30th December 2017: Afghan Taliban released their ‘military achievements’ in the year 2017

On 30th December Afghan Taliban, also known as Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), released a very long message on their Al-Emarah network detailing their ‘military achievements’ for the year 2017. Below is the message released by IEA on as it is basis: 

Military achievements of the Islamic Emirate in the year 2017
The year 2017 was fraught with frequent conquests, victories and tremendous achievements for the Islamic Emirate which can hardly be covered in one article. The detailed figures of the daily assaults of Mujahidin, their attacks, IED blasts on the enemy vehicles and convoys, missile strikes and various other operations which were regularly published and broadcasted everyday on ‘Alemarah’, the official website of the Islamic Emirate and on other social media platforms like facebook, twitter, whatsapp and telegram etc. cannot be enfolded in one essay, therefore, in the following lines an effort has been made to accommodate some significant achievements of Mujahidin during last year, as a handful out of a heap.
In the first month of the previous year, the Islamic Emirate published the assessment of administration in all areas under its control. It said that 41 districts of Afghanistan are fully controlled by the Islamic Emirate, while tens of other districts are under the control of our heroic Mujahidin with the exception of their centers. In the same month, guerilla attacks were accelerated and intensified in the strategically important cities of Afghanistan. Fifth directorate of national security zone in Kabul was the witness of huge blasts, while a crucial meeting of officials of the national security organ in Lashkargah city of Helmand province became the target of sacrificial attack in which 16 intelligence officers were killed. Besides these meticulous attacks, Jihadi operations remained incessant on the daily basis throughout the country despite the chilly cold weather. In the same month Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman of the Islamic Emirate, sent an open letter to the American president Donald Trump to convince him to accept the prevailing ground realities in Afghanistan and the region.
In February 2017, the commander of American forces General Nicolson confessed that their forces are stuck inside Afghanistan and see no perceptible progress in the battlefield. In the same month Shorabak district in Kandahar province was completed liberated from the enemy in which huge amount of arms and ammunition were seized by Mujahidin. Jihadi attacks were also accelerated in ‘Darqad’ district of ‘Takhar’ province. Besides various other achievements in these battles, a helicopter of the internal mercenary army was hit by Mujahidin which crashed in Archi district of Kunduz province. Another significant move in February was the killing of 11 stooge soldiers by an infiltrator Mujahid in Lashkargah city, the capital of Helmand province who then managed to join Mujahidin of the Islamic Emirate in the area. In February, His Excellency Amir-ul-Momineen Sheikh Hibatullah Akhunzada, the head of the Islamic Emirate issued a statement in which both Mujahidin and the general masses were asked to fully participate in the plantation campaign for making the country green and pleasant. This announcement was warmly welcomed by the people and numerous saplings were planted throughout the country.
In March 2017, fierce Jihadi operations were launched in the capital city Kabul. On 1st March the Recruitment center, the directorate of sixth security zone and the center of 241 brigade were brought under successive self-sacrificial attacks. According to verified reports tens of stooge forces were killed and wounded in these attacks. A few days later Tala-o-Barfak district of Baghlan province was completely liberated and captured by Mujahidin. Similarly an American reconnaissance drone was hit and brought down by Mujahidin near the strategic Bagram airbase. In another storming attack Neish district in Kandahar province was conquered by Mujahidin of the Islamic Emirate in which 20 internal soldiers also surrendered.

In the same month, meticulous martyrdom attacks were carried by our heroic Mujahidin on the strategic Khost airport in which heavy financial losses and casualties were inflicted on the enemy. Similarly, an infiltrated Mujahid courageously killed 5 American invading soldiers in Helmand province. In the second half of March, a huge military base of the mercenary national army was conquered by Mujahidin. Similarly the most strategic Sangin district in Helmand province was also completely liberated from the enemy and the white flag of the Islamic Emirate was hoisted on its center. Though it was extremely cold in March in the central parts of Afghanistan, but still the weather conditions could not halt the warm Jihadi activities of Mujahidin. In Saripul province, the stooge enemy was so confused and embarrassed by Mujahidin’s successive attacks and progress that the provincial council expressed its concern about the fall of provincial capital. In the same month, vast areas of Shah Wali Kot and Khakraze districts in Kandahar province were liberated while several military posts were captured. At the end of March, the ‘Invitation and Guidance’ Commission of the Islamic Emirate announced that 565 workers (including officials and forces) left the puppet regime and amalgamated with Mujahidin.

In the beginning of April, the Jihadi supporters of their surrendered leader ‘Hikmatyar’ announced their schism from his party and unification with the Islamic Emirate. On Friday 21st April, unprecedented huge and fatal self-sacrificial attacks were carried out on Shaheen corps in Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan. In this deadly attack more than 500 stooge forces, most of them notorious commando forces, were killed and similar more were wounded. This massive attack stunned the whole puppet regime which announced a day of national mourning. Similarly the so called defense minister of the stooge admin and the chief of staff of mercenary army resigned from their posts. Following this massive attack, a tactic blast took place on the notorious armed militia, locally called Campaign, near the old airport in Khost province in which tens of American mercenaries were killed and wounded. On Friday 28th April, ‘Mansoori’ operations were announced and launched by the Islamic Emirate to accelerate Jihadi attacks throughout the country. On the very first day of Mansoori operations, besides several minor and major attacks, Zebak district in Badakhshan province was completely liberated while the main road between Kunduz and Baghlan provinces was also controlled by the heroic and devoted Mujahidin of the Islamic Emirate.
On Monday 1st May, Ghormach district was liberated by Mujahidin while ten other military posts were conquered by them in the adjacent Sayyad district of Saripul province. In the meantime Mujahidin launched widespread attacks in Khan Abad district of Kunduz province in which the main Takhar road was blocked for the enemy and several villages were cleared from the stooge forces. Simultaneous with Khan Abad attacks, Jihadi operations were launched in various other areas and the center of Qala-i-Zal district came under Mujahidin’s control. On the other side, crucial attacks were initiated in several districts of Kunar province by Mujahidin, in which heavy financial losses and casualties were inflicted on the enemy besides conquest of numerous military posts. Mujahidin started operations on Waghaz district in Ghazni province by conquering all military posts except the district center. Similarly a fierce encounter in Shahjoi district of Zabul province left 25 stooge soldiers dead.
In the closing days of May, heavy blows were given to the enemy in Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar province. In two successive attacks, two bases of the enemy were conquered and overall 80 stooge soldiers were killed. The last fatal attack of this month was carried out against the Quick Reaction Force in Khost province in which 22 mercenary forces were killed. 

In June last year, huge Jihadi operations were launched in Imam Sahib district of Kunduz province. Similarly in Khas Uruzgan district of Uruzgan province five military post were conquered by Mujahidin while vast areas in Khawaja Sabzposh district of Faryab province were cleared from the enemy. In the eastern Nangarhar province, 4 American invading soldiers were killed by an infiltrated Mujahid while a meticulous self-sacrificial attack was carried out on a gathering of mercenary militiamen in Helmand province in which tens of these forces were killed and wounded. In this month Darzab district in Jozejan province was surrendered to Mujahidin including 60 stooge soldiers. Similarly, the recruitment process of unrestrained Arbaki militiamen in Chamtal district of Balkh province was sabotaged and several Arbakis were killed in a successful Mujahidin attack. In the ending days of June, hundreds of prisoners were set free by Mujahidin in different parts of the country as a sign of good-will of the Islamic Emirate and this move was widely welcomed by the pious and peace-loving masses of our country.
July 2017 was fraught with significant victories and Jihadi achievements. In the beginning of this month, Mujahidin launched their attacks near the center of Kunduz province by conquering several military posts in the suburban areas and a helicopter of the internal stooge enemy was also hit and destroyed during these operations. In the first half of July, the stooge enemy forces launched widespread assaults in Nad Ali district of Helmand province but they faced tough resistance from our heroic Mujahidin. In this fierce battle of Nad Ali district, tens of stooge commando forces were killed and wounded. It was confirmed by the Pentagon that considerable losses and casualties were inflicted on the freshly deployed American forces during this fighting. Though a heroic Jihadi commander of the Islamic Emirate (named Haji Hewad) was martyred in this fighting but on the other hand colossal losses and casualties were inflicted on the enemy too. In this month, a police convoy in Khak-i-Jabbar area in the south of Kabul came under Mujahidin’s attack in which tens of mercenary policemen were killed and wounded while a large amount of equipment was also seized by Mujahidin. In the same month several foreign invading forces including an American colonel were killed. In Arghandab district of Zabul province and the Central Baghlan district of Baghlan province several military post were captured from the enemy. In Grishk district of Helmand province massive attack was launched by Mujahidin and the defense line of the enemy was dispersed by self-sacrificial attacks, in which tens of enemy soldiers were killed and wounded. It is worth-mentioning that in Grishk fighting, Abdul Rahman Khalid, the beloved son of head of the Islamic Emirate Amir-ul-Mominin Sheikh Hibattulah Akhunzada also carried out a self-sacrificial attack and gave his life for the lofty cause of Islam and freedom of our country. Though in this fighting, Mujahidin could not capture the district but the enemy forces were badly crushed by inflicting huge losses and casualties on them. Similarly in Khawaja Sabzposh and Dolat Abad districts of Faryab province and Khan Abad district of Kunduz province fierce attacks were carried out by Mujahidin, in which several areas were controlled besides inflicting losses and casualties on the enemy. In July Guzargah-i-Noor district of Baghlan province was completely liberated from the enemy while 20 notorious Arbaki militiamen were killed in confrontation with Mujahidin in Tagab district of Badakhshan province. 

On Sunday 23rd of July, the important Tewara district in Ghor province and the strategic Kohistanat district in Faryab province were liberated and controlled by Mujahidin. In wake of these victories, local people rose up against the offences of local stooge forces in Shahrak district of Ghor province. They liberated the whole area and then announced unification with Mujahidin of the Islamic Emirate. On Tuesday 25th July, the significant and mountainous Jani Khail district in Paktia province was completely conquered and liberated, in which tens of military tanks and ranger type vehicles were seized by Mujahidin besides inflicting heavy losses and casualties on the wicked enemy. In the closing days of July, a huge base of the mercenary army was conquered by the heroic Mujahidin of the Islamic Emirate in unique Jihadi operations in which all the 74 stooge forces stationed there were killed. Several military posts were captured by Mujahidin in Want-Wigal district of Kunar province from the enemy. Similarly 25 stooge soldiers were killed in Nawa district of Helmand province. And the security chief of Gilan district in Ghazni province was killed along with 30 other mercenary forces in a meticulous attack of Mujahidin.
Just like July, August 2017 was also fraught with magnificent achievements for Mujahidin. During this month, Jani Khail district of Paktia province was liberated for the second time. The huge stooge army which was deployed for recapturing the district was badly defeated by Mujahidin and fled from the battle field. Similarly Ghormach district in Badghis province was liberated for the second time. Khamab district in Jozejan province and the relocated center of Zana Khan district in Ghazni province were also captured by Mujahidin. On Friday 28th August, Gomal district in Paktika province was liberated by courageous Mujahidin of the Islamic Emirate, in which heavy losses and casualties were inflicted on the enemy. In August, two helicopters of the enemy were hit and brought down in Nangarhar and Logar provinces. Similarly, in various fatal attacks in Logar, Maidan-Wardak and Kandahar provinces heavy losses and casualties were inflicted on the savage American invading forces.
In the beginning of September, in a heroic sacrificial attack in the third gate of the strategic Bagram base, several American forces were killed and wounded. Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman of the Islamic Emirate announced that this was the response of dishonoring the Kalima (declaration of Islamic Faith) in Parwan province. At the same time, a helicopter of the enemy was hit and brought down in Daikundi province. Some days later, a second fatal self-sacrificial attack was carried out in Bagram airbase. Since the savage invading enemy was stunned by these deadly attacks therefore they resorted to relentless and indiscriminate bombardment in Ghazni and Nangarhr provinces, in which numerous innocent people were martyred and injured. In this month, Bandar bazaar in Faryab province was captured by Mujahidin. In the meanwhile media reported that three security chiefs of Jaghatu district in Ghazni province were consecutively killed in Mujahidin’s attacks during last one month.

