UmarJustice
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ISLAMABAD: While Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) abstained, quite surprisingly, from claiming responsibility for the January 13 remote-controlled road-side bomb attack in North Waziristan which killed 17 Pakistani soldiers, despite reports of a clandestine peace deal between the military and the militants, an obscure Waziristan-based Uzbek militant group has come forward and owned up to the attack, thus absolving the TTP.
It was rather strange on the part of the TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan not to claim responsibility for a terrorist attack which had targeted the Pakistani soldiers and that too in Miramshah area of North Waziristan, a TTP hub.
The security forces convoy was attacked two weeks after 22 Levis personnel were beheaded by the TTP (on December 27, 2012) which had claimed the bloody act. Therefore, it was quite unusual for the TTP to stay silent after the killing of 17 soldiers in North Waziristan in a terrorist attack. The military convoy was targeted hardly a day after the TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud told his militia not to attack the Pakistani security forces in North Waziristan in accordance with a peace agreement between the authorities and the senior Taliban leader Maulvi Gul Buhadar.
But the international media was quick to suspect that the military and the militants may have cut a clandestine peace deal, which had prompted the TTP chief to direct his men through a pamphlet to stop attacking the Pakistani security forces in North Waziristan and concentrate on targeting NATO forces in Afghanistan instead.
The khaki circles in the garrison town of Rawalpindi had strongly refuted these media reports, saying the military top brass would never cut a deal with those who are brutally beheading soldiers. The khaki circles also cited the January 13 killing of 17 soldiers in North Waziristan to support their claim that there was no deal.
However, well-informed tribal sources in North Waziristan insisted that Hakimullah Mehsud would not have directed his men to stop attacking the Pakistani troops without any reason. According to them, Hafiz Gul Buhadar, the pro-government Taliban leader from North Waziristan who has frequently served as a negotiator between the military and the militants, was the one to have persuaded the TTP ameer not to target the Pakistani troops.
But the killing of the 17 soldiers hardly 24 hours after Hakimullah had issued these directives came as a rude shock to Guls peace bid, raising questions about the identity of those responsible for the attack.
The mystery stands resolved, with the Mujahideen Ansar, a militant group comprised primarily Uzbeks living in Waziristan, claiming the attack, saying the soldiers were killed in response to Pakistani militarys complicity with US drone strikes. These attacks have killed several top Uzbek commanders, including the previous two leaders of al-Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), Abu Usman Adil, in 2012 and his predecessor, Tahir Yuldashev, in 2008.
Taking exception to the January 13 attack, the Pakistani military authorities had given a 48-hour deadline to a tribal jirga and local Taliban headed by Hafiz Gul Bahadur to stop attacks on armed forces and government installations or else the military would use force to prevent such acts. Buhadar is learnt to have subsequently told the authorities that the TTP had nothing to do with the killing of the 17 soldiers, adding that it was a crude attempt to sabotage his military-militants peace efforts.
While Hafiz Gul Buhadar must be hoping that the Mujahideen Ansars responsibility claim would absolve him and the TTP and pave the way for a truce between the TTP and the militants, well informed sources in the security establishment still hold the TTP responsible for the killing of 17 soldiers. They refuted the thesis that the Taliban are far from being a unified group and an agreement signed by one key leader cant be taken as universal.
According to these circles, the TTP and the IMU have long been collaborating and conducting joint operations inside the tribal areas. They cited the TTPs December 16, 2012 blatant assault on the Pakistan Air Force base inside the Peshawar Airport. Four of the fidayeen (suicide) attackers were later identified as Uzbeks belonging to the IMU.
To tell the truth, Uzbek militants have been active in Pakistan since the 1990s, with the IMU being the main group which organises and directs these militants. Formed in 1998 by Tahir Yuldashev, the focus of IMU has always been ousting Uzbek President Islam Karimov and to install an Islamic regime in Uