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| Spotlights on Taliban's one-legged commander | | | BL KAK
NEW DELHI, MARCH 1: A highly sensational piece of information has just poured into Indian capital from across the border: A deal has been brought about without any fanfare between the Pakistani establishment and the Taliban. It has been through Mullah Dadullah, a leading Taliban commander.
The deal is reportedly designed to extend Islamabad's influence into southwestern Afghanistan. If a set of inputs from across the border were to be believed, one-legged Mullah Dadullah will be Pakistan's strongman in a corridor from the Afghan provinces of Zabul, Urzgan, Kandahar and Helmand across the border into Pakistan's Balochistan province. And these inputs suggest that the Taliban, using Pakistani territory and with Islamabad's support, will be able safely to move men, weapons and supplies into southwestern Afghanistan.
One-legged Mullah Dadullah is 41-year-old committed Islamist rebel. He hails from southwestern Afghanistan. Both Kabul and Islamabad have acknowledged the "fact" that Mullah Dadullah made a name for himself during the Soviet occupation, during which he lost a leg. And with victories against the Northern Alliance after the Taliban tok over Kabul in 1996, Mullah Dadullah pushed the alliance into the tail end of Afghanistan. This made him "darling" of Pakistan, particularly of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
Mullah Dadullah was emissary of Mullah Omar, a highly important and potent leader of the Taliban, in the two Waziristan tribal areas before the spring offensive of 2006. Dadullah was credited with a highly signifcant achievement--he successfully brokered a major deal between the Pakistani armed forces and the Pakistani Taliban. According to another set of reports, Pakistani strategic circles are convinced that as a proven military commander, Mullah Dadullah will be able to "work wonders" this spring and finally give the Taliban the edge over the Kabul administration and its NATO allies.
What is Pakistan' objective? An answer to this question is not faqr to seek. Islamabad's ultimate objective is to revive its role in Kabul. And Islamabad, according to Pakistan-watchers, is optimistic that Mullah Dadullah's considerable diplomatic skills will enable him to negotiate a power-sharing formula for pro-Pakistan Afghan warlords. A notable addition to what can only be described as a limited Taliban arsenal this year is surface-to-air missiles, notably the SAM-7, which was the first generation of Soviet man-portable SAMs.
Analysts point out that the deal with Mullah Dadullah will serve Pakistan's interests in re-establishing a strong foothold in Afghanistan (the government in Kabul leans much more toward India), and it has resulted in a cooling of the Taliban's relations with Al-Qaeda. Despite their most successful spring offensive last year since being ousted in 2001, the Taliban realize that they need the assistance of a state actor if they are to achieve "total victory". Al-Qaeda will have nothing to do with the Islamabad government, though, so the Taliban had to go it alone.
The move also comes as the US is putting growing pressure on Pakistan to do more about the Taliban and Al-Qaeda ahead of a much-anticipated spring offensive in Afghanistan. US Vice President Dick Cheney paid an unexpected visit to Pakistan on Feb. 26 to meet with President Gen. Pervez Musharraf. The White House refused to say what message Cheney gave Gen. Musharraf, but it did not deny reports that it included a tough warning that US aid to Pakistan could be in jeopardy.
Taliban commanders planning this year's spring uprising reportedly acknowledged that as an independent organization or militia, they could not fight a sustained battle against state resources. They believed they could mobilize the masses, but this would likely bring a rain of death from the skies and the massacre of Taliban sympathizers. Their answer was to find their own state resources, and inevitably they looked toward their former patron, Pakistan. |
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