TTPs treasure leads to Indian RAW
Shumaila Raja
A bloody feud that followed Baitullah Mehsuds death involving about three-dozen best-trained Taliban fighters was actually a battle among various Taliban warlords to control Rs 2 billion Taliban funds and ownership of arms and ammunition worth about Rs 1 billion by grabbing the Emarat of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Such was the charisma and awe of 35-year-old five feet two inches tall Baitullah Mehsud that none of his associates ever dared to challenge his leadership till an American missile strike blew his body apart on the first floor of the house of his second wife in South Waziristan. There was a constant flow of tens of millions of dollars from foreign enemy sources that keeps the Taliban machine rolling. Over the years Baitullah had built a cash reserve of about Rs 2 billion in addition to large cache of sophisticated weapons, ammunition and latest communication equipment.
Baitullahs name emerged as a famous tribesman when the assassination of Benazir Bhutto was under investigation. He was short-stature, with black, long flowing hair and beard. He was a tough commander of thousands of militants with a $5-million reward tagged to his head. He was recently graded as one of Time magazines 100 most influential people in the world and the famous Newsweek magazine labelled him more dangerous than Osama bin Laden. The TTP under Mehsud used force with the stated intention of instituting a form of Shariah in their region which they believed to be the true system of Islamic government. It posed a serious threat to social, political and cultural infrastructure of Pakistan and disturbed the situation of peace and principle in the country.
Mehsuds death by a missile fired from a CIA-operated drone brought an end to his dramatically short but terrifying career. He rose from a little known entity in South Waziristan to the chief of a definite Taliban movement in Pakistan. Surprisingly, the mastermind of the 2008 bombing of Islamabads Marriott Hotel was once an Imam Masjid in a village of Bannu. Madrassa-educated Baitullah belonged to South Waziristan, a federally administrated tribal region in Pakistan. The architect of the suicide attacks that plunged the nation into mourning and a series of riots, Mehsud reportedly came from a family that made their living by driving trucks.
In June this year, the NWFP governor condemned him as the root cause of all evils. The government views his death as a big achievement. His death however doesnt mean that no other Mehsud would emerge. Extensive reactionary attacks for Mehsuds death are inevitable. The murder of Mehsud could further inflame the internal situation in Pakistan. For about four years, some 3,500 trained fighters and dozens of suicide bombers blindly followed Baitullah as he was the centre of gravity of terrorism in Pakistan. The battle for the control of Rs 3 billion treasure erupted within two days of Baitullahs death, when two of his most trusted lieutenants, Hakimullah Mehsud and Waliur Rehman, claimed succession in an emergency meeting in Sararogha, where an armed clash left Hakimullah Mehsud dead, along with 40 Taliban fighters. Waliur Rehman got seriously wounded and Qari Hussain, who ran the Talibans suicide operations directly under Baitullah Mehsud, was also wounded with bullet injuries on both legs in the same incident.
Hakimullah, Waliur Rehman and Qari Hussain were claimant to the Emarat that comes with a grip on funds of billions of rupees, huge cache of weapons and thousands of trained fighters and a close affinity with al-Qaeda and its leader Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri, who had chosen Baitullah to lead the TTP. Money for the Pakistani Taliban was either buried in various caves in the tribal areas or it was stashed in various bank accounts in Pakistan and in some Gulf states. Baitullahs coffers expanded so much last year that he sent one of his cousins to Dubai for cash investment in various real estate projects; subsequently millions of dollars were remitted for adventurous business proposals in Gulf states.
When a renowned Taliban commander informed Baitullah about huge monetary offers he was receiving from Pakistani officials to surrender, Baitullahs answer to this man was: Money is not with the government of Pakistan. Money is with me, tell me how much you want. Officials concede Baitullahs money power was such that it was difficult for them to buy his key commanders, as he conveniently outbid them in case of a couple of important commanders.
Baitullah was convinced by al-Qaeda and Pakistans foreign enemies that South Waziristan would soon emerge as an independent Islamic Emirate and he would be declared as its first Amir. Intelligence accounts speak of smooth flow of cash to Baitullah from enemy agents, posing as wealthy and highly motivated Arab Muslims, who had established direct connection with the reclusive Taliban commander. The Taliban sources close to Baitullah Mehsud say a strong cash flow was his most crucial need because his top priority remained an uninterrupted payment of monthly salaries to the families of each of his fighters.
Baitullah was supervising a smooth system of cash deliveries ranging from Rs10,000 to Rs 20,000 at the doorsteps of his fighters all across Pakistan. Sustenance allowance reached the families of those killed in action. Cash pipelines emanating from RAW and Afghan secret services headquarters were terminating in Baitullah-run accounts, besides cash and weapons infusion. Baitullah was paying about Rs 600 million in salaries for his fighters every year. While intelligence agencies see a direct hand of Indian and Afghan secret agencies in financing terror outfits in Pakistan, US officials have consistently accused wealthy individuals in unnamed Gulf countries of providing finances to the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Pakistan Observer - Newspaper online edition - Article
its quite unusual.
