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Gulbuddin Hekmatyar: Ruthless Warlord, New Karzai Ally or Both?

March 24, 2010 in Afghanistan, Interview, Pakistan, Peace Talks, Political | 7 comments

As Afghan President Hamid Karzai reaches out to militants before next month’s peace council, some human-rights activists say they are concerned with the types of individuals who may enter the government.  Earlier this week, President Karzai met with a high-level delegation from the Hezb-e-Islami insurgent group.  The leader of that faction is a well-known polarizing figure.

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar first rose to prominence in Afghanistan during the 1970s when he founded Hezb-e-Islami, which means “The Islamic Party.”

Despite its origins in university student groups, Hekmatyar’s organization soon became known as one of the major Afghan guerrilla factions, following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.

During the next decade, the United States spent billions of dollars in covert assistance to fight the Soviet forces.  U.S. officials funneled the money through Pakistan’s spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, and the lion’s share went to Hekmatyar.

The ISI director general in the 1980s, Hamid Gul, says he knows Hekmatyar well.  He told me the ethnic-Pashtun mujahideen leader, who originally studied in the university to become an engineer, was an important asset for both the United States and Pakistan at the time.  Read the rest of this entry »

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Beware the Uzbeks in Pakistan

October 2, 2009 in Pakistan, Terrorism | No comments

http://enews.ferghana.ru/article.php?id=2167

http://enews.ferghana.ru/article.php?id=2167

Pakistani intelligence officials say they believe a suspected U.S. missile strike in late August killed Uzbek militant leader Tahir Yuldashev in the South Waziristan tribal region.

Click here for the story.

Officials say Yuldashev had links to al-Qaida.  If authorities can confirm his death, this would be a major blow to the militants and a huge success for Pakistani forces fighting for control in the area.

But why are we talking about Uzbeks in Pakistan?  Uzbekistan is nearly 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) away.  And why do officials always mention the fearsome reputation of these Uzbek fighters?

Yuldashev was the leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.  He began fighting against the Uzbek government in the 1990s with the goal of creating an Islamist state in Central Asia.  Analysts believe Uzbek authorities pushed Yuldashev to the border area of Tajikistan and northern Afghanistan, where the Taliban gave him refuge.

But following the U.S.-led invasion in 2001, analysts say Yuldashev fled to Pakistan’s tribal areas.  Now this is where it gets tricky…

Yuldashev was still under the Taliban’s protection while in Pakistan.  At this time, analysts say the Pakistani government was largely ignoring the Taliban in its territory because the militants were focused on fighting in Afghanistan.  But Yuldashev’s fighters started making problems for the Taliban by launching attacks in parts of Pakistan.

Ultimately, the Pakistani military moved in and took on the Pakistani Taliban, which analysts say was sheltering Yuldashev’s men.

The miltary is now closing in on militant strongholds.  While the Pakistani Taliban is fighting for its land, the Uzbeks are fighting for their basic survival.  They have nowhere else to go.  They can’t go home to Uzbekistan.  They can’t flee to Afghanistan and into the arms of the coalition forces.  They can’t even go elsewhere in Pakistan.  Uzbeks can’t really blend in among Pakistanis, and they’ve already annoyed their caretakers by causing problems.

Basically, they are a cornered with no other option but to fight, and they’ve been fighting for nearly two decades.  They have nothing to lose here, which makes them particularly dangerous.

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Washington’s Mixed Signals to Pakistan

October 1, 2009 in Afghanistan, Foreign Aid, Pakistan, Terrorism | No comments

http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/topten/fugitives/laden.htm

http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/topten/fugitives/laden.htm

The U.S. deputy chief of mission in Pakistan, Gerald Feierstein,  told reporters today in Islamabad that the United States “strongly believes” Osama bin Laden is alive and in Pakistan.

Feierstein said Washington thinks bin Laden is operating from Pakistan’s tribal areas near the Afghan border.

Click here for the story.

This could explain why there has been an increased number of suspected U.S. drone attacks in Pakistan’s tribal areas.

Feierstein also said the United States believes fugitive Afghan Taliban leader Mohammad Omar is in the southern province of Baluchistan, possibly hiding in the capital of Quetta.

Again, the Pakistani government denies all the allegations, but Feierstein’s comments do reaffirm my post from yesterday.

My question is: What are Pakistanis supposed to take from this?

On Wednesday, the U.S. Congress approved legislation that triples non-military aid to Pakistan during the next five years.  That means starting next year, the Pakistani government will receive $1.5 billion annually for various development projects, including efforts to improve education, democratic institutions, human rights and conditions for women and children.  That’s a pretty strong signal from Washington.

But at the same time, the U.S. officials on the ground here are telling the local media that Baluchistan, specifically Quetta, is “high on Washington’s list.”  That angers the Pakistani government, as well as its people.  And the people are already angry at drone attacks in North Waziristan.

I wonder if Washington will unify its message.  The Pakistani people definitely want to know.

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