In November last year, a deadly self-sacrificial attack was carried out on the Special Forces in Kandahar province, in which heavy losses and casualties were inflicted on the enemy. Similarly a police training center in Maidan Wardak province and a military base in Nawa district of Helmand province were brought under meticulous self-sacrificial attacks, inflicting colossal losses and casualties on the enemy. On Sunday 12th November, Tariq Shah Bahrami, the so called defense minister of puppet regime admitted that Taliban attacks have significantly increase by 12% as compared to the previous year. In this month, a motor bomb attack was carried out on the savage foreign invaders while an enemy helicopter was hit and brought down in Barg-i-Matal district of Nuristan province. In the closing days of November, widespread attacks were launched against the enemy in Delaram district of Nimroz province while the important Naisher area in Balchiragh district of Faryab province was captured by Mujahidin.
The last month of last year was also fraught with magnificent Jihadi achievements for Mujahidin. A successful self-sacrificial attack killed 15 notorious ‘Sanguri Arbaki’ militiamen in Kandahar province, meticulous martyrdom seeking attacks took place against the savage foreign invaders in Kandahar province, Mujahidin advanced on multiple fronts in Faryab and Takhar provinces and various other areas, all of them taking place while it was heavily snowing in most parts of the country due to the arrival of winter season.
This quick and brief analysis and evaluation can easily prove that last year was full of huge losses and casualties for both the savage foreign invaders as well as their internal mercenaries. On the contrary it was fraught with magnificent and historic achievements and victories for the heroic and devoted Mujahidin of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

In mid-September, twenty military posts were captured by Mujahidin in Almar district of Faryab province by bringing vast areas under their control. Similarly ten military posts of the enemy were conquered in Khawaja Ghar district in Takhar province, in which huge amount of arms and ammunition were confiscated too. Colossal losses and casualties were also inflicted on foreign occupying forces in the self-sacrificial attack at Jalal Abad airport in Nangarhar province and the meticulous fatal attack on them in Kabul. In the closing days of September, James Mattis, the American defense secretary was attacked while he was landing at the highly secured Khawaj Rawash airport of Kabul. This timely attack terrified the American invaders and prompted them to warn their nationals to refrain from unnecessarily travel to Afghanistan. The Americans were so terrified that a few weeks later when the American state secretary visited Afghanistan, he could not dare to leave Bagram airbase and Ashraf Ghani, the head of puppet regime and other high ranking stooge officials were summoned there to meet him which was against all internationally recognized norms and rules of diplomacy.
On Thursday 28th September, the significant Maruf district in Kandahar province was liberated by Mujahidin eventhough the much touted handover of multiple Black Hawk helicopters took place a few days earlier. In this battle, tens of stooge soldiers were killed and wounded. After that, the strategic Fanduqistan valley in Siyagard district of Parwan province was captured and the local notorious Arbaki militiamen were expelled from the area.
In the beginning of October, Mujahidin made significant progress in Chora district of Uruzgan province, while 20 stooge forces were killed in fighting. A huge American transport plane was hit and destroyed by Mujahidin in Parwan province. Several military posts were conquered in Pashtun Kot district of Faryab province while Mirzaolang valley in Saripul province was completely cleared from the enemy.
In mid-October, colossal losses and casualties were suffered by the savage foreign invaders and their internal mercenaries. On Tuesday 17th October, a huge self-sacrificial attack was carried out on Shilgar district in Ghazni province, in which tens of mercenaries were killed and wounded and all suburban areas of this district except center came under Mujahidin’s control. On the same day, meticulous and deadly attacks were carried out by the heroic Mujahidin of the Islamic Emirate on the main security headquarter and the general managing department in Gardez city, the center of Paktia province in which more than a hundred mercenaries including the provincial security chief were killed and the premises of the headquarter was levelled to ground. At the same time, Sheb Koh district in Farah province was liberated by Mujahidin. A day later, special operations were launched on a huge military base in Maiwand district in Kandahar province in which 60 stooge soldiers were killed while the base was completely demolished.
In the second half of October, a huge attack was launched on Jughatu district in Ghazni province. And a self-sacrificial attack was carried out on a vehicle carrying workers of Marshal Fahim military academy near Qambar square in the heart of Kabul by inflicting heavy losses and casualties on the stooge military officials. In Laghman province an infiltrated heroic Mujahid killed several American soldiers. Crushing attacks were carried out against the enemy in Char Chino district of Uruzgan province. A helicopter of savage American forces was hit and brought down by Mujahidin in Kharwar district of Logar province during their raid on the area. Significant losses and casualties were inflicted on brutal American invaders in a huge blast which took place inside the strategic Jalal Abad airport in Nangarhar province. And the relocated center of Khogyani district in Ghazni province was also conquered by Mujahidin.

The End. 

Growing ISKP threat on Pak-Afghan border

Downloadable PDF version published at Command Eleven. 

 

ISIL fighters in Afghanistan, with their commander, Abu Rashid in the middle, during a documentary by Al Jazeera and Euronews, inside their territory.

While Islamic State is on the run in Middle East where it is facing a resounding defeat that has resulted in territory loss, at the same time the Islamic State threat in Afghanistan has been steadily rising since last several months and regardless of how rosy the picture American officials paint, fact is Afghanistan is entering into uncharted waters where everyone is fighting their own war and everything is for the taking. In this complex mix, the rising threat of Islamic State Khorasan chapter, more commonly known as ISKP, is giving both Afghan security forces and Taliban some tough time.

Couple of months ago, a Taliban commander Qari Hekmat in Jawzjan province defected to ISKP in northern Afghanistan. He and fighters loyal to him then went on to enslave local women and set up a training school for 300-600 children.

Afghan kids in an ISKP training school.

In early October, Hekmat’s fighters overran most Taliban positions in Qush Tepa district. Taliban in return launched their counter-offensive, which failed. While the Taliban were able to re-take a number of villages, Hekmat’s fighters retook those areas in their own counter-counter offensive. Eventually, the Taliban had to retreat. There are still shockwaves within Taliban ranks after they faced stunning defeat at the hands of ISKP in several key battles. Earlier in February 2017 six Red Cross workers were killed in an ambush in the same restive Jawzjan province. The strong presence established some six months ago in two districts of Jawzjan province marks a new inroad in Afghanistan by Islamic State. Hekmat’s Taliban fighters had long held sway in Darz Aab and Qushtepa districts, with the Afghan government having little control, residents who fled to Shiberghan, some 120 km away (75 miles). When Hekmat had a falling-out with the central Taliban leadership and switched allegiance, his men were joined by about 400 IS-affiliated fighters from China, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Chechnya and elsewhere, according to Darz Aab’s district chief, Baz Mohammad Dawar. Foreign militants have long operated in the border areas of Afghanistan, and in Jawzjan they had typically moved from place to place, occasionally cooperating with the Taliban. But once they came to stay, life changed for the worse, according to three families and local officials who spoke to Reuters, even by the war-weary standards of Afghanistan. “IS took our women as slaves, or forcefully made them marry a fighter. The Taliban never did that,” said Sayed Habibullah, a Darz Aab resident. “The Taliban had mercy and we spoke the same language, but IS fighters are foreigners, much more brutal and barbaric.” Jawzjan’s police chief Faqir Mohammad Jawzjani said, “Whether it is Islamic State or Taliban, they are our enemy. And they have to be eliminated.”

There were some recent reports that Taliban have captured the Baloch area and two security posts in Sherin Tagab district of northern Faryab province. This area was being held by pro-government militias. While Taliban have been putting up a fight and achieving some successes, ISKP is still giving hard time to Taliban in Nangarhar, where ISKP continues to claim more attacks every week, targeting both Afghan security forces as well as Taliban. See ISKP claims for minor and major attacks in Nangarhar here, here, here, here, here, and here. ISKP also recently released a photo report from Nangarhar purportedly showing ISKP battles against Taliban.

From IS photo report

From IS photo report

From IS photo report

 

ISKP clashes with Taliban and Afghan security forces have also been receiving almost consistent coverage in Islamic State’s Al-Naba magazine. For instance, in issue # 108 of Al-Naba, IS mentioned in detail its ops against Taliban and Afghan forces in Nangarhar. In the same issue of Al-Naba, IS also claimed ISKP fighters have captured 18 villages in Khogyani, Nangarhar from Taliban. This is the same area where intense battles between Taliban and ISKP have been raging for last couple of months now.

Screenshot from Al-Naba issue 108

Screenshot from Al-Naba issue 108

 

There are also multiple credible reports that foreign fighters are joining ISKP in droves. “A large number of Daesh fighters are foreign fighters”, Afghan envoy to US Hamdullah Mohib had said in November. Those numbers have been further bolstered by “a small number of Afghans within,” Mohib said. “The Taliban, some of the factions — some of the irreconcilable elements that are much more extreme — are also joining Daesh.” More recently, in December, there were credible reports of French foreign fighters of ISKP in Afghanistan. This is being viewed as a worrying trend by many Afghanistan watchers. “A number” of Algerian and French nationals entered the largely ISKP-controlled district of Darzab in northern Jowzjan province in November, said district governor Baaz Mohammad Dawar. At least two women were among the arrivals, who were travelling with a translator from Tajikistan as well as Chechens and Uzbeks, Dawar added. European and Afghan security sources in Kabul confirmed Dawar’s claim that French citizens were among the fighters — though, one cautioned, “we do not know how many there are”. Mohammad Raza Ghafoori, the Jowzjan provincial governor’s spokesman, said French-speaking Caucasian men and women had been seen training ISKP fighters in Darzab. He cited reports saying that around 50 children, some as young as 10, have also been recruited by the fighters. Darzab residents told AFP that roughly 200 foreigners had set up camp just a few hundred metres from the village of Bibi Mariam. Locals along with district governor Dawar warned the fighters were also exploiting natural resources, such as precious stones and metals. One of the security sources said that two of the French had been nicknamed “The Engineers” and appeared to be organising some sort of extraction, “but we do not know what they are looking for”.

All this time ISKP has continued to recruit young men, children and women in Jawzjan province. “During the winter it has been difficult to fight in Afghanistan as it is a mountainous country, but in the harsh winter, the militants remarkably step up efforts to recruit locals. The ISKP militants, in Darzab and Qush Tepa as well, are trying to enroll more people before the next spring and summer, known as fighting season,” an Afghan security official said. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said ISKP has been working on a plan to capture more areas in the two important districts laying in southwestern of provincial capital Shiberghan city. “Nowadays, the Taliban lost all territory in Darzab and have no presence there. Only central parts and surrounding areas of the district headquarters in Darzab is controlled by the government forces and most parts of the district are under IS control,” said Halima Sadat, a member of local Afghan provincial council.

When ISKP opened shop in Afghanistan, American officials estimated the number of ISKP fighters to be around 1,000. But my research indicates that this figure is old and obsolete and presently ISKP has somewhere around 3,000-4,000 active fighters and facilitators. This figure includes ISKP recruits currently going through training camps. If these figures are even near accurate, this growth projection shows that within the next one year ISKP will likely have around 8,000-10,000 active fighters and facilitators.

More Attacks, More Chaos 

While the caliphate is in decline in Middle East, it is waging a ferocious war in AfPak region and has been claiming attacks and assassinations almost every day. ISKP, right now, is the most active franchise of Islamic State, both in terms of media activity as well as on-ground operations. While ISKP and Taliban have been clashing in battles in Afghanistan, these intra-Jihadi clashes actually constitute a minority of ISKP ops. A majority of ISKP operations are being carried out against Afghan security forces and government. Most recent major attack carried out by ISKP against Afghan government was in Kabul on 18th December where ‘inghamasi’ ISKP fighters attacked building of Afghan intelligence agency NDS.

Aftermath of ISKP attack on NDS building

Islamic State released photo of the two Jihadis – identified by IS as Salman Al-Khurasani and Saifullah Al-Kunduzi – responsible for attack on NDS facility in Kabul

Meanwhile in Pakistan, ISKP carried out an attack targeting a Methodist Church in Quetta, just one day before the attack on NDS building in Kabul. Two would-be suicide bombers entered the church – where around 400 people were attending a prayer – with the intention to kill as many as possible. But thanks to the bravery of a Pakistani cop, only one suicide bomber could detonate his jacket. The other would-be bomber was taken out by the cop with a headshot. A total of nine people were killed in the attack and another 57 injured. While Pakistani officials called it a failed attack because it didn’t go as ISKP had planned, the fact is ISKP doesn’t actually consider such attacks as failed attacks. As far as ISKP is concerned, this was a successful attack. When recently a Bangladeshi would-be suicide bomber attempted to carry out a bombing in Manhattan, IS fanboys as well as IS magazine Al-Naba praised him and called it a successful infiltration. To IS, an attacker simply successfully infiltrating through the security apparatus of a state is enough to call it a successful attack, regardless of number of casualties.

The Church in Quetta, Pakistan that was targeted by IS

The attack in Quetta claimed by ISKP was not the only attack in Pakistan that was claimed by ISKP. Sure enough, this attack only came on the heels of similar smaller attacks in Pakistan that were claimed by ISKP. Two of such attacks are:

1. 24th November 2017: SVBIED (Suicide Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device) attack targeting police official Additional I.G. M. Ashraf’s convoy which killed him and at least one other cop in Hayatabad, Peshawar. The attack was claimed by Islamic State. You can follow my Twitter thread on this attack here.

