There
was a complete sense of peace and tranquility in the compound of a
single storied house, adorned with a tall minaret and adjoining lush
green lawns. The property, set amid lawns and orchards growing
apples, oranges, grapes and pomegranates is actually a luxurious
eight-roomed farmhouse with marble flooring, owned by a wealthy
landlord. It is located in Dandey Darpakhel village, five kilometres
north of Miranshah town, administrative headquarters of the North
Waziristan Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of
Pakistan.
The
area around Dandey Darpakhel is known as a hub for the Haqqani
network, a militant faction blamed for some of the most high-profile
attacks in Afghanistan in recent years and is considered a dangerous
area. Many residents from this area had left the area during the
Taliban's rule in Afghanistan, but returned back after the US-led
invasion following the 9/11 attacks. Yet this particular farm house
was always considered by the villagers as a safe heaven because it
was situated just one Km away from the Pakistan army headquarters
for restive North Waziristan. The local villagers always saw a
convoy of four or five SUVs with blacked-out windows leave the
compound early in the morning and return after sunset regularly and
thought that somebody very important must be living in the house. It
was believed that the new owners had bought this property for about
US$120,000.
On
last Friday evening, villagers observed that a vehicle stood at the
compound gate waiting to enter. But next moment all the deceptive
peace and tranquility was shattered as a US drone aircraft appeared
in the sky from nowhere and fired two missiles directly hitting the
vehicle, killing everyone sitting inside. Within minutes, an army of
Taliban appeared on scene and cordoned off the area.
It was
known much later that amongst the dead persons, who were sitting in
the SUV, was the feared Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud.
When news of Mehsud's death, broke out in Pakistan, it's political
leaders reacted with unusual vehemence. The interior minister,
Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, criticised the strike, as Pakistan was
sending feelers to Mehsud to have peace talks and his killing
directly sabotaged the process. Pakistan media raved about American
treachery. And the former cricket star turned politician,Imran Khan,
even threatened to block NATO military supply lines through Khyber
pass.
Americans
were quite surprised by the Pakistani reaction as Mr. Mehsud, has
been responsible for the deaths of thousands of Pakistani civilians.
USA officials however responded by saying that negotiations with
Taliban is an internal matter for Pakistan and drone attacks would
continue.
Meanwhile,
Pakistani Taliban have named Mullah Fazlullah, as the new successor
to Hakimullah Mehsud. The new chief, is infamous for carrying out
many attacks, including the one on child rights activist Malala
Yousafzai in 2012. He had in September claimed responsibility for the
killing of top army officer, Maj General Sanaullah Niazi.
The
new Taliban leadership has already rejected any possibility of peace
talks with Government of Pakistan and say that they would take
revenge of the death of their leader. In Pakistan, this has
triggered fears of fresh Taliban attacks as Taliban are talking about
having taken a vow to avenge Mehsud's killing and have already blamed
the Pakistan government for endorsing the drone strikes.
Pakistan
thus finds itself today, in a real nutcracker situation with Taliban
threatening on one side and American refusal to end drone strikes on
the other side. Initially they made much noise. Interior minister
Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan came out with a statement that said that the
entire perspective of Pakistan-U.S. relations are going to be
reviewed and also the level of cooperation in a meeting of the
Cabinet committee on national security. Every aspect of U.S.-Pakistan
cooperation will be discussed and reviewed. Pakistan also served a
demarche on the U.S. Ambassador protesting the drone strike.
It
however became clear that all of this was just playing to the gallery
as no meeting of concerned committee took place and the issue was not
even discussed with the Prime Minister Nawaj Sharif. Pakistani
officials now say that it would be business as usual with the U.S.
and a review of ties was not going to take place.
Pakistan
finds itself now in an hopeless and unenviable position in the messy
situation with Taliban breathing fire on one side and US continuing
drone strikes on the other.
9th
November 2013
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