presume that the hide and seek between Al Qaeda militants and the security forces is not likely to end very soon. The followers of Nek Mohammad, who by implication are now wedded to the cause of Al Qaeda, remain steadfast in their anti-US mission. For them anyone who directly or indirectly helped the Americans in âunleashing the unholy war on Talibanâ deserves a befitting reply. The message is: We will go down fighting and not surrender. The presence of such committed carefree people within the region is a source of fear and reprisals. The majority of Ahmedzai Wazir and Mesood tribesmen live in a conscious state of denial as far as foreign Al Qaeda cadres are concerned. Privately, they relish the resistance Arab, Chechen, Uzbek, Uighur Muslims, and foreign-origin Americans are putting up. But none dares either to concede their presence or criticize them. But the blockade and the heavy armed forcesâ presence have combined to breed unusual sense of resentment, with the die-hard tribesmen â essentially the ideological partners of Al Qaeda â ready to face anything. Come what may, we will surrender our guests over our dead bodies, reads the message. But the most dangerous development relates to the fears of a spill-over of the conflict into major Pakistani cities. The Karachi police would have us believe that the people involved in the attack on the Karachi corps commander have been busted. That may be true but the danger is not over. The tribesmen are convinced that the Pakistani government is the US partner in unleashing violence on them so they must stand up to it. And even if they might be bluffing when they vow to turn Waziristan into Kashmir for Pakistan, the determination is potent and the danger real. |
| Posted by:Paul Moloney |
| #2 You have to figure that if a nuke ever goes off in the US, South Waziristan will become an ashtray. |
| Posted by: remote man 2004-07-09 1:17:47 PM |
| #1 They will all die. |
| Posted by: Halfass Pete 2004-07-09 2:55:33 AM |