Apr 17 2008
Pakistan Tribes Take On Islamo Fascists
Something is definitely still brewing or boiling in the lawless regions of Pakistan along the Afghan border. It seems fighting has broken out in the Khyber Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) between Islamo Fascist militants and local tribes along a key transportation line between Afghanistan and Pakistan:
At least 20 people were killed and dozens injured in overnight clashes between tribesmen and followers of a radical cleric in a Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan, media reports said.
The fighting between the militiamen of Lashkar Islami, or the Army of Islam, and the tribesmen began late Wednesday and continued Thursday morning in the Khyber Agency.
…
Lashkar Islami is lead by firebrand cleric Mangal Bagh, who follows the puritanical Deobandi form of Sunni Islam. The leadership of Afghanistan and Pakistan’s Taliban movement belongs to the same sect.
He has tried to enforce strict Taliban-style Islam in the region, provoking the tribesmen.
One cannot help but notice the echo of the Anbar Awakening in Iraq when the local Sunni tribes decided they had had enough of al-Qaeda’s brutality and started to rise up against al-Qaeda. Clearly al-Qaeda and the extremist Taliban associates are not welcomed and are not receiving sanctuary as many have assumed. More here on a possible push by the Pakistani security forces:
Fighting erupted between Lashkar-e-Islam cadres led by cleric Mangal Bagh Afridi and Kooki Khel tribesmen on wednesday following three days of tension.
The two sides have been at loggerheads since the Kooki Khel tribe refused to accept 30 demands made by Afridi, including an end to “immoral and un-Islamic activities”.
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Official sources said 17 personnel of the Khasadar militia were also kidnapped from a check post by Afridi’s followers. The Lashkar-e-Islam chief gave a deadline for security forces and the political administration to vacate Jamrud, the main town of Khyber Agency, by 4 pm today.
Reports suggested that the security forces could launch a major operation in Khyber Agency to quell the activities of Lashkar-e-Islam militants. The Frontier Corps shelled militant positions but there were no reports of casualties.
And as this report notes the Khyber pass is an important transportation line that some suspect has been the path militants take between the two countries:
The highway connecting Afghanistan to Pakistan was shut down following the incident, leaving the supply route for NATO forces cut off.
Khyber Pass is the most important pass between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Invaders historically used the pass to reach Afghanistan and India. The pass, which is controlled by Pakistan, have both strategic and commercial significance.
This infighting inside the enclaves of the Islamo Fascists is exactly how the Awakening in Iraq began that led to al-Qaeda being purged from that country and becoming the enemy of Islam, not the future of Islam. It is possible the same pattern is repeating in Pakistan. This is not the first (or would I bet the last) report of fighting between local tribes and the brutal Islamo Fascists in Pakistan.
Update: This editorial from Pakistan emphasizes that the fighting in the Khyber Agency is in fact a backlash against the Islamic extremists:
The eradication of extremism from our society, especially the tribal areas, remains an unfinished business, one manifestation of which is the ongoing clashes between two groups in the Khyber Agency. At least 20 people have been killed and several injured as a result of fierce clashes between the militants of Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) and Kokikhel tribesmen in Jamrud tehsil. Newspaper reports say heavy fighting continued between the two groups late at night on Wednesday. What is more alarming is the fact that the fighting spread as far as the settled areas of Hayatabad. The self-proclaimed head of LI, Mangal Bagh, has been a headache for Kokikhel tribesmen who allege that he has occupied their territory. To show their resentment against the excesses of the LI and to press the government forces to take action, a jirga held by the Shinwari and Shalmani tribes decided to continue the blockade of the Pak-Afghan highway. That Mangal Bagh has been able to dig up his heels in the area, while also running a radio station through which he has warned the security forces, points to the lack of security and intelligence apparatus. That the LI has held sway over the area is proved by the fact that it held the security personnel hostage near a check post. The local tribesmen have said no to Mangal Bagh’s version of religious teachings, which they regard as an extremist’s interpretation of Islam. Mangal Bagh presents an open challenge to the writ of the state forcing the local people to take action against any illegal activities such as smuggling, etc., and issuing directions to be followed by the local people. Hundreds of local people, including women and children, had to leave their houses for safe areas in Peshawar.
Clearly one tribe has had its Awakening and is overtly resisting radical Islamic forces. Only time will tell on how far this spreads and how much it damages al-Qaeda and the extreme elements of the Taliban.