AIG M. Ashraf Noor

 

2. 29th November 2017: A gun attack in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad targeting a Shia mosque killed an official of Intelligence Bureau (IB) along with one other Shia man, and four were injured. This attack was first claimed by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Al-Alami and later by Islamic State. This wasn’t the first such attack in Pakistan that was claimed by both these groups. LeJA had made some glaring mistakes in its claim and then what followed was an online spat between LeJA and ISKP Jihadis. You can follow my Twitter thread on this attack here.

 

Enemy At the Gates

Earlier in the summer of 2017, ISKP captured Tora Bora, which gives it easy access into Pakistan through a terrain that is almost impossible for any security force to man up to 100%. The remote, mountainous area contains a complex set of caves bordering Pakistan and became well-known because former al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden was cornered there by an American-led team, a few months after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Amusingly, the Tora Bora cave network was financed by CIA and this is the same Tora Bora where US dropped MOAB in April of 2017.

The growing ISKP presence along Pak-Afghan border and increase in ISKP-claimed attacks in Pakistan poses a great challenge for Pakistan, that has still not been able to properly secure the Afghan border. Sure enough, attacks against Pakistani military convoys, soldiers and check-posts along Pak-Afghan border are almost routine now. No week passes by when one of the many groups operating in the region doesn’t claim an attack along Pak-Afghan border targeting Pakistani troops. Most of these attacks are claimed by Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan but it is only a matter of time before ISKP starts launching its own coordinated offensive ops against Pakistani forces from Afghanistan. This would pose a dilemma for Pakistan because while security cooperation between Pakistan-Afghanistan has somewhat improved recently, it’s still nowhere near where it should be for Pakistan to be able to successfully tackle the ISKP threat. Pakistani Generals also do not trust the Afghan Generals and many Pakistani intelligence officials privately say that elements within Afghan security services are aiding ISKP in an attempt to use it against Taliban and Pakistan. These concerns are not restricted to Pakistan but are also being voiced in Afghanistan by several Afghan officials. Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who was once backed by United States, has even said that US is providing weapons to ISKP and is using the group as a ‘tool‘. Somewhat similar concerns have been shared by Russians and the Chinese. While one can debate whether these statements from different parties involved in Afghanistan is just rhetoric, disinformation or has some truth in it, what can be said with absolute surety is that Pakistani Generals would not like to and cannot afford to completely leave the ISKP threat up to Afghan security forces to handle. Indeed, Afghan security forces simply don’t have the capacity to handle the threats it is supposed to tackle in Afghanistan and it has failed to stop cross-border attacks against Pakistani troops. This leaves Pakistan with very few options, and all of those options start with Pakistan taking matters into own hands. It would be foolish of Pakistan to rely on US allied forces and Afghan troops to come to its aid if ISKP launches coordinated cross-border assaults against Pakistan.

Another worrying factor for Pakistan will prove to be IS foreign fighters, particularly those who have fought actively in Syria and Iraq. These are battle-hardened experienced fighters and have somewhat excelled in waging guerrilla warfare. These fighters hold the potential to launch spectacular and bloody cross-border attacks once they have made themselves familiar with their new neighborhood.

While it is true that US allied forces have been carrying out operations against ISKP in Afghanistan, American officials as well as key Afghan officials believe to be close to US have consistently downplayed the ISKP threat. These officials say that ISKP is still not as big of a threat for Afghanistan as is the Taliban, but this notion may very soon prove to be a misguided one. The newly empowered CIA, thanks to President Donald Trump, is now going on a new covert assassination campaign in Afghanistan to target key Taliban commanders and ideologues. While American officials will obviously like to claim that they hope to cripple the Taliban insurgency with this campaign, one would be doubtful of its predicted success. For starters, a question arises: what happens to the militants loyal to a commander who has just been assassinated in a CIA op? Maybe US & Afghans will try to recruit them to join pro-government militias, but the more likely scenario is a large portion of these militants would end up joining the more radical ISKP. The most radical elements within Taliban already hold sympathetic views towards ISKP and while most of them have been kept in line by Taliban commanders so far, a few successful CIA assassinations of these commanders is all it’s going to take for many of these more radical Taliban insurgents to switch sides. Most militants ideally want to fight for the side that is winning, and with Taliban losing men to ISKP and ISKP gaining strength as it reinforces its presence in Afghanistan, it is also likely that many militants from pro-government militias raised by Kabul may consider switching sides. These pro-government militants have been already defecting to the Taliban in low numbers but that could also change soon. If history is witness to anything, raising militias in Afghanistan has almost always backfired.

Afghanistan will continue to be a terrorist pressure-cooker for next several months but we all – and most importantly Pakistan – need to worry and prepare for the time when this pressure cooker explodes.

 

Afghanistan & Pakistan: From Affinity to Animosity

By Saadia Qayyum – exclusively for Security Analysis Blog. 

​350 rupees was the final bargain price for the dual-dial metallic watch I held in my hand – or so it seemed, before I flashed my best imploring look at an Afghan uncle selling fake watches on the sidewalk in Peshawar.

His wizened face crinkled into a smile as he reduced the price to 300 for me.

Ecstatic, I paid the amount and as I turned to leave, his friend and he got up to walk me across the road to where my dad was parked. They were our muslim brothers who had fled the war to find refuge in my country.

We liked them – we owned them. That was back in 1997!

 We shared our home with 3.5 million Afghan refugees at the cost of a staggering blow of $200 billion to our economy. We gave them our citizenship and right to do business in Pakistan. We adopted their orphans to give them better lives. Our soldiers sacrificed their lives fighting with them against their enemy. We fulfilled more than our share of neighborly duties.

They repaid us by supporting TTP and playing as India’s proxy to seed unrest in Pakistan. Today, they blame us for the creation of Taliban and hail the actual architect of their misery as their savior.

They accuse us of transforming Afghanistan into a battlefield – a ‘country’ that has never known peace – be it the never-ending internal conflict, or the resultant foreign invasions. They propagate hatred and malign Pakistan’s image on international level.

We no longer like them. Welcome to 2017!

 Pakistan has started fencing its border with Afghanistan to stop infiltration of terrorists. Afghans tried to disrupt the progress by firing across the border and shredding identification cards issued by Pakistan government for controlling border crossers. 

Pakistan is no longer a ‘safe haven’ for Afghans. They have started a slow and reluctant reverse migration.

 America’s WOT has created two clear victims; Pakistan and the destitute Afghans. Both of them are victims of a war that was never theirs.

Most of the Pakistanis still have a soft corner for Afghans and want to support their neighbors. However, for that to happen, Afghanistan will have to change their policy toward Pakistan and choose a wiser course that serves Afghanistan’s interest and is not anti-Pakistan.

If history is anything to go by, mountains may move but not the Afghans, yet our hopes linger to foster brotherhood.

The Great Game And Afghanistan: Eleven Point Agenda For Pakistan

Also published at Command Eleven. 

 

Following the announcement of Trump’s new plan for Afghanistan, which is basically the old plan packaged as new with a topping of increased Pakistan-bashing, here is my simple eleven point agenda for Pakistan to implement in its Afghanistan policy.

1.  Shut down USAID programmes as well as other US-backed projects involved in subversion operations in Pakistan. Follow up by stopping all kinds of US packages that are given to Pakistani media to push Washington’s policies in the region.

2.  Shut down NATO supply routes completely and stand by it. Don’t open them even if US/NATO are willing to offer commercial rates.

3.  Convince Russia and/or China to prepare and introduce sanctions against US Army and NATO individuals involved in war crimes in Afghanistan.

4.  Officially announce US-India backed Kabul regime as Pakistan’s enemy # 2, only second to India. Follow up with limited sanctions on key individuals of Kabul regime involved in anti-Pakistan terrorism.

5.  Go on the offensive, covertly and overtly, in Afghanistan against anti-Pakistan terrorist groups and individuals including ISIS-Khorasan Province. Follow up by naming and shaming countries at the UN that are covertly supporting ISIS-Khorasan Province.

6.  Improve and increase US-focused counter-intelligence in Afghanistan, particularly HUMINT capabilities.

7.  Announce a parallel pro-Pakistan Afghan government based in Islamabad and get it recognized by as many allied countries as possible.

8.  Persuade Russia to invade Afghanistan in near future on behalf of Taliban, who are seen as a legit stakeholder in Afghanistan by all parties (including US).

9.  Refuse any kind of US military aid that would put Pakistan’s interests at stake. In fact, it would be far better to refuse US military aid altogether.

10. Officially announce Indian influence and activities in Afghanistan a threat to Pakistan and its national interests. Follow up by making India bleed through a thousand cuts in Afghanistan.

11. Lastly, make sure Pakistan gets a good share out of any deal relating to extraction of minerals from Afghanistan. A war without profit is not a war but stupidity.

This is the eleven point agenda that Pakistan should consider implementing to protect its national interests in the region.

If US wants to play tango with Pakistan, then it’s time to tango.

Pakistan needs to shed its delusions about Afghanistan

This article was also published at Command Eleven.

 

For decades Pakistanis have been told that Afghanistan is a “brotherly Islamic country” with cultural and people-to-people ties with Pakistan. For decades Pakistan has also consistently faced long and short waves of terrorism and crimes, a good proportion of which can be traced to Afghanistan. When Pakistan helped Afghans against the invading Soviets, Pakistan made the biggest mistake since its independence by giving a safe passage to Afghan refugees into Pakistan. At the time, Pakistan had little idea that it will be stuck with the refugees for the next 30-40 years. Pakistan was hoping to end the war in Afghanistan soon and send back the refugees. What Pakistan didn’t expect was exactly what happened: Pakistan was slapped with sanctions by US government right after Pakistan helped US and Afghans defeat the Red Army in Afghanistan, which eventually led to the collapse of USSR in 1991. Here is almost-US President Hillary Clinton explaining it all very nicely:

 

Today Pakistan has realized most of its mistakes related to Afghanistan, even though US clearly hasn’t. But there’s one thing Pakistani leaders are still repeating: Afghanistan is our brotherly Islamic neighbor country.

No, it’s not. That is simply a crappy diplomatic line which no one in Pakistan buys anymore. At least not without rolling their eyes. Afghanistan was never a friend of Pakistan. The history of anti-Pakistan terrorism waged from or with support of Afghanistan is quite long and bloody. Here is a declassified CIA document explaining in detail the terrorist activities of Soviet-backed KHAD (Afghan intelligence agency) in and against Pakistan. Editorials and columns in American media addressing Afghan terrorism against Pakistan were a routine back in the day. Here are two from 1988: one from Washington Post and the other from LA Times. Both articles documented here sympathize with Pakistan and talk about the Afghan war of terror, backed by USSR, against Pakistan.

The only difference today is that most of the terrorism in Pakistan is supported in various ways by India-trained NDS (current Afghan intelligence agency) as it wages a war of terror against Pakistan right under the nose of the United States. Today, US is allied with India, the former ally of Soviets. Perhaps in the excitement to counter China, US has forgotten the sacrifices of Pakistan and its people, both of far past and near past. Today several Washington DC think tanks and talking heads blame Pakistan for the terrorism it faces despite Pakistan’s countless anti-terror military ops, all of them proving to be highly successful. The successes of these operations have been acknowledged by US Army’s General John Nicholson, UK Army Chief General Nicholas Patrick Carter and a senior Russian Army delegation. Most recently, a high level US Congressional delegation visited Pakistan and acknowledged Pakistan’s successes against terrorism. But despite all this, the policy in DC so far has been to blame Pakistan for all the troubles in Afghanistan, which is in stark contrast to how US defended and sympathized with Pakistan just a couple of decades back. All the players are still the same, the battlefield is the same, but interests have changed. This is true for both US and Pakistan.

Pakistan-Afghanistan also have nothing in common in culture or people. For starters, Pakistanis are not ungrateful like the Afghans. Afghan culture comes with baggage like abuse of women and children, pedophilia, bestiality, etc. That’s Afghan culture, not Pakistani culture.

Right now the most important thing for Pakistan is to counter the imminent terror threats originating from Afghan soil. That includes ISIS as well as the dozens of madrasas being run by Kabul regime and its intelligence agency where students are being taught to wage Jihad against Pakistan. Pakistan can no longer afford to tolerate this activity in its backyard. For years Pakistan has tried to be apologetic and balance its own interests with the US policy. It is time for Pakistan to put its interests 100% at the top.

Recently Pakistan Army’s spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor, during a press conference, got a question from a PTV journalist. He asked, “for how long will Pakistan be apologetic and when will Pakistan strike terror camps in Afghanistan with cruise missiles?” That question got an amused reaction from the General. But I think the journalist had a point. Pakistan needs to go on full offensive in Afghanistan. The time for apologia is over, as has been evident from Pak Army Chief’s recent tough statement made during meeting with General John Nicholson.

Pakistan’s policy makers can take their time debating which cruise missiles to hit the terror camps in Afghanistan with, but meanwhile it would be a good idea for Pakistan’s policymakers to stop telling Pakistanis that Afghanistan is a brotherly Islamic country.

