Pakistan Conflict Monitor

Press Q&A with Admiral Mullen on AfPak Security

Pakistan Press Avail, Delivered by Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Joint Chiefs of Staff, July 24, 2010

EXCERPT: "[Q] Admiral, you were just quoted in New Delhi saying something that we do not always agree to the whole way the ISI works: 'The manner that they work, we have our differences.' Can you expand on that? Exactly where do you differ on the manner of working? [A] It is both the Pakistan – the military as well as the ISI. And the ISI in particular have captured or killed more terrorists than any other organization, any other country – sorry, it’s the military as well as the ISI – in the world. They’ve worked with us incredibly well in important areas. There are parts of the ISI I don’t understand specifically. [...] I think I’ll just leave it where I said it: that very specifically, there have been great accomplishments on the part of the Pak mil and ISI specifically and there certainly are areas that I just don’t have a clear picture of. [...] [Q] There are perceptions in Pakistani press and Pakistani people that Americans always rely on the information provided to them by Indian sources, like the movements of the – (inaudible) – in Pakistan or the whereabouts of the – and coming – the terrorists want Pakistan to be Afghanistan. [...] [A] Well, I’ll be very specific with respect to terrorists which move freely across the border. And I want to assure you that our information and intelligence in that regard doesn’t come from the Indians, very specifically."

Read the full interview.

Related articles:
Admiral Mullen asks ISI to shift its strategic focus, Times of India, 30 July 2010
Afghans pose awkward questions for US military chief, The Associated Press, 27 July 2010

Related posts:
US troops in Pakistan to oversee development projects, 21 July 2010
ISI trains, funds, and supplies Taliban: Report, 14 June 2010
US special ops aiding Pakistan's "hold and build" operations, 13 April 2010
Response to US troop presence surprisingly muted, 4 February 2010

Pakistan Furious after UK PM's "Exporting Terror" Remark

Pakistan Furious about Cameron's Terrorism Allegations, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 29 July 2010

EXCERPT: "A diplomatic row has broken out between the United Kingdom and Pakistan after U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron accused elements of Pakistan's security and intelligence services of promoting the export of terrorism. Pakistani officials are reportedly furious about Cameron's remarks and say they have damaged the prospects for regional peace. Speaking in Bangalore on July 28, Cameron opened a diplomatic rift between Islamabad and London when he suggested that Pakistan is 'looking both ways' on exporting terrorism while demanding respect as a democracy. [...] With his visit aimed at improving economic links between India and the United Kingdom, Cameron named several terrorism groups that, according to India, are sponsored by Pakistan -- including the Taliban, the Haqqani network, and Lashkar-e Taiba. [...] Meanwhile, Afghan President Hamid Karzai entered into the diplomatic fray on July 29, questioning why, with so many intelligence reports about links between Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence and the Taliban, NATO does not carry out more attacks against militants who have 'sanctuaries, sources of funding, and training' in Pakistan. [...] Pakistani lawmaker Khurshid Ahmad, vice president of the Islamist Jamaat-e Islami party, said 90 percent of the reports alleging Pakistani links with militants were 'attributed to Afghan intelligence agencies, whose reports are totally unreliable and fabricated.' Ahmad said it was 'unacceptable' for Cameron to make his statements about Pakistan on the basis of such reports.

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Pakistanis irate over PM's 'exporting terror' remark, The Independent, 29 July 2010
Cameron escapes diplomatic crisis with Pakistan, Financial Times, 29 July 2010
David Cameron defends 'frank' comments about Pakistan, BBC News, 29 July 2010
British HC summoned, will demand explanation: Qureshi, DAWN, 29 July 2010
Why David Cameron's words disappoint Pakistan [OpEd by High Commissioner of Pakistan for UK], The Guardian, 28 July 2010

Related posts: 
Afghanistan, Pakistan get higher priority at DfID, 26 May 2010
UK to provide £665 million in aid over four years, 9 April 2010
Pakistan's PM denies Bin Laden in Pakistan, UK pledges $83 million, 3 December 2009
Pakistan must do more: UK, 30 November 2009

US Congress Rejects Pullout of Troops from Pakistan

US Congress Rejects Pullout of Troops from Pakistan , DAWN, 29 July 2010

EXCERPT: "The US Congress has overwhelmingly rejected a resolution demanding the withdrawal of US troops from Pakistan. The measure, moved in the House of Representatives, was sponsored by two anti-war Republican congressmen — Dennis Kucinich (Ohio) and Ron Paul (Texas) — and was in reaction to reports that the US was running a secret war in Pakistan. The lawmakers argued that any war effort not approved by Congress violated the War Powers Act. It was voted down 38-372. Thirty-two Democrats and six Republicans voted for the measure. Four congressmen voted 'present', three Democrats and one Republican. The vote took place days after newspapers published leaked documents suggesting that Pakistani intelligence had cooperated with extremist groups while simultaneously accepting US aid to fight terror. [...] Mr Kucinich introduced a similar resolution earlier this year calling for immediate withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. It too was rejected overwhelmingly."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
US House defeats resolution for removal of US troops from Pak, Hindustan Times, 28 July 2010
War funding OKd after debate detour, Los Angeles Times, 27 July 2010

