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  • Britain says Pakistan is hiding Taliban chief

    Britain says Pakistan is hiding Taliban chief
    Christina Lamb, Kabul


    THE British general commanding Nato troops in Afghanistan is to confront Pakistan’s president over his country’s support for the Taliban.

    Among the evidence amassed is the address of the Taliban’s leader in a Pakistani city.

    Lieutenant-General David Richards will fly to Islamabad tomorrow to try to persuade Pervez Musharraf to rein in his military intelligence service, which Richards believes is training Taliban fighters to attack British troops. He will request that key Taliban leaders living in Pakistan be arrested.

    The evidence compiled by American, Nato and Afghan intelligence includes satellite pictures and videos of training camps for Taliban soldiers and suicide bombers inside Pakistan.

    Captured Taliban fighters and failed suicide bombers have confirmed that they were trained by the Pakistani intelligence service, known as the ISI. The information includes an address in Quetta where Mullah Omar, the Taliban leader, is said to live.

    Musharraf had publicly acknowledged “a Taliban problem on the Pakistan side of the border”, said Richards. “Undoubtedly something has got to happen,” he added.

    “We’ve got to accept that the Pakistan government is not omnipotent and it isn’t easy but it has to be done and we’re working very hard on it. I’m very confident that the Pakistan government’s intent is clear and they will be delivering on it.”

    The initiative emerged as the commander of British forces in Afghanistan, Brigadier Ed Butler, called for more troop-carrying helicopters. He was responding to a promise by Tony Blair that the forces could have whatever extra resources they needed. But a defence source said it was difficult to see where new British transport helicopters could be found.

    Political leaders have been reluctant to put pressure on Musharraf for fear of destabilising a nuclear-armed country in which Islamic fundamentalists are strong.

    This week’s intervention comes at a sensitive time for Blair after the ISI apparently helped avert the alleged planned bombing of transatlantic airliners flying from Heathrow. But the Taliban’s re-emergence has coincided with mounting evidence of ISI involvement, prompting frustration in Afghanistan, where 30 British servicemen have been killed.

    “I feel real vitriol seeing our boys dying because of Pakistan,” said one British officer.

    A senior US commander added: “We just can’t ignore it any more. Musharraf’s got to prove which side he is on.”

    Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan, has repeatedly complained of Pakistan’s role in providing a haven for Taliban fighters, saying they have openly run camps in Karachi and Quetta. “There is an open campaign by Pakistan against Afghanistan and the presence of coalition troops here,” he said.

    In Washington two weeks ago Karzai handed Pakistan the names and addresses of alleged handlers of suicide bombers using a camp near Peshawar that had been infiltrated by an Afghan informer. Last Wednesday a rubbish bag was discovered in the camp containing his body.
    http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...393838,00.html


    pakistan has to understand that they are giving protection to a disease (Taliban) which will finally result in death of pakistan. today pakistani youth study and try to become doctors, engineers, CA etc. but if ISI and its supporting military personals will continue giving energy to Talibanies inside their country, pakistani youth will be encouraged to become Jihadies and that will finally result in complete Talibanisation of pakistan.

    there is a need of creating an enviornment inside the pakistan where People like O.B.Laden and Mullah Omar would be recognized as enemy of Pakistan. and those people of Pakistani Madrassas would be sent to jail who are supporting Talibanis.
    Last edited by santosh tiwari; 08 Oct 06,, 02:58.

  • #2
    Nato's top brass accuse Pakistan over Taliban aid

    Commanders from five Nato countries whose troops have just fought the bloodiest battle with the Taliban in five years, are demanding their governments get tough with Pakistan over the support and sanctuary its security services provide to the Taliban.

    Nato's report on Operation Medusa, an intense battle that lasted from September 4-17 in the Panjwai district, demonstrates the extent of the Taliban's military capability and states clearly that Pakistan's Interservices Intelligence (ISI) is involved in supplying it.

    Commanders from Britain, the US, Denmark, Canada and Holland are frustrated that even after Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf met George W Bush and Tony Blair last week, Western leaders are declining to call Mr Musharraf's bluff.

    "It is time for an 'either you are with us or against us' delivered bluntly to Musharraf at the highest political level," said one Nato commander.

    After the September 11 attacks in 2001 America gave Mr Musharraf a similar ultimatum to co-operate against the Taliban, who were then harbouring Osama bin Laden.

    "Our boys in southern Afghanistan are hurting because of what is coming out of Quetta," he added.

    The Taliban use the southern province of Balochistan to co-ordinate their insurgency and to recuperate after military action.

    The cushion Pakistan is providing the Taliban is undermining the operation in Afghanistan, where 31,000 Nato troops are now based. The Canadians were most involved in Operation Medusa, two weeks of heavy fighting in a lush vineyard region, defeating 1,500 well entrenched Taliban, who had planned to attack Kandahar city, the capital of the south.

