That the responsibility of killing of one of the most dangerous TTP top commanders, Asmatullah Shaheen Bhittani, has not been claimed by anyone and remains a mystery is a one big unknown as to who the Pakistan government is really fighting. At different times, he was a friend or a foe of Pakistan depending what position he held in the Taliban hierarchy. At the time of his death at the hands of so far unknown killers he was said to be pro-talks with the government of Pakistan, and could have been on the hit list of the anti-talks groups in the Tehrik-i-Taliban. According to media accounts, he was on way to Miranshah in North Waziristan from his nearby village in FR Jandola when killers overtook him and fired upon his vehicle. He and his three guards lost their lives on the spot while the fourth injured guard was shifted to hospital. Who the killers were not much is being said, except that some fingers have been raised in the direction of his rival group led by TTP commander Said Khan, famously known as Sajna. Their mutual animosity came to surface last November in the aftermath of Hakimullah Mehsud's death, during the selection of Mullah Fazlullah, the next TTP chief, as Bhittani succeeded albeit, only temporarily in securing nomination as interim chief of the terrorist outfit.
That animosity has lingered on, leading to one murderous confrontation last week in which three of Sajna's comrades were killed by Asmatllah's men. Rightly then his killing is more attributed to the intra-TTP infighting, mainly between the pro-Hakimullah Mehsud fighters and the ones now part of the new chief Fazlullah's faction. Maybe, some would like to bracket his killing with two others - of Dr Nasiruddin Haqqani at Bara Kahu near Islamabad and Mulla Abdul Raqeeb, a minister in Taliban government who was assassinated in Peshawar early this month as he returned from Dubai after attending Afghan High Peace Council peace process. But more likely Asmatullah Shaheen fell to the bullets fired by his rivals in the TTP.
On the face of it, Asmatullah's death is neither a huge loss to the Tehrik-i-Taliban, nor should it incite speculation that the Taliban leadership is splitting up on the issue of 'mazakrat' (talks) with the government of Pakistan. Even if there are some 50 groups within the TTP who are willing to hold talks with the government, as claimed by PTI chief Imran Khan, there is none so far on the public screen in support of peace talks - except perhaps the Muavia faction which once said it was supportive of the peace process. Imran Khan would be doing a service to the country by naming these pro-talks groups, and if possible to that extent their leaders should come on record. But what purpose the talks with the groups who want peace now would serve if they cannot come out in the open and apparently are scared of the anti-Pakistan TTP leadership. Don't expect us to kiss the killer on his forehead. They deserve no handshake; they are erstwhile partners of the blood-thirsty killers of 50,000 Pakistanis including women and children and men of national security and must repent their sins in isolation. Look at Asmatullah Shaheen; he had claimed responsibility of the attack on the Ashura procession in Karachi in 2009 in which 43 people were killed and more than 100 injured. He is also the one who stormed a paramilitary FC outpost in Tank in 2011 killing one person on the spot and 11 more of the 15 kidnapped. Also, he was on the Army list of the 20 most wanted Taliban commanders and carried a Rs 10 million government of Pakistan bounty on his head. One would like to interpret his killing by his rivals as the natural consequence of the heat the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan feels under the heels of Pakistan armed forces. As the targeted military operation proceeds we should expect more such incidents. And in the meanwhile, the gentlemen advocating the cause of peace talks with the TTP should cool their heels in the shade of a banyan tree. That a government supposed to be the protector of the constitution and under oath to defend the people and the country should be pursuing peace with unrepentant violators of the very fundamentals of the constitution is too much to stomach. That it should now get into talks with the yesterday's murderers would be a cruel joke with the people of Pakistan. The armed forces are on their job, let them complete it.
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Pakistan: Death of a TTP leader
That the responsibility of killing of one of the most dangerous TTP top commanders, Asmatullah Shaheen Bhittani, has not been claimed by anyone and remains a mystery is a one big unknown as to who the Pakistan government is really fighting. At different times, he was a friend or a foe of Pakistan depending what position he held in the Taliban hierarchy. At the time of his death at the hands of so far unknown killers he was said to be pro-talks with the government of Pakistan, and could have been on the hit list of the anti-talks groups in the Tehrik-i-Taliban. According to media accounts, he was on way to Miranshah in North Waziristan from his nearby village in FR Jandola when killers overtook him and fired upon his vehicle. He and his three guards lost their lives on the spot while the fourth injured guard was shifted to hospital. Who the killers were not much is being said, except that some fingers have been raised in the direction of his rival group led by TTP commander Said Khan, famously known as Sajna. Their mutual animosity came to surface last November in the aftermath of Hakimullah Mehsud's death, during the selection of Mullah Fazlullah, the next TTP chief, as Bhittani succeeded albeit, only temporarily in securing nomination as interim chief of the terrorist outfit.
That animosity has lingered on, leading to one murderous confrontation last week in which three of Sajna's comrades were killed by Asmatllah's men. Rightly then his killing is more attributed to the intra-TTP infighting, mainly between the pro-Hakimullah Mehsud fighters and the ones now part of the new chief Fazlullah's faction. Maybe, some would like to bracket his killing with two others - of Dr Nasiruddin Haqqani at Bara Kahu near Islamabad and Mulla Abdul Raqeeb, a minister in Taliban government who was assassinated in Peshawar early this month as he returned from Dubai after attending Afghan High Peace Council peace process. But more likely Asmatullah Shaheen fell to the bullets fired by his rivals in the TTP.
On the face of it, Asmatullah's death is neither a huge loss to the Tehrik-i-Taliban, nor should it incite speculation that the Taliban leadership is splitting up on the issue of 'mazakrat' (talks) with the government of Pakistan. Even if there are some 50 groups within the TTP who are willing to hold talks with the government, as claimed by PTI chief Imran Khan, there is none so far on the public screen in support of peace talks - except perhaps the Muavia faction which once said it was supportive of the peace process. Imran Khan would be doing a service to the country by naming these pro-talks groups, and if possible to that extent their leaders should come on record. But what purpose the talks with the groups who want peace now would serve if they cannot come out in the open and apparently are scared of the anti-Pakistan TTP leadership. Don't expect us to kiss the killer on his forehead. They deserve no handshake; they are erstwhile partners of the blood-thirsty killers of 50,000 Pakistanis including women and children and men of national security and must repent their sins in isolation. Look at Asmatullah Shaheen; he had claimed responsibility of the attack on the Ashura procession in Karachi in 2009 in which 43 people were killed and more than 100 injured. He is also the one who stormed a paramilitary FC outpost in Tank in 2011 killing one person on the spot and 11 more of the 15 kidnapped. Also, he was on the Army list of the 20 most wanted Taliban commanders and carried a Rs 10 million government of Pakistan bounty on his head. One would like to interpret his killing by his rivals as the natural consequence of the heat the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan feels under the heels of Pakistan armed forces. As the targeted military operation proceeds we should expect more such incidents. And in the meanwhile, the gentlemen advocating the cause of peace talks with the TTP should cool their heels in the shade of a banyan tree. That a government supposed to be the protector of the constitution and under oath to defend the people and the country should be pursuing peace with unrepentant violators of the very fundamentals of the constitution is too much to stomach. That it should now get into talks with the yesterday's murderers would be a cruel joke with the people of Pakistan. The armed forces are on their job, let them complete it.
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