MULTAN,May 31st:The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is not the sole terrorist group threatening the country and the region, as Punjabi groups are deepening their ties with the Taliban, representing a growing threat for the country.
This was highlighted by the twin attacks in Lahore on Friday in which around 80 members of the Ahmedi sect were killed. Initial investigations suggested a possible link to the Taliban operating from Waziristan.
Security officials in the region say while there are no “militant strongholds” in the province for them to enable them to operate independently - as is the case in the Tribal Areas - their presence in the area, especially in southern Punjab, cannot be denied.
These terrorists are overwhelmingly members of banned organisations like the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Sipah-e-Sahaba, long tolerated or even sponsored by the military and intelligence establishment. But now they are starting to turn on the country, thanks to the growing influence of the TTP and its ally al Qaeda.
“Those militants who were hiding in southern Punjab are now surfacing,” Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Sunday in Lahore as he visited one of the attacked worship places. “We have information they could attack the shia community.”
There are more than 20,000 madrassas in the country, he said, and 44 percent are in Punjab. The government has also banned 29 organisations and put 1,764 people on its wanted lists. Of them, 729 are from southern Punjab.All these outfits traditionally have roots in Punjab and underscore the risk terrorists pose to the country’s economically most important province and its traditional seat of power.“These are the people who took part in the Afghan war and got training there,” said Mohsin Leghari, an opposition member of the Punjab Assembly.“This is the only thing they know, so it is no surprise if they develop links with the Taliban in the northwest,” said Leghari, whose constituency includes the tribal belt of Dera Ghazi Khan in southern Punjab.However, Leghari as well as security officials in the region denied that southern Punjab was a hub of terror activities.“This is all rumour-based information. It’s exaggerated,” said Ahmad Mubarik, the police chief of Dera Ghazi Khan. “This is not the hub of militants. I don’t think that is true.”But the recent surrender by Hanif Gabol, an alleged commander of the Taliban hailing from Dera Ghazi Khan, has once again highlighted the terrorists operational network in the region.
Gabol has reportedly told police that he trained in Waziristan and led a group of about 25 men associated with the TTP, and was involved in dozens of terrorist activities.More ominous for Pakistan, these attacks in Lahore on Friday show that ties between Punjabi organisations and the TTP are not just increasing the southern groups’ capabilities, but also providing cover for the TTP to operate outside their traditional tribal strongholds on the border with Afghanistan.A security official in Bahawalpur, considered the headquarters of Jaish-e-Muhammad, said there was no doubt that some of the dozens of madrassas there were involved in recruiting volunteers for the Taliban.But said the presence of terrorists was not new, and not directly linked to the rise of the Taliban.
“There is a presence of militants in that area for sure. But it is a long-standing presence, and they were there even before the Taliban became the Taliban,” security analyst Ikram Sehgal said
This was highlighted by the twin attacks in Lahore on Friday in which around 80 members of the Ahmedi sect were killed. Initial investigations suggested a possible link to the Taliban operating from Waziristan.
Security officials in the region say while there are no “militant strongholds” in the province for them to enable them to operate independently - as is the case in the Tribal Areas - their presence in the area, especially in southern Punjab, cannot be denied.
These terrorists are overwhelmingly members of banned organisations like the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Sipah-e-Sahaba, long tolerated or even sponsored by the military and intelligence establishment. But now they are starting to turn on the country, thanks to the growing influence of the TTP and its ally al Qaeda.
“Those militants who were hiding in southern Punjab are now surfacing,” Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Sunday in Lahore as he visited one of the attacked worship places. “We have information they could attack the shia community.”
There are more than 20,000 madrassas in the country, he said, and 44 percent are in Punjab. The government has also banned 29 organisations and put 1,764 people on its wanted lists. Of them, 729 are from southern Punjab.All these outfits traditionally have roots in Punjab and underscore the risk terrorists pose to the country’s economically most important province and its traditional seat of power.“These are the people who took part in the Afghan war and got training there,” said Mohsin Leghari, an opposition member of the Punjab Assembly.“This is the only thing they know, so it is no surprise if they develop links with the Taliban in the northwest,” said Leghari, whose constituency includes the tribal belt of Dera Ghazi Khan in southern Punjab.However, Leghari as well as security officials in the region denied that southern Punjab was a hub of terror activities.“This is all rumour-based information. It’s exaggerated,” said Ahmad Mubarik, the police chief of Dera Ghazi Khan. “This is not the hub of militants. I don’t think that is true.”But the recent surrender by Hanif Gabol, an alleged commander of the Taliban hailing from Dera Ghazi Khan, has once again highlighted the terrorists operational network in the region.
Gabol has reportedly told police that he trained in Waziristan and led a group of about 25 men associated with the TTP, and was involved in dozens of terrorist activities.More ominous for Pakistan, these attacks in Lahore on Friday show that ties between Punjabi organisations and the TTP are not just increasing the southern groups’ capabilities, but also providing cover for the TTP to operate outside their traditional tribal strongholds on the border with Afghanistan.A security official in Bahawalpur, considered the headquarters of Jaish-e-Muhammad, said there was no doubt that some of the dozens of madrassas there were involved in recruiting volunteers for the Taliban.But said the presence of terrorists was not new, and not directly linked to the rise of the Taliban.
“There is a presence of militants in that area for sure. But it is a long-standing presence, and they were there even before the Taliban became the Taliban,” security analyst Ikram Sehgal said
