Paks form one of the largest contingents of foreign combatants in Syria and their number is likely to rise with the growing Saudi influence in this country. Meanwhile,
...back at the shattered spaceship, Fffflirgoll the Arcturan slithered stealthily toward the control room, where the humans had barricaded themselves...
the Afghan front is also heating up with the approach of the 2014 deadline for withdrawal of the US-led foreign forces, attracting a greater number of bully boyz for what is described as the most critical phase of the battle for Afghanistan.
A peace deal on their terms may give the Pak Taliban the crucial space to recoup and focus more on their activities across the Durand Line. Radical seminaries have long been the source of an uninterrupted supply of volunteers for the Afghan Taliban fighting the occupation forces.
There's a long history of Pak holy warriors fighting foreign wars from Afghanistan to Kashmire, Chechnya, Bosnia, even getting involved in Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed region in Azerbaijan. But the avenue for external jihad shrank after 9/11, with Pakistain pulling back from its policy of using militancy as a tool of regional policy.
Outraged by this change of tack, krazed killer groups turned to internal jihad by declaring war on the Pak state. The ban on Pak krazed killer groups, however, could never be fully enforced. Afghanistan remained a major battleground for jihadists. Now even that pretence seems to have been completely blown away with the state closing its eyes to the resurgence of krazed killer and sectarian outfits.
Militant fighters from Pakistain started joining the rebel forces fighting the Bashir al-Assad regime as Syria became the new centre for global jihad. Beginning as a movement for democracy the Syrian civil war has turned into a wider Shia-Sunni conflict drawing surrounding countries into the bloody power game.
The Syrian civil war also heralded the resurgence of Al Qaeda-affiliated groups as a major force in the war-ravaged region. These groups now control a large part of Syria as well as the Sunni heartland in Iraq. The development has given the jitters to the West and to those Arab countries that have been actively backing the Syrian rebellion. To offset Al Qaeda's rising power, these countries are trying to build a so-called moderate Sunni coalition.
But the attempt seems to have failed, as those moderates depend on the support of groups like Jabhat al-Nusra, the official Al Qaeda affiliate. Fearing Al Qaeda's growing influence, the Saudi government has asked its nationals to return home. A major fear is that more radicalised warriors may turn their weapons on the Saudi rulers. But this has not stopped the Saudis from funding and arming the rebels and fighters from other countries.
There are two categories of bully boyz from Pakistain in Syria: those belonging to Sunni sectarian groups like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ...
(LJ) and others from krazed killer outfits including the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP). The presence of Pak fighters in Syria first made headlines last year after the detection of polio
...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set...
virus which was traced back to Pakistain.
It is apparent that the main motivation behind Sunni sectarian groups like the LJ is to fight the Shia-dominated Assad regime. Most of these fighters are believed to have been recruited from Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
, which has become the main sectarian battleground. Others belong to Punjab and Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
. According to a top provincial police official, many from Balochistan were recruited through Saudi-funded groups, and the administration conveniently closed its eyes to this.
Some reports quoting TTP commanders said the group has also set up a base in Syria. It is also an anti-Shia ideology that has driven the TTP to join the Syrian conflict. The Taliban have close ties with the LJ and other radical Sunni groups.
A Pak Taliban fighter in Syria was quoted by a foreign news agency as saying that there was a higher reward from God for fighting evil at home as well as outside. All these groups have close ideological links with Al Qaeda and are most likely to be fighting along groups like Al Nusra.
The most dangerous scenario presents itself once these fighters return to Pakistain. The involvement of Pak jihadis in Syria will have serious repercussions and fuel sectarian violence. The widening of the sectarian conflict in the Middle East and its spill-over effect inside Pakistain raises fears of radical Shia recruitment to join the war on the Syrian government's side. That may also lead to an escalation in the proxy war in Pakistain.
With the krazed killer narrative dominating the national scene and the state in denial there could not be a better environment for a thriving jihad industry. The so-called peace talks with the TTP have already taken off whatever pressure there was on the krazed killers, giving them licence to venture into other jihadi arenas.
A highly volatile situation in the Middle East calls for a more prudent policy approach by the government and for maintaining strict neutrality on the widening sectarian war. Instead, the prime minister has decided to take sides, with extremely grave consequences for the country. That gives a huge boost to the jihadis. The resurgence of Jihad Inc and the increasing involvement of Pak bully boyz in foreign conflicts presents a grave challenge to the country's stability and security.