Mutiny in the ranks

More infighting in the Taliban

Going by news reports, there has been a significant achievement in the war against terrorism. The old guard of the TTP, or what is left of the umbrella group, has fallen out with the new chief, Mulla Fazlullah, and for all intents and purposes Jamaatul Ahrar (JA) is now the new face of the rebellion. On the surface, this implies an internal collision, which suits Zarb-e-Azb well. But scratch the surface a little and an interesting dimension of the intel-intensive part of the operation comes into play.

The new body’s spokesman, also the old body’s main mouthpiece in Hakeemullah’s days, Ehsanullah Ehsan, tried to push JA a little too close to Mullah Umar and the Afghan Taliban. They did the same in the old days, but then it became clear that Pakistani Taliban were in contact with Afghanistan’s security service at a time when the Afghan Taliban were at war with Kabul. And Umar was still allegedly associated with the Pakistani military, whose war with the TTP eventually led to the NW operation earlier in the year. So a working relationship between Afghan Taliban and TTP was impossible.

But now that Ehsan is again hinting at an alliance with Umar’s boys, he is also betraying more than just a split among the Taliban. In intelligence jargon, JA’s actions are also being seen as an offer to reach out to the right side of Zarb-e-Azb. If true, such developments imply that the soft side of the operation, meant at wooing critical commanders away from the core group supported by Afghan intelligence, seems to be working. And since, going by ISPR, the operation has been a resounding success so far, such developments are not entirely out of the question. But a lot still needs to be explained. The war might be going fine, but the military has been silent for a while now. Also, despite loud claims of outright victory, there is little documentary evidence to corroborate the claim. The military must realise by now that this war is different from its previous outings, and keeping the public informed is a key benchmark of success. Therefore, whatever is going on must be categorically explained to the public as well.