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| Taliban threat rising along Afghan border | | | B L KAK
The Taliban, it has just been announced, will throw foreign armies out of Afghanistan. The anouncement came from the Taliban's spokesman, Mahammed Anif. He told BBC2's Newsnight that the claim of Britain and the United States of rebuilding Afghanistan had been an 'excuse' to invade. No wonder, the BBC has come under fire from Britain's Conservative Party after broadcasting an interview with the spokesman for the Taliban.
His face hidden by a veil, Mahammed Anif told BBC2's Newsnight that the Taliban would throw foreign armies out of Afghanistan. Other members of a Taliban group in Helmand province were also filmed, vowing to fight to the death against British troops who are seeking to bring security to the area. Shadow Defence Secretary Liam Fox denounced the interviews as "obscene" and accused the BBC of broadcasting propaganda on behalf of Britain's enemies.
In the film, broadcast just the other day, a Taliban fighter who gave his name as Mullah Assad Akhond said: "We see the English as our enemy since the time of the Prophet Mohammad. They are our enemies now and they were then."Another, Hajimullah Wahidullah, warned that the group planned to step up suicide bombings, which until recently were unheard of in Afghanistan. "So far you see just individual suicide bombs," he said. "But in the future you might see as many as six people committing the attacks simultaneously. Countless people have enlisted to become suicide bombers."
Anif, who the BBC said was giving his first broadcast interview as an official spokesman for the Taliban, said: "Americans used force and attacked us. They invaded our country and occupied it. Democracy set up under the shadow of B52 bombers and elections held under the shadow of F-16s is not acceptable for the Afghan nation."
Meanwhile, Taliban militias in Pakistan have set up offices, introduced taxes and taken control of justice in the tribal agency of North Waziristan, where last month the government signed a peace agreement with militants. Britain's Telegraph has reported that in violation of the agreement, a Taliban shura, or council, distributed pamphlets of its policies last week, while militants have begun to patrol the area's streets and have already killed numerous "American spies".
A "tax schedule" detailed how businesses are liable to pay charges to the Taliban. Trucks entering the agency will pay for a six-month pass and petrol-pump owners will have to make contributions to the council. The taxes were described as a "donation" in the pamphlet. The deal signed by the government on September 5 stipulated that Al Qaida fighters were to be expelled from North Waziristan and pro-Taliban militants were not to run a "parallel administration" or take part in fighting against coalition forces across the border.
In return, Pakistani forces, who had been fighting local militants over the summer, withdrew from combat. The army retained the right to launch strikes in the area if militants do not adhere to the deal. It was later discovered by Pakistani journalists that the deal was signed with wanted militants and not with tribal elders, as was officially claimed. Pakistani officials hoped the deal would empower tribal elders to control militants in their region but an estimated 120 of them have been murdered in the past year.
Following the withdrawal of the army, a power vacuum has been filled by mullahs and their long-haired, bearded, AK47-toting militants. According to a section of Pakistani reporters, some of the militants wear badges that read: "Appointed by the office of the Taliban, the mujahideen of the North Waziristan Agency". Power is now in the hands of a so-called "mullahcracy" and people who President Pervez Musharraf recently dismissed as "charasi", or hashish-smoking, Taliban-- thugs who use the Taliban's mantle to coerce locals.
Maulana Abdul Khaliq Haqqani, a member of North Waziristan's Taliban shura, was quoted as saying: "There is no doubt that we support this jihad against infidels, against these Christians who have invaded a Muslim land." Instead of crossing from Waziristan, fighters continue to cross into Afghanistan from other areas. According to NATO officials in Afghanistan, militant activity has increased 300 per cent in the border regions since the pact was signed.
Under the peace accord mediated by a council of tribal elders, militants pledged not to attack security forces and state property and to stop cross-border movement for raids in Afghanistan. Foreign militants were to leave the area or, if they could not, they should disarm and live peacefully according to the law of the land. The government had released arrested tribesmen and had agreed not to launch any ground or air operations.
The militants also said they would not engage in any target killing of tribal elders or any other person and under the accord the writ of the state shall prevail in the region. The peace pact was generally welcomed in the country, but fears had also been expressed that the peace deal has given a boost to the influence and standing of the local Taliban.
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