\”This infighting inside the enclaves of the Islamo Fascists is exactly how the Awakening in Iraq began that led to al-Qaeda being purged from that country and becoming the enemy of Islam, not the future of Islam.\”
Al Qaeda has not nearly been purged from Iraq but as Pepe Escobar points out today, the Bush/Strata coterie, including the MSM they often criticise, often blames \”Al Qaeda\” for attacks perpetrated by
independent Iraqi Sunni nationalists, and Saddam\’s neo-Baathists on Sunni \”Awakening\” collaborators.
Hard2take,
Yes, AQ has been purged from most of Iraq. I never said all of Iraq. And your fantasizers on the left cannot change the reality on the ground. I will take news reports from the regions over those in denial any day of the week. Only those desperately grasping to failed hopes of defeat still don’t see what is happening.
BFD, every generation has their misguided fools. Seems that is your lot in life.
BTW H2T,
The Nazis were beaten, they still exist in small pockets. Same with the communists. There are always dead enders to every failed human debacle. You have company – not to worry.
Gee, when last did the Nazis, anywhere in the world, pull off a big, bloody hit on a funeral of the enemy? You really are lost in the ozone, chickenhawk.
LOL! H2T,
Seems I struck a nerve of logic in that brain of yours. AQ can kill muslims, but they cannot lead them into Jihad against the West. And that is how you defeat a movement like AQ.
Duh! I know, too much for the liberal mind to grasp. Which is why liberals won’t need to be concerned with the challenges of national security any time soon.
When AQ loses, so do you liberals. Ironic in a pathetic way – but you folks chose your side. Your definitely not with us, or America.
Which is why Darwin was right and liberals are a dying breed, and America will not see defeat. Keep dreaming for the next Vietnam, because dreams are all you weird folks on the left, just like the Nazis who still dream of world dominance – though that will never happen either.
AJ,
Truthy is totally sympathetic with AQ, therefore he can’t grasp the fact that a muslim cannot be led into jihad against the West. Of course, he’s not being led in body, just in mind to their “cause,” so ironically he’s just like one of those muslims who can’t be led. I guess under the definition he likes to use that would make him an AQ chickenhawk!
Truthy is our little corner of the world’s version of Baghdad Bob.
Tehran Toothy… perhaps? 😉
Where’s Norm when we need him? After the funeral murders we could all use another lecture from him on the differences in terrorists and insurgents. 😉
Strata, all your distracting sophistry can’t disguise the fact you were saying “Al Qaeda” (which again today you lie about when you claim the group in Iraq is taking orders from bin Laden) was defeated in Iraq as early as 2005.
And of course myself and such as Pat Buchanan have always maintained “Al Qaeda” and associated ideological jihadists can never
take over one Muslim nation, let alone America. But they can
destabilize Muslim nations deemed not sufficiently anti-American, and they can help help quagmire American troops anywhere they are sorrowfully sent in the Islamic World. Both of which successes
can help Islam minimize dramatically America’s domination of Moslem regions, which as Ron Paul says, isn’t a bad thing, since we don’t belong there to begin with..
Enjoy the Vietnam-like defeat in Iraq.
There it is AJ! The pining and yearning for the good ole’ Vietnam days! Who knew Truthy was a Barbarella fan!!?
Wow… Truth’s been duped into thinking Iraq will be the 51st state in the union…. go no.
http://www.counterpunch.org/lind04172008.html
Conservative Lind shows there is no real Iraqi government.
Basra proved it.
http://counterpunch.org/lind04172008.html
You’ve been duped into believing Iraq has a real government which can ask us to stay as you claim Maliki represents. Let Conservative strategist Lind enlighten you-and as to why Basra proved it does not.
http://counterpunch.org/lind04172008.html
Iraq has no government. Basra proved it.
http://counterpunch.org/lind04172008.html
Conservative strategist Lind outlines why there is no real Iraqi government, as Basra proved.
Folks,
If your posts don’t show it means you tripped the spam filters. Be patient, I will release them when I can.
Let
Conservative strategistpetulant blowhard and credit-stealer LindThere, fixed it.
This Lind who T2T claims is “conservative” is actually a neo-fascist racist who thinks that “JEWS” control the world and used mind-control to brainwash GWB into attacking Iraq solely to benefit Israel. (although how this actually benefited Israel in any way never actually gets to be part of his argument)
Lind = Lyndon LaRouche? Hmmmm…..
Italics gone?
Lind = Lyndon LaRouche? Hmmmm…..
William S. Lind. Professional blowhard and armchair “strategist.” Those of us who were in the business of actually fighting wars got tired of Billy L. a LONG time ago.