Pakistan and state terrorism
Encyclopedia
Pakistan
has been accused by neighbours India
, Afghanistan
, Iran
and western nations like the United States
, and the United Kingdom
of its involvement in terrorist activities in India as well as Afghanistan . Pakistan's tribal region is Branded as a "Haven for Terrorism", it is considered among the most dangerous nations in the world.. The Pakistani intelligence agency, the ISI, is believed to be aiding these organizations in eradicating perceived enemies or those opposed to their cause, including India, Russia, China, Israel, the US, the UK and other members of NATO. Satellite imagery from the FBI and data produced by India's Research and Analysis Wing
suggest the existence of several terrorist camps in Pakistan, with at least one militant admitting to being trained in the country as part of the going Kashmir Dispute , pakistan is alleged to be supporting separatist maltias The JKLF, a militant outfit considered a terrorist group by the Indian government, has admitted to having more than 3,000 of its militants trained in Pakistan. Many nonpartisan
sources believe that officials within Pakistan’s military and the Inter-Services Intelligence
(ISI) sympathize with and aid Islamic terrorists, saying that the "ISI has provided covert but well-documented support to terrorist groups active in Kashmir, including the al-Qaeda
affiliate Jaish-e-Mohammed
". Though Pakistan had previously denied involvement in terrorist activities in Kashmir
, President Asif Ali Zardari
admitted in July 2010 that terrorist outfits had been "deliberately created and nurtured" by past governments "as a policy to achieve some short-term tactical objectives". In October 2010, former Pakistan President and former head of the Pakistan Army
, Pervez Musharraf
revealed that Pakistani armed forces trained militant groups to fight Indian forces in Kashmir. Many Kashmiri militant groups designated as terrorist organizations by the US still maintain their headquarters in Pakistan-administered Kashmir
. This is cited by the Indian government as further proof that Pakistan supports terrorism. Many of the terrorist organisations are banned by the UN, but continue to operate under different names. Even the normally reticent United Nations Organization (UNO) has also publicly increased pressure on Pakistan on its inability to control its Afghanistan border and not restricting the activities of Taliban leaders who have been declared by the UN as terrorists. Both the federal and state governments in India continue to accuse Pakistan of helping several banned terrorist organizations, including the Indian organizationss unhappy with their own Government, like the ULFA in Assam
.
, the US Secretary of State
included Pakistan on the 1993 list of countries which repeatedly provide support for acts of international terrorism. The recent 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot
is also blamed by various sections in the media as being the handiwork of elements in the Pakistani administration. Press editorials from around the world have consistently and strongly condemned Pakistan's "terror exports". In fact, many consider that Pakistan has been playing both sides in the fight against terror, on the one hand, pretending to help curtail terrorist activities while on the other, stoking it. Even the noted Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid
has accused Pakistan's ISI of providing help to the Taliban, a statement echoed by many, including author Ted Galen Carpenter, who states that Pakistan has "assisted rebel forces in Kashmir even though those groups have committed terrorist acts against civilians".
notes that several terrorist and criminal groups are "backed by senior officers in the Pakistani army, the country's ISI intelligence establishment and other armed bodies of the state". According to the author Daniel Byman, "Pakistan is probably today's most active sponsor of terrorism." Writing in An article published by The Australian
(an Australian tabloid) stated, "following the terror massacres in Mumbai, Pakistan may now be the single biggest state sponsor of terrorism, beyond even Iran, yet it has never been listed by the US State Department as a state sponsor of terrorism".
, has often been accused of playing a role in major terrorist attacks across the world including
The ISI is also accused of supporting Taliban forces and recruiting and training mujahideen
to fight in Afghanistan and Kashmir. Based on communication intercepts, US intelligence agencies concluded Pakistan's ISI was behind the attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul on July 7, 2008, a charge that the governments of India and Afghanistan had laid previously.
The Afghan President Hamid Karzai
, who has regularly reiterated allegations that militants operating training camps in Pakistan have used it as a launch platform to attack targets in Afghanistan, urged Western military allies to target extremist hideouts in neighbouring Pakistan. In response to the millants from afghanistan hiding in the mountainous tribal reigion of Pakistan . The US and Pakistan agreed to allow US Drone Strikes in Pakistan.
Several detainees at the Guantanamo Bay facility told US interrogators that they were aided by the ISI for attacks in the disputed Kashmir Region.
