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WORLD> Asia-Pacific
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Pakistani Taliban threatens attack on White House
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-04-01 14:49 A variety of militant groups operate in Pakistan beyond al-Qaida and the Taliban, and officials and analysts say it appears the coordination among some of them is increasing. Of particular concern are violent groups based in Punjab, Pakistan's most populated province, which borders India. Some Punjabi groups have their roots in the dispute with India over the Kashmir region. The Pakistani spy agency is believed to have helped set them up and maintain some links, a prospect that vexes US officials.
Jhangvi, for instance, is a sectarian extremist group blamed for a stream of atrocities against minority Shiite Muslims. In recent years, it has evolved, Rana said, and is believed to provide foot-soldiers and suicide bombers for al-Qaida operations. The groups' membership is fluid and overlapping. They are riven with feuds. But analysts say they are finding a common cause in striking America and its allies, while also focusing on spreading Taliban-style rule over more and more of Pakistan. Interviews in recent months with three Afghan and Pakistani Taliban operatives, who demanded anonymity for security reasons, suggest a Pakistani crackdown on some groups following the Mumbai assault has prompted many operatives of Punjab-based groups to seek sanctuary in the northwest. The Mumbai attacks were specifically blamed on Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Punjab-based group fighting in Kashmir. The militant activity may also relate to American plans to send thousands more troops to Afghanistan, where the Taliban have roared back more than seven years after the US-led invasion ousted their regime, said Shaun Gregory, an analyst at Britain's University of Bradford. With more allies, the Taliban may feel more capable of taking on grander assaults like that in Lahore as opposed to suicide bombings favored when their resources are more depleted, he said. Mahmood Shah, a retired military officer, voiced concern that the Taliban were embarking on a campaign of terror in Punjab similar to that employed in the northwest, where hundreds of police were killed before militants turned their attention to political leaders. While the pro-West ruling party has been trying to persuade a skeptical public to close ranks against an increasingly powerful nexus of militant groups, it has been largely preoccupied with squabbles over power and privileges with a key opposition party. Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Tuesday he believes the Pakistani government is focused on the rising threat of extremist violence. "They are responding and that's a tide that must be stemmed," he told reporters in Washington. But doubts remain about whether the powerful Pakistani military is committed to sidelining extremist groups it has used as proxies against India and Afghanistan. Defense analyst Ayesha Siddiqa said Pakistan must evaluate its own links to some of these groups if it is to survive. "We have to dig this out of our past," she said. "Unless we do that, unless we have a consensus on our strategy ... we aren't going to go anywhere."
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