Fazlullah behind attack on General Sanaullah in Dir

The News Umar Cheema Wednesday, September 18, 2013 From Print Edition ISLAMABAD: Although defunct Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed the responsibility for killing GOC Swat Maj Gen Sanaullah Niaz and his two subordinates, government officials suspect the involvement of Maulana Fazlullah group, Tehreek-i-Taliban Swat (TTS), as it has been involved in such attacks. Incidentally, Fazlullah also had violated the peace agreement in Swat resulting in a military operation to evacuate the area occupied by his militants.The attack was carried out a day after Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government’s announcement of gradual pullout of the army from Swat, a decision withheld Tuesday by Peshawar High Court. In a briefing given by the army about its operations in Fata and Swat, the political leadership was told that TTS has resorted to suicide bombing and Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) attacks on the law enforcement agencies and Aman Lashkar. Gen Sanaullah, Lt Colonel Tauseef and a soldier Imran were attacked through, what an ISPR statement said, an IED planted on the road near the border in Upper Dir. The political leadership was earlier warned that Fazlullah in collaboration with a neighbouring country could enhance terrorist activities in the areas adjoining the Pak-Afghan border. Fazlullah is hiding in Afghanistan and “recent nexus of TTS with Afghan government is likely to enhance the terrorist activities in adjoining areas of Afghanistan i.e. Mohmand Agency, Bajaur Agency, Dir, Swat and Chitral,” according to the briefing document obtained by The News. This, the official source explained, does not mean giving a clean chit to TTP as the IED attack might have been carried out by it, however, the pattern indicates the involvement of TTS.On the other hand, TTP not only claimed responsibility of the attack, it also set pre-conditions for initiating peace talks that included the army’s pullout from Fata and release of its prisoners detained in different jails and internment centres. All these demands have been rejected by Army Chief General Kayani, leaving the political government in a quandary where and how to kick start the dialogue with TTP.The statements of political leaders following the Sunday’s incident also dropped hints of some ‘forces’ are planning to sabotage the peace talks. Fazlullah-led TTS had told mediapersons in June 2012 that they were using Afghan soil as a springboard for launching attacks on Pakistani forces.“Maulana Fazlullah is leading TTS attacks from Afghanistan’s border provinces and is in touch with fighters in Malakand division,” Sirajuddin, the spokesperson for TTP’s Malakand chapter, had told media in 2012. He claimed that Fazlullah was commanding over a thousand diehard fighters. Karzai government had initially denied Fazlullah-led millitants’ bases in Afghanistan and only conceded their presence in the border region after the admission of the spokesman of TTS. Earlier, Afghan government had claimed the killing of Fazlullah in a clash between security forces and militants in the Barg Mittal area of Nuristan. In October 2001, DG ISPR had publicly urged Afghanistan and US-led forces there to go after notorious Taliban cleric Maulvi Fazlullah, whose fighters took part in cross-border raids that “killed about 100 members of Pakistan’s security forces in recent months, but no action was taken.”