 

 

 

Iran Is A Dangerous Frenemy

Also published at Ground Zero.

A Brief History of Iran-Pakistan Pre-Islamic Revolution Relations: 

When Pakistan gained independence in 1947, Iran was the first country in the world to internationally recognize Pakistan as a sovereign nation and Shah of Iran was the first head of state of any country who came to Pakistan on a state visit in 1950. Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah, being a Shia himself, was a great supporter of strong relations between Iran and Pakistan since the beginning. He debated the idea of close Iran-Pakistan relations in his meetings with people in his political circle as well as publicly. Iran was also the new neighbor of Pakistan, which further gave boost to Mr Jinnah’s case for strong Pakistan-Iran relations. Mr Jinnah appointed Raja Ghazanfar Ali Khan as the first Pakistani ambassador to Iran. In 1949, Pakistan’s first PM Mr Liaquat Ali Khan made his first state visit to Iran and cemented Pakistan’s strong relations with Iran in the years to come.  In May 1950, a treaty of friendship was signed by Prime Minister of Pakistan Mr Liaquat Ali Khan and the Shah of Iran.

Iskander Mirza, the first Governor General of Pakistan, with a young Shah of Iran.

Pakistan’s friendship treaty with Iran also had geopolitical implications, since Pakistan found Shah of Iran a natural ally as a counter to Egypt’s Pan-Arab ideologist Abdel Nasser, who was being supported by the Indian government. Many Arab monarchies at the time were also allied with Shah of Iran.  Pakistan-Iran relationship at the time went well beyond geopolitics since both had granted each other MFN status for easy trade and there was also some military cooperation between both in Baluchistan. Since both Iran and Pakistan were pro-U.S. at the time, both entered U.S.-led Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) which was meant to be a defensive alliance against Soviet Union. Despite having Turkey, Iraq and UK in it, CENTO was largely a failure and is considered by most experts as one of the least effective Cold War alliances. Iran under Shah also played a role in the Indo-Pakistani war of 1965, providing Pakistan with medical help including nurses as well as a gift of 5,000 tons of petroleum. Iran also nearly imposed an embargo on Iranian oil supplies to India for the duration of the war. Iran again played a vital role in Pakistan’s 1971 conflict with India, this time supplying military equipment as well as diplomatic support against India. The Shah of Iran condemned the Indian attack on East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) as aggression and in an interview he reiterated his support for Pakistan, saying “We are one hundred percent behind Pakistan”. Iranian Prime Minister Amir-Abbas Hoveida wasn’t far behind, saying in a speech that “Pakistan has been subjected to violence and force.” Moreover, throughout the conflict Iranian leadership repeatedly expressed its opposition to the dismemberment of Pakistan. Iran under Shah also helped Pakistan quell an armed uprising in Baluchistan in 1973 and provided Pakistan military hardware, including thirty Huey cobra attack helicopters, as well as intelligence sharing and $200 million in aid. The armed uprising was successfully defeated by Pakistan within 3 years. Shah had even proposed the idea of a confederation of Iran and Pakistan with a single army and with him as head of the state. The Indo-Pakistan wars of 1965 and 1971 played a major role in changing Iran’s views towards Pakistan and compelled Iran to make friendly advances towards India.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto with Queen of Iran Farah Pahlavi in 1972

An Iranian postage stamp, issued in 1976, features Pakistan’s founder Jinnah

Islamic Revolution Hits Iran:

The first signs of tensions between Iran and Pakistan were observed when in 1974 Iran’s Reza Pahlavi refused to attend the second Islamic Summit that was being held in Lahore because of the presence of Libya’s Gaddafi. The then Pakistani PM Mr Bhutto and his soft corner towards the Arab world annoyed the already frustrated Shah. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto played the Arab card very well. Before the Islamic Summit of 1974, Pakistan had not received direct financial aid from any Arab country but the Islamic Summit (also sometimes referred to as Lahore Summit) immensely improved Pakistan’s ties with the Arab world and Arab money started flowing in. After the military coupe in Pakistan and hanging of Bhutto, the new Pakistani head of state General Ziaul Haq, whose government was ideologically conservative, also adopted a pro-Arab approach after efforts towards building trust with Tehran proved futile. Two years after Ziaul Haq came to power, in 1979, the Islamic Revolution hit Iran with full force. This was the time when the romance between Iran and Pakistan went downhill. The new Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Khomeini pulled Iran out of CENTO and ended Iran’s close relations with the United States. In the first few months, Pakistan and Iran pretended to be partners; in 1979 Ziaul Haq famously said “Khomeini is a symbol of Islamic insurgence” which was reciprocated by the Ayatollah, in a letter, declared Pakistan an Islamic friend and called for ‘Muslim unity’. Even though Pakistan was one of the first countries to recognize the new revolutionary regime in Iran, Pakistan-Iran relations couldn’t get back on the right track because by 1981 Ziaul Haq had once again allied Pakistan with U.S. and opened up backdoor links with Israel while Iran continued to remain staunchly anti-U.S. and anti-Israel.

Since 1987, Pakistan has steadily blocked any Iranian acquisition of nuclear weapons but at the same time Pakistan has supported Iran’s view on the issue of its nuclear energy programme, maintaining that “Iran has the right to develop its nuclear programme within the ambit of NPT.” In 1987 Pakistan and Iran signed an agreement on civil nuclear energy cooperation, with Zia-ul-Haq personally visiting Iran as part of its “Atoms for Peace” program. Pakistan officially announced its own nuclear capability on 7th September 1998. Before making the announcement, the then Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif sent a secret courier to Israel via Pakistani ambassador to United Nations Inam-ul-Haq and Pakistan Ambassador to the U.S. Dr. Maliha Lodhi, in which Pakistan gave complete assurance to Israel that Pakistan would not transfer any aspects of its nuclear technology or materials to Iran in any scenario.  In 2005, evidence provided by the IAEA proved that Pakistani cooperation with Iran’s nuclear program was limited to “non-military spheres” and was entirely peaceful in nature.

Throughout the Iran-Iraq war, Pakistan officially stayed neutral but Iran’s attempts to export the Islamic Revolution were being seen with increased suspicion by Sunnis in Pakistan. Once it became clear that Saddam Hussein is going to invade Iran, Pakistan immediately deployed its military contingent to protect the Gulf states against the Iranian threat, placing around 40,000 military personnel in Saudi Arabia. At the same time, Zia regime secretly sold U.S.-made weapons (including Stinger missiles) meant for Afghan Mujahideen to Iran and made huge profits. It is also worth noting here that both Iran and Pakistan supported the anti-Communist struggle of Afghan Mujahideen while Soviet Union, after invading Afghanistan in 1979, declared support for Saddam’s Iraq in the Iran-Iraq war, which opened up new doors for Iran-Pakistan relations. While Zia had allied Pakistan with U.S. and officially maintained neutrality in the Iran-Iraq war, he understood well that Pakistan could not afford to mess up its relations with Iran, a neighbor, for the sake of U.S. and therefore he saw helping Iranians covertly as a mutually beneficial way to maintain Pakistan’s ties with Iran. And indeed, Pakistan’s help proved to be decisive for an Iranian repulsion of Iraqi forces. Stinger missiles provided by Pakistan made their impact and greatly improved Iran’s position in the ‘Tanker War‘.

Following Soviet pullout from Afghanistan, Pakistan-Iran had a new fallout. Both countries diverged on their policies in Afghanistan, with Pakistan explicitly backing the Sunni Taliban regime while Iran was opposed to the idea of a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Since India was supporting the enemies of Taliban, the Northern Alliance, the Afghan theater became a reason for closer ties with India and Iran. It is also important to note that during this time Pakistan was having very close relations with U.S., Saudi Arabia and Israel – the three countries Iran’s revolutionary regime hated the most. While Benazir Bhutto tried to iron out Iran-Pakistan relations by paying a lengthy visit to Iran in 1995, the growing Iranian proxy militia presence in Pakistan generated further distrust in the Pakistani public regarding Iran. Relations of both countries hit another snag when in 1998 Taliban forces captured Mazar-i-Sharif where thousands of Shias were allegedly massacred and then later when Iran accused Taliban of kidnapping its diplomats and killing them. The killing of the Iranian diplomats resulted in Iran amassing its troops on the Afghan border and threatening to attack the Taliban government in Afghanistan. In 1998 Iran accused Pakistani troops of war crimes at Bamiyan in Afghanistan and claimed that Pakistani warplanes had, in support of the Taliban, bombarded Afghanistan’s major Shia stronghold.

After 9/11, Pakistan joined America’s War on Terror and Iran initially supported removal of Taliban government from Afghanistan but became wary of the U.S. designs and feared that U.S. wanted to encircle Iran. This diluted of goodwill created between U.S. and Iran under Khatami government in Tehran. Under the Musharraf era, Pakistan-Iran ties significantly improved. In 2001 Hassan Rouhani, the current President of Iran, paid a visit to Pakistan where Pakistan and Iran decided to refresh their relationship and approach Afghanistan with a new understanding. In 2002, Mohammad Khatami visited Pakistan which further helped in improving relations between both countries. Khatami’s 2002 visit was the first visit to Pakistan by an Iranian head of state since 1992. Khatami also delivered a speech on “Dialogue Among Civilizations” at The Institute of Strategic Studies, a Pakistani think tank.

Kashmir Issue:

Iran has consistently supported Kashmir’s freedom struggle and sympathizes with and endorses Pakistani stance on Kashmir. Ayatollah Khamenei had visited Jammu and Kashmir in the early 1980s and delivered a sermon at Srinagar’s Jama Masjid mosque. In 2010 Ayatollah Khamenei appealed to Muslims worldwide to support the freedom struggle in Kashmir and equated the dispute with the ongoing conflicts in Middle East region.

The Present: 

Chabahar Spy Network:

The present relations between Iran and Pakistan have been marred by distrust and divergence of interests in some key areas. On 3rd March 2016, Pakistan arrested an Indian naval intelligence officer Kulbhushan Yadhav working for Indian intelligence agency R&AW, who was using his cover name Hussain Mubarak Patel, from Baluchistan province in a counter-intelligence operation. Pakistan charged him with espionage and terrorism activities and on 10th April 2017, Yadhav was sentenced to death by a Field General Court Martial (FGCM). India has also accepted that Mr Yadhav is affiliated with Indian Navy. Mr Yadhav was based in Chabahar, Iran from where he operated for years, posing as a businessman. The reason Mr Yadhav was able to operate from Iran is probably because of close India-Iran defense ties, as per India-Iran defense agreement of 2003. Indian intelligence maintains heavy presence in Chabahar, where India is engaged in port project in partnership with Iran which is also meant to be a counter to Pakistan and China’s Gwadar port project.

In Pakistan, Kulbhushan Yadhav was running a whole network of agents and informants and while Pakistan has taken down most of the network, there still appear to be some sleeper cells. Another link of Mr Yadhav’s Chabahar spy network is Uzair Baloch, the notorious gangster from Lyari of Karachi, who is currently in the custody of Pakistan Army. While Uzair Baloch has been accused and has since confessed to hundreds of murders in Karachi as well as extortion, kidnapping, etc, Pakistani intelligence community has also pointed him out as a part of Kulbhushan Yadhav’s Chabahar network and is believed to have been actively involved in espionage activities against Pakistani state and Pakistan Army. But the twist in this case was that Mr Baloch was not only spying for Indian intelligence agency R&AW but was also spying for Iranian intelligence MOIS. In fact, initially when Mr Baloch was arrested from Pak-Iran border, Iranian authorities reportedly claimed him as their own and wanted his custody; they backed their claim by pointing out Mr Baloch is carrying Iranian passport, which was true. Recently it was also reported in Pakistani and Indian media that Iran has asked for access to Mr Kulbhushan Yadhav, although these reports were later rejected by Iranian envoy to Pakistan. Mr Baloch these days is waiting for his trial which will be held in a military court.

Uzair Baloch, seated in the middle of two hooded Rangers troopers, pictured as he’s taken away in a paramilitary vehicle

Another link in the Chabahar network is Uzair Baloch’s close aide Mullah Nisar, who was also recently arrested from Pak-Iran border after a gunfight. Mullah Nisar is believed to be a confidante of Uzair Baloch and may divulge more critical intelligence which may prove helpful for Pakistani intelligence community to track down last remaining links of this spy network.

The only photograph available of Mullah Nisar, believed to be the ‘Right hand man’ of spy-gangster Uzair Baloch

Iran Proxies In Pakistan:

Another boiling point in Pakistan’s relations with Iran is active Iranian subversion in Pakistan via its proxies and consistent attempts to export its ‘Islamic Revolution’ to Pakistan via subversion of Pakistani Shia population while at the same time creating divisions among Sunnis. This is a model that Iran has already used in other Middle Eastern states and is still using it in countries like Bahrain, etc. In Lebanon, Iranian proxy Hezbollah now sits in the government, is the most powerful player in Lebanon and actively runs Lebanon’s foreign policy. In this way, Iran has carved a state within a state in Lebanon via its proxy Hezbollah. In Syria, Iran has done something similar by sending in Hezbollah units to support Assad-backed forces to crackdown on West-backed rebels with increased air support from Russia. The same model that Iran has already successfully used in other countries, where it first destabilizes them and then tries to take over the country or at least gain as much power & influence as possible via its proxies, is already being quietly applied on Pakistan.

