Monday, December 10, 2012

The Afghan quagmire continues

Iran may be involved if the US opted for drone attacks in Balochistan and this is bad news for Pakistan

The 'war on terror' may or may not eliminate Al-Qaeda and the Taliban in the tribal areas of Pakistan but it seems it would cost dearly to a state that is already headed towards fragmentation. Now that the 100-days-old Obama government has decided to expand the American covert war in Pakistan, far beyond the unruly tribal areas to strike at a different centre of Taliban power in Balochistan, where top Taliban leaders are orchestrating attacks in southern Afghanistan. “Mullah Muhammad Omar, who led the Taliban government that was ousted in the American-led invasion in 2001, has operated with near impunity out of the region for years, along with many of his deputies,” the New York Times reported. Citing American intelligence officials, it further said many top Taliban commanders remain in hiding in and around the provincial headquarters in Balochistan, while some Afghan officials claim that other senior Taliban leaders have fled to Pakistan.

What does this mean? If the US administration goes for drone attacks in and around Quetta, it would lead to collateral damage in the largely Pashtun belt of Balochistan. “For the last 62 years, Baloch people are displaced. Now if the Americans opt for drone attacks in and around Quetta, Pashtuns will be displaced,” Nawab Khair Bux Marri, veteran Baloch leader told B&E.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

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