Pakistanis prepare for war in Afghanistan after foreign forces withdraw

[modern.fakir]

Pakistanis prepare for war in Afghanistan after foreign forces withdraw

AP | Sep 7, 2013, 12.50 AM IST

ISLAMABAD: Militants in Pakistan's most populous province are said to be training for what they expect will be an ethnic-based civil war in neighbouring Afghanistan after foreign forces withdraw in 16 months. ​

In the past two years, the number of Punjab-based militants deploying to regions bordering on Afghanistan has tripled and is now believed to be in the thousands, says analyst Mansur Mehsud.


He runs the FATA Institute, an Islamabad-based think tank studying the mix of militant groups that operate inPakistan's tribal belt running along much of the 2,600-kilometre Afghan-Pakistan border.


Mehsud, himself from South Waziristan where militants also hide out, says more than 150 militant groups operate in the tribal regions, mostly in mountainous, heavily forested North Waziristan. Pocked with hideouts, it is there that al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri is believed to be hiding and where Afghanistan says many of its enemies have found sanctuary.


While militants from Punjab province have long sought refuge and training in the tribal regions, they were fewer in number and confined their hostility to Pakistan's neighbour and foe, India.


All that is changing, say analysts. "Before, they were keeping a low profile. But just in the last two or three years hundreds have been coming from Punjab," said Mehsud. "Everyone knows that when Nato and the American troops leave Afghanistan there will be fighting between Pashtuns and non-Pashtuns."

And the Punjabis in all likelihood will side with their fellow Pashtuns, who make up the backbone of the Afghan Taliban.


"We will go to Afghanistan to fight alongside the Taliban as we have done in the past," said a senior member of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), a militant Sunni Muslim group, who goes by a nom du guerre, Ahmed Zia Siddiqui.


In an interview with Associated Press in Pakistan, he said the Taliban haven't yet requested help, but when asked whether Punjab-based militants were preparing for war in Afghanistan after the foreign withdrawal, he replied: "Absolutely."

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...eign-forces-withdraw/articleshow/22379812.cms

 

[modern.fakir]

Sounds like the Pakistanis be it of Punjab or Pakhtoon origin are brothers in Pain. Our sindhi, mohajir, baluchis and all other ethinicities bleed green for Pakistan and Afghanistan alike. We are all ONE and INshallah Soon we will see the Unification of these two great countries as is destined because of our common heritage, religion and culture .

(clap)(clap)(clap)(clap)

As for anyone in afghanistan, i guess they can hear the fat lady sing and are ready for departure !!

 

[Imranpak]

Basically they are preparing to take care of the Karzai backed puppet government and the poorly trained army. It won't take much for them and the Taliban to bring down the current government. All of Bharat's investment will go to waste because there is no way Pak or the Afghan Taliban will accept an Indian friendly government in Kabul. We have seen this with the killing of that Bharati lady in Afghamistan just yesterday.

 

[modern.fakir]

All's you have said is true with the exception of the Bharti lady. She was killed by Raw because she converted to Islam and married an afghan man and wanted to settle down in Afghanistan. Something irked them so they eliminated her in a false flag by hired goons.

Basically they are preparing to take care of the Karzai backed puppet government and the poorly trained army. It won't take much for them and the Taliban to bring down the current government. All of Bharat's investment will go to waste because there is no way Pak or the Afghan Taliban will accept an Indian friendly government in Kabul. We have seen this with the killing of that Bharati lady in Afghamistan just yesterday.

 

[Imranpak]

All's you have said is true with the exception of the Bharti lady. She was killed by Raw because she converted to Islam and married an afghan man and wanted to settle down in Afghanistan. Something irked them so they eliminated her in a false flag by hired goons.

Or perhaps she was a RAW agent herself killed by the Taliban for spying on them. Many such converts to Islam in Bharat are totally fake!

 

[modern.fakir]

Thats a possibility too..although the taliban have denied the charge.

Or perhaps she was a RAW agent herself killed by the Taliban for spying on them. Many such converts to Islam in Bharat are totally fake!

 

[shafi3859]

enough is enough... one must stop and let the peace prevaile after foriegn ocupation foreces leavs Troubled land

 

[Ali.Pakistani]

Instead of preparing for war in Afghanistan, Pakistanis should prepare for revitalizing the freedom movement in Kashmir.

 

[Imranpak]

Thats a possibility too..although the taliban have denied the charge.

Bottom line is that Bharatis are not wanted in Afghanistan because the Taliban does not trust them. Lady knew the risk she was taking by angering a pro-Pakistani group. Attacks on Bharati interests in Afghanistan will only intensify over the coming months as ISI and the Taliban screw them every way possible. They are attacking us in FATA and Balochistan so should not cry foul play when we do the same.

 

[sahirmushtaq]

جنگ جنگ اور پھر جنگ


امریکہ ہے تو جنگ چلا جاۓ گا تو جنگ اسی آپے پیدائشی جنگلی آں

 

[miafridi]

Chalo aek baat toh thay hai. K india k sab say reputed akhbar ka attitude hamaray sab say kam credible akhbar "ummat" k barabar hai.:)LOL

 

[atensari]

Pakistanis are already in war.