In Pakistan, individuals like Faisal Raza Abidi not only openly talk about but have already raised private Shia armies while at the same time praising Pakistan Army to avoid heat, a tactic similar to how Hezbollah took control of Lebanon while appeasing the Lebanese Army. Faisal Raza Abidi has been accused to be involved in several killings of Sunnis in Karachi, his stronghold, and was recently arrested over double murders but was later released on bail.

On the other hand, while Pakistan has banned militant groups like Sipah-e-Muhammad, other more subversive groups that have been accused of having deep links with Tehran as well as taking Iranian funds, like Imamia Students Organization (ISO), continue to operate in Pakistan with impunity. Another heavily Iran-influenced group is Majlis Wahdat Muslimeen (MWM), that presents itself as a ‘Muslim unity’ group but its top members have consistently supported Tehran over Islamabad in all significant matters. In 2015 prominent MWM leaders were arrested for allegedly lambasting Saudi Arabia, one of the closest allies of Pakistan, and creating sectarian tensions while calling for support for Houthis, which directly undermined Pakistan’s interests since Pakistan has since the beginning recognized, in line with international community, the legitimate Yemeni government of President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi which is fighting against Iran-backed Houthis led by Ali Abdullah Saleh. The arrested MWM leaders have since been released on bail.

Iran has also recruited Pakistani Shias to fight its proxy war in Syria alongside Hezbollah and Assad forces. For this purpose, Iran formed the Zainabiyoun Brigade, which is still operating in Syria. Under this recruitment drive, Iranian spies as well as diplomats quietly recruited Pakistani Shias who were disgruntled with the state. Many of these Shias had lost a family member or relative in last 8 years in the sectarian killings in Pakistan with quite a significant presence of the Hazara Shia community as well. These people were led into the trap by Iranians who offered them high-paying jobs and a new home for themselves as well as their families. Most naive people believed the promises and agreed to leave Pakistan for Iran, where they were coldly told to go fight in Syria and in exchange Iran would give their families a place to live. Most of these people had little choice but to move ahead. Some who later returned were arrested by Pakistani security services. Others expect to be either buried in Syria or in case of survival hope to spend the rest of their days wherever Iran fits them in; whether a refugee camp somewhere in Lebanon or a small house on the outskirts of Iran, no one can guarantee. Unfortunately, Pakistani government has since not raised this issue publicly with Iran, even though Iran has not been shy to threaten Pakistan, which it recently did when it threatened to strike into Pakistan to hit alleged terrorist camps, something which Pakistan’s eternal enemy India praised.

Continued Iranian Aggression Against Pakistan:

While Iran has threatened strikes into Pakistan publicly for the first time, Iran has been attacking Pakistani territory for a long time now. In last few years, there has not been a single year when Iran didn’t attack Pakistani territory. Here’s a timeline from 2014 on-wards of Iranian attacks into Pakistani territory: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017. Moreover, Iran attacked Pakistani territory with mortars mere hours after India claimed ‘surgical strike‘ into Pakistan in 2016, which unsurprisingly was praised by India. The response of the current Pakistani government to unprovoked Iranian aggression, apart from appeasement, has been mostly timid. Although Pakistan has formed a joint border management system with Iran to avoid further similar incidents, such initiatives have been taken before but have failed to stop Iranian aggression against Pakistan.

On the same day of Iran’s most recent mortar attack into Pakistani territory, Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif congratulated Iranian President Hassan Rouhani for winning his second term. Just a couple of days later, Pakistani Opposition leader and chief of PTI Mr Imran Khan was found lambasting PM Nawaz for not taking a stand for Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas at the Riyadh Summit.  The absurdity of the situation is quite evident; with the current leadership and no reforms in diplomatic and bureaucratic structure, Pakistan is bound to continue to move forward with failed policies based on misreadings and miscalculations.

Some Convergence on Afghanistan:

Pakistan and Iran, for now, have both so far followed two parallel policies in Afghanistan where both engage with U.S.-NATO backed Kabul regime led by Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah while at the same time supporting Afghan Taliban in different ways. While Iran has been directly supporting Taliban insurgency by arming and funding Taliban as well as providing safe haven to Taliban leaders and their families, Pakistan maintains moral support for the Afghan Taliban and has offered medical care and sanctuary to some pro-Pakistan Taliban leaders in the past. While Pakistan’s moral support for Afghan Taliban exists because of Kabul regime’s extremely pro-India and anti-Pakistan policies and while Pakistan has never supported Taliban only to undermine U.S.-NATO, Iran’s pivotal support for Taliban is based on very different factors since Iran doesn’t need to worry about Kabul’s pro-India policies as Iran-India are already closely allied. So what drives Iran to support Taliban? Here are some applicable answers:

1. A hatred for U.S. and West as a whole which compels Iran to undermine its interests wherever it can, like Putin’s Russia does.
2. Fear of being encircled by U.S. but these fears may be overblown since U.S. is definitely not leaving the region as long as Afghanistan continues to be the hub of terrorism.
3. Iran’s expansionist nature. Iran just can’t stop expanding its influence and Tehran’s interests, not fear, may be the leading factor behind this expansionism. Since Iran feels the Kabul regime is too influenced by the West, it feels it is necessary to protect its interests by actively supporting Taliban in the mineral-rich Afghanistan.
4. The rise of ISIS in Afghanistan also ultimately plays into Iran’s interests, which Iran points out as a valid reason behind its support for Taliban, even though ISIS has never attacked Iran. Ever. ISIS has attacked Israel but not Iran. Not once. ISIS has also repeatedly attacked Pakistan and Pakistan has also been actively fighting against ISIS branch in Afghanistan, ISIS-K; Pakistan recently hit several terrorist camps in Afghanistan.

Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani

All in all, while both Iran and Pakistan have some convergence of interests in Afghanistan, it’s not much. Iran and Pakistan both have very different reasons for supporting the Taliban. While Pakistan is worried about Indian influence and anti-Pakistan activities in Afghanistan, Iran has no such worries. Pakistan should also not forget that another party supporting the Taliban is Russia, a close ally of both Iran and India. While Pakistan has improved its relations with Russia recently, they’re still nowhere as strong as Russia’s ties with Iran or India. Russia, on its part, has its own interests behind its support for Taliban. Among Taliban too, there’s a growing segment of fighters and commanders who see Iran and Russia, both anti-U.S., as more reliable allies than Pakistan, which joined America’s War on Terror and is now increasingly seen among Taliban ranks as unreliable at best and treasonous at worst. For all these reasons and more, Pakistan cannot afford to rely on Iran and Russia alone for its Afghanistan policy and would eventually need to protect its interests not only from West-backed Kabul regime and India but also from other allies of Afghan Taliban.

Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism (IMAFT):

Pakistan’s leadership of IMAFT was a tough decision for Pakistan to make but it was absolutely in Pakistan’s interests for reasons I have explained in an article from March. But this decision ruffled feathers in both Tehran and New Delhi. For a whole year Iran quietly lobbied in Pakistan via its proxies and mouthpieces (such as the political party PTI, which opposed Gen. Raheel’s appointment at IMAFT) to make Pakistan reject the Saudi offer to lead IMAFT, similar to how Iran lobbied Pakistan to reject Saudi request to send troops for Yemen, which Pakistan did (initially). When lobbying didn’t work and Pakistani government went on to allow former Pak Army Chief General Raheel Sharif to lead IMAFT, Iranian envoy to Pakistan publicly voiced Tehran’s concerns. When Pakistan requested Iran to join IMAFT, Iran rejected that offer.

Riyadh Summit:

The fallout from President Donald Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia and his speech at Riyadh Summit is still being felt in Pakistan, both in media as well as in politics and diplomatic circles. While some Pakistani analysts have resorted to unnecessary fear-mongering about a looming war on Iran, the truth may be somewhere in the middle. While it is true that Trump-led U.S. has been pushing for an Arab-Israel alliance against Iran, their common enemy, it is also true that U.S. itself, at least for now, is unwilling to play a direct role in this alliance. This is evident from the statement from U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson where he hinted that U.S. is still open to talks with Iran and Hassan Rouhani’s re-election has practically cemented this. Trump-led U.S. has also so far kept U.S. part of the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA), which Trump during his campaign said he wanted to ‘tear up’, even though Iran has been clearly violating the deal. It is clear that U.S. is not interested in war on Iran. But this doesn’t mean there will be no pressure on Iran. Indeed, U.S., Israel and Arab allies will put more pressure on Iran to rein in its proxies and end its ballistic missile programme, both of which along with possible-in-future Iranian nuclear weapons are also a credible threat to Pakistan and this is why Pakistan has consistently stood against Iran’s nuclear weapons programme.

The Future: 

Following the Riyadh Summit where representatives of 56 countries including U.S. and Saudi Arabia passed a joint declaration against global and regional terrorism as well as Iran’s proxy terrorism while stressing on the need for Muslim countries to play a leading role in eradicating terrorism from their soil, Pakistan must plan its own policy backed up by a viable strategy. While Pakistan has successfully ridden itself of Taliban insurgency, there are still sleeper cells in the country. Moreover, there are still groups and individuals (like Abdul Aziz of Red Mosque, etc) with whom Pakistani state would have to deal with sooner or later. These groups and individuals, if not dealt with wisely, can become future proxies of Pakistan’s enemies. Then there is ISIS recruitment drive in Pakistan, where many people have been arrested in recent past for either directly plotting attacks for ISIS or having ISIS links. Most recent are the arrests from Karachi by Pakistan’s counter-terror forces where five people, including a university professor, were nabbed over ISIS links. Then there’s sectarian terrorism where Iran’s proxies are heavily involved and which is expected to increase in near future as Iran and Saudi Arabia both play the religion card against each other in the international arena and as Pakistan increasingly becomes a part of Middle East theater with its inclusion and then leadership of IMAFT. Here some people would argue that Pakistan should not involve itself in Middle East but I would retaliate by saying that Pakistan cannot afford to leave vacuum, which will be quickly filled by India. Pakistan is the only nuclear Muslim majority state and a regional power. Pakistan is also one of the leading players in China’s game-changing Belt And Road initiative and one of the main pillars of the new multipolar world order. Pakistan should move ahead wisely and play itself out as a regional power and a future superpower. To do that, Pakistan needs proactive diplomacy and an effective policy backed up by a well-war-gamed strategy for Middle East. It must be reiterated that leaving vacuum isn’t an option.

Policy Change For Middle East:

Pakistan’s old policy of neutrality in Middle East has been repeatedly beaten by the test of time. Pakistan currently risks alienating both Iran and Saudi Arabia. While Iran is already in open defense and geostrategic alliance with India, it is alienating Saudi Arabia that Pakistan needs to worry about. Alienating Saudis would mean Pakistan will also be alienating 55 other countries including U.S. While Pakistan’s relations with U.S. are still fraught, Pakistan can use its ties with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan’s own growing influence in the South Asia region to improve its ties with U.S. Not to mention the spiritual connection of the majority in Pakistan with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan’s own old defense ties with Saudi Arabia. It is evident that in the Middle East theater, Pakistan needs to take a clear stand and that stand would likely see Pakistan working closely alongside Saudi Arabia as a renewed global effort against terrorism gets started.

The Neighbor Factor and Pakistan-Iran Bilateral Relations:

Pakistan will need to take a page out of Tehran’s playbook and tell Tehran that Pakistan’s relations with Saudi Arabia and leadership of IMAFT should not be a problem for Iran if Iran’s strategic alliance with India isn’t a problem for Pakistan. For a long time Iran has been a two-faced friend to Pakistan; it has been quietly facilitating India in its hybrid war on Pakistan while Tehran’s representatives told Islamabad that there’s no reason for Pakistan to worry. Pakistan will need to offer Tehran to maintain bilateral relations and work on common interests, such as in Afghan theater, in exchange for Pakistan ensuring that Pakistan’s territory isn’t used against Iran. Since Iran is Pakistan’s neighbor and Pakistan would wisely not want to engage in open conflict with Iran, Pakistan will need to stress it to Iran that it is best for both countries to continue bilateral engagement. If U.S. or Saudi Arabia raise any concerns about Pakistan and Iran relations, Pakistan can always point out Iran’s strategic and defense partnership with India, a country that also happens to be a strategic partner of U.S. and has good relations with Saudi Arabia. Surely if India’s strategic and defense alliance with Iran isn’t a problem for U.S. and Saudi Arabia, then Pakistan-Iran’s bilateral relations shouldn’t be either.

