Four senior tribal leaders in Pakistan’s Taliban-controlled tribal agency today vowed to carry out suicide attacks against the US to avenge a Predator strike that killed more than 30 people, including 11 Taliban fighters.
The senior tribal leaders said they would wage jihad against the US for yesterday’s Predator strike in the Datta Khel area that targeted a compound known to train and host meetings of commanders loyal to top Taliban leader Hafiz Bahadar. The North Waziristan leaders made the statements at the Peshawar Press Club after holding a grand jirga, or council.
“We will take the revenge for our near and dear ones and announce a jihad against the Americans. We will allow our youths to carry out suicide attack on US citizens,” tribal leader Malik Jalaluddin said, according to the Press Trust of India.
“We will show how we take revenge. We announce a jihad against the US and her allies sitting in our country,” said Malik Jalal Sarhadi Qat Khel, another tribal leader. “We will avenge our tribesmen at any cost, even if it takes a hundred years.”
Jalaluddin also denied that al Qaeda and the Taliban were present in the tribal agency.
“There are no al Qaeda or Taliban militants in the agency,” Jalaluddin claimed.
It is well known that North Waziristan hosts some of the most dangerous terror groups on the planet. The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan and non-aligned Taliban groups, the Haqqani Network, al Qaeda, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the Islamic Jihad Group, and a host of Pakistani terror groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and the Punjabi Taliban are all based in the tribal agency. The Datta Khel, Miramshah, and Mir Ali areas are major hubs for these groups.
US Predator strikes in North Waziristan have killed numerous senior leaders of al Qaeda, Taliban, and allied terror groups. Some of the top terrorist leaders killed in North Waziristan include Mustafa Abu Yazid, al Qaeda’s leader in Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as its chief financial officer; Tahir Yuldashev, the leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan; Najmuddin Jalolov, the leader of the Islamic Jihad Group; Qari Mohammad Zafar, a top leader in the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi; Abdul Haq al Turkistani, the leader of the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Party; Saleh al Somali and Osama al Kini, al Qaeda’s external operations chiefs; and Abdullah Said al Libi, the top commander of the Lashkar al Zil, al Qaeda’s Shadow Army.
The tribal leaders in North Waziristan have been either actively supporting the Taliban and allied terror organizations, or have been sufficiently cowed after years of grooming by the terror groups. Those senior tribal leaders and elders who refuse to cooperate with the Taliban agenda are routinely executed by the Taliban.
Yesterday’s strike in Datta Khel sparked outrage and unusual denunciations from top Pakistani leaders, including from Chief of Army Staff General Parvez Kayani. In an official statement released by the Pakistani military, Kayani called the airstrike a “senseless attack” and “aggression against people of Pakistan.”
26 Comments
Nice shot! I count 30 plus irhabists taken out with this one. Plus, if these folks want to send out suicide bombers, cool, that will give our guys some target practice. Pfffft, pathetic…..
Must have really struck a Nerve!!!
I think they should get together and talk about it.
How many Jihads are they going to announce. How about a double jihad. If they can take some time off from their busy jihad schedule let them build some toilets as their whole attitude stinks
Nice rebuttal. Wonder if the claims are read seriously in Pakistan press, for those who can read, that is.
While it is hard to imagine that this would accelerate the number of attacks happening already, it is one more publicity event that tips the scales a little more against the Pakistani state’s stability.
My advice for Malik Jalaluddin is you better run and hide Malik. Run and hide.
As others have said it’s difficult to see how this has a raany real effect as I’m sure the TTP, HN and all the other alphabet soup groups are doing the dammedst to launch a sucessful suicide attack against US interests or in the US. A regular Pashtun has almost zero chance of doing this in the US.
The other alternative is (more ) attacks against the Pakistani state. And perhaps more reason for the Pakistani government to finally make a move in North Waziristan to take back control rather than just hinding out in their military bases in Miramshah.
Again I’d love to know what the US government is saying to the Pakistani government. Is it sorry for the excess casualties but we got a top guy. Or is it more harsh than that?
And finally “there are no Taliban in NW” comment. Did we just kill the last 11? Clearly there were Talib at the meeting. Was it a TTP organized meeting? So many qyestions.
I like what Mike said, How many jihads will they announce? We should send them a big flash and then say something like, this is our 1 and only jihad.
Judging from the comments, humans still have a long way to go in the evolution of thinking. Maybe an analogy would help understand the issue. Imagine the Mexican government declaring war on drug smugglers. They identify a handful of drug smugglers residing in a small U.S. border town east of El Paso. The drug smugglers gather with local politicians and business leaders to discuss plans for building a new elementary school. Intel relays this information to the Mexican government which in turn launches a air strike on U.S. soil killing all the meeting attendees and a few women and children in the neighborhood. Do you think Americans would thank the Mexican government or condemn them for their disregard of human life and national sovereignty?
kp, I have a question.
