Even as Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has offered “unstinted co-operation” in response to the American demand for Islamabad's co-operation to tackle the perpetrators of Tuesday's terrorist attack, he will have to acquiesce in the US attack on its own men if he were to deliver. A conservative estimate puts the Pakistani element in Taliban forces at 40 per cent.
Each time the Taliban has advanced to gain control of a province in Afghanistan, madrasas in Pakistan have been closed down to make way for the induction their students in the Taliban army. In fact, not a single Taliban victory in Afghanistan was without the active sup port of Pakistan, which provided not only men and equipment but also created conditions conducive to transfer of money and passage of Arabs by mentors like Osama bin Laden. In a recent interview, Ahmad Shah Masood, the chief opponent of Taliban regime in Afghanistan, said that 1,000 to 1,500 Pakistani students were killed in just one battle; the one for Badakshan.
One of the most serious compulsions Islamabad faces in abetting US military action against the Taliban is the fear of invoking the wrath of its fundamentalist groups. It is these very organisations which run the madrasas and training camps used for indoctrination of the jehad among the Muslim youth. The diversion of these jehadi elements to the Taliban struggle not only serves the Pakistani purpose of saving its own state from implementation of their fundamentalist agenda like having Shariat laws in place, but also comes in handy for its ultimate dream of installing a fully Islamic state without the active engagement of its troops. Of course, some strategic objectives have also driven Pakistan to recognise and support the Taliban.
Pak sees more time: Pakistan has
asked the US for time to consider a list of demands that includes cooperation
in a possible strike against Afghanistan for harboring suspected terrorist
Osama bin Laden, a top Pakistani official said today. US secretary of state
Colin Powell yesterday identified bin Laden as a key suspect in this week's
terror attacks, and said that Pakistan had promised cooperation. A senior
Bush administration official said that Washington had urged Pakistan to
close its border with Afghanistan.