Pakistani Taliban still powerful, but disorganized
- Source: Global Times
- [10:58 September 17 2009]
- Comments
Editor's Note:
Though the Taliban has been spreading rapidly in Pakistan since 2007, and has proved a slippery foe for the Pakistani army to battle, it is not as strong as it appears. However, it is apparently still the biggest concern of Pakistani government. How does the Pakistan Taliban operate? What is its current situation? What are the prospects in the fight against the Taliban? The following is an interview conducted by Global Times (GT) reporter Wang Yuan with Zhou Rong (Zhou), a specialist on the Taliban and Guangming Daily's correspondent in Islamabad, Pakistan.
The worsening security situation in Pakistan has forced civilians to arm themselves. Photo: CFP
GT: What is the current situation of the Pakistani Taliban? Is there any change since the replacement of its leadership?
Zhou: The Pakistani Taliban reached its peak on April 24 this year, when it reached only 100 kilometers from the capital, Islamabad. However, in the last five months, suicide attacks across the country began to decline, while targeted killings are increasing.
Other reasons, maybe more im¬portant, for the transformation of the Pakistani Taliban;s tactics are internal to the group. First, they lost many mas¬terminds of suicide attacks during their recent internal dissension, so it’s get¬ting harder to launch large-scale suicide attacks. Second, some of their fund-chain fractured, since the new leader, Hakimullah Mehsud, unlike his predecessor Baitullah Mehsud, can’t keep and develop enough funds and weapons. More than that, whether Hakimullah is still alive remains uncertain.
However, the whole situation has not improved much. People are more worried about targeted killings, since in the past people can avoid suicide attacks by not going to crowded places, but now they are scared of being the Taliban's targets. When I was lecturing in some universities in Pakistan and chatted with students, I found they are unwilling to condemn the Taliban.
GT: How is the fighting against the Pakistani Taliban going? Will there be any further cooperation between the Pakistani army and the US-run coalition or NATO?
Zhou: Considering the Taliban's close relationship with Al Qaeda, the US stands resolutely against it. But except for US unmanned aerial vehicles participating in military activities in Pakistan, there are no US-run coalition or NATO land forces there. It is possible for the two sides to adopt concerted action to squeeze the Taliban out of their living space in the border between the two countries – US-run coalition and NATO from the Afghanistan side, and the Pakistani army from its own side. The dilemma is, if the Afghanistan Taliban's living space is further squeezed, it will certainly evacuate to Pakistan, where the Pakistani army lacks the ability to eliminate it.
GT: The Taliban promises suicide bombers money for their families. Do they deliver on this?
Zhou: Yes, they do. They recruit potential suicide bombers from some religious schools that are really just training camps for fighters. Then after the mission they will pay about 200,000 PKR ($2421) to suicide bombers from cities and 5,000 to 10,000 PKR ($60.53 to $212.07) to those from rural areas. This is a considerable figure in Pakistan.
As opposed to the Afghanistan Taliban, whose primary source of funds is drugs, the Pakistani Taliban is mainly dependent on Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda receives funds from the Arab tycoons who hold to extremist forms of Islam in the Gulf region and passes on part of the funds to the Afghanistan Taliban and the Pakistani Taliban.
