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Between the Devil & Deep State

The devil’s disciples have descended on Balochistan with full force this year, their evil machinations on naked display in the gory games being played within the region’s strategic depths. While an emerging Islamic State (IS) militant group has claimed responsibility for the recent assault on a police academy in Quetta, security officials believe that Lashkar-i-Jhangvi al-Alami (LJ-A) executed the carnage. In a series of terror attacks — including the targeting of Quetta’s Civil Hospital on Aug 8, which killed at least 70 lawyers — there is increasing evidence that banned militant outfits are not only emerging with new names, but are also expanding their scope of activities from sectarian attacks to targeting state institutions in a cross-border rage. These are ominous developments. Balochistan finds itself caught between the terrorist devils unleashed by dark elements of deep states within the region, their tentacles spreading far and wide. Our intelligence sleuths are convinced that those responsible for Quetta’s mayhem were sponsored and steered by the hostile intelligence agencies of some neighbouring countries. According to security officials investigating these attacks, local militant groups — especially Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ) and its offshoot LJ-A, along with Jamaatul Ahrar — have developed a nexus with IS masterminds in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province. Over the last five months, Uzbek, Tajik and Afghan nationals have been inducted as part of an orchestrated terror campaign. Let us examine the resurgence of LJ under the new brand of LJ-A. One of the deadliest sectarian militant outfits, it is affiliated with both the TTP and Al Qaeda. As part of a drive against banned outfits as stipulated in the National Action Plan, it was claimed that LJ stood completely eliminated following a police ‘encounter’ in Punjab on July 29, 2015, in which chief of the defunct outfit, Malik Ishaq, was killed along with four other key leaders. However, the lethal organisation...

Between the Devil & Deep State

The devil’s disciples have descended on Balochistan with full force this year, their evil machinations on naked display in the gory games being played within the region’s strategic depths. While an emerging Islamic State (IS) militant group has claimed responsibility for the recent assault on a police academy in Quetta, security officials believe that Lashkar-i-Jhangvi al-Alami (LJ-A) executed the carnage. In a series of terror attacks — including the targeting of Quetta’s Civil Hospital on Aug 8, which killed at least 70 lawyers — there is increasing evidence that banned militant outfits are not only emerging with new names, but are also expanding their scope of activities from sectarian attacks to targeting state institutions in a cross-border rage. These are ominous developments. Balochistan finds itself caught between the terrorist devils unleashed by dark elements of deep states within the region, their tentacles spreading far and wide. Our intelligence sleuths are convinced that those responsible for Quetta’s mayhem were sponsored and steered by the hostile intelligence agencies of some neighbouring countries. According to security officials investigating these attacks, local militant groups — especially Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ) and its offshoot LJ-A, along with Jamaatul Ahrar — have developed a nexus with IS masterminds in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province. Over the last five months, Uzbek, Tajik and Afghan nationals have been inducted as part of an orchestrated terror campaign. Let us examine the resurgence of LJ under the new brand of LJ-A. One of the deadliest sectarian militant outfits, it is affiliated with both the TTP and Al Qaeda. As part of a drive against banned outfits as stipulated in the National Action Plan, it was claimed that LJ stood completely eliminated following a police ‘encounter’ in Punjab on July 29, 2015, in which chief of the defunct outfit, Malik Ishaq, was killed along with four other key leaders. However, the lethal organisation...

