According to Dawn, Pakistani security officials captured a senior official of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan’s (TTP) “intelligence group” during a raid in a village outside the capital of Islamabad.
The Taliban intelligence official is named only as “QZR.” A top Taliban and al Qaeda leader who operates along the Afghan-Pakistani border and who is known as Qari Zia Rahman is also nicknamed QZR by the US military. Among many other tasks, Qari Zia Rahman runs training camps for female suicide bombers. US intelligence officials contacted by The Long War Journal said they see no indication that Qari Zia Rahman is in Pakistani custody.
It is unclear if the “intelligence group” is the Lashkar-e-Khorasan, the unit set up in the tribal agency of North Waziristan that is assigned to sniffing out and hunting down suspected “US spies” who aid in the Predator campaign. From Dawn:
Four senior security officers supervised the operation at around 3am in the Dhok Kashmirian village a few days ago in which nearly 50 commandos and dozens of other personnel took part.The security agencies spotted the senior TTP member — QZR -through mobile tracking system. He came to Islamabad with a wedding party comprising the natives of Parachinar and Kurram Agency who stayed at the village.
The village was cordoned off and commandos and other personnel took positions on rooftops. Different houses, including the house of QZR, were searched. Some villagers were interrogated, but a child disclosed the location of QZR.
Then the security agencies raided the place where QZR and his aide – OH – were found asleep. Both were taken away.
The sources said that all the details carried out by the senior security officers about the senior TTP member were matched with QZR.
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7 Comments
This guy is pure evil, like Mengele. Hope that the Pakistanis are not just going to place him under protective custody. It would be justice served to strap him to a bomb with a long lit fuse.
When someone knows I really want a guy named
Qari Zia Rehman, and they tell me they got a guy
named “QZR”, I feel pretty certain they are pulling
my leg. It seems designed to get my hopes up,
but give them a cover story when it turns out not
to be the guy. Put me down for $100 on “It’s
NOT Qari Zia Rehman, or any other guy we
really want”.
David’s point looks right.
But what shadow is the ISI shadow boxing with. And why.
The Pakistani state and it’s henchmen are pure evil and are practiced, habitual liars. Never take anything they, or their “free press” say at face value.
Might be Qari Zia Rahman’s arrest has something to do with the death’s of 80 of (mostly) Haqqani’s boys. What was unusual about that story was that “disenfranchised insurgents” ratted out the group. Why were they disenfranchised? One could speculate that they were pushed over the border to fight against their will by the ISI. Their death’s put blood on the ISI hands. ISI needed a scapegoat for their bad judgement. QZR may have been the guy that OBL said reported that the USA was killing their guys faster than they could recruit. So Pakistan’s touching him–even if he is innocent–makes him fall under suspicion.
Here is a good meter for men in positions of responsibility. When your actions are both stupid and evil–its time to quit the game.
The ISI needs to get into the mining business. Send their best and brightest to mining school. Have them figure out a business model by which the ISI can profit and still leave room for the mining companies to make a living.
The USA did this for the Saudis decades ago with oil. This was early in the 20th century when the saudis were harder men. Their flaky great grandsons send money to pakistan to fund wars they now are too fat to fight.
Was the USA evil for helping the Saudis get fat? The best poppy fields in Afghanistan are watered by a dam designed by US engineers back in the 1950’s.
Even natural born men get a clue eventually.
Good post Charles.
Unfortunately I can’t see Pakistan having enough sense or foresight or common sense to start up such a Mining Initiative to replace their terrorism industry. It would also require a huge foreign investment which would be tough to see happening.
Nonetheless I would also like to throw in a Public Education initiative that would replace/close down the Madrasas (terrorist recruiting schools) with mandatory public schools like was done in Turkey.
That coupled with the economic opportunities of a robust mining sector would go a long way in pacifying the young men in tribal Pakistan.
I too like what you said Charles. If there is anything that requires explosives, it’s mining. When food and paychecks are given, most of the time people stop fighting each other. The trouble I see is that when there is education, and wealth, they both tend to stay within the family. And then, if one family has a home and cars, the others don’t, then welcome to another civil war. It is tough to negotiate the material if the spiritual gets in the way. Allah doesn’t like anything but killing in this part of the world right now.