, Lashkar-e-Toiba
, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Sipah-e-Sahaba. Pakistan is accused of giving aid to the Taliban, "which include[s] soliciting funding for the Taliban, bankrolling Taliban operations, providing diplomatic support as the Taliban's virtual emissaries abroad, arranging training for Taliban fighters, recruiting skilled and unskilled manpower to serve in Taliban armies, planning and directing offensives, providing and facilitating shipments of ammunition and fuel, and on several occasions apparently directly providing combat support," as stated by the Human Rights Watch
. In 2008, the US has stated that the next attack on the US could originate in Pakistan. In June 2009, India’s army chief, General Deepak Kapoor, used a meeting with US national security adviser Jim Jones to claim that Pakistan was home to 43 “terrorist camps”, while rejecting suggestions of engaging in fresh peace talks. Another militant outfit, the JKLF, has openly admitted that more than 3,000 militants from various nationalities were still being trained. Other resources also concur, stating that Pakistan’s military and ISI both include personnel who sympathize with and help Islamic militants, adding that "ISI has provided covert but well-documented support to terrorist groups active in Kashmir, including the Jaish-e-Mohammed
." Pakistan has denied any involvement in the terrorist activities in Kashmir, arguing that it only provides political and moral support to the so called 'secessionist' groups. Many Kashmiri groups also maintain their headquarters in Pakistan-administered Kashmir
, which is cited as further proof by the Indian Government. The normally reticent United Nations Organization (UNO) has also publicly increased pressure on Pakistan on its inability to control its Afghanistan border and not restricting the activities of Taliban leaders who have been declared by the UN as terrorists.
,
"In South Asia, the United States has been increasingly concerned about reports of Pakistani support to terrorist groups and elements active in Kashmir, as well as Pakistani support, especially military support, to the Taliban, which continues to harbor terrorist groups, including al-Qaida, the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan."
accused the Pakistani government of double standards: "We cannot tolerate in any sense the idea that this country is allowed to look both ways and is able, in any way, to promote the export of terror, whether to India or whether to Afghanistan or anywhere else in the world."
. They say that the ISI officers who aided the attack were not renegades, indicating that their actions might have been authorized by superiors. The attack was carried out by Jalaluddin Haqqani
, who runs a network that Western intelligence services say is responsible for a campaign of violence throughout Afghanistan, including the Indian Embassy bombing and the 2008 Kabul Serena Hotel attack
.
starting a guerilla holy war, jihad (which the world calls terrorism today) against non-muslim countries, in the early 1980s' and which is being perpetuated by General Pervez Musharraf
who came to power after overthrowing Nawaz Sharif in 1999 and Asif Zardari who came to power with the assassination of his wife Benazir Bhutto
, allegedly by the Taliban and Al Qaeda, in 2008. The country also blames the US and India for inciting terrorism on their soil, when actually the Al Qaeda and other terrorists have been active on Pakistani soil.
India alleged that the recent 2008 Mumbai attacks
originated in Pakistan, and that the attackers were in touch with a Pakistani colonel and other handlers in Pakistan. This led to a UN ban on one such organisation, the Jama'at-ud-Da'wah, which the Pakistani government is yet to enforce.
On 5 April 2006, the Indian police arrested six Islamic militants, including a cleric who helped plan bomb blasts in Varanasi. The cleric is believed to be a commander of a banned Bangladesh
i Islamic militant group, Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami, and is linked to the Inter-Services Intelligence
, the Pakistan
i spy agency.
, in Pakistan. It was an expensive compound, less than 100 kilometres' drive from the capital, Islamabad, probably built specifically for Bin Laden. The compound is 0.8 miles (1.3 km) southwest of the Pakistan Military Academy
(PMA), a prominent military academy
that has been compared to Sandhurst
in Britain and West Point
in the United States. Pakistan's President Zardari has denied that his country's security forces may have sheltered Osama bin Laden.
In response to America's exposure of bin Laden's hiding place, Pakistan moved to shut down the informant network that lead the Americans there.
In addition Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Abu Zubaydah
, Abu Laith al Libi and Sheikh Said Masri have all been captured or killed inside Pakistan.