Afghanistan Tries to Clean Up Its Militias, Both Legal And Illegal

On the outskirts of a remote district in northern Afghanistan’s Takhar province, about 80 armed men gathered near the front line of a Taliban-controlled village, ready for battle. Half the fighters were members of the Afghan Local Police, a U.S.-backed militia supervised by the Afghan interior ministry. The others were guns for hire loyal to local power brokers, some of whom are paid with the proceeds from opium sales. For more than three hours the combined forces battled the Taliban in the Koka Bloq area of Eshkamesh district, killing several insurgents including Qari Omar, the top local Taliban official, according to government accounts of the July fighting. When the battle was over, the armed groups went their separate ways. But next time, the guns for hire and police could just as easily be shooting at each other. As Afghanistan tries to institute reforms in its security sector, it has struggled to bring order to the dizzying array of militias, irregular fighters, personal bodyguards and other armed groups that often fight the Taliban but also battle among themselves. In Takhar, which lies along the border with Tajikistan, local officials say influential figures have created several irregular armed groups to carry out private missions in various districts. They cultivate hashish, smuggle it and opium to Tajikistan and extort local farmers with ushr – an Islamic land tax usually levied only in times of economic crisis. Both the irregular militias and ALP units have been accused of robberies, killings, blackmail and forcing women into marriage, provincial officials say. “They have taken government weapons for their own benefit and have had several clashes over power, drug deals and other internal issues,” said the deputy governor of Takhar, Farid Zaki. A key driver of the conflict in Takhar is the poppy crop from which opium is produced, the main revenue source for Afghan armed groups, chiefly the Taliban. Local officials say poppy is smuggled into Takhar from...

Australia Mulls Joint Naval Patrols with Indonesia, To Beijing’s Chagrin

Australia is considering an offer of joint naval patrols with Indonesia in the South China Sea. With the balance of power shifting in the region, Beijing will not be pleased. The possibility was raised during meetings between Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop (pictured below), Defence Minister Marise Payne and Indonesian officials including Defence Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu in Jakarta last week. Ryacudu was cited by the "Sydney Morning Herald" as saying he had proposed a "peace patrol" with Australia. Australia and Indonesia already conduct joint sea patrols in the Timor Sea to combat people smuggling and illegal fishing. "There are no intentions to disrupt the relationship (with China). It is called a peace patrol, it brings peace. It is about protecting fish in each other's areas," Ryacudu said. Bishop, meanwhile, said such a move would be "consistent with our policies of exercising our right of freedom of navigation." "That's in accordance with international law and our support for peace and stability in the region," Bishop told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio. Australia - a strong ally of the US and with no claims of its own in the area - has been criticized by China for running surveillance flights over disputed islands in the South China Sea - an area where $5 trillion of sea-borne trade transits annually - and supporting US freedom of navigation exercises. A Chinese H-6K bomber patrols the islands and reefs in the South China Sea China - which recently told Australia to "speak and act cautiously" on the South China Sea - claims almost the entire sea as its own. In July, an arbitration court in the Hague said Beijing's claims to the waterway were invalid, after a case was brought by the Philippines. Beijing, which has built a number of artificial islands with landing strips in the sea, has refused to recognize the ruling. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims on parts of the sea, which also has rich deposits of oil...

Australia Mulls Joint Naval Patrols with Indonesia, To Beijing's Chagrin

Australia is considering an offer of joint naval patrols with Indonesia in the South China Sea. With the balance of power shifting in the region, Beijing will not be pleased. The possibility was raised during meetings between Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop (pictured below), Defence Minister Marise Payne and Indonesian officials including Defence Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu in Jakarta last week. Ryacudu was cited by the "Sydney Morning Herald" as saying he had proposed a "peace patrol" with Australia. Australia and Indonesia already conduct joint sea patrols in the Timor Sea to combat people smuggling and illegal fishing. "There are no intentions to disrupt the relationship (with China). It is called a peace patrol, it brings peace. It is about protecting fish in each other's areas," Ryacudu said. Bishop, meanwhile, said such a move would be "consistent with our policies of exercising our right of freedom of navigation." "That's in accordance with international law and our support for peace and stability in the region," Bishop told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio. Australia - a strong ally of the US and with no claims of its own in the area - has been criticized by China for running surveillance flights over disputed islands in the South China Sea - an area where $5 trillion of sea-borne trade transits annually - and supporting US freedom of navigation exercises. A Chinese H-6K bomber patrols the islands and reefs in the South China Sea China - which recently told Australia to "speak and act cautiously" on the South China Sea - claims almost the entire sea as its own. In July, an arbitration court in the Hague said Beijing's claims to the waterway were invalid, after a case was brought by the Philippines. Beijing, which has built a number of artificial islands with landing strips in the sea, has refused to recognize the ruling. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims on parts of the sea, which also has rich deposits of oil...