Related posts:
US lawmakers want troops out of Pakistan, 26 July 2010
US troops in Pakistan to oversee development projects, 21 July 2010
US special ops aiding Pakistan's "hold and build" operations, 13 April 2010
Response to US troop presence surprisingly muted, 4 February 2010
US forces conducted secret raids into Pakistan, 22 December 2009

Govt to Repatriate Afghan Refugees by 2012

Pakistan to Send All Afghan Refugees Home by 2012, China View, 27 July 2010

EXCERPT: "The Pakistani Senate was informed on Tuesday that some three million Afghan refuges, still living in the country, will be repatriated by 2012, official sources said. Pakistani Minister for Sates and Frontier Regions Najmuddin Khan told the upper house of the parliament that there are 1.7 million registered and more than one million unregistered Afghan refugees currently residing in Pakistan. Responding during the question hour session, he said that the Afghan refugees would completely be repatriated with honour to their own country by 2012. He said that a tripartite commission set up under the Tripartite Agreement between governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is working for return and reintegration of Afghan refugees. Meanwhile, Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik informed the House that Afghan refugees residing in different parts of the country especially in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhawa are involved in acts of terrorism and crimes."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Asylum freeze having hardly any impact: Pakistan, ABC News, 21 July 2010

Related reports:
Afghan refugees in Pakistan: Push comes to shove, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan via the Human Security Gateway, 30 April 2009

Related posts:
Refugees pay price for war on Taliban, 30 March 2010
Afghan refugees allowed to stay longer in Pakistan, 25 March 2010
Displacement crisis far from over: UN, 7 January 2010
Refugees International: Protect people first, 26 October 2009

Taliban Violence Creating Social Revolution among Pashtuns

Taliban Violence Creating Social Revolution among Pashtuns, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 23 July 2010

EXCERPT: "[...] The Taliban, by use of a brutal assassination campaign that targets tribal leaders and other influential locals, has gained the upper hand in Pashtun-populated areas such as the southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar. The strategy has weakened tribal solidarity among Pashtuns, effecting a societal breakdown that has both reduced their collective ability to resist extremists and made them wary of cooperating with government and coalition forces. The traditional clan hierarchy has eroded, leaving elders vulnerable to reprisals from young clan members who have broken family ranks and joined with the Taliban. Whether in remote Pashtun villages or in bustling cities, Al-Qaeda and Taliban ideologues lure illiterate Pashtun youth to their side by way of propaganda, cash, or the promise of revenge for personal tragedies. [...] Drawing on Al-Qaeda's employment of 'takfir,' which justifies the killing of Muslims accused of apostasy, local extremists in areas straddling Afghanistan and Pakistan have killed hundreds of Pashtun politicians, tribal leaders, and clerics. Local leaders get little protection from their governments, whether in Afghanistan or Pakistan."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
A game no more in Pakistani Pashtun village, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 12 July 2010
Analysis: Tormenting the tribes, Aryana Institute for Regional Research and Advocacy, 2009
Pashtuns, Complex Operations Wiki, 2010

Related posts: 
The AfPak policy and the Pashtuns, 24 June 2010
Tribal leaders to hold a jirga, plan anti-Taliban strategy, 19 March 2010
Identity and conflict in the Pashtun tribal belt, 17 March 2010
Pashtunistan: The real challenge, 7 December 2009
The Talibanisation of Pakistan's western region, 3 December 2009

Senior Haqqani Network Leader Denies Alleged Links to ISI

Taliban Responds to WikiLeaks, The Daily Beast, 28 July 2010

EXCERPT: "Responding to WikiLeaks' release of tens of thousands of pages of classified military documents about the war in Afghanistan, a high-ranking Taliban commander rejected reports that the Taliban had any links with Pakistan’s spy agency. 'Look, we’re at war and would like to get aid from anyone to fight against the U.S. and its allies who invaded our homeland,' Sirajuddin Haqqani, a senior leader of the Haqqani network, told The Daily Beast on Monday, denying any existing links with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence, known by its acronym ISI. According to The New York Times, the leaked military reports suggest that Pakistan—a country at least nominally a U.S. ally and the recipient of more than $1 billion a year in U.S. aid—has been collaborating indirectly or directly with the Taliban and its affiliates in Afghanistan. [...] While Haqqani said the leaked reports were useful to him, he also said he wished they had been leaked earlier because they provided evidence of American brutality in Afghanistan."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Insurgent leader on WikiLeaks: Now you tell us, Wired Magazine, 28 July 2010
My war, WikiLeaked: Why the public (and the military) can’t count on those battle logs, Wired // Danger Room, 28 July 2010
US report on ISI-Taliban link is fictional: Ex-ISI chief [video], Times of India, 28 July 2010
Key quotes from the document, BBC News, 28 September 2006

