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Fazl Saeed’s defection deadly blow to TTP
July 08, 2011
Defection of Saeed would further weaken the TTP and in Kurram Agency it has lost its strong bases. The killing of Shakiruallah Shakir, the TTP commander, is a clear indication that how the TTP is getting weaker and weaker and Hakimullah Mehsud has failed so far to trace the killer of his commander. The opponents would want to further divide the TTP and ultimately diminish its influence in the area. Haqani network has good relations with the TTP and with the defected group as well, so the possibility of reconciliation does exist. Although Saeed told a media conference in Kurram that his move was the result of a chronic disagreement with the TTP main leadership’s policies, it appeared to be supplementing Haqqani’s quest to seek new sanctuaries in the region from where penetration into Afghanistan is easier than from anywhere else. “Islam does not allow killings of innocent civilians in suicide attacks,” he said, likening what TTP does in Pakistan to “what US troops are doing in Afghanistan” and vowing to continue the fight alone against the Americans. Saeed commands an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 militants.
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As the US has engaged Afghan Taliban in dialogue keeping Pakistan off the table, Pakistan in order to secure its turf has somehow succeeded in breaking down the HakimullahMehsud’s network on this side of the border.
A Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander of the Shia-dominated Kurram tribal region last week announced his separation from the main group in protest against the bombing of mosques and civilians. FazlSaeed was appointed by TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud as the group’s leader for Kurram – one of seven tribal regions located at the centre of Pakistan’s border badlands with direct access to Haqqani’s stronghold of North Waziristan and Afghanistan. FazlSaeed disconnection with TTP is being considered the great victory of top spy agency of Pakistan since the TTP had carried out thousands of suicide attacks on military and civilians and almost killed 35,000 civilians.
Defection of Saeed would further weaken the TTP and in Kurram Agency it has lost its strong bases. The killing of Shakiruallah Shakir, the TTP commander, is a clear indication that how the TTP is getting weaker and weaker and Hakimullah Mehsud has failed so far to trace the killer of his commander. The opponents would want to further divide the TTP and ultimately diminish its influence in the area. Haqani network has good relations with the TTP and with the defected group as well, so the possibility of reconciliation does exist. Although Saeed told a media conference in Kurram that his move was the result of a chronic disagreement with the TTP main leadership’s policies, it appeared to be supplementing Haqqani’s quest to seek new sanctuaries in the region from where penetration into Afghanistan is easier than from anywhere else.
“Islam does not allow killings of innocent civilians in suicide attacks,” he said, likening what TTP does in Pakistan to “what US troops are doing in Afghanistan” and vowing to continue the fight alone against the Americans. Saeed commands an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 militants. Hinting at a possible a split in Pakistan’s deadliest militant outfit blamed for more than 4,500 deaths in attacks since July 2007, Saeed said he had decided to form a new organisation — Tehreek-i-Taliban Islami. According to militant sources, TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud has sought help from Haqqani for a truce with Saeed, who quit the group to protest against what he called “brutal” attacks on civilians. The sources told that TTP had strong relation with Haqqani Network as Haqqani network used to buy suicide bombers from TTP and used them for their purpose.
The move came after several years of efforts by the Pakistani security establishment as well as the Haqqani network’s elders to broker a truce between warring Sunni – backed by the TTP – and Shia tribes. A peace agreement was finally reached early this year but the TTP continued to kill and kidnap Shias to sabotage the deal, earning rage from Sirajuddin Haqqani who once warned Hakimullah against such attempts. Locals, who frequently travel to the area, said that some of Haqqani’s men had already been shifted to lower parts of Kurram which have been relatively peaceful over the years. With the TTP main leader turning against the group, there won’t be any challenge for the Haqqani network to get a firm foothold in Kurram.
A couple of strikes last week by US-operated predators inside Kurram – for the first time during the five-year drone campaign – appeared to be suggesting that the Haqqanis might have been planning to take over the region for their fresh offensive in Afghanistan. In recent months, there has been increasing American pressure on the Pakistan military to go all out against the network that policymakers in Washington term the “deadliest on the planet earth”. The Pakistani security apparatus has so far been resisting the pressure but insiders have said the situation has almost reached its boiling point with Americans saying they are running out of patience.
Recent reports suggested the plan to move parts of the Haqqani network to Kurram and Afghanistan might have been a strategic move before the Pakistani military goes into North Waziristan for an eyewash sort of operation. There is popular opinion in Pakistan that the country’s security establishment would never abandon the network of Afghan militants who have been standing firm with it all the way since jihad in the war-torn country started in the early ‘80s.
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