Taliban Declare War On Pakistan

They may not have used those precise words, but their threat to Pakistanis to flee cities, followed by multiple explosions all over the country, following still more deadly blasts in the past two days, and there's little else can call it but an all-out war between the Taliban and Pakistan.

Three bombs detonated in Peshawar, north of Pakistan’s capital, and one in Dera Ismail Khan, in the country’s troubled west, killing at least 11 people and wounding dozens.

The strikes were deadly reminders of the potency of militants in Pakistan, a nuclear-armed American ally that is fighting a war against the Taliban in its north and west. Pakistan is central to American policy in this region, as militants in its lawless tribal areas cross the border into Afghanistan, where the United States is fighting a similar insurgency.

Hakimullah Mehsud, a young Taliban commander and lieutenant of Baitullah Mehsud, the chief of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, told the Pakistani newspaper Dawn that more attacks would follow the one in Lahore. Hakimullah Mehsud, who spoke from an undisclosed location, claimed responsibility for the Lahore bombing.

“We want the people of Lahore, Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Multan to leave those cities, as we plan major attacks against government facilities in coming days and weeks,” he said in a phone call to Reuters.

He said that the Lahore attack was a response to Pakistan’s recent military campaign against the Taliban in Swat, an area north of the capital, which was overrun by militants earlier this year.

“We have been looking for a target from the day the military launched the operation in Swat,” Mr. Mehsud said.

The real question isn't whether the Pakistani government can stop the Taliban. It's whether the Pakistani people will continue to tolerate the carnage and rise up against the Taliban themselves (akin the to the Anbar Awakening). Pakistan's governments have played a delicate dance between appeasement and crackdown, and right now, they are paying dearly for that cycle of violence.

The government continues fighting the Taliban in Swat, and the Taliban's latest grievances are that the Pakistanis are trying to defend themselves outside of the frontier provinces, which the Pakistani governments have treated as semi-autonomous for much of Pakistan's history. It has been a major mistake on their part to do so, as the Taliban have used their control to spread the Islamist doctrine and their control now runs into Pakistan proper like tentacles of a hydra.

The Taliban aren't going to stop until they are stopped. That threatens not only Pakistan, but Afghanistan and the rest of South Asia, including India. Putting out a list of most wanted Taliban is a meager start, but until the regular army gets in the game and seeks to impose Pakistani control over all of Pakistan up to the Afghan border, this war will continue.

Barbarians Inside the Gates

The Taliban engage in barbaric practices, and the news coming out of the frontier provinces and nearby provinces fully inside Pakistan are truly horrific. The Taliban are misogynists, and they treat women worse than chattel. They slaughter people on a whim, and even those Muslims who initially welcomed these thugs with open arms are horrified at what has resulted.

When Taliban fighters first entered Karim's village last month, he recounted, they said they had come to bring peace and Islamic law, or sharia, to Swat. But the next day, two of the fighters dragged a policeman out of his truck and tried to slit his throat. Horrified, a crowd rushed over, shouting and trying to shield the officer. The fighters let him go, but the incident confirmed the villagers' worst suspicions.

"We all said to each other, what sort of people have come here? And what kind of sharia is this? Cutting off people's heads has nothing to do with Islam," recounted Karim, 55, a bus driver. "The people were filled with great rage, and great fear."

Authorities in North-West Frontier Province said that with the conflict intensifying, they expect half a million people to flee the once-bucolic Swat region near the Afghan border, much of which is now occupied by heavily armed militants. Officials announced Tuesday that they plan to open six refugee camps in the safer nearby districts of Swabi and Mardan, but until then, many who leave home to escape the violence are facing the arduous task of finding their own shelter.

The reports also show just how reluctant the Zardari government is in engaging in a proper offensive against the Taliban. They're not sending the regular army against the Taliban, but rather the paramilitary forces, which have gotten bloodied on a regular basis and who have regularly lost ground against the Taliban, who are asserting dominion over Swat and nearby provinces outside the frontier.

The Pakistani government claims that they are busy killing Taliban as they find them in Swat, but the reports are grim. Taliban are patrolling large areas of Swat and have pushed deep inside Pakistan proper.

