We've noted here on Rantburg, possibly alone, that there are a lot of places like Damadola in Pakistan that are under de facto al-Qaeda rule. The fact that 8,000 of the locals rallied to fight under Mullah Omar would seem to indicate that many of the villagers are far from innocent as to this whole situation.Sympathy for al Qaeda has surged after a U.S. airstrike devastated this remote mountain hamlet in a region sometimes as hostile towards the Pakistani government as it is to the United States. A week after the attack, villagers insist no members of the terror network were anywhere near the border village when it was hit. But thousands of protesters flooded a nearby town chanting, "Long live Osama bin Laden!" Pakistan's army, in charge of hunting militants, was nowhere to be seen.
The rally was the latest in a series of demonstrations across Pakistan against the January 13 attack, which apparently targeted but missed al Qaeda's No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahiri. The military still mans numerous checkpoints in the area, but it appears to be keeping a low profile so it will not inflame villagers still seething over the deaths of 13 civilians, including women and children, in the attack. "This attack has increased our hatred for Americans because they are killing innocent women and children," said Zakir Ullah, one of 5,000 demonstrators in Inayat Qala, a market town about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from Damadola. "We support jihad (holy war). Jihad is the duty of every Muslim," he said.
| "As my local holy man and his armed, um...acolytes keep reminding me." |
A relative of Faqir Mohammed, a pro-Taliban cleric who intelligence officials believe hid the bodies of the four suspected al Qaeda militants killed in the attack to prevent their identification, was arrested Sunday in Damadola, a security official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. Pakistani authorities say they are looking for fighters who might have survived the attack, but they have not visibly stepped up maneuvers in the area. While the military has about 70,000 soldiers along the border with Afghanistan, an Associated Press reporter who has visited Damadola three times since the attack has not seen a single uniformed soldier there.
| The soldiers know better than to tangle with the Lions of Islam. |
| Everyone's happy to fight the -ism, but never the -ists. Someone could get hurt. |
Khan could not estimate how many militants were hiding among the border region's 3.2 million residents. Officials in the past have said hundreds of Arab, Central Asian and Afghan fighters are among them. Back then, a local cleric in Bajur, the region surrounding Damadola, rallied 8,000 villagers to fight with the Taliban against U.S.-led forces. Bajur and Afghanistan's neighboring Kunar region have since served as hideouts because of their rugged mountains -- and the sympathies of residents. Many are Pashtuns, the same ethnic group as the Taliban. In a show of solidarity, the opposition Jamaat Islami, or Islamic Party, marshaled 50 volunteers Sunday to help the village rebuild. Taliban-style radicals were gaining strength along Pakistan's border partly because they intimidated anyone who disagreed, said Talat Masood, a retired Pakistani general. The military often relied on tribal justice to turn people over and avoided large-scale operations that could cause civilian casualties, he said.