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
has been accused by neighbours India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
and western nations like the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
of its involvement in terrorist activities in India as well as Afghanistan . Pakistan's tribal region is Branded as a "Haven for Terrorism", it is considered among the most dangerous nations in the world.. The Pakistani intelligence agency, the ISI, is believed to be aiding these organizations in eradicating perceived enemies or those opposed to their cause, including India, Russia, China, Israel, the US, the UK and other members of NATO. Satellite imagery from the FBI and data produced by India's Research and Analysis Wing
Research and Analysis Wing
The Research and Analysis Wing is India's external intelligence agency. It was formed in September 1968 after the poor performance of the Intelligence Bureau in the Sino-Indian war of 1962 and the India-Pakistani war of 1965 convinced the then government of India that a specialized, independent...
suggest the existence of several terrorist camps in Pakistan, with at least one militant admitting to being trained in the country as part of the going Kashmir Dispute , pakistan is alleged to be supporting separatist maltias The JKLF, a militant outfit considered a terrorist group by the Indian government, has admitted to having more than 3,000 of its militants trained in Pakistan. Many nonpartisan
Nonpartisan
In political science, nonpartisan denotes an election, event, organization or person in which there is no formally declared association with a political party affiliation....
sources believe that officials within Pakistan’s military and the Inter-Services Intelligence
Inter-Services Intelligence
The Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence , is Pakistan's premier intelligence agency, responsible for providing critical national security intelligence assessment to the Government of Pakistan...
(ISI) sympathize with and aid Islamic terrorists, saying that the "ISI has provided covert but well-documented support to terrorist groups active in Kashmir, including the al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
affiliate Jaish-e-Mohammed
Jaish-e-Mohammed
Jaish-e-Mohammed is a Pakistani-based, militant Islamic group established by Maulana Masood Azhar in March 2000...
". Though Pakistan had previously denied involvement in terrorist activities in Kashmir
Kashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
, President Asif Ali Zardari
Asif Ali Zardari
Asif Ali Zardari is the 11th and current President of Pakistan and the Co-Chairman of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party . He is also the widower of Benazir Bhutto, who served two nonconsecutive terms as Prime Minister....
admitted in July 2010 that terrorist outfits had been "deliberately created and nurtured" by past governments "as a policy to achieve some short-term tactical objectives". In October 2010, former Pakistan President and former head of the Pakistan Army
Pakistan Army
The Pakistan Army is the branch of the Pakistani Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The Pakistan Army came into existence after the Partition of India and the resulting independence of Pakistan in 1947. It is currently headed by General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. The Pakistan...
, Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf , is a retired four-star general who served as the 13th Chief of Army Staff and tenth President of Pakistan as well as tenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Musharraf headed and led an administrative military government from October 1999 till August 2007. He ruled...
revealed that Pakistani armed forces trained militant groups to fight Indian forces in Kashmir. Many Kashmiri militant groups designated as terrorist organizations by the US still maintain their headquarters in Pakistan-administered Kashmir
Pakistan-administered Kashmir
Azad Kashmir borders the Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the west, the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan to the north west, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of People's Republic of China to the north and the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir, to the east.A...
. This is cited by the Indian government as further proof that Pakistan supports terrorism. Many of the terrorist organisations are banned by the UN, but continue to operate under different names. Even the normally reticent United Nations Organization (UNO) has also publicly increased pressure on Pakistan on its inability to control its Afghanistan border and not restricting the activities of Taliban leaders who have been declared by the UN as terrorists. Both the federal and state governments in India continue to accuse Pakistan of helping several banned terrorist organizations, including the Indian organizationss unhappy with their own Government, like the ULFA in Assam
Assam
Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...
.
Background
Until Pakistan became a key ally in the War on TerrorismWar on Terrorism
The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
, the US Secretary of State
Secretary of State
Secretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....
included Pakistan on the 1993 list of countries which repeatedly provide support for acts of international terrorism. The recent 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot
2006 transatlantic aircraft plot
The 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot was a terrorist plot to detonate liquid explosives carried on board at least 10 airliners travelling from the United Kingdom to the United States and Canada...
is also blamed by various sections in the media as being the handiwork of elements in the Pakistani administration. Press editorials from around the world have consistently and strongly condemned Pakistan's "terror exports". In fact, many consider that Pakistan has been playing both sides in the fight against terror, on the one hand, pretending to help curtail terrorist activities while on the other, stoking it. Even the noted Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid
Ahmed Rashid
Ahmed Rashid is a former Pakistani revolutionary, a journalist and best-selling author of several books about Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia.-Biography:...
has accused Pakistan's ISI of providing help to the Taliban, a statement echoed by many, including author Ted Galen Carpenter, who states that Pakistan has "assisted rebel forces in Kashmir even though those groups have committed terrorist acts against civilians".
