The suicide bomb attack on the Pakistan Army in Pakistani Kashmir on Friday was not only unprecedented; it also raised questions about the state of militancy in Pakistan.
At its simplest level, the first suicide bombing in Pakistan’s side of Kashmir was seen as a reaction by the Pakistani Taliban to Pakistan’s military campaign against them in South Waziristan. “The militants are hurting and they are reacting. And this is a reaction to the successful operations we’ve had in Waziristan and we’ve had in the Malakand division,” Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told Reuters.
The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir, while a government official described the bomber as a Taliban militant from Waziristan.
What is puzzling, however, is the decision to target Pakistani Kashmir. While there are historical links between Pakistan’s frontier tribesmen and Kashmir dating back to partition, as discussed by Indian strategic analyst B. Raman in this article, the region has until now been the preserve of Punjab-based militant groups focused on fighting India in Indian Kashmir. The biggest of these, the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), has avoided staging attacks on Pakistani targets, and of all the militant groups operating in Pakistan, it would be expected to be critical of attacks on the military.
Why, therefore, would the Pakistani Taliban attack the Pakistan Army on the LeTs home turf? And why would Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud risk alienating the LeT — blamed for last November’s attacks on Mumbai — by sending one of his men to launch the first suicide bombing in Pakistani Kashmir and then openly claiming credit for it? An accident of the mayhem spreading in Pakistan, a sign of greater cooperation between the two groups, or a deliberate message from him to the LeT?
There has been speculation in the past among security analysts about how far the Pakistan Army and its powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency have been using contacts in the LeT — which the ISI once nurtured to fight Indian rule in Kashmir — to seek information to use against the Pakistani Taliban and its al Qaeda allies. That speculation dates back to the arrest of senior al Qaeda leader Abu Zubaydah in an LeT safe house in Faisalbad in 2002.
But in the murky world of Pakistani militancy, nobody has ever been able to work out exactly how the different groups fit together, and in particular on the extent to which they shift between cooperation on a shared agenda and competition between their many different objectives - from Afghanistan to Kashmir to global jihad to targetting the Pakistani state itself.
The attack in Muzaffarabad probably provides an important clue. What is much harder, however, is to work out how to decipher that clue.
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Elections in India have been rigged in the past, and are rigged today. Remove the 500K occupation army, and hold elections under international observers, then we can get some credible results.
Anyways Indians got very excited over a one-off attack in Azad Kashmir.
- Posted by Aamir Ali@Elections in Indian occupied Kashmir are famous as “rigged elections.”
- Posted by Mohammed Anjum
–I don’t think even the loser leader complained that the elections were rigged and for that matter anyone else in the world doubted these elections.
@I can only accept an election there under neutral observers. Who knows who the voters were, especially when 500000 Indian military personnel were standing there with their guns pointing at the common people? ”
–Describe the scene how the above could have been made sure by Indian troops. Were they standing at their shoulder or did they shut everyone who wants tp vote for this separatist inside. Considering looking a woman leads to one month HARTAL, this fiction, if it eer was a reality, tyhe valley would have been shut by now. So India can live without pleasing one person–that is “you” for the fairness of the elections.
You are like those guys: If I win, everything is alright, if I lose it is unfair—-reminds me of little kids.
- Posted by rajeevMr. Rajeev: ““Sajjad Gani Lone, a Kashmiri Indian separatist, stood as an candidate in Baramulla in 2009 Indian general election, becoming the first separatist leader to stand in a general election in Jammu and Kashmir in 20 years. He was defeated by the National Conference candidate Sharifuddin Shariq.” How do you tie this up with your statement “Sorry dude but the only reason the Indian flag flies in Kashmir is because of 500K Indian occupation force.” BTW the turn out in Baramullah was 40% much like Mumabai’s 43%.”
Elections in Indian occupied Kashmir are famous as “rigged elections.” In fact this is what triggered the indigenous uprising in 1989. I can only accept an election there under neutral observers. Who knows who the voters were, especially when 500000 Indian military personnel were standing there with their guns pointing at the common people?
I’d suggest a better election there - Hold the plebiscite that was promised in 1948. And we will accept whatever the verdict is - independent Kashmir or joining Pakistan. Let the Kashmiris decide that. For me, as a Pakistani, even an independent Kashmir will do because it will settle the score on what India did to East Pakistan. We both lose an arm each and we are even. Until this settlement, Pakistan is not going to let go off the grip. We may be busy with another battle in our home. But this does not mean that we will give up our pursuit of fair justice that we have been waiting for the past 6 decades.
- Posted by Mohammed AnjumMr. Rohit: “Why don’t you in fact create an exclusive poll site for Kashmiris where in only Kashmiris (POK and India Kashmir) vote? Make it foolproof though. Let it be an eyeopener for everyone in world.”
Surely. How about the plebiscite that your country is supposed to help conduct as per the 1948 UN ceasefire resolutions? Run a free and fair poll now in occupied Kashmir and you will not like the results. And it will be an eye opener for you.
- Posted by Mohammed Anjum@I have said “Kashmiris love Pakistan and despise India” to Kashmiris and they have agreed with me.
–Aamir Ali; What was the sample size!!! Also could you please explain the following
“Sajjad Gani Lone, a Kashmiri Indian separatist, stood as an candidate in Baramulla in 2009 Indian general election, becoming the first separatist leader to stand in a general election in Jammu and Kashmir in 20 years. He was defeated by the National Conference candidate Sharifuddin Shariq.” How do you tie this up with your statement “Sorry dude but the only reason the Indian flag flies in Kashmir is because of 500K Indian occupation force.” BTW the turn out in Baramullah was 40% much like Mumabai’s 43%.
You did not answer my “And BTW, China loves Pakistan for Pak gifting them a piece of Kashmir, the Shaksgam valley. Given this, I wonder which sane kashmiri will love you.” Why would a Kashmiri trust Pakistan, because you have a history of selling their motherland to China without their permission? Valid question, right.
Empty statements are useless, so if you could talk specifics that will be much appreciated.
- Posted by rajeev@ Aamir Ali,
Did you institute a poll and get the views of Kashmiris?
Why don’t you in fact create an exclusive poll site for Kashmiris where in only Kashmiris (POK and India Kashmir) vote? Make it foolproof though. Let it be an eyeopener for everyone in world.
- Posted by RohitTaliban buying Pakistani children for suicide bombers
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul /02/taliban-buying-children-to-serve-as -suicide-bomber/?feat=home_top5_shared
There are 10,000 Chinese workers engaged in 120 projects in Pakistan today
http://www.forbes.com/2009/07/02/ruba-ch ina-pakistan-trade-sidebar.html
Pakistanis keep thinking about Kashmir and India. Who is going to think about Pakistanis and their future?
- Posted by Robin