Pakistan will need to continue to engage in bilateral trade and border management operations with Iran and try to work on common interests but from the position of strength.

Dealing With Iran From a Position Of Strength: 

To make Pakistan-Iran bilateral relations work, Pakistan will need to deal with Iran from a position of strength. So far, Pakistan’s civilian and military leadership has avoided giving any public statements calling out Iran’s close alliance with India, which directly and indirectly undermines Pakistan’s regional as well as domestic interests. Pakistan’s leadership also didn’t publicly call out Iran on how Indian spy terrorist Kulbhushan Yadhav was able to operate from Iran for decades since it is impossible that Iranian intelligence was unaware. Iran’s own espionage activities against Pakistan via spies like Uzair Baloch have raised considerable concerns in Pakistan’s intelligence community. Iran’s recent unprecedented threats of launching surgical strikes against alleged terror camps within Pakistani territory have also angered Pakistani public as well as Pakistani military. Weak leadership in Islamabad with its old beaten policies has, so far, largely allowed Iran to get away with things which no other country would allow.

The changing global dynamics and the regional situation are indicative of the dire need for Pakistan to abandon its old policy of non-stop appeasement towards Iran and devise a comprehensive strategy to back a well-thought-out new policy to deal with Iran from a position of strength.

Crackdown on Iran’s proxies in Pakistan:

To deal with Iran from a position of strength, Pakistan will need to devise a strategy to crackdown on Iran’s proxies in Pakistan. This crackdown would not necessarily need to be violent. Pakistan will need to cut Iranian funding for Pakistan-based groups as well as block Iranian recruitment drives in Pakistan. Leaders of militant proxy groups will need to be neutralized and the groups themselves will need to be disarmed, dismantled and de-radicalized before those who haven’t been involved in any crimes could be released back into the public. Those who are involved in crimes like targeted assassinations of Sunnis, etc should be tried in military courts and hanged. Pakistan will also need to consider sanctioning Iranians who are directly involved in funding terrorism in Pakistan.

Militant proxy groups are not the only proxies of Iran in Pakistan. Iran has also penetrated deep into Pakistani politics as well as in the media and think tank establishment. While extremely pro-Iran papers and thesis are being published by some think tanks in Pakistan, pro-Iran mouthpieces can be found all over Pakistani mainstream media busy giving a shoulder to Tehran’s narrative in Pakistan. Many of these pro-Iran mouthpieces have successfully played their role in creating increased suspicion among Pakistani public regarding Saudi Arabia and Pakistan’s other Gulf allies. This manufactured suspicion eventually ends up undermining Pakistan’s interests. This is not to say that Saudi Arabia hasn’t funded madrassas in the past and played a role in growing Sunni extremism in Pakistan. But much of that funding has since been blocked by Pakistan and many of those madrassas have since been shut down. Saudi Kingdom itself has faced incredible backlash all over the world for their funding of madrassas which preach extreme Sunni Islam. Saudis have learned, with time, that it is much beneficial to invest their money in other areas. But on the other hand, Iran’s penetration into Pakistani society already runs far deeper than Saudi’s at any point in history. While Pakistan will need to forcefully take down Iran proxy militant groups, at the same time Pakistan will also need to try to cut back Iranian influence in Pakistani politics, media and think tanks; influence which is detrimental to Pakistan’s interests and has already done significant damage. The state possesses several non-violent ways to achieve this objective.

Afghanistan Theater:

Pakistan will need to work alongside Iran and Russia, two of the biggest backers of Taliban, in Afghanistan as U.S. encourages India to increase its influence in Afghan theater. But while Pakistan’s interests somewhat converge with Iran’s in Afghanistan, Pakistan will also need to be ready to prevent Iran and Russia from hijacking the Taliban movement in the future, which would be a huge blow to Pakistan’s interests. So far Iran has been consistently supporting Taliban with cash and arms but has also managed to escape international scrutiny thanks to the unwillingness of Obama administration as well as Iran’s own strong ties with Kabul regime and India.

In short, while Pakistan’s and Iran’s interests in Afghanistan somewhat converge in the short-term, they will clash with full force in the long-term. For this reason, Pakistan needs to be fully prepared in advance.

Conclusion:

Pakistan-Iran relations before the Islamic Revolution in Iran were friendly and based on common interests. For decades Iran and Pakistan cooperated and engaged in bilateral and regional ties and Iran offered Pakistan material and moral support during Pakistan’s early wars with India. But since the takeover of Iran by the Ayatollahs, it has drifted towards away from Pakistan and towards India and somewhere in the early 2000s Iran began to see India as a strategic partner. Since then Iran has consistently engaged in behavior that has undermined Pakistan’s interests; at first covertly and more recently quite publicly as a resurgent hybrid expansionist Tehran feels emboldened by the legitimacy given to it by the Obama administration as well as by successes on the Syrian front. All the factors discussed above compel Pakistan to reconsider its approach towards Iran, Iran’s proxies in Pakistan as well as Pakistan’s policy in Middle East. Pakistan should not remain fearful of power projection and should start acting like the regional power and a future superpower it imagines itself to be. Pakistan must follow a policy of carrot and stick with Iran and should work towards its interests in Afghanistan and the Middle East simultaneously while controlling the security situation within its territory. Dealing with Iran from a position of strength will help Pakistan move towards achieving its domestic and regional interests.

 

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This article is the property of the author Faran Jeffery, who is a natsec analyst and a commentator on geopolitics and foreign policy. 

 

The Triangle of Leftist Stupidity: Refuting Mohammed Hanif’s Incredulous NYT Article

A recent article published in fake news New York Times (according to the President of the United States of America Mr Donald Trump) by a British-Pakistani dual national leftist writer Mohammed Hanif who is known for his book The Case of Exploding Mangoes, has been the topic of discussion on Pakistani Twittersphere.  The article was allegedly censored by the Pakistani affiliate of New York Times. Perhaps an explanation is needed by the paper. Below is a photo of the self-censored paper:

While I have never endorsed media bans or censorship in the past nor I will in the future and I don’t know why Express Tribune censored it (they shouldn’t have), I personally took issue to the article because it is completely divorced from ground realities and a basic understanding of security and intelligence matters. So I decided to refute the whole absurd article, which can only get published in fake news NYT. Here it goes.

Pakistan has found a new ally in its never-ending war against India — and he is the public face of our most ruthless killers. For years Liaquat Ali, better known as Ehsanullah Ehsan, was a familiar and dreaded figure on national media. It seems that after every atrocity committed by the Pakistani Taliban, or Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), he would make triumphant statements in audio messages or bloodcurdling videos, putting the fear of God in Pakistani media and causing revulsion among Pakistani people.

Pakistan has not “found a new ally” in the form of Ehsanullah Ehsan and it is unclear how exactly the author reached that conclusion but it is obvious that it involves some over-the-top crazy assumptions. No Pakistani leader, including the leaders of Pakistan’s Armed Forces and intelligence agencies, said that the state sees Ehsanullah Ehsan as an ally. There’s no evidence to back up this absurd assumption by the author. Ehsanullah Ehsan was and is a terrorist, period. That being said, where was the author when the bastion of liberal media Geo News used to take Ehsanullah Ehsan live on TV and which continued until Pakistani state officially banned all TV channels from taking Ehsanullah Ehsan or any other terrorist on TV? How many articles in NYT did Mr Hanif write on Geo News’ interest in Ehsanullah Ehsan and the fact that it was Geo News that scored a TV interview with Ehsanullah Ehsan after his surrender? Or is it necessary for the author to bash the state and its one particular institution while absolving everyone else of everything? Since the author himself is a propagandist and an active part of U.S. deep state and India’s joint information war on Pakistan (read more here), he must also know that Ehsanullah Ehsan was also a propagandist just like him and just like the author, Ehsan was also paid for his services. Ehsanullah Ehsan’s affair with the Pakistani media was also not one-sided and the media itself, specially Geo News, went out of its way to generate ‘Breaking News’ and run Ehsan’s statements back to back. It was also the media and lefties like Mr Hanif who took Ehsanullah Ehsan’s statements when he was the spokesperson of a terrorist group at face value and never actually questioned them. Until he named India. But more on that later.

 

Soon after the TTP killed three employees of Express TV in January 2014, the television channel invited Ehsan on the air by phone. He very calmly explained the reasons for the murder, and the interviewer promised — respectfully, repeatedly — to give him more airtime, while begging for guarantees that there would be no further attacks.

The attack on Express TV staffers was unfortunate and condemned by Pakistanis from all backgrounds and at least two of the terrorists involved in the attack were killed in an encounter by Pakistani counter-terror police in the following days. No surprise that the author didn’t mention this crucial fact.

It is a known tactic of terrorists to attack and threaten the media in hopes that these tactics will help get them better coverage, so it doesn’t help when media owners willingly walk into that trap while essentially back-stabbing their low-level employees. Why has the author got nothing to say about media owners who care more about profits and ratings than their employees? Clearly they’re more harmful to the integrity of media and free expression than the terrorists.

Ehsan later claimed responsibility for an Easter Day attack in a park in Lahore last year, which killed dozens of people. He had previously claimed responsibility for an attack on a girl named Malala, who was shot in the head on her way to school, adding that the TPP would hunt her down if she survived.

The Easter Day attack in Lahore in 2016 that the author mentions was one of the most horrible attacks on innocent civilians by any terrorist group. The attack was claimed by Ehsanullah Ehsan who was working as a spokesperson of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar at that time. Yes, the same Afghanistan-based Jamaat-ul-Ahrar whose website is run from India and about which Pakistani intelligence agencies have repeatedly said that the group is supported by Indian intelligence agency R&AW and Afghan intelligence agency NDS. But it is understandable why Mr Hanif doesn’t care to mention any of that, because he will get fired from New York Times op-ed section before these crucial facts are ever published in fake news NYT.

What followed 2016’s Easter Day attack in Lahore was a province-wide paramilitary operation ordered by Pakistani Army that resulted in the seizure of cache of weapons and explosives and also the initial arrests of 5000 Pakistanis, 200 of whom were kept in custody. This also doesn’t score a mention in Mr Hanif’s article. Moreover, Pakistani intelligence agencies the Military Intelligence and Inter-Services Intelligence foiled another terrorist attack targeting Christians on Easter Day this very year, which was lauded by Pakistani Christians as well as Vatican officials.

The author mentions another TTP attack: the reprehensible attack on Pakistan’s pride and now a Nobel Laureate Malala. What the author ‘forgets’ to mention is the fact that Pakistan arrested and sentenced the two terrorists involved in shooting Malala to life in prison. What the author forgets to mention is that it was Pakistani military, the army he passionately hates, that stepped in and provided Malala with all the necessary facilities: from her rescue in army choppers to her medical operation in an army hospital to helping with her eventual transportation to United Kingdom for advanced medical care. Unfortunately, none of these facts make it to Mr Hanif’s article. Moreover, Ehsanullah Ehsan didn’t shoot Malala but accepted the responsibility for the attack just like he accepted responsibility for every other attack by the group he was representing. That was his job as a spokesperson.

With his appearance, the Pakistani Army seemed to be sending this message: You can kill thousands of Pakistanis, but if you later testify that you hate India as much as we do, everything will be forgiven.

The author once again devolves into dangerous and precarious assumptions. Ehsanullah Ehsan’s “appearance” as he calls it was basically a 5 minute long video where he confesses to his crimes and gives details about the foreign financiers of the terrorist groups (TTP and JuA) he used to be a spokesperson of. This was an extremely important development because Pakistani military and intelligence professionals have long accused India of using proxies and Afghan soil against Pakistan and which has also been acknowledged by U.S. officials, such as Obama-era Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. I have written more on that here and here.

The line “You can kill thousands of Pakistanis, but if you later testify that you hate India as much as we do, everything will be forgiven” is a figment of the author’s wildly childish imagination as no state institution including Pakistani military has even remotely hinted at that. Ehsanullah Ehsan will not be forgiven by Pakistani military or any other institution and I say that with responsibility. But hang on, isn’t this the same Mohammed Hanif who penned another article in fake news New York Times earlier this year in January in which he railed against Pakistan’s anti-terror military courts that have played a pivotal role in minimizing terrorism in Pakistan? Lefties like Mohammed Hanif are a hindrance for the state in its fight against terrorism because they agitate no matter what the state does.

There was some pushback. State media regulators banned a detailed interview with Ehsan before it aired after families of Taliban victims expressed outrage. The parents of students slain at the Army Public School in Peshawar in 2014, where Taliban attackers butchered more than 140 people, mostly students, wanted Ehsan hanged in front of the school.