Sponsoring terrorism
Author Gordon Thomas states that whilst aiding in the capture of Al Qaeda members, Pakistan "still sponsored terrorist groups in the disputed state of Kashmir, funding, training and arming them in their war of attrition against India". Journalist Stephen SchwartzStephen Schwartz (journalist)
Stephen Suleyman Schwartz is an American Muslimjournalist, columnist, and author. He has been published in a variety of media, including The Wall Street Journal. He is the executive director of the Center for Islamic Pluralism...
notes that several terrorist and criminal groups are "backed by senior officers in the Pakistani army, the country's ISI intelligence establishment and other armed bodies of the state". According to the author Daniel Byman, "Pakistan is probably today's most active sponsor of terrorism." Writing in An article published by The Australian
The Australian
The Australian is a broadsheet newspaper published in Australia from Monday to Saturday each week since 14 July 1964. The editor in chief is Chris Mitchell, the editor is Clive Mathieson and the 'editor-at-large' is Paul Kelly....
(an Australian tabloid) stated, "following the terror massacres in Mumbai, Pakistan may now be the single biggest state sponsor of terrorism, beyond even Iran, yet it has never been listed by the US State Department as a state sponsor of terrorism".
Inter-Services Intelligence and terrorism
Pakistan's intelligence agency, the ISIInter-Services Intelligence
The Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence , is Pakistan's premier intelligence agency, responsible for providing critical national security intelligence assessment to the Government of Pakistan...
, has often been accused of playing a role in major terrorist attacks across the world including
- terrorism in Kashmir,
- the July 2006 Mumbai Train Bombings11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombingsThe 11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings were a series of seven bomb blasts that took place over a period of 11 minutes on the Suburban Railway in Mumbai, the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the nation's financial capital. The bombs were set off in pressure cookers on trains...
, - the July 2005 London bombings7 July 2005 London bombingsThe 7 July 2005 London bombings were a series of co-ordinated suicide attacks in the United Kingdom, targeting civilians using London's public transport system during the morning rush hour....
, - the 2001 Indian Parliament attack2001 Indian Parliament attackThe 2001 Indian Parliament attack was a high-profile attack by Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists against the building housing the Parliament of India in New Delhi...
, - the 2006 Varanasi bombings2006 Varanasi bombingsThe 2006 Varanasi bombings were a series of bombings that occurred across the Hindu holy city of Varanasi in India on Tuesday, 7 March 2006. At least 28 people are reported to have been killed and as many as 101 others were injured.-Blast at the Temple:...
, - the August 2007 Hyderabad bombings25 August 2007 Hyderabad bombingsThe Hyderabad bombings refers to the incident in which two bombs exploded almost simultaneously on 25 August 2007 in Hyderabad, capital of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The first bomb exploded in Lumbini Amusement Park at 19:45 hrs IST. The second bomb exploded five minutes later at 19:50 in...
and - the November 2008 Mumbai attacks.
The ISI is also accused of supporting Taliban forces and recruiting and training mujahideen
Mujahideen
Mujahideen are Muslims who struggle in the path of God. The word is from the same Arabic triliteral as jihad .Mujahideen is also transliterated from Arabic as mujahedin, mujahedeen, mudžahedin, mudžahidin, mujahidīn, mujaheddīn and more.-Origin of the concept:The beginnings of Jihad are traced...
to fight in Afghanistan and Kashmir. Based on communication intercepts, US intelligence agencies concluded Pakistan's ISI was behind the attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul on July 7, 2008, a charge that the governments of India and Afghanistan had laid previously.
The Afghan President Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai, GCMG is the 12th and current President of Afghanistan, taking office on 7 December 2004. He became a dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001...
, who has regularly reiterated allegations that militants operating training camps in Pakistan have used it as a launch platform to attack targets in Afghanistan, urged Western military allies to target extremist hideouts in neighbouring Pakistan. In response to the millants from afghanistan hiding in the mountainous tribal reigion of Pakistan . The US and Pakistan agreed to allow US Drone Strikes in Pakistan.
Several detainees at the Guantanamo Bay facility told US interrogators that they were aided by the ISI for attacks in the disputed Kashmir Region.