Upset at Being Sidelined In Talks, Pakistan Warns Taliban

Two senior Taliban figures said that Pakistan issued a stark warning to the militant group, apparently surprised and angered over being excluded from the insurgents' secret talks with the Afghan government. They said the Pakistani government warned the Taliban that unless they consult with Islamabad during the negotiations all top Taliban leaders will be forced to leave Pakistan along with their families. The Islamabad ultimatum was given last week to a three-person Taliban delegation visiting Pakistan from Qatar, where the militant group's political office is located, said the two Taliban figures. They spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the talks. Pakistan's government declined to comment on Monday. It denies Afghan accusations that Islamabad is providing a safe haven to the Taliban. "We won't communicate with the Taliban through the media. I have no comment to make," said Sartaj Aziz, a government adviser on foreign affairs. The three members of the Taliban delegation are Mullah Salam Hanifi and Mullah Jan Mohammed, both former ministers in the Taliban government, and Maulvi Shahabuddin Dilawar, a former ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan . They arrived from Qatar two weeks ago, apparently aiming to smooth Pakistan's ruffled feathers after it was revealed that the Taliban held secret talks with the Afghan government in September and October. Under pressure from both Washington and Kabul to get the Taliban to the negotiating table, Islamabad has been frustrated by the refusal of Taliban leaders living in Pakistan to participate in talks. The three Taliban representatives are now in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's southwest Baluchistan province, to brief other leaders of the group about their discussions with Pakistani officials, said the two Taliban figures. Many of the Taliban leaders living in Pakistan are accompanied by their children, who attend school in the country. Several also own...

Afghanistan’s Ailing Infrastructure is Precipitating a Water Crisis

Decades of conflict have left Afghanistan’s water infrastructure in a mess and as refugees return to the country, the prospect of water-related conflicts rises. Hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees are starting the long trek back home after the latest donors’ conference to rebuild Afghanistan. As they do so, much of the commentary is about conflict and their immediate safety and while that will dominate concerns, the broken infrastructure they return to is generating concerns for the future. In early October the Afghan Ministry for Energy and Water, in cooperation with the International Water Management Institute, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation and thethirdpole.net held the country’s first journalists’ workshop on the Indus Basin. Afghanistan has the worst statistics in the region when it comes to sanitation facilities. Only 32% of the population has access to improved sanitation facilities – in India the percentage is 40%, in Nepal it is 46% and in Pakistan it is 64%. Decades of civil war have taken a savage toll on the infrastructure of the country. According to a study by the German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, 59% of the water in the urban areas of Kabul is contaminated with bacteria, 47% exceeded the safe limit for nitrates set by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and 66% of them exceeded WHO prescribed limits for salinity. Maybe more important is that during the conflict the infrastructural development has remained stuck where it was in the 1980s but the Afghan population has expanded tremendously since then. In 1980 the population of Afghanistan was just under 13 million. In 2015 it was 27.1 million, more than twice the number. During this period the development of water resources or access to clean water has remained stagnant. Unsurprisingly Afghanistan is projected to be among the 33 most water-scarce countries in the world (in the region, Pakistan is projected to be even more water stressed). Given the...