Pakistani media regulator PEMRA banned Ehsanullah Ehsan’s interview on the request of Pakistani PM Nawaz who in turn received the request from Indian business tycoon Sajjan Jindal during his secret meeting with PM Nawaz in Murree because Indians knew he was going to give earth-shattering details about India-sponsored terrorism in Pakistan. This information comes from highly credible sources and I would stand by it in any case but it is understandable why a contributor to fake news NYT like Mr Hanif doesn’t have this information.

The anger of the families of the victims of APS massacre was exploited by the very same people who, like Mr Hanif, rail against Pakistan’s anti-terror military courts. It makes no sense why the same people who want mercy for terrorists who have facilitated or are directly involved in heinous attacks want a propagandist like Ehsanullah Ehsan hanged immediately. Unless one realizes that immediate hanging of Ehsanullah Ehsan without any statements or video would have been a dream come true for India. Who would have been the ideal person to educate Pakistanis about the Indian sponsored terrorism in Pakistan if not Ehsanullah Ehsan, the public face of Pakistani Taliban? The anger of APS massacre families is understandable but those people are seeing things through the prism of emotions, which again is completely understandable, but that doesn’t make them right when it comes to how Ehsanullah Ehsan should be handled by the state. Emotions, sadly but rightly, have no place in state decisions taken for state interests. Similarly, the demand to hang Ehsanullah Ehsan in front of Army Public School is understandable but illogical since it serves no purpose other than satisfying the human urge for revenge while also radicalizing our children who would have to witness a public hanging after going through a massacre. The only thing that is surprising yet amusing is that the public hanging advocacy is coming from lefties, who were vehemently against hangings of terrorists ordered by military courts just a few weeks back. Amusing indeed.

But the army has preferred to parade him and his winning smile in front of TV cameras, and to release footage of him telling salacious stories about how his Taliban colleagues had three wives or how the current TTP leader took away his teacher’s daughter by force. The purpose seems to be to suggest that the Taliban are not a formidable force with an ideology and deep roots in Pakistani society, but rather a bunch of sexual perverts bankrolled by India. India, forever our existential enemy.

This isn’t the first time a video confessional statement of a terrorist has been made public by Pakistani state. Previously Pakistan had made public the confessional video statements of Indian spy terrorist Kulbhushan Yadhav (who was also smiling and laughing throughout the video), senior Taliban leader Latif ullah Mehsud (who was also smiling), wannabe-ISIS Pakistani girl Naureen Laghari and MQM’s assassin Saulat Mirza, just to name a few. The smiling part isn’t edited out from the videos so that conspiracy theorists couldn’t say the confession was obtained under torture or stress. But it appears the author here is more outraged about why Pakistani military made public any kind of video confessional statement of Ehsanullah Ehsan pointing towards Indian and Afghan agencies as main backers of terrorism in Pakistan, than anything else. How dare Ehsanullah Ehsan expose his former terrorist brothers in TTP/JuA for what they are, the author seems to be wailing. The author further implies that Ehsanullah Ehsan may be reading from a script, which is what a conspiracy theorist would say. These video confessional statements are approved by Pakistan’s intelligence community and evidence exists to support almost all the claims made in these confessional videos. Perhaps the author should talk to relevant authorities before forming his own conclusions from his wild imagination.

Ehsanullah Ehsan’s confessional statement also did not absolve religion’s role in the terrorist activities of TTP/JuA. Ehsan clearly says in his statement, and later in his interview which was banned, that TTP/JuA employed rigorous religious brainwashing of lower level terrorists who were supposed to carry out or facilitate field operations. As Ehsan explained, this religious brainwashing was not only carried out in their own camps and madrassas but also on social media in an effort to recruit volunteers online. Pakistani military itself has made public the role of religion and mass brainwashing operations when it paraded local and international media in the Taliban compounds and brainwashing centers following Pakistan’s military operation in North Waziristan. This can also be cross-checked with claims from Afghan intelligence agency NDS that says some Afghan Taliban bombers were trained and brainwashed in Pakistan’s North Waziristan before Pakistan’s grand military operation.

Why is the author incapable of recognizing India as Pakistan’s enemy when Indian leaders, including Indian NSA Ajit Doval, openly talk about using terrorism and proxies as a strategic tool against Pakistan?

There is, it’s true, evidence that India has funded groups to strike at Pakistan for interfering in Kashmir. But do we really need to enlist our children’s killers in our campaign against India?

How does the author know for sure that India has funded groups to strike at Pakistan for interfering in Kashmir? Because as I have previously written in my articles, India’s proxy war on Pakistan goes way beyond than countering Pakistan on Kashmir issue. India’s proxy war on Pakistan is a small part of its grand hybrid war on Pakistan, in which U.S. is at best silent and at worst complicit partner of India. The objectives of India’s hybrid war on Pakistan go well beyond Kashmir and include sabotaging CPEC, breaking away mineral-rich Balochistan from Pakistan and designating Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism, for starters. But obviously the author is either uneducated on security matters or is intentionally agenda-driven. Which one is it?

The author also implies that Pakistan is leading some sort of campaign against India, when only the opposite is true. It is India that is leading a campaign against Pakistan. The simple fact that the current Indian PM Modi won election on the promise of “teaching Pakistan a lesson” while the current Pakistani PM Nawaz got elected after campaigning on the slogan of “India-Pakistan friendship” is enough to tell any idiot on the block who is leading a campaign against who. Clearly the author is not that idiot.

Pakistani society is still deeply divided over what the Taliban represent. Some see them as barbarians at our door who want to destroy the last vestiges of our faltering democratic and civil order. Others think of them as our misguided brothers: The Taliban, too, want a just society; it’s only their methods that are unacceptable. They are brave, and we are a little bit proud of them: In Afghanistan, these fallen brothers, our creation, are still managing to keep America at bay.

For once, the author is right as he notes that Pakistani society is divided; but it is divided over not only what the Taliban represent but also on how to tackle Islamist extremism. This division is not entirely unique to Pakistan and exists in some form in almost every country that has faced Jihadist terrorism, including United Kingdom and United States. Indeed, there are religious extremists in Pakistan who sympathize with Taliban and/or their cause(s). Here it is important to make the distinction between Afghan Taliban and Pakistani Taliban, which obviously the author conveniently doesn’t make. There are two major aspects to this: a religious aspect and a geopolitical one. Both Taliban groups are vastly different from each other in both these aspects. While Pakistani Taliban kill civilians indiscriminately and mount attacks on schoolchildren and also shot Malala, Afghan Taliban don’t attack children and instead call on their members to plant more trees, collect utility bills and even offer security to protect development projects in Afghanistan. To even hint that Afghan Taliban are same as Pakistani Taliban of today or of 2008 highlights the ignorance of the author and his inability to understand the topic he has decided to write about. The author also fails to mention the pivotal role of United States in the backing of Afghan Taliban during the Afghan Jihad against Soviets, when the CIA was still pro-Jihad.

But when they wage the same brave fight in Pakistan, we recoil.

The Taliban were supposed to be our assets in our historic feud with India. When India and Pakistan were on the verge of another war in 2008, the Taliban leaders of the day vowed to fight alongside Pakistan’s soldiers.

Once again, the author either deliberately or ignorantly fails to draw a distinction between Afghan Taliban and Pakistani Taliban. While Pakistani Taliban have mounted attacks against the Pakistani state, Afghan Taliban have never attacked Pakistani state or its interests in Afghanistan. The Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, was formed in December 2007 after several Pakistani Sunni militant groups based in FATA merged together mainly in opposition to the pro-America policies of the then President of Pakistan Mr Pervez Musharraf as well as to implement Sharia law across Pakistan. It was at this point that their religious extremism blinded them to the interests of Pakistan and they started mounting attacks against the Pakistani state. On Pakistan’s part, the situation was handled poorly and Pakistani Taliban were further pushed against the wall. Pakistani state did not see the Pakistani Taliban as just assets against India but back in 2008 when TTP was newly formed and there was still room for negotiations, the Pakistani Taliban leaders hoped to send a message to Pakistani state that they were willing to fight against India in case of war between India and Pakistan. On Taliban’s part, this message was meant to woo the Pakistani state as well as the public. But it didn’t hit the target and the message they got from Pakistani state in return was that they won’t be allowed to undermine Pakistan’s interests or implement an extremist form of religion, no matter what.

“If they dare to attack Pakistan, then, God willing, we will share happiness and grief with all Pakistanis,” said Maulvi Omar, the Pakistani Taliban’s spokesman then. “We will put the animosity and fighting with the Pakistani army behind us, and the Taliban will defend their frontiers, their boundaries, their country with their weapons.”

The offer to fight against India is not an offer that was only made by Pakistani Taliban in 2008. Similar offers have been made by some other non-Taliban militias too, like Baloch tribal leaders and their militias recently said they will fight against India alongside Pakistan. Pakistani Taliban are also Pakistani citizens at the end of the day and their offer from 2008 to fight against India in case of India-Pak war should surprise no one as it was a desperate attempt by a militant group fighting the state to curry some favor from the same state. Did Pakistan use them to fight against India? No, it did not. That is what’s important, and that is what the author either deliberately or ignorantly fails to mention.

Today, while the nation is still trying to decide if yesterday’s monster can be today’s patriot, the Pakistani Army has already made it clear that it wants to have the last word on the subject.

Again, no one I know or heard of except the author has implied that Ehsanullah Ehsan or Pakistani Taliban who surrender are suddenly patriots. No, they’re not. But should the state discourage militants from surrendering? Should war and drone strikes be the only way to tackle militancy? If there are a bunch of militants who want to surrender, what should the state tell them? How is pushing back against militants who want to surrender and want to have another chance at life good for the state or anyone else for that matter? The surrendering militants are no patriots and they should and will face some sort of punishment before being sent through a long deradicalization program before the state can even think about releasing them back into public. And even after that, those who show 100% normal behavior would likely be kept under surveillance after their initial release for a long period of time. In any case, these decisions are not solely Pakistan Army’s decisions but in fact involve the input of counter-terror and security experts as well as intelligence professionals from Pakistan’s various intelligence agencies.

The leading English daily Dawn reported last year that the civilian and military leaderships were divided over what to do with Pakistani anti-India militant groups, which are often accused of waging attacks in India. The army declared that the story was a national security breach, and demanded stern action against both the people who had leaked information about those disagreements and the people who had dared to write about them. A high-powered investigation was set up to look into what has come to be known as the Dawn Leaks.

Is it surprising that the author, while writing in fake news NYT which I have already said is part of the information war on Pakistan, mentions one of the biggest media influence operations in not just Pakistan’s history but in the overall history of foreign-backed influence operations? I have written about how Dawn Leaks was a classic media influence operation and the overall target of which was Pakistan’s national security and Pakistani military in particular.

Last week, after reviewing the results, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ordered the removal of two of his close aides and referred a journalist to a newspapers’ representative body. The army spokesman tweeted: “Notification is rejected.” The army won’t abide any discussion with civilians over who is a good or bad militant, or a good or bad Pakistani.

First of all, Pakistani PM has since denied that he ordered the release of the notification. Secondly, the military had already conveyed its stance to the civilian government all the way back in 2016 when General Raheel Sharif was still the Army Chief. This is a unique case since according to the assessment of Pakistan’s intelligence community the people believed to be involved in planting the fake news story in Dawn are part of the civilian government setup. Naturally, the intelligence community will have the last say in this matter since they’re the ones with the expertise and the tools to gather necessary evidence. Anyone who has trouble understanding this should read up on why Trump’s pick for National Security Adviser Mike Flynn had to resign after a strong case was built up by the U.S. intelligence community against him which involved charges of working for foreign interests and receiving foreign payments. No American asked the question why is the intelligence community having the final say on Mike Flynn. No American called it a conspiracy against democracy. Sadly, Pakistan’s civilian leaders are not as democratic as Mike Flynn and cannot be expected to resign unless someone forcefully removes them.

Many Pakistanis still love the army. And many politicians fear it. They look to it to remove their rivals, accusing one another of being security threats, if not outright traitors. Many political parties are asking for Mr. Sharif’s head for daring to have a closed-door discussion about what might be wrong with the army’s idea of good and bad.

Many most Pakistanis still love their military and their intelligence community and the only politicians who fear the military are the corrupt, compromised politicians who take orders from the establishments of the countries where they keep their assets, and none of those countries are named Pakistan. Hijacking of political parties and political leaders is an old hybrid warfare tactic which we have seen both Americans and Russians employ around the world in the near and far past. But not all politicians can be compromised and there are still some leaders in Pakistan who make Pakistan’s national security and its interests a vital part of their political rhetoric and campaigning. I wonder what the author has to say about Democratic Party leaders in U.S. who claim that Trump is Putin’s man in United States and that Russia intervened in U.S. election and helped Trump win? Who are they trying to make happy? CIA? Pentagon?