Reports from Swat are confused as the military claims that they've killed dozens of Taliban, including suicide bombers, while other reports suggest that they were civilians attempting to flee.

It's an absolute mess, and it shows no signs of improving. The cause for all this misery; years of doing nothing to stop the Taliban from laying the groundwork in the Frontier Provinces and inside Pakistan proper that would seek to usurp power from the Pakistani government and traditional power brokers. The government in Islamabad, including Musharraf and Zardari, regularly engaged in crackdowns and appeasement, which offered the Taliban the insight they needed to simply outlast any sustained effort to stop the Taliban.

Each deal that the Pakistani government cut was one deal more that the Taliban would break knowing that another deal would be forthcoming. Each successive deal would further erode Islamabad's position, and the refusal to send the military to crush the Taliban has repercussions throughout the region.

The Obama Administration is engaging in wishful thinking if it believes that the Pakistani government and the Afghan government are going to crack down and crush the Taliban, even with US assistance. The Pakistanis lack the political will to do so, which means that no matter how much the US or Afghan governments pledge to do so, the safe havens in the frontier provinces will be off limits. It will take the Pakistanis to do what must be done, and their reluctance has brought the region to the precipice.

Hamas Rockets and Mortars Keep Coming

You still think this is a ceasefire? Israel ceases, but Hamas and the other terrorists in Gaza continue attacking Israel. Israel continues providing humanitarian aid, and Hamas demands Israel make more concessions, all while giving up nothing in return. It's no wonder that talks are foundering.

Rockets and mortars continue slamming into Israel, and Israel has exhibited significant restraint, despite previous statements that they would not tolerate such attacks. They went after one mortar team that was firing mortars into Israel, but that hasn't deterred Hamas or Islamic Jihad one iota.

Interestingly, Egypt has now attacked the smuggling tunnels that are linking Egypt to Gaza across the shuttered border. Israel had repeatedly attacked the smuggling tunnels during Operation Cast Lead, but the Egyptians to date had not done the same.

Meanwhile, all isn't quiet in the West Bank either. Terrorists attempted a mass casualty attack, but were thwarted when Israeli forces killed a terrorist who opened fire on an Israeli checkpoint.

No troops were wounded in the exchange of fire, and no damage was reported.

Following the incident, the army called in sappers to check whether the car in which the gunman arrived had been booby-trapped. Security forces also carried out extensive searches in the area to determine whether the gunman acted alone.

At the same time, the usual suspects are pushing to find war crimes in and among Israel's actions to defend itself from terrorists who routinely engage in war crimes. Today's Hamas war crimes - the mortar and rocket attacks - receive no comment or criticism from the ICC or any other human rights group, despite the fact that each and every mortar attack and rocket attack and suicide bombing attempt is a war crime, and that the Hamas leadership is engaged in war crimes and crimes against humanity by spurring on their followers to kill civilians, targeting civilians and using civilians as human shields, to say nothing of their genocidal intent to destroy Israel and kill as many Jews as possible.

Let's also keep in mind the following when you hear talk about how Gazans are starving and that they don't have access to food or medical care. Both are lies, propagated by Hamas to undermine Israel's right to exist and to undermine its support around the world.



UPDATE:
The Pakistanis are busy fighting with Taliban in Swat, and at least 45 civilians have been killed, 16 Taliban, and four Pakistani security. Where's the international outcry, the war crimes charges, and the demands that Pakistan put down their weapons.

Oh wait, that's only when Israel accidentally kills civilians. When the rest of the world does it to ensure their own security, it's acceptable losses.

The thing is, I don't blame the Pakistani forces for those civilian casualties. The Taliban are to blame for them, as they continue their insurgency against the Pakistani government in Islamabad, and they continue providing aid and comfort to al Qaeda.

This once again highlights the insane double standard that Israel endures to protect itself from jihadis intent to destroy it.

UPDATE:
The NY Times again shows its utter cluelessness.

Palestinian militants on Monday fired two mortar shells from southern Gaza at Israel and Israel carried out an air strike against what the military said were members of the launching squad as they tried to flee in a vehicle, further straining the tenuous two-week-old Gaza truce.

