New Delhi: Taliban leader Beitullah Mehsud has declared war against the state of Pakistan. For the first time Mehsud has formally acknowledged an operation against the state – the attack on the Manawan Police Academy.
In an interview over the telephone with a news agency he confirmed saying, “Yes, we have carried out this attack. It was in retaliation for the continued drone strikes on our people by the US in collaboration with Pakistan. Such attacks will continue until the Pakistan government stops supporting the Americans.”
Pakistani investigations suggest the Manawan attack was not Mehsud's lone ranger operation. The planning and execution was as much that of two Taliban allies he recently buried the hatchet with, and it doesn't end there.
Pro-Taliban groups all across Pakistan are coming together in a common commitment to realising the ideals of al-Qaeda, whether in Afghanistan or Pakistan.
Needless to say the inspiration remains Osama bin Laden and backing them up from North Waziristan in Pakistan is former CIA operative and Afghan warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani, joining them in South Waziristan are the Pashtun Talban commanders Beitullah Mehsud and Maulvi Nazir fighting together under the banner of the United Jihad Council.
Further south in Punjab, the anti-India Lashkar-e-Toiba of Hafiz Sayeed and the virulently anti-Shia Lashkar-e-Jhangvi of Ajmal Lahori make up this deadly jihadi cocktail.
Helping them along, reportedly, are elements of the ISI who are providing funds, training and strategic guidance. However, Pakistan has vehemently denied these claims.
“Our army and our ISI are totally professional. They're secure and pro-democracy. ISI and the US were old friends,” Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani
But there's no doubt that the Jihadi cocktail is spreading, the Manawan outrage is a warning and a promise of more to come.
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