Pakistan's Taliban fight each other
A kidnapping on June 1 exposed growing divisions within Pakistan's Taliban. As the internecine fighting increases, some factions appear willing to kill civilians.
from the July 2, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
"In Pakistan, [the Taliban] are not as organized as in Afghanistan. There are too many small groups, and there's no central leadership coming up," says Ijaz Khattak, a professor of international relations at the University of Peshawar.
In the rugged stretch of land abutting Afghanistan known as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Pakistan's modern justice and administrative systems are virtually absent – making it an attractive haven for the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
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Here, Pashtun customs have for centuries enjoined tribal leaders to represent their tribes before the "political agent," a local government office first promulgated by British authorities to enforce the powers of national courts, police, and the federal government. Until recently, the system of agencies offered the FATA a semblance of federal control in what is otherwise an almost entirely autonomous region.
Now that system is dying as well. Taliban militants have killed roughly 150 tribal elders and targeted political agents throughout FATA in recent years. The purpose, as in Afghanistan, is to clean the slate for the advent of full Islamic law.
In their goals, Pakistan's Taliban seem united, but in method, they sharply disagree.
According to the popular perception among residents in Tank, a town just outside of South Waziristan, Mr. Mehsud and Ahmad represent a new generation of Taliban fighters who conduct their operations in Afghanistan from Pakistan and who are increasingly waging a war of militant Islam on Pakistani soil itself.
In late June, Pakistan's government stepped-up security around three federal ministers after receiving intelligence that Mehsud had ordered their assassinations, according to local press reports.
Recognized as the "Amir," or supreme leader of tribal militants in North and South Waziristan, Mehsud may seem like an unlikely poster child for moderation. Yet, at least in the public imagination, there remain certain lines not even Mehsud would cross – like killing innocent women and children.
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