At least one militant was killed and three others were wounded in the strike, according to news reports from Gaza. The mortars directed at Israeli territory fell in an open area, causing no casualties.

The truce faced its most severe test yet Sunday, when Palestinian militants lobbed at least four rockets and a shower of mortars from Gaza into Israeli territory. The Israeli Air Force responded with a nighttime bombing raid on Gaza.

It continues to refer to the "truce" as shaky. No, it doesn't exist. Hamas firing on Israel repeatedly is a sign that it doesn't consider itself bound to uphold a truce, ceasefire, or hudna. Hamas wants war with Israel, and Israel continues to exhibit extraordinary restraint. That restraint is going to get far more people killed because Hamas will take chances and will put more people in harm's way.

Taliban Consolidate Barbaric Hold on Swat

The New York Times reports that the Taliban continue consolidating their barbaric hold on Swat province in Pakistan. The Pakistani government in Islamabad is pretty well powerless to stop the Taliban in the frontier provinces which the central government has considered autonomous for decades. That has enabled the Taliban to operate freely and assist al Qaeda in their quest for jihad.

Swat isn't part of those frontier provinces, but is part of Pakistan proper, which makes the Taliban's bold efforts all the more troubling. The Pakistani government is showing itself to be incapable of controlling its own territory.

Using a portable radio transmitter, a local Taliban leader, Shah Doran, on most nights outlines newly proscribed “un-Islamic” activities in Swat, like selling DVDs, watching cable television, singing and dancing, criticizing the Taliban, shaving beards and allowing girls to attend school. He also reveals names of people the Taliban have recently killed for violating their decrees — and those they plan to kill.

“They control everything through the radio,” said one Swat resident, who declined to give his name for fear the Taliban might kill him. “Everyone waits for the broadcast.”

International attention remains fixed on the Taliban’s hold on Pakistan’s semiautonomous tribal areas, from where they launch attacks on American forces in Afghanistan. But for Pakistan, the loss of the Swat Valley could prove just as devastating.

Unlike the fringe tribal areas, Swat, a Delaware-size chunk of territory with 1.3 million residents and a rich cultural history, is part of Pakistan proper, within reach of Peshawar, Rawalpindi and Islamabad, the capital.

After more than a year of fighting, virtually all of it is now under Taliban control, marking the militants’ farthest advance eastward into Pakistan’s so-called settled areas, residents and government officials from the region say.

To consolidate their hold, the Taliban routinely broadcast their latest depravities, including executing those who violate their religious dictates. There are public beatings to intimidate and cow the local populace into submission.

The local police are worried about being targeted for execution by the Taliban and routinely renounce their commissions so as to avoid Taliban wrath.

This is a recipe for absolute disaster in Pakistan, and the Zardari government isn't exactly showing itself to be any more capable of dealing with the Islamist threat than the Musharraf government.

Show moves, including taking over a charity linked to the deadly Mumbai attacks, are designed to take pressure off the government from acting in any concrete and permanent manner to disarm the Islamists.

The Islamic terrorists in Pakistan appear to have free run of the place, enabling them to continue targeting India. Yet another attack was thwarted today in Noida, India (just outside New Delhi) as police engaged in a gunfight with two terrorists, one of whom admitted they were Pakistanis plotting to attack celebrations in Delhi.

On way to the hospital, one of them identified himself as Farooq of Akara in Pakistan and his aide as Abu Ismail of Rawalkot in Pakistan. However by the time the two could reach the hospital, they succumbed. The doctors at the hospital pronounced them "dead upon arrival".

Two AK-47s, 4 magazines, 120 bullets, 5 hand grenades, Rs 18,000 cash, 3 detonators, 1.5kg of RDX and a rucksack were recovered from the car, police said. The materials seized from the car point out that the terrorists were trained in making plastic explosives and had planned to trigger three blasts, added the police.

The police are trying to find out the local contacts of the terrorists, Brij Lal added. The car's engine and chassis number had been erased, he said.