What do you mean, their “bases” in Miranshah? I know a tribesmen from there and he never seems to want to answer questions, especially if I ask him, what does he think about militants, or Pakistani army and government? Is there any government there? He never wants to answer these questions.
So you must tell me kp, do they actually have bases in Miranshah? I always read reports of “officials” confirming drone strikes but where are they? Are they, the officials in Miranshah, or are they hiding among the tribe, in a house, looking like a villager?
I remember seeing General Kayani visiting Miranshah in January 2010. I thought, if Miranshah and the whole agency is infested, wouldn’t they be slaughtered on the spot?? The video is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_Ilg7_Mu9Q
Also, nothing to do with the tribesman I know, but this video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89kRAfMgZqg shows normal people of the agency in pictures. Elders also dismiss the fact that there are terror groups operating there.
So, my question to you kp, is, why do North Waziristan people deny that they are under the arm of militants? Why do they always tell the world they are happy and there are no terrorist anywhere? And, how is it possible that these Pakistani officials can exist in Miranshah and the greater agency without being brutally slaughtered?
Joe, if drug lords were meeting with “politicians” we’d thank the Mexicans.
But of course you presented a false analogy so I really don’t need to reply.
Replace “town outside El Paso” with “giant region run by terrorists” and “plans to build a school” with “plans to attack the U.S.” and you are getting warmer.
Still cold, but getting warmer…
I won’t publish comments with cursing or personal attacks. The comment policy is clear about this. And if you don’t give me a valid email address I can’t warn you. I’ve modified a few comments above and deleted a few others that couldn’t be fixed. From here on out, I’ll delete without warning.
kp,
“Clearly there were Talib at the meeting. Was it a TTP organized meeting? So many qyestions.”
A. Were GB’s guys actually at the meeting, or did they get driven to it in a chase? Its not clear to me.
B. As GB is ‘good’ Taliban, his group is not TTP i imagine–Bill can verify that.
So many questions i agree. The US would do well to shed more light on this one, or would that entail an admission to a mistake so its convenient to hide behind this being a covert war, which it no longer is. Any more than an open secret is a secret.
Guys who are already at war who vow more war as a result of casualties clearly show only that they are unhappy.
I thought that the most interesting thing about the whole deal was that they were negotiating over mineral rights.
Apparently the US mineral survey of the area did not fall on deaf ears. Apparently too the Taliban understood that its not likely that the Pakistan side of the border is not without resources.
Its a curious question as to whether this will move Taliban thinking. the level of outrage does not suggest that any of the principals will conclude that they need to make peace with the USA before they can do business as usual.
but who knows. somewhere along the line– the taliban may figure out that they’re working at cross purposes to their own interests.
They may conclude that the “good” foreigner attracts the “bad” foreigner.
They may conclude that in order to do business as usual they have to get rid of the “good” foreigner. If the “good” foreigner goes away, so will the “bad” foreigner.
@pyro: Do a little research and look at Google sat view. There is a large walled army base and a large airforce base in Miramshah. The CIA were even based in Miramshah (at the Pakistani Army based): CIA base Shawshank. Search LWJ for details.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6826701.ece
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/07/06/world/main6650616.shtml
@Villiager: the only (accurate?) info we have is four Hellfires fired at buildings in Dhatta Khel. There has been no info that confirms the locals stories other than the deaths of 6 local leaders + other “non-combatants”. See my previous posts with links to the reports. In fact the details release conflicts with the locals stories: the death total is lower than the locals reported (40ish not 80); the jirga was in the open (but buildings were hit and people taken from collapsed buildings so either the jirga wasn’t in the open or this strike happened after the jirga if they tried to rescue people from a vehicle strike); 11 Taliban including a senior commander was killed (that’s more than you can fit in a single vehicle so this isn’t just vehicle hit — the Taliban were in the building as well as the vehicle); Taliban were killed but locals say there were no Taliban present. As you might expect the locals aren’t quite telling the whole truth.
So we don’t have the whole jigsaw but we do have some parts of it.
The CIA closed the ‘Shawshank’ base last year : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/06/cia-and-pakistan-locked-i_n_635959.html
And I would use Google Earth/maps, but quite frankly I don’t have the time/patience to go through all that imagery and pick out what may or may not be army installations/bases. I just find it weird how the media makes a huge deal of North Waziristan being this extremely dangerous place but army schools and bases exist there. It doesn’t matter how secured it is, the scores of terror groups there would probably mortar and shoot it, wouldn’t you think?