Afghanistan’s Age of Transformation

The Afghanistan of today would surprise most outsiders, even those who closely follow developments in the country. We are often wrongly branded as a failing state with a struggling government whose young people are fleeing en masse for Europe and whose military has lost control of the security situation. While anecdotal evidence can always be found to lend isolated support to such claims, this sweeping characterization offers a distorted picture of reality. Afghans have always valued and cherished their freedom and sovereignty, as evidenced by our years of fighting off foreign and domestic enemies who sought to take both. Now we are reaching for new goals: freedom from dependence on foreign aid, freedom from corruption, freedom from outdated thinking that justifies the oppression of half our population, and freedom from sclerotic bureaucracy that prevents everything from citizens’ access to justice to the smooth functioning of a free market. Afghans overwhelmingly want a modern, sustainable, and self-reliant country whose government serves and is accountable to its people. Yes, the past 15 years have seen war, but they have also produced remarkable growth. Afghan society is thriving, which is a testament to the incredible resilience of the Afghan people. You might be familiar with the progress Afghanistan has made in the areas of education and on women’s rights, but there have also been advances in health, infrastructure, in media and telecommunication, and in sports and culture. 2001 to 2016 has been a time of hardship and sacrifice, but also one of innovation and hope. Today, 25 percent of our cabinet ministers are women, and there are scores of female deputy ministers, ambassadors, district governors, members of parliament, and civil servants. Afghan telecommunication companies cover some 90 percent of the population, which has an estimated 20 million cell phone users. Our media sector is thriving and can rightly be called the freest in the region. When...

Afghan Exodus: Can the Afghan government deal with more returnees from Europe?

In the first nine months of this year, over 5,000 Afghans voluntary returned to Afghanistan from Europe. The recent signing of an agreement between Afghanistan and the European Union to allow deportations of those who have not been accepted as asylum seekers means the numbers of Afghans returning from Europe will rise. AAN ’s Jelena Bjelica and Fazal Muzhary have been looking into the fate of recent returnees, who may have gone heavily into debt to fund their trip, and hearing from two young men who have just returned from Norway after trying to bicycle their way to a life in Europe. This dispatch is part of a joint migration series by AAN and the Kabul office of the German foundation Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES). In early October 2016, Afghanistan signed four new readmission agreements, with Germany, Sweden, Finland and the EU. (2) These new agreements are a response to the large influx of Afghan asylum seekers in 2015 and 2016, with over a quarter of a million Afghans arriving in Europe in this period (see AAN earlier reporting on Afghan migration. Germany, one of the main countries pushing for a deal, received the bulk of the influx, with 180,000 asylum applications by Afghans in 2015 and 2016. The agreements were partly in response to the trouble European countries faced in getting the Afghan authorities to cooperate with the deportation of failed Afghan asylum seekers. The agreements have widely been interpreted as a signal that European countries intend to significantly accelerate the rate of forced and voluntary returns. Voluntary and forced returns On 24 February 2016, a group of 125 Afghans arrived in Kabul from Germany This was the first group of voluntary returnees from Germany, after Europe’s ‘migration crisis’ in 2015. Germany hosts the highest number of Afghan refugees after Pakistan and Iran (for the number of Afghan refugees in Germany for the last 13 years. Apart from having their trips back to Afghanistan paid, the German government – in...

Afghanistan Failures Rising, Progress Eroding 15 Years After U.S. Intervention

Opium production is up 43 percent in Afghanistan, the economy is struggling and the government has lost ground to insurgents over the last year, according to an inspector general’s report released Sunday that shows ongoing failures overshadowing the few signs of hope. Afghan army recruits increasingly are coming from the better-educated parts of society, and the army reports a high esprit de corps, but more of them also are being contacted by “anti-government elements” looking so sow dissension, the U.S. special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction said in its quarterly report to Congress. The country averages 68 security incidents a day — the majority of which are shootouts, followed by explosive devices — and the first six months of 2016 were the deadliest in seven years. Nearly a third of the more than 5,000 killed or injured were children. More people are fleeing as refugees, seeking to escape worsening conditions and adding to the surge of Middle Easterners who are putting pressure on the U.S. and Europe. “Past gains are eroding: poverty, unemployment, underemployment, violence, out-migration, internal displacement, and the education gender gap have all increased, while services and private investment have decreased,” said the inspector general, citing World Bank conclusions. Fifteen years after the U.S. intervened to oust the Taliban government, taxpayers have ponied up some $115.2 billion for relief and reconstruction, yet Afghanistan continues to struggle on many of the key ways to measure that investment. This article originally appeared on www.washingtontimes.com , 30, October, 2016. Original link. Disclaimer: Views expressed in the article are not necessarily supported by CRSS.