After the death of Osama bin Laden, America and its allies thought that they had broken the back of the terrorists. But that didn’t happen, at least, in Pakistan. The sudden death of OBL was indeed a jolt for his supporters but they organised with a new verve post his demise and the forceful retaliatory attack a mere three days after the capture of al-Mauritani depicts the power of Al-Qaeda within Pakistan. He was nabbed on the 5th of September and the DIG Balochistan of the Frontier Corps’ house was attacked on the 7th; the attack was of a magnitude that Quetta hadn’t witnessed before. The abode of the FC’s officer is no less than a fortress and due to Balochistan’s turbulent security situation, the security arrangements at his house were extraordinarily tight and al-Mauritani’s capture also must have necessitated some tightening in the protection of the security forces. The fact that the attack took place despite all this is a clear indication of Al-Qaeda’s strength.
There have been reports of a long consultation process that had started amongst the cohorts of OBL in North Waziristan after his death, which included al-Zawahiri. A lot of names were brought under consideration to head the Pakistani branch of the organisation and in the end, the decision was in favour of some nameless man known as “Shah jee”. During these negotiation, representatives of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and one other organisation were also present.
The people with an eye on the situation maintain that Al-Qaeda’s network in Pakistan is much more entrenched and organised than is understood or estimated. The attack on the naval base in Karachi is clear evidence. That action was also retaliatory like the one in Quetta. As the late Saleem Shahzad revealed, a secret Al-Qaeda cell had been unmasked within the navy and ten of its members were under arrest and being investigated. At that time, Ilyas Kashmiri had contacted navy officials on behalf of Al-Qaeda and threatened that if the proceedings against his arrested associates were not ceased, then the navy should be ready to face the consequences.
The Navy had offered to merely release the culprits from service and not imprison them but the Al-Qaeda was adamant that they be pardoned and reinstated so that it can still have a cell of sympathisers within the navy. Obviously, the navy could not have accepted this demand and had to face the resultant fallout, the details of which we all know. Later investigations into the incident revealed that insiders in the navy had aided the terrorist in conducting their operation successfully.
A few days ago, General Aslam Beg had hinted at an unsuccessful attempt of rebellion in one of his articles. He did not detail the plans of this coup d’etat but the planners belonged to an extremist network as per information doing the rounds. The existence of such elements within the navy, and the armed forces, is indeed a disturbing fact. When such a conspiracy is unearthed within the forces, one is more disturbed than satisfied. Obviously, the foiling of such plans is a positive development but the very fact that these elements exist and are scattered within the armed forces is very unsettling. One can’t but shudder to imagine where they are, what they’re up to, whose benefaction they enjoy and what are their plans.
It is disquieting to think of the extent Al-Qaeda has dug its claws into Pakistan. A recent report has said that Al-Qaeda has networks in all the major cities of Pakistan. Members of banned organisation are also present within the country and they also have every kind of weapon at their disposal. During the so-called jihad in Afghanistan, all these organisations established strong linkages with Al-Qaeda. Those links continue to this day. These organisations are all assets for Al-Qaeda.
Nobody knows the extent of Al-Qaeda’s network in Karachi. It has been surmised that its strongest network exists in the port city barring that in North Waziristan. It has been outfitted with the latest communication technology in the metropolis and the Al-Qaeda information mills throughout the world are operated from here.
Support for Al-Qaeda is present on an expansive scale within Pakistan. That became evident after the death of OBL. The banned organisation Lashkar-e-Tayyaba’s leader, Hafiz Saeed, did not adopt any pretences and conducted bin Laden’s funeral prayers in the open. Funeral services were also held in many other places and people gave speeches in support of his mission. All these incidents were not covered extensively by the media but their reports were spread everywhere.
If one assesses the international aims of Al-Qaeda, Pakistan comes out as its natural target. Trends of religious extremism are already prevalent. More or less, all madrassahs advocate an extreme strain of religious thought. The proselytes of Al-Qaeda are allowed to work almost everywhere in Pakistan. From little villages to mega urban centres like Karachi, associates of Al-Qaeda will find gracious hosts everywhere. Their hosts will not only wine and dine with them but also aid them with their movement and subterfuges. There is no counting those journals, magazines and pamphlets that spread the message of Al-Qaeda.
Pakistan’s security apparatus is a special target of Al-Qaeda. The members of these institutions are given the literature and messages of Al-Qaeda through clandestine means. The medium of the SMS is widely used. Many of you must have also read texts that were meant to target the civil and military servants of the government of Pakistan. Such messages are reaching thousands of people due to the use of the latest technology.
It’s hard to assess the scourge of terrorism and its extent. It’s clear as day now that it is possible for terrorists to have access to sensitive institutions and instalments. The story of what happened at the Karachi naval base is now widespread. That base had modern and the deadliest weapons stored there. And after listening to the analysis of some ex-navy officials, some people are even conjecturing that the base had nuclear warheads. If that is true, then who can say with conviction that terrorists will not have access to Pakistan’s nuclear armaments?
Al-Qaeda has the support of many banned militant organisations. And the militants who are frustrated by the Kashmir situation are also looking towards Al-Qaeda for guidance. The terrorists that were allowed to spread their roots in the country during the Afghan war are now causing huge problems for Pakistan. We have no idea to what extent the powers that be have a grip on the situation and what they are doing to combat it. But we all know of the lawlessness and societal chaos that our society is afflicted with right now. Such disorder is very conducive for any armed and organised group to do what it wants.
We have no idea what is going on, away from the eyes of the government and public. But incidents such as the GHQ attack, Quetta attack and the PNS Mehran attack signal towards the fact that their reach is widening and their foothold is getting stronger. The supporters of such organisation are saying that they have brought America to its knees and forced it to abscond from Afghanistan. When they express such sentiments, it is not difficult to gauge what their wider aims are. Which is why I keep saying, the primary threat we face is internal, not external.
The writer is one of Pakistan’s most widely read columnists.