Is Pakistan a Trusted Ally?

PAKISTAN’S WAR ON TERRORISM ?! CAN YOU TRUST THEM ?

Haqqanis and Pakistan’s war on terrorism

Who are the Haqqanis and what is the nature of their relationship with the Pakistani state tells you the real story unfolding in today’s Pakistan.

The Haqqanis or the Haqqani Network is a family run criminal-terrorist enterprise operating out of Pakistan and Afghanistan. They have been doing this for decades now. The founder, Jalaluddin Haqqqani was a mujahideen leader, worked closely with the CIA and ISI during the Afghan Jihad and then with al Qaeda and then with the Taliban. These alliances helped the Haqqanis to become rich through a vast network of criminal enterprise. The family is into every criminal activity going on in these areas—smuggling to narcotics to extortion.

But this is not what makes them infamous? They are in the global limelight because of two reasons—along with crime, they are also a terrorist enterprise and they are Pakistan Army’s key strategic assets in Afghanistan. Once allies, the group turned against the US after 2001. The Haqqanis were the Taliban’s militia—defending their sanctuaries against the US Army, hunting down moles and spies, finding new ways to thwart attempts to neutralise the Taliban and of course keep the Indians on the line of fire. The Haqqanis were, and are, also key allies of al Qaeda which has continued to operate from the tribal areas in Pakistan as well as the areas adjoining Durand Line in Afghanistan. Incidentally, these are the areas under the firm control of the Haqqanis. Without the Haqqanis and their material support, both the Afghan Taliban as well as al Qaeda would have long disappeared from Afghanistan, if not from Pakistan.

Now for their relationship with Pakistan, more specifically with Pakistan Army. It is an old romance beginning with the early days of Afghan Jihad when the Army and its intelligence wing, ISI, found in Jalaluddin Haqqani a perfect ally. Haqqani, a Pashtun tribesleader, was all said & done a mercenary and was willing to sup with anyone who was willing to fill his coffers and give him a bit of respect. The Americans went as far as to take him to the White House. Jalaluddin Haqqani has a framed photograph with President Ronald Reagan somewhere tucked away in his home. It is another story that the same guy turned against Uncle Sam when the US fighter jets bombed the Taliban and al Qaeda after the September 11 attacks. Since then, Haqqanis have been responsible for the death of several hundred, if not thousand, American troops besides scores of Indians and Afghans.

The Haqqanis owe quite a lot to Pakistan Army. They were protected from the American bombings in October 2001 because the Pakistanis moved them to safe areas in the tribal areas. The army forewarned them about any ground operations and did not, on the other hand, share the whereabouts of the Haqqanis with theirstrategic ally, the US. The Haqqanis were protected like jewels. In fact, the Haqqanis are only next to nuclear assets in terms of protection and patronage.

The reason is simple. The Haqqanis serve a purpose for the army. They are an effective, armed instrument of the state to influence events in Afghanistan, more specifically to try and contain India’s growing interest and influence in the region. The Haqqanis have paid their debts to the Pak army by keeping the Indians on the edge and to protect the Taliban from the US onslaught. Without the Haqqanis, Pakistan

Army would have lost all their leverage in Afghanistan long back. This is the reason why they had to protect the Haqqanis once again and this time from getting into the harm’s way from their own war against terror.

This is the story which not many people in Pakistan or elsewhere know. Pakistan Army has for long been delaying any decision on taking on their second arch enemy, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, in north Waziristan. TTP has been teasing the army with abductions, killings and armed assaults, challenging the army to take them on. The army had been dithering and it was a mystery to many people, including ordinary Pakistani citizens, why was the army hesitant to take on the terrorists. There were all kinds of speculations ranging from differences with the civilian leadership to incapacities. The truth was somewhere else. The army was not sure how to separate the Haqqanis from TTP and protect them.

With TTP upping the ante by killing senior army officers and booby trapping armed columns wilfully, the army was left with no choice but to respond, strongly. The problem was both TTP and Haqqanis share the same sanctuary—north Waziristan. TTP is headquartered in Mir Ali while the Haqqanis have been running their operations from Miramshah, two key cities in north Waziristan separated merely by 60 kms of mountains and small towns. So any air and ground operation against TTP in Mir Ali and the surrounding areas would have affected the Haqqani heartland, no matter what precautions the army took. So they found the best way out—shifted the Haqqanis to Parchinar, a strategic location on Durand Line. To facilitate this shifting, the army held back the operation by several weeks, imposed curfew in the region and terrorised the Shia population to keep quiet about the developments.

Going by the media reports, the army has been successful in relocating the Haqqanis to Parchinar, an area not quite well known to the group and its leadership. The Parchinar perch offers the Haqqanis and the army some strategic advantages. It is quite close to Kabul and is safe from TTP and al Qaeda. Even Haqqanis are not familiar with the region. The army is. This gives them an advantage over the Haqqanis and help keep a check on their activities, particularly their association with al Qaeda. This control will have a far reaching impact on Pakistan’s leverage in Afghanistan once the Americans leave by December 2014.