Related posts:
Former ISI spymaster denies links to Taliban, 27 July 2010
Pakistan aids insurgency in Afghanistan: Leaked reports, 26 July 2010
Pakistan efforts to broker Afghan-Haqqani peace "undermine US interests", 25 June 2010
Afghan Taliban deny links to ISI, 16 June 2010
ISI trains, funds, and supplies Taliban: Report, 14 June 2010

Afghanistan Questions US Silence over Pakistan's Role in the Insurgency

Afghanistan Questions U.S. Silence over Pakistan's Role, Reuters, 27 July 2010

EXCERPT: "The United States has pursued a contradictory policy with regard to the Afghan war by ignoring Pakistan's role in the insurgency, the Afghan government said on Tuesday, following the leak of U.S. military documents. The classified documents released by the organization, WikiLeaks, show current and former members of Pakistan's spy agency were actively collaborating with the Taliban in plotting attacks in Afghanistan. On Tuesday, in its first reaction to the leak, Afghanistan's National Security Council said the United States had failed to attack the patrons and supporters of the Taliban hiding in Pakistan throughout the nine-year conflict. 'With regret ... our allies did not show necessary attention about the external support for the international terrorists ... for the regional stability and global security,' the council said in a statement. Afghanistan has long blamed Pakistan for meddling in its affairs, accusing the neighbor of plotting attacks to destabilize it. Islamabad, which has had longstanding ties to the Taliban, denies involvement in the insurgency and says it is a victim of militancy itself. The National Security Council did not name Pakistan, but said use of terrorism as an instrument of state policy was a dangerous gamble and had to be stopped."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Pakistan has its own battle to fight, Asia Times Online, 28 July 2010
Pakistan and Afghanistan: Interdependent, distrustful neighbours, The Guardian, 27 July 2010
Pakistani spies trace Fazlullah to Kunar province, The Express Tribune, 27 July 2010
Malik says terrorists coming from Afghanistan, DAWN, 27 July 2010
No change to war strategy, Pakistan ties after leak: US, DAWN, 27 July 2010
Afghanistan war logs: Clandestine aid for Taliban bears Pakistan's fingerprints, The Guardian, 25 July 2010

Related posts:
Afghanistan builds up strategic partnership with Pakistan, 21 July 2010
Pakistan, Afghanistan to boost anti-terror cooperation, 25 June 2010
Pakistan efforts to broker Afghan-Haqqani peace "undermine US interests", 25 June 2010
Afghan spy agency accuses Pakistani counterpart in suicide bombing, 25 May 2010
US praises Pakistan's "excellent cooperation"; security pledge made, 19 May 2010

Leaked Reports Highlight Presence of Turkish Fighters in Pakistan

WikiLeak: U.S. Battling Militants from Turkey, Its NATO Ally, Wired // Danger Room, 27 July 2010

EXCERPT: "U.S. troops in Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan in 2007 were persistently attacked by militants identified as Turkish fighters, according to the trove of documents released Sunday by WikiLeaks. The presence of Turkish fighters isn’t totally new. You can find sporadic references online, like this one from CBS in 2008. But the WikiLeaks archive provides vivid new detail about the presence of dedicated militants coming from the country of a NATO ally that has contributed troops and money to the mission in Afghanistan. At Forward Operating Base Bermel in the eastern part of Paktika Province, soldiers reported being scoped out and progressively fired upon with rockets and small arms fire by Turkish militants from the spring to the fall of 2007, the documents show. Troops at the remote outpost responded with artillery and airstrikes, even calling in Predator and Reaper drones to go after the militants. Reports of communications intercepts indicate that the Turkish fighters were supported by the al-Qaeda-aligned Haqqani network and may have operated out of militant safe havens in Pakistan. 'It’s a story that hasn’t been mainstreamed, this Turkish involvement in jihad,' says Bryan Glyn Williams, an associate professor of history at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth who’s studied Islamic militancy in Turkey, including Turkish extremist infiltration into Afghanistan. 'There is a growing Salafist-Wahhabist movement in Turkey, a lot more extreme than the [ruling Isalmic-based] AK Party.'"

Read the full story.