The “close-door discussion” the author mentions here is the Sajjan Jindal-PM Nawaz close-door secret meeting in Murree which I have already mentioned above. For some weird reason, the author doesn’t see any problem with an elected PM secretly meeting an Indian business tycoon who is known to have deep links with Indian intelligence agency R&AW at a time when India-Pakistan tensions were high, following Pakistan’s sentencing of Indian spy terrorist Kulbhushan Yadhav and video confessional statement of Ehsanullah Ehsan. Although the Americans not only called for Mike Flynn’s head but also got Mike Flynn’s head for having a phone conversation with the Russian ambassador. I wonder if Pakistan is more democratic than America? Or is the author simply ignorant? Take your pick. Moreover, Pakistani military never publicly said anything about the Jindal-Sharif meeting but most Pakistani political parties and leaders saw it as problematic and a cold-blooded murder of all democratic norms in broad daylight, and rightly so.

Most countries have an army, but in Pakistan it’s the army that has a country, goes the saying. If the politicians want to take the country back, they’ll have to stop calling one another traitor just to please the army.

“Most countries have an army, but in Pakistan it’s the army that has a country, goes the saying” – This same thing can be argued for United States of America, that has waged more wars and foreign interventions in last 100 years than all the countries of the world combined. Will it be okay to say that “most countries have an army but in the United States of America the military-industrial-intelligence complex has a country”? I would love to know.

If the politicians want to take the country back, they’ll have to stop calling one another traitor just to please the army. – Yes, the word traitor has become quite meaningless and its value and impact should be restored by getting rid of a few actual traitors, but why does the author think that Pakistani politicians must take the country back from the military? Why does the author appear to be endorsing the Indian narrative that the civilians (not just the civilian govt) and the military are not on the same page or have clashing interests? Pakistani military is Pakistan’s national army and it has the support of all civilians. That being said, Pakistan has several political parties and no one party can claim to represent all civilians. Moreover, state interests, and national security in particular, are above any political leader/party and partisan politics. It is the same way in every democracy and Pakistan is not unique in this case. Pakistani civilians don’t need to take back the country from the army; Pakistani civilians need to take back the country from people like Mr Mohammed Hanif who further foreign interests in Pakistan, endorse Indian propaganda and misguide young liberals who’re seeking the right direction for themselves and for their country.

 Ending –

Since the author is a British-Pakistani, perhaps he would know about another British-Pakistani whose example can be quoted in the discussion about Ehsanullah Ehsan. His name is Maajid Nawaz. Maajid was born in Essex to a British-Pakistani family. He once used to be a member of Hizb ut Tahrir, an Islamist pro-Jihad organization against which Pakistan (amusingly enough) has acted more forcefully than the United Kingdom. His elder brother went on to become the UK leader of Hizb ut Tahrir. Maajid became a leading personality in UK Hizb branch and was extensively involved in Hizb’s propaganda as well as recruitment drive domestically as well as abroad. Maajid was arrested in 2001 by the Egyptian police and remained in an Egyptian jail until 2006. He was adopted as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International and later brought back to London, soon after which he resigned from Hizb and started educating British Muslims about the dangers of Islamic extremism. In his counter-extremism drive, Maajid was supported and encouraged by Britons as well as think tanks, security organizations and even government institutions. So far, Maajid has played quite a leading role in shaping the counter-extremism debate in UK. Just like Ehsanullah Ehsan, Maajid Nawaz also didn’t carry out any attack himself even though many other Hizb members have been involved in terrorism across the globe. Just like Maajid Nawaz is doing some incredibly important work for counter-extremism in Britain, Ehsanullah Ehsan can be Pakistan’s Maajid Nawaz who can go on to educate Pakistanis about the dangers of Islamist extremism and India’s proxy war on Pakistan. There could be no one better to do that job than Ehsanullah Ehsan and that should be his ultimate punishment, in my own opinion of course.

 

Ehsanullah Ehsan: Just another small piece in a grand puzzle

Published at Command Eleven.

 

It was recently announced by ISPR that Ehsanullah Ehsan has surrendered himself to the Pak Army and now we have his partial video confessional statement. There has been some speculation how Ehsanullah Ehsan ended up in the custody of Pakistan and whether he surrendered willingly as ISPR said in its statement or was he captured in a Pakistani SpecOp in Afghanistan. The fact that Pakistan’s forces have been targeting TTP/JuA camps in Afghanistan recently and maybe even ventured inside Afghanistan in pursuit of terrorists, as reported by some local Afghan journalists, gives weight to the argument that maybe Ehsan was captured in an op. But this is just pure speculation at this point and there’s little to no solid evidence to back it up.

Ehsanullah Ehsan is just another piece in the puzzle of the grand hybrid war that has been waged on Pakistan primarily by India but also backed up in various ways by its allies like Kabul regime in Afghanistan, etc. Ehsanullah Ehsan served as the spokesperson of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and later as a spokesperson of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar. He has cheerfully accepted responsibility for hundreds of terrorist attacks in Pakistan in written and recorded audio statements. He has calmly justified the killings of innocent Pakistani civilians and Armed Forces in his fatwas. Ehsanullah Ehsan, by all means, is inhumane and a terrorist. That being said, it is also important to remember here that there are degrees of terrorism and while Ehsanullah Ehsan served as a spokesperson and a propagandist, he never carried out an attack on his own. Instead, he justified the attacks that were carried out by field terrorists, most of who didn’t receive orders by Ehsanullah Ehsan but by someone else, usually a commander or the Emir. Ehsanullah Ehsan has also provided Pakistan with priceless intelligence on his former brothers in TTP/JuA, which Pakistan has likely already used in the operations that it secretly carried out recently in Afghanistan. It is also rumoured that Pakistan may have provided intelligence that came from Ehsanullah Ehsan to U.S. for the MOAB strike on ISIS-K in Nangarhar, Afghanistan. The same MOAB strike that also left over a dozen Indians dead, about who questions are being raised in Pakistan that what were Indians doing with ISIS-K in Nangarhar. While India obviously says that the Indians killed in MOAB strike left India to join ISIS on their own, credible intelligence sources say that they were Indian intelligence operatives who were there to handle and train ISIS-K terrorists. At this point it is important to remember that ISIS-K consists of mostly Pakistani Taliban and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi militants along with some Uzbeks, who were chased away from Pakistan during Operation Zarb-e-Azb. In reality, ISIS-K is nothing more than a rebranding of old groups and militants. These proxy groups are being used primarily by India and on a lesser extent by Afghan intelligence agency NDS against Pakistan.

If Ehsanullah Ehsan surrendered like the Pak Army says he does, it also means he probably surrendered after striking a deal which probably included assurance from Pakistan that he won’t be hanged in return for intelligence and shunning of militancy. If Ehsanullah Ehsan publicly shuns militancy and apologizes to Pakistani nation on LIVE tv, it is safe to say that he could be given a chance to eventually rehabilitate after serving his punishment and going through a deradicalization program. Ehsanullah Ehsan deserves no mercy, make no mistake about it. And this isn’t about mercy. This is about a state taking wise decisions. So far Ehsanullah Ehsan has served as a pawn of India. Now he must serve as a pawn of Pakistan. Imagine the same Ehsanullah Ehsan, who once defended Taliban and their attacks, starts playing a role in educating the Pakistani public about why his fellow TTP Taliban are wrong and why their ideology is not the real Islam. Ehsan could be instrumental in turning away radicalized Pakistani youth from TTP/JuA and similar groups. That will be a major blow to TTP’s and JuA’s credibility and their overall propaganda effort. This should be Ehsanullah Ehsan’s punishment because hanging him will be too lenient and won’t help Pakistan in a way that keeping him alive would. Keeping him alive will also help bring more possible defections from Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, which will not only bring a treasure trove of intelligence to Pakistan’s table while neutralizing Pakistan’s enemies without firing a bullet but will also break the morale of the remaining terrorists of TTP and JuA. In any case, the state will decide what should be done with Ehsanullah Ehsan. What should happen to Ehsanullah Ehsan shouldn’t distract us from the real story here that once again highlights the Indian hybrid war on Pakistan. In his confessional statement, Ehsanullah Ehsan vindicates what Pakistan has said about India-backed and Afghan facilitated terrorism for a long time and has been acknowledged by the likes of ex U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel but also by Indian NSA Ajit Doval himself, who has spent 7 years as a spy in Pakistan and is also the former Director of India’s Intelligence Bureau. Moreover, Ehsanullah Ehsan’s statement also confirms what Indian spy terrorist Kulbhushan Yadhav said about his activities against Pakistan which included financing and directing TTP terrorists. All this is unprecedented.

Now it all depends on Pakistan’s civilian leaders, who are too lazy to appoint a Foreign Minister, to present Pakistan’s case in front of the world for if these opportunities are lost, Pakistan may not get another opportunity to educate the world about the hybrid war that has been imposed on it and will continue to be seen as a perpetrator of terrorism instead of being seen as a victim of terrorism.

NATO Supreme Commander says what I said last year: Russia may be supplying Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan

Russia may be supplying Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, the top US commander in Europe has said.

Army General Curtis Scaparrotti, who is also Nato’s Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, told a senate hearing he had seen Russian influence on Afghan Taliban insurgents growing.

“I’ve seen the influence of Russia of late — increased influence in terms of association and perhaps even supply to the Taliban,” Mr Scaparotti said.

It comes after Taliban fighters captured the strategic district of Sangin in the southern Afghan province of Helmand after security forces pulled out, officials said.

Helmand, which accounts for the bulk of Afghanistan’s billion dollar opium crop, is already largely in the hands of the Taliban but the capture of Sangin, where US and British forces once suffered heavy casualties, underlines their growing strength in the south.

SOURCE: The Independent

 

What General Curtis is saying today is what I have been saying since nearly two years while most pro-India DC analysts were busy making Pakistan the boogeyman in Afghanistan. Here are some of my tweets from the past on the subject:

NEW: Sir Gen. John Nicholson says both Iran and Russia are supporting Taliban & their goal is to undermine U.S./NATO mission in Afghanistan

— F. Jeffery (@Natsecjeff) February 9, 2017

Again, Sir General John Nicholson says EXACTLY what I’ve been saying for nearly an year:

Russia is publicly legitimizing Taliban

— F. Jeffery (@Natsecjeff) February 9, 2017

 

Your information is old. Russia shares intel, etc with Taliban; Iran been providing them safe haven, drones, weapons, etc. https://t.co/5lIfos3RG0

— F. Jeffery (@Natsecjeff) January 29, 2017

 

U.S. still does not recognize Afghan Taliban as terrorists. Meanwhile, Russia-China-Iran have increased their activity in Afghanistan.

— F. Jeffery (@Natsecjeff) January 30, 2017

 

Remember where you heard it first: on my timeline.

Taliban see Russia (and Iran) as friends against a common enemy: U.S. & its allies. pic.twitter.com/iOOGIPaZqT

— F. Jeffery (@Natsecjeff) December 10, 2016

 

My past tweets/threads on Iran/Russia nexus Afghan Taliban: https://t.co/oR17m863fx https://t.co/MgMl7bbNmn https://t.co/RBPXxSQvv4

— F. Jeffery (@Natsecjeff) December 9, 2016

 

Well, yes, Pakistani support for Taliban never gave Taliban the legitimacy that Iran & Russia’s support will. & it already is. https://t.co/i39CRhGoye

— F. Jeffery (@Natsecjeff) December 9, 2016

 

Again, I’m glad the world is finally talking about something I’ve been saying since 2015: Russia & Iran’s ties with Afghan Taliban.

— F. Jeffery (@Natsecjeff) December 9, 2016

 

Many in Afghan Taliban see Iran & Russia as “standing up to the US” while they view Pakistan with distrust as it has always been in US camp.

— F. Jeffery (@Natsecjeff) December 8, 2016

 

Now here’s another revelation you may see in mainstream media soon:

Russia is already doing its part of funding & arming Taliban via Iran.

— F. Jeffery (@Natsecjeff) December 8, 2016

Pakistan Army continues to hit terror targets in Afghanistan

#AFG Pakistani shelling and artillery in Khas Kunar’s Maya& Shalay continues this evening. Some trees on a mountain caught fire&burning.

— BILAL SARWARY (@bsarwary) March 20, 2017

#AFG The Pak Military has transgressed 3k into Afghanistan soil in2 Shalay Walay in Khas Kunar and currently shelling the villages with 1/2

— BILAL SARWARY (@bsarwary) March 21, 2017

According to Afghan media sources, Pakistani Army entered Afghanistan and attacked terrorist camps. Pakistani operation also included targeted shelling of heavy artillery hitting several terror camps based in Afghanistan.

Pakistan Army has already made it clear in the past that Pakistan will not tolerate terrorist bases in Afghanistan and will not hesitate to hit terror targets in Afghanistan who threaten Pakistan’s security. Pakistan’s message has been heard loud and clear in Washington DC as Pakistan’s most wanted terrorist was recently taken out in a U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan. Recently there have also been reports that indicate Afghanistan has agreed to cooperate with Pakistan on counter-terrorism.