Maybe I will just ask the tribesmen if he can help me locate the installations. He knows the area very well. Or, maybe I can just ask him if he has ever seen or been to one of them. But like I said, for some reason he does not like hearing these types of questions and mostly refuses to answer them. One question he immediately answered was, “Is Bin Laden in North Waziristan”?
His immediate response:
“Not a chance.”
Pyro
The reason your tribesman friend is uncomfortable is because Pak army/ISI rule North Waziristan!
Paul,
Their society relies heavily on elders. So if an elder of a tribe says you can go to another place to study, you can go, and that is the final authority. The elders are the final authority.
It seems the same case for all people of North Waziristan, they just do not want to answer these questions. Never ever ever.
Why would he be uncomfortable? I have no connection to ISI, and I try my best to make him feel at home. You don’t understand tribal mindset, they get very embarrassed and shy very easily if you ask them taboo/forbidden questions. To simply brush off how the tribesmen behave as an ISI operation is childish and insincere.
If we could get tribal people to be more open and willing to resist terrorist leaders and operations, the war would have been won years ago, that’s for sure.
Pyro
I think Dr Farhat Taj can help you. She is from the FATA area herself. Writes a column at the Daily Times–talks sense. She’s a serious academic researcher i suspect with a deep appreciation of local culture, Pakistan as well as European/’Western’ cultures. Be interested in what you find out.
One thing i’ve been gleaning recently is that the Pashtun suspicion of the Punjabi has been increasing. A sense that its the Punjabis who are screwing things up for them, be it the PakArmy or the “Punjabi Taliban” (et al Ilyas Kashmiri), the LeT’s and clones and N number of the Band of Jihadis bred in the pure poverty of mind that is today’s Pakistan. (After decades of this wonderful engagement with Uncle Sam)
Villiger,
After spending time with these people you will understand that modern solutions do not suffice. The person you told me about is an educated, somewhat westernized Pakistani. The tribesmen I know is a male from North Waziristan who has only been here not even a month!! He lives in a completely different world than the person you referred me to – he believes in tribal society and does not like western ways too much. So, I appreciate your help, but it is not much of use since the person I am dealing with is like the average tribal person who is very conservative and isolated with their mindset.
He does not like talking about Punjabis but he says he wishes all non tribal people and foreigners would stop interfering in the area. And it is very hard to communicate with him because he does not know English well and gets very shy and embarrassed when taboo or sensitive questions are asked.
It is a situation that makes me wonder, if this is the average tribal mindset, what hope do we have in developing that area, and getting them to reject militancy?
Pashtun elders who don’t support the ISI agenda have been killed or live in fear without the means to resist the spread of this cancer from Pakistan. In the end the Pashtuns will have to rise up against the Punjabi tyranny and decide to take back their lands across the Durand line. The US has no interest in their lands other than to keep them free from AQ and Pakistani jihadists, and if the Pashtuns police their borders in their own independent country, so much the better. The Pakistani Punjabis are the Prussian Junkers of South Asia and will eventually suffer the same fate.
@Joe,
I do not think you fully grasp the full spectrum of the situation. I agree that you analogy is off but I know you mean well. North Waziristan is one of the worst areas in the world for terrorism. There is too much at stake to fully respect Pakistan’s borders and trust them to do the right thing. They will never do what is truly necesary to eradicate terrorism. We cannot just play nice and hope the situation will get better. Other people out there seem to think it is not that bad but I doubt an American can take a stroll in Miram Shah to see the sites and keep his head. Our enemy will not yield and will continue to kill us and our allies. We must remain steadfast and take the fight to them. Let us never forget the events on 9/11 or what the attempted attack on Times Square could have been.
Grim
Grim,
Well said. Shortly after 9-11, there was much talk and banners that said, “Never Forget.” However, many seem to intentionally avoid acknowledging the patient enemy we face. At one time, many talking heads said it was “too soon” to re-live the memories by showing images of the attacks on TV. Is it ok now? Sheesh.
Regarding taking the enemy seriously, they occasionally sound stupid with the “we mean it this time” (double secret jihad?) language. The sad reality is that they do mean it.
Stay vigilant. I continue to hope that, after 10 years, we have some deep undercover types at work and the really big fish will be found.
JT
The best way to take a bear den is to move in when they are out fishing – throw his stuff in the river, start a fire and have a meal. When they come back, you either have a new friend or no longer have to attack your enemy – only have to defend your home. Occupation only lasts as long as the enemy is present, friends are never pushed aside to fight alone.
Posted by g at March 19, 2011 8:22 AM ET:
“I think they should get together and talk about it.”
———–
g….I laughed extremely hard at that one 🙂 Good advice for Taliban 😉
Our mission in Afghanistan is clear. Give us Osama and Kalid Mohammad and we will leave.
But I do have a question. If they held a press conference, why didn’t we blow it up?