    Nato officials now say they killed 1,100 Taliban fighters, not the 500 originally claimed. Hundreds of Taliban reinforcements in pick-up trucks who crossed over from Quetta – waved on by Pakistani border guards – were destroyed by Nato air and artillery strikes.

    Nato captured 160 Taliban, many of them Pakistanis who described in detail the ISI's support to the Taliban.

    Nato is now mapping the entire Taliban support structure in Balochistan, from ISI- run training camps near Quetta to huge ammunition dumps, arrival points for Taliban's new weapons and meeting places of the shura, or leadership council, in Quetta, which is headed by Mullah Mohammed Omar, the group's leader since its creation a dozen years ago.

    Nato and Afghan officers say two training camps for the Taliban are located just outside Quetta, while the group is using hundreds of madrassas where the fighters are housed and fired up ideologically before being sent to the front.

    Many madrassas now being listed are run by the Jamiat-e-Ullema Islam, a political party that governs Balochistan and the North West Frontier Province. The party helped spawn the Taliban in 1994.

    "Taliban decision-making and its logistics are all inside Pakistan," said the Afghan defense minister, General Rahim Wardak.

    A post-battle intelligence report compiled by Nato and Afghan forces involved in Operation Medusa demonstrates the logistical capability of the Taliban.

    During the battle the Taliban fired an estimated 400,000 rounds of ammunition, 2,000 rocket-propelled grenades and 1,000 mortar shells, which slowly arrived in Panjwai from Quetta over the spring months. Ammunition dumps unearthed after the battle showed that the Taliban had stocked over one million rounds in Panjwai.

    In Panjwai the Taliban had also established a training camp to teach guerrillas how to penetrate Kandahar, a separate camp to train suicide bombers and a full surgical field hospital. Nato estimated the cost of Taliban ammunition stocks at around £2.6 million. "The Taliban could not have done this on their own without the ISI," said a senior Nato officer.
    Gen Musharraf this week admitted that "retired" ISI officers might be involved in aiding the Taliban, the closest he has come to admitting the agency's role.
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.../wafghan06.xml
    Last edited by santosh tiwari; 08 Oct 06,, 03:46.

    Comment


    • #3
      India: We told you so..

      :-/
      I rant, therefore I am.

      Comment


      • #4
        So, ISI isn't just hiding a skeleton in its closet but also dressing it up. Some things never change in life. Trying to build a moderate Pakistan is like attempting to rehabilitate a psychotic serial killer. No matter how hard you try he'll find his way back into the world of crime.
        If at first you don't succeed, call it v1.0!

        Comment


        • #5
          ISI is a loveable lot.


          "Some have learnt many Tricks of sly Evasion, Instead of Truth they use Equivocation, And eke it out with mental Reservation, Which is to good Men an Abomination."

          I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to.

          HAKUNA MATATA

          Comment


          • #6
            So whats new?
            Cow is the only animal that not only inhales oxygen, but also exhales it.
            -Rekha Arya, Former Minister of Animal Husbandry

            Comment


            • #7
              wow the brits know that now? wow..where were they all these years? persumably with their heads in the sand

              Comment


              • #8
                u know starsiege even if u know in world politics u seem "i dont know anything" for anything strategic goals u have tht can hinder tht know how.. the moment the importance its gone no problem sayin the fact!
                its useless to talk bout this cuz its simple old diplomacy.. as long as u want the virus u keep it..

                Comment


                • #9
                  This will end up costing lives

                  The governments and their political correctness will end up costing more lives. The NATO troops on the ground there need their governments to take a tough stand. Now would be a nice time to have the "You are with us or against us" talk with Pakistan. Troop casualties tend to change public opinion on missions quite fast.

                  If our governments don't act fast, we will end up losing the WOT. The insurgents do not play by the rules, and our armies have an obligation to play by the rules, this creates a disadvantage. Pakistan needs to understand that the monster you create will one day end up eating you when it is hungry.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    The Brit general must be a liar, since Blair was sucking up to an upset Musharraf after a similar comment last week. That general's got be lying

                    Cheers!...on the rocks!!