Major NATO Offensive In Afghanistan Underway

International and Afghan troops have begun a major offensive to retake a strategic town in southern Afghanistan from the Taleban, Nato sources said.
Nato says Afghan and British ground troops used heavy gunfire against the Taleban on the outskirts of Musa Qala.

It says the main assault will be carried out overnight by US soldiers who have been dropped in by helicopter.

The Taleban say they have 2,000 troops defending the town in Helmand province, which they seized in February.

Musa Qala is the only substantial town the Taleban holds in Afghanistan. For now, they say they are holding their ground.

The BBC's David Loyn, in Kabul, says the town has been the main centre of drugs trading in the country since the Taleban moved in in February and has taken on symbolic importance for both sides.

Of course the Taliban are saying that they're holding ground. Why would they claim otherwise. They're also probably puffing up their numbers.

It's also important to remember how the Taliban managed to gain control over the town in the first place:

Taliban stormed Musa Qala in early February, disarming police and taking over the district administrative centre from a tribal council.

The takeover followed a controversial deal about four months earlier which saw British forces withdraw on the request of tribal elders who said they would keep out the rebels and maintain the peace.

Azimi stressed that the operation to retake Musa Qala was launched at the request of the elders, who had been prepared.

Meanwhile, across the border in Pakistan's Swat district, the Pakistani forces are making slow progress against the Islamists there. Pakistani forces captured the compound of a major Taliban leader, Maulana Fazlullah. This is as the Taliban are making moves towards Peshawar.

Conundrum in Pakistan

Bill Roggio notes that fighting is intensifying in Swat and neighboring areas. Is Musharraf finally mustering up the courage to take the fight to the Islamists in those areas, including Warizistan and the NWFP that have proven to be safe havens for the Taliban and al Qaeda?

The Pakistani Army is pressing its offensive against Maulana Fazlullah's Taliban forces in the settled district of Swat and Shangla after Fazlullah's fighters took over the two districts by force over the past several weeks. The strikes in Swat and Shangla happen to coincide with US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte's diplomatic visit to Pakistan.

After four days of fighting upwards of 146 Taliban, Pakistani troops, and civilian have been reported killed and over 100 wounded. "The killed included 31 militants and 11 others in district Swat, while 38 militants and more than 35 others were gunned down in district Shangla," The Nation reported. "Militants spokesman Sirajuddin claimed that they had killed almost 25 personnel of security forces," after the Taliban targeted a military convoy.

Sirajuddin confirmed the Pakistani Army killed Commander Matiullah, a senior officer in Fazlullah's command, in an artillery strike. "His Second-in-Command Muhammad Ali was missing feared dead," the Pakistani military stated.

The fighting in Swat includes the Pakistanis massing 15,000 troops (HT: NJDhockeyfan at LGF) for a push through the Valley.

The wildcard in all this (one of all too many), Benazir Bhutto, is back in Karachi, after she was released from house arrest in Lahore.

The US envoy to Pakistan, John Negroponte, sent a strong message to Musharraf to end the emergency rule and get rid of the military uniform. Musharraf declined, saying that the emergency rule was necessary to stabilize the situation in the country.

The visit by the second highest ranking US official to Pakistan is the latest push by the Bush administration to persuade Musharraf to end emergency imposed on November 3, quit as army chief and restore fundamental rights to facilitate free and fair polls.

The US embassy refused to comment on the parleys but Pakistani official sources said Musharraf made it clear that the emergency would be lifted only when the law and order situation improves.

The military ruler emphasised that the step was taken to strengthen the fight against militants and hold the upcoming general election in a peaceful atmosphere, the sources said.

State-run APP news agency said the two leaders discussed "regional and international issues of mutual concern" and the fight against terrorism and militancy".

All this happens with the backdrop of what might happen to Pakistan's nuclear stockpile if elections were held and the Islamists won. Musharraf says that the Army will keep control of the nuclear weapons. The problem is who will control the Army.

As I've been saying for some time now, events in Pakistan have a way of affecting the security situation in Afghanistan. Afghan officials are looking warily at the situation along their border, knowing that the Taliban and al Qaeda are a hop, skip, and jump away from heading back in their direction. They're also concerned that the Pakistani military may try meddling in Afghan affairs once again.