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General Sympathy: Aiding the Taliban

By Zahid Hussain 18 November 2009 6 Comments
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The enemy within: Ex-army officers have joined militant groups in Pakistan. But are there Taliban sympathisers still in uniform? Photo: AFP

Several retired Pakistani military officers and soldiers have joined the Islamic militants who are now at war with their former institution. Mohammed Aqeel, the ring leader of the bloody siege of the army’s headquarters in October, worked in the army’s medical corps before joining the militants operating from the lawless tribal region of Waziristan.

Earlier this year the Pakistani police arrested Major Haroon Rashid, who worked for the Al-Qaeda and the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and was involved in the murder of a retired general of the Special Services Group (SSG), who had spearheaded the operation against militants. Major Haroon, who sports a long beard, quit the army in 2001 after Pakistan announced its support for the US attack on Afghanistan. He travelled to Waziristan where he trained the militants.

Captain Khurram, his younger brother, went to Afghanistan to fight alongside the Taliban insurgents after resigning from the army in 2002. He was killed fighting the British forces in Helmand in 2002. Ilyas Kashmiri, a retired army commando, was one of the most dreaded militant commanders who was killed in a US drone strike in North Waziristan last month.

According to intelligence sources, many former soldiers are either fighting in Afghanistan or helping the Taliban forces in northwestern Pakistan. They have been involved in the planning and formulation of strategies that have made the militant attacks more effective.

The militants also have sympathisers among the serving officers. At least six army officers, including those of the ranks of colonel and major, were arrested a few years ago for their alleged links with the Al-Qaeda and other militant groups. Among them was a major with whom Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of 9/11 attacks, stayed at the Kohat Garrison before he was arrested in 2003.

How deeply the militants have penetrated the security forces was revealed when several low-ranking air force personnel were arrested for their involvement in a failed plot to assassinate former president General Pervez Musharraf in 2003. They were members of Jaish-e-Mohammed, a banned Pakistani militant outfit which was closely linked with the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. That incident led to a massive purge in the air force and the army.

Analysts maintain that there are still some officers with radical Islamic leanings in the military ranks who are not happy with Pakistan’s offensive against the militants. Interestingly, there are many more bearded officers and soldiers than before. And while not all of them might necessarily be inclined towards Islamic militancy, there is always the danger of their turning to jihad.

Pakistani award-winning journalist and writer Zahid Hussain is a senior editor with Newsline and a correspondent for The Times of London, Newsweek and The Wall Street Journal. He has also covered Pakistan and Afghanistan for several other international publications, including the Associated Press (AP) and The Economist. His book Frontline Pakistan: The Struggle With Militant Islam has won widespread acclaim as a seminal text on the subject.


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6 Comments »

  • Salman said:

    I think a case by case study is needed of all the inidividuals mentioned in this article. For example, take Major Haroon Rashid: it would be interesting to know what missions Rashid had conducted with the Pakistan Army before joining the Taliban, what was his ethnic background, his religious leanings etc to investigate what really was the turning point for them to take such a radical step. Yes, we already about these people and what they’ve done as mentioned in this post, but it would be better for the public if one digged a little deeper than the obvious…

    # 19 November 2009 at 4:01 am
  • Online Editor said:

    Salman: Valid point. Exploring people and personalities is key to good stories. It would be no easy task though: getting access to the right people (those named and those who worked with them and questioned them) would be necessary. But it is something we should look at. Thanks for the feedback.

    # 19 November 2009 at 4:11 am
  • hanif said:

    great piece…but was khalid shaikh mohammed a major??

    # 19 November 2009 at 5:07 am
  • Online Editor said:

    Hanif: Thank you for pointing out an error. We have corrected it (see next comment).

    # 19 November 2009 at 5:32 am
  • Online Editor said:

    Correction:
    Khalid Shaikh Mohammed stayed with a major at the Kohat Garrison; he was not a major in the Pakistan Army.

    Newsline erroneously printed the following:
    “Among them was a major Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of 9/11 attacks, who stayed within the Kohat Garrison before he was arrested in 2003.”

    # 19 November 2009 at 5:34 am
  • M.Srinath said:

    An incisive piece on the most dangerous aspect of Pakistan’s Army. I wish to know from Mr Zahid Hussain if this is solely Gen Zia’s gift to posterity as perceived by several ‘experts’.Can a civilian government pursue a foreign policy independent of such rabid elements in the Army?

    # 21 November 2009 at 8:40 am