Jul 29 2008
Civil War Breaking Out Amongst Pak Taliban
The Pakistan Awakening may be beginning (and it may not ever happen). But one thing is clear in all military situations, a divided enemy is easier to defeat than a united one. So the news civil war is starting to break out amongst the Taliban forces in the Pak Tribal Areas is very good news:
aliban in the Bajaur tribal district split into two factions after infighting between two militant organisations in Mohmand Agency led to the killing of eight members of one group on July 18.
Pro-Baitullah Mehsud Taliban leader Umer Khalid killed eight members from the Shah Sahib militant group, including its chief and deputy chief, on July 18.
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“Innocent mujahideen were killed in Mohmand. This is against shariah. Mujahideen do not kill innocent people,†Masood said. He charged the Baitullah Mehsud-led TTP with “deviating†from the real cause of fighting the Americans inside Afghanistan. “We took up the matter with Baitullah Mehsud but he did not take our concern seriously,†he said.
The rift between the Taliban, according to observers, would weaken Baitullah Mehsud. They believe the infighting among militant organisations would help the government exploit the situation.
Mehsud will have serious problems if he is fighting on his flanks with one time allies rooted in the region and terrain. Clearly we see the same pattern of violence against fellow Muslims (and fellow Jihadists) at the hands of the uber radical Islamo Fascists creating a backlash. This is very reminiscent of how it began in Iraq.
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[…] clipped from strata-sphere.com […]
It looks like the same violent people who made the mistke of biting the hand that fed them are now in Pakistan. Some people never learn. On the other hand, some people become addicted to violence. And others are just plain thugs.
Read Olaf Caroe’s 1957 anthropological history, ‘The Pathans’ to understand why Mohmand Agency is so important, and to better understand the Eastern Pashtuns in general. Caroe’s book is cited in every other book since on Afghanistan. I read it in 2003, and concluded the Mohmand Pashtuns were the most likely to be ‘sheltering’ bin Laden and Zawahiri. “Constable’s Hand Atlas of India” from 1895 has detailed maps. The British noted where each tribe lived, after drawing the Durand Line to separate the Pashtuns because the Brits learned the hard way they could not govern these tribes, especially the Mohmands.
Afghanistan has never formally acknowledged the Durand Line as the border, and most of the Eastern Pashtuns have never forgiven the British for betrayal at partition. The Pashtuns were promised Pashtunistan, an, when that failed, they wanted to be part of India, not Pakistan due to their political alliance with the Congress Party. Part of what we are still dealing with is the failure of British mapmakers and politicians in 1893 and 1947.
Since the ANP (Awami Nationalist Party) won in Pashtun tribal agencies in Pakistan’s elections last fall, it is marvelous to finally get some decent press coverage that understands the difference between Pashtun tribes and the implications of intra-tribal rivalries.