Links to Islamic terrorist groups
Pakistan is said to be a haven for terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e-OmarLashkar-e-Omar
Lashkar-e-Omar is a Pakistani Islamic fundamentalist terrorist organization. The group, formed in January 2002, is a mixture of elements from three other terrorist groups: Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, and Jaish-e-Mohammed. It also includes members of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. ...
, Lashkar-e-Toiba
Lashkar-e-Toiba
Lashkar-e-Taiba – also transliterated as Lashkar-i-Tayyaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, Lashkar-i-Taiba, Lashkar Taiba or LeT – is one of the largest and most active militant Islamist terrorist organizations in South Asia, operating mainly from Pakistan.It was founded by Hafiz Muhammad...
, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Sipah-e-Sahaba. Pakistan is accused of giving aid to the Taliban, "which include[s] soliciting funding for the Taliban, bankrolling Taliban operations, providing diplomatic support as the Taliban's virtual emissaries abroad, arranging training for Taliban fighters, recruiting skilled and unskilled manpower to serve in Taliban armies, planning and directing offensives, providing and facilitating shipments of ammunition and fuel, and on several occasions apparently directly providing combat support," as stated by the Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
. In 2008, the US has stated that the next attack on the US could originate in Pakistan. In June 2009, India’s army chief, General Deepak Kapoor, used a meeting with US national security adviser Jim Jones to claim that Pakistan was home to 43 “terrorist camps”, while rejecting suggestions of engaging in fresh peace talks. Another militant outfit, the JKLF, has openly admitted that more than 3,000 militants from various nationalities were still being trained. Other resources also concur, stating that Pakistan’s military and ISI both include personnel who sympathize with and help Islamic militants, adding that "ISI has provided covert but well-documented support to terrorist groups active in Kashmir, including the Jaish-e-Mohammed
Jaish-e-Mohammed
Jaish-e-Mohammed is a Pakistani-based, militant Islamic group established by Maulana Masood Azhar in March 2000...
." Pakistan has denied any involvement in the terrorist activities in Kashmir, arguing that it only provides political and moral support to the so called 'secessionist' groups. Many Kashmiri groups also maintain their headquarters in Pakistan-administered Kashmir
Pakistan-administered Kashmir
Azad Kashmir borders the Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the west, the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan to the north west, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of People's Republic of China to the north and the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir, to the east.A...
, which is cited as further proof by the Indian Government. The normally reticent United Nations Organization (UNO) has also publicly increased pressure on Pakistan on its inability to control its Afghanistan border and not restricting the activities of Taliban leaders who have been declared by the UN as terrorists.
Alleged support of Pakistani Army to terrorists
According to a 2001 article titled "Overview of State-Sponsored Terrorism" issued by the US Office of the Coordinator for CounterterrorismOffice of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism
The Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism is an office of the United States Department of State. It coordinates all U.S. Government efforts to improve counter-terrorism cooperation with foreign governments and participates in the development, coordination, and implementation of American...
,
"In South Asia, the United States has been increasingly concerned about reports of Pakistani support to terrorist groups and elements active in Kashmir, as well as Pakistani support, especially military support, to the Taliban, which continues to harbor terrorist groups, including al-Qaida, the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan."
Problems
US National Security Advisor James L Jones sent a tough message in the past to Pakistan saying that double standards on terrorism were not acceptable. In July 2010, British Prime Minsiter David CameronDavid Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
accused the Pakistani government of double standards: "We cannot tolerate in any sense the idea that this country is allowed to look both ways and is able, in any way, to promote the export of terror, whether to India or whether to Afghanistan or anywhere else in the world."
Allegations of terrorism by Pakistan in Afghanistan
US intelligence officials claim that Pakistan's ISI sponsored the 2008 Indian embassy bombing in Kabul2008 Indian embassy bombing in Kabul
The 2008 Indian embassy bombing in Kabul was a suicide bomb terror attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan on 7 July 2008 at 8:30 AM local time. The bombing killed 58 people and wounded 141. The suicide car bombing took place near the gates of the embassy during morning hours when...
. They say that the ISI officers who aided the attack were not renegades, indicating that their actions might have been authorized by superiors. The attack was carried out by Jalaluddin Haqqani
Jalaluddin Haqqani
Mawlawi Jalaluddin Haqqani is the leader of the Haqqani network, an insurgent group fighting against US-led NATO forces and the government of Afghanistan. He also fought in the 1980s Soviet war in Afghanistan, including in the Operation Magistral...