 

[Liberal.Punjabi]

In Pakistans Punjab area, militants plan for next Afghanistan war after foreign troops leave

In Pakistans Punjab area, militants plan for next Afghanistan war after foreign troops leave

ISLAMABAD Militants in Pakistans most populous province are said to be training for what they expect will be an ethnic-based civil war in neighboring Afghanistan after foreign forces withdraw in 16 months, according to analysts and a senior militant.


In the past two years the number of Punjab-based militants deploying to regions bordering on Afghanistan has tripled and is now in the thousands, says analyst Mansur Mehsud. He runs the FATA Institute, an Islamabad-based think tank studying the mix of militant groups that operate in Pakistans tribal belt running along much of the 2,600-kilometer (1,600-mile) Afghan-Pakistan border.


Mehsud, himself from South Waziristan where militants also hide out, says more than 150 militant groups operate in the tribal regions, mostly in mountainous, heavily forested North Waziristan. Dotted with hideouts, it is there that Al Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri is thought by the U.S. to be hiding, and where Afghanistan says many of its enemies have found sanctuary.


While militants from Punjab province have long sought refuge and training in the tribal regions, they were fewer in number and confined their hostility to Pakistans neighbor and foe, India.


All that is changing, say analysts.


Before, they were keeping a low profile. But just in the last two or three years hundreds have been coming from Punjab, said Mehsud. Everyone knows that when NATO and the American troops leave Afghanistan there will be fighting between Pashtuns and non-Pashtuns.


And the Punjabi militants will side with the Afghan Taliban, who are mostly Pashtun, Afghanistans dominant ethnic group and the majority ethnic group in Pakistans northwest region that borders Afghanistan. Like many in the Taliban, the Punjabi militants share a radical and regressive interpretation of Islam.


We will go to Afghanistan to fight alongside the Taliban as we have done in the past, said a senior member of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), a militant Sunni Muslim group, who goes by a nom de guerre, Ahmed Zia Siddiqui.


In an interview with The Associated Press in Pakistan, he said the Taliban havent yet requested help, but when asked whether Punjab-based militants were preparing for war in Afghanistan after the foreign withdrawal, he replied: Absolutely.


Despite being outlawed in Pakistan, Siddiquis group is among the most active and violent, providing a cadre of suicide bombers for attacks both in Pakistan and in Afghanistan. It has taken responsibility for dozens of attacks that have killed hundreds of minority Shiites in Pakistan.


It has also been implicated in some of the most spectacular attacks in Pakistan, including the 2008 bombing of a five-star hotel in the capital and an assassination attempt on former dictator and U.S. ally Gen. Pervez Musharraf.


Zahid Hussain, whose books plot the rise of militancy in Pakistan, said at least two dozen militant groups are headquartered in Punjab province, while in Waziristan their numbers are growing as mainstream religious parties such as Jamaat-e-Islami recruit young men to the militant cause.


Even if a settlement occurs in Afghanistan there are still a lot who will continue to fight and those who are most likely to resist a settlement are Pakistani militants, Hussain said. He said that during a recent trip he made to North Waziristan, local tribesmen spoke of the influx of Punjab-based militants into their area. Foreign journalists are not allowed in the tribal regions.


Pakistans new elected civilian government has promised a strategy to tackle the militants whose actions, says Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, are a scourge that has killed upward of 40,000 Pakistanis in recent years.


In a televised speech last month, he lamented Pakistans inability to restrict the culprits or even identify them, to spot their hideouts and take them to task.


Pakistan cannot tolerate this anymore, he said.


While Sharif suggested that incompetence or insensitiveness were to blame, analysts accuse the government of lacking the political will to go after the militants. They say Sharifs conservative Pakistan Muslim League rules Punjab province, where militant headquarters are easy to spot and are left undisturbed.


In the south Punjab city of Bahawalpur, the al-Qaida linked Jaish-e-Mohammed is expanding its headquarters and building bigger religious schools for its adherents, said Ayesha Saddiqa, a defense analyst from Bahawalpur. The militant group has radicalized locals, and its leader, Azhar Masood, freed from an Indian jail in 1999 in exchange for a hijacked Indian Airlines plane, moves about freely, she said.


Punjab is infested with numerous jihadi outfits that support the Taliban based in the tribal areas from time to time, said Saddiqa. The Punjabi jihadis are critical of the war in Afghanistan and Western presence in the region. This is not just an objection to foreign presence in a Muslim country but is part of a larger war they hope to fight in establishing supremacy of Islam according to their interpretation and imagination.


Omar Hamid Khan, the Interior Ministry spokesman, says violence has escalated since the Sharif government took office in June, with 68 attacks in 60 days.


In a recent interview he acknowledged the difficulties the new government faces in meeting its stated goals of creating a counter-terrorism authority and competent police force, and finding experts to translate its national security blueprint into action.


Dr. Simbal Khan, a regional security expert with the Islamabad Policy Research Institute in Islamabad, said Pakistan doesnt want to see Afghanistan return to the 1990s, when civil war destroyed the country and gave rise to the repressive Taliban regime which in turn strengthened Pakistans militants. Yet Pakistans options are few, and according to Dr. Khan exclude an all-out assault on militant hideouts in Punjab that would turn the full force of militancy against Pakistan.


We know where they are. We could bomb the whole area, flatten it. That would solve Afghanistans problem but what would that leave for us? she asked. We might solve the Afghan problem but our problem would be far worse. We would suffer for the next 40 years.


http://m.washingtonpost.com/world/a...18d24c-17d3-11e3-961c-f22d3aaf19ab_story.html