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      For all those who "love" ISI and appreciate Pakistan - U know who you are

                      "Tuesday, October 10, 2006

                      Pakistan not supporting Taliban, says NATO commander

                      ISLAMABAD: General David Richards, the commander of NATO troops in Afghanistan, said on Monday that Pakistan was not supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan. Speaking to Geo television, the NATO commander, who arrived in Pakistan for a two-day visit on Monday, denied reports that he had come with evidence that Islamabad was supporting the Taliban. He said that these reports were baseless and rubbish. The Taliban were being supported by poppy cultivation in Afghanistan, which funded their weapons purchases, he said. He said he had no information about the whereabouts of Taliban leader Mullah Umar. He praised Pakistan’s contribution in the war against terrorism, and welcomed the peace agreement between Pakistan’s government and tribal elders in North Waziristan, saying it was a good example and should be followed by others. He denied that NATO forces were in contact with Taliban in Afghanistan, but they were in contact with local tribal elders in Helmand for a peace agreement in the area. He said that Afghanistan, Pakistan and Britain were partners in the war against terrorism and his meeting with President Musharraf would be a friendly one. app"

                      Please don't let facts stand in the way:)

                      whose ur daddy?:)
                      _____________________

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        facts... errm... notice he says that while visiting Pakistan. That is politics talking, not facts... Everyone on the front begs to differ...
                        Cow is the only animal that not only inhales oxygen, but also exhales it.
                        -Rekha Arya, Former Minister of Animal Husbandry

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Geopolitics.


                          "Some have learnt many Tricks of sly Evasion, Instead of Truth they use Equivocation, And eke it out with mental Reservation, Which is to good Men an Abomination."

                          I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to.

                          HAKUNA MATATA

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by tarek View Post
                            For all those who "love" ISI and appreciate Pakistan - U know who you are

                            "Tuesday, October 10, 2006

                            Pakistan not supporting Taliban, says NATO commander

                            ISLAMABAD: General David Richards, the commander of NATO troops in Afghanistan, said on Monday that Pakistan was not supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan. Speaking to Geo television, the NATO commander, who arrived in Pakistan for a two-day visit on Monday, denied reports that he had come with evidence that Islamabad was supporting the Taliban. He said that these reports were baseless and rubbish. The Taliban were being supported by poppy cultivation in Afghanistan, which funded their weapons purchases, he said. He said he had no information about the whereabouts of Taliban leader Mullah Umar. He praised Pakistan’s contribution in the war against terrorism, and welcomed the peace agreement between Pakistan’s government and tribal elders in North Waziristan, saying it was a good example and should be followed by others. He denied that NATO forces were in contact with Taliban in Afghanistan, but they were in contact with local tribal elders in Helmand for a peace agreement in the area. He said that Afghanistan, Pakistan and Britain were partners in the war against terrorism and his meeting with President Musharraf would be a friendly one. app"

                            Please don't let facts stand in the way:)

                            whose ur daddy?:)
                            Who's your link? Dude you can't make up stuff. You ask them mothers of dead Brit and Canuck boys in Afghan land, they'll tell you who your daddy is.
                            I rant, therefore I am.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Srigancan

                              Here's the link:http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default...-10-2006_pg1_5


                              And when the indian have troops in Afghanistan, they can ask whose your daddy as well - till then the "put up or shut up" rule applies:)


                              http://www.businessrecorder.com/ -- article opens as flash window
                              Pakistan army to join Nato in Afghanistan


                              ISLAMABAD (updated on: October 11, 2006, 03:34 PST): Nato's commander in Afghanistan met President Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday amid media reports suggesting the Western alliance was losing patience with Pakistani efforts to quell the Taliban insurgency.

                              In an interview with a private TV channel taped before the meeting, British General David Richards denied he would deliver evidence that Pakistani intelligence was helping the insurgents.

                              'That is not the reason for one moment that I've come here,' he told the channel.

                              Britain's Sunday Times had reported this week that Richards would confront President Musharraf over allegations of covert Pakistani support for the insurgents, and would provide evidence of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar's presence in Quetta.

                              Richards said he would be seeking more help from Pakistan, but others needed to try harder too.

                              "Yes, we all want to do more because we still have a problem. Lots of other people can do more as well -- the people who I'm working with in Afghanistan and the international community," Richards said.

                              As part of a drive to enhance co-ordination, Pakistani army officers would soon be joining Nato's headquarters in Kabul, Richards said
                              .

                              Richards met President Musharraf in Rawalpindi.

                              A statement released by the Pakistani military said the Nato general had said that it was understood that "the vast majority of problems in Afghanistan were emanating from within the country", and that the Taliban insurgency was being funded by drug trafficking and other criminal activities.

                              Nato took responsibility for security in the whole of Afghanistan last week, when the United States transferred control of the eastern provinces and its troops serving there to Nato command.

                              Richards, who now has more than 30,000 troops under his command, had been quoted on Sunday in an interview as saying that Afghanistan was reaching a "tipping point" and needed more troops to speed up reconstruction and development five years after a Taliban government was toppled.

                              His comments corresponded to President Musharraf's warning that President Hamid Karzai's government in Kabul risked seeing the insurgency develop into a "people's war" unless it made Afghans feel safer and better off



                              Now Indian friends involved in the patriotic effort at "psyops" against Pakistan and therefore by extension against the effort of US and NATO in Afghanistan, may take no, as in zero satisfaction from their failure to spread divison and distrust among allies in WoT.
                              _____________________

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