, who runs a network that Western intelligence services say is responsible for a campaign of violence throughout Afghanistan, including the Indian Embassy bombing and the 2008 Kabul Serena Hotel attack
2008 Kabul Serena Hotel attack
The 2008 Kabul Serena Hotel attack was an attack on the gym of the Kabul Serena Hotel, in Kabul, Afghanistan on Monday, January 14, 2008 for which the Taliban claimed responsibility....
.
Allegations of Pakistan-backed terrorism in India
The government of Pakistan has been accused of aiding terrorist organizations operating on their soil who have attacked neighboring India. Pakistan denies all allegations, stating that these acts are committed by non-state actors. The country has had a history of instability and military coups with General Zia-ul-HaqMuhammad Zia-ul-Haq
General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq , was the 4th Chief Martial Law Administrator and the sixth President of Pakistan from July 1977 to his death in August 1988...
starting a guerilla holy war, jihad (which the world calls terrorism today) against non-muslim countries, in the early 1980s' and which is being perpetuated by General Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf , is a retired four-star general who served as the 13th Chief of Army Staff and tenth President of Pakistan as well as tenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Musharraf headed and led an administrative military government from October 1999 till August 2007. He ruled...
who came to power after overthrowing Nawaz Sharif in 1999 and Asif Zardari who came to power with the assassination of his wife Benazir Bhutto
Benazir Bhutto
Benazir Bhutto was a democratic socialist who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Pakistan in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996....
, allegedly by the Taliban and Al Qaeda, in 2008. The country also blames the US and India for inciting terrorism on their soil, when actually the Al Qaeda and other terrorists have been active on Pakistani soil.
India alleged that the recent 2008 Mumbai attacks
2008 Mumbai attacks
The 2008 Mumbai attacks were more than 10 coordinated shooting and bombing attacks across Mumbai, India's largest city, by Islamist attackers who came from Pakistan...
originated in Pakistan, and that the attackers were in touch with a Pakistani colonel and other handlers in Pakistan. This led to a UN ban on one such organisation, the Jama'at-ud-Da'wah, which the Pakistani government is yet to enforce.
On 5 April 2006, the Indian police arrested six Islamic militants, including a cleric who helped plan bomb blasts in Varanasi. The cleric is believed to be a commander of a banned Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
i Islamic militant group, Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami, and is linked to the Inter-Services Intelligence
Inter-Services Intelligence
The Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence , is Pakistan's premier intelligence agency, responsible for providing critical national security intelligence assessment to the Government of Pakistan...
, the Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
i spy agency.
Al Qaeda leaders killed or captured in Pakistan
Critics have accused Pakistan's military and security establishment of protecting bin Laden, until he was found and killed by US forces. This issue is expected to worsen US ties with Pakistan. Bin Laden was killed in what most feel was his residence for at least three years, in AbbottabadAbbottabad
Abbottabad is a city located in the Hazara region of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, in Pakistan. The city is situated in the Orash Valley, northeast of the capital Islamabad and east of Peshawar at an altitude of and is the capital of the Abbottabad District...
, in Pakistan. It was an expensive compound, less than 100 kilometres' drive from the capital, Islamabad, probably built specifically for Bin Laden. The compound is 0.8 miles (1.3 km) southwest of the Pakistan Military Academy
Pakistan Military Academy
The Pakistan Military Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service military academy. It is located at Kakul near Abbottabad in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan....
(PMA), a prominent military academy
Military academy
A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps of the army, the navy, air force or coast guard, which normally provides education in a service environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned.Three...
that has been compared to Sandhurst
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is a British Army officer initial training centre located in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England...
in Britain and West Point
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
in the United States. Pakistan's President Zardari has denied that his country's security forces may have sheltered Osama bin Laden.
In response to America's exposure of bin Laden's hiding place, Pakistan moved to shut down the informant network that lead the Americans there.
In addition Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Abu Zubaydah
Abu Zubaydah
Abu Zubaydah is a Saudi Arabian citizen, sentenced to death in Jordan and currently held in U.S. custody in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.Not neutral: Arrested in Pakistan in March 2002, he has been in US custody for more than eight years, four-and-a-half of them spent incommunicado in solitary confinement...
, Abu Laith al Libi and Sheikh Said Masri have all been captured or killed inside Pakistan.
See also
- State terrorismState terrorismState terrorism may refer to acts of terrorism conducted by a state against a foreign state or people. It can also refer to acts of violence by a state against its own people.-Definition:...
- State sponsored terrorism