Related articles:
German militant killed in Pakistan, Press TV, 4 May 2010
Erdogan pledges unwavering support against terrorism, DAWN, 27 October 2009
Afghanistan drawing fresh influx of jihadi fighters, Daily Times, 19 July 2008
Old-line Taliban commander is face of rising Afghan threat, The New York Times, 17 June 2008
Foreign fighters of harsher bent bolster Taliban, Spiegel Online, 30 October 2007

Related media and reports:
Video footage of IJU terror training camp in Pakistan, The NEFA Foundation, April 2008
El Kaide Turka: Tracing an al-Qaeda splinter cell, The Jamestown Foundation // Terrorism Monitor, 6 May 2005

Related posts:
"German militant" arrested near Afghan border, 22 June 2010
Uzbek terror groups put under pressure, 5 May 2010
German jihad colonies sprout up in Waziristan, 8 April 2010
Pakistan, Turkey upgrade relationship, vow to defeat terrorism, 31 March 2010

Former ISI Spymaster Denies Links to Taliban

Former Spymaster Denies Alleged Links to the Taliban, The Sydney Morning Herald, 28 July 2010

EXCERPT: "THE Afghanistan war logs make a former Pakistan spymaster, Hamid Gul, out to be a villain helping the Taliban and al-Qaeda strike at US-led forces in Afghanistan. But the retired general mocked the leaked intelligence while sitting in his spacious home in Rawalpindi. 'My name is going to go down in the history books as the 74-year-old man who defeated the Americans and their allies, including Australia,' he told the Herald yesterday with a laugh. 'Single-handedly he demolished them, they will say. Can you believe this fiction?' General Gul was the head of Pakistan's powerful Inter-services Intelligence between 1987 and 1989, when it co-operated with the CIA to assist the Afghan mujahideen fight Soviet troops in Afghanistan. However, General Gul's name crops up frequently in the leaked war logs, linking him to insurgent plots to attack US-led forces in Afghanistan, including a meeting early last year with Taliban commanders in Pakistan's South Waziristan region to discuss a 'suicide vehicle' strike."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Former spymaster rejects Wikileaks charges as U.S. pre-exit smear, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 27 July 2010
The audacity of Hamid Gul, The Washington Post // Spy Talk, 26 July 2010
The ISI and terrorism: Behind the accusations, Council on Foreign Relations, 26 July 2010
US moves to declare former Pakistani officers international terrorists, The Long War Journal, 4 December 2008

Related posts:
Pakistan aids insurgency in Afghanistan: Leaked reports, 26 July 2010
LeT seeks to destabilise South Asia, ISI-Taliban links a problem: Holbrooke, 22 July 2010
India accuses Pakistan spy agency of executing Mumbai attacks, 14 July 2010
Afghan Taliban deny links to ISI, 16 June 2010
ISI trains, funds, and supplies Taliban: Report, 14 June 2010
CIA: ISI worth the money, 16 November 2009

Pakistan Aids Insurgency in Afghanistan: Leaked Reports

Pakistan Aids Insurgency in Afghanistan, Reports Assert, The New York Times, 26 July 2010

EXCERPT: "Americans fighting the war in Afghanistan have long harbored strong suspicions that Pakistan’s military spy service has guided the Afghan insurgency with a hidden hand, even as Pakistan receives more than $1 billion a year from Washington for its help combating the militants, according to a trove of secret military field reports made public Sunday. The documents, made available by an organization called WikiLeaks, suggest that Pakistan, an ostensible ally of the United States, allows representatives of its spy service to meet directly with the Taliban in secret strategy sessions to organize networks of militant groups that fight against American soldiers in Afghanistan, and even hatch plots to assassinate Afghan leaders. Taken together, the reports indicate that American soldiers on the ground are inundated with accounts of a network of Pakistani assets and collaborators that runs from the Pakistani tribal belt along the Afghan border, through southern Afghanistan, and all the way to the capital, Kabul. Much of the information — raw intelligence and threat assessments gathered from the field in Afghanistan— cannot be verified and likely comes from sources aligned with Afghan intelligence, which considers Pakistan an enemy, and paid informants. Some describe plots for attacks that do not appear to have taken place"

Read the full story.

Related articles:
US lawmaker says leaks paint 'outdated' Pakistan picture, DAWN, 26 July 2010
ISI denounces US intelligence reports, DAWN, 26 July 2010
US says Wikileaks could "threaten national security", BBC News, 26 July 2010
What is Wikileaks?, BBC News, 25 July 2010
WikiLeaks works to expose government secrets, but Web site's sources are a mystery, The Washington Post, 19 May 2010

Related resources:
The Afghan War Diary, WikiLeaks, 25 July 2010

Related posts:
Pakistan in the danger zone: A tenuous US-Pakistan relationship, 29 June 2010
Negotiating with the Taliban: Issues and prospects, 28 June 2010
ISI trains, funds, and supplies Taliban: Report, 14 June 2010
US praises Pakistan's "excellent cooperation"; Security pledge made, 19 May 2010
NATO, Pakistan to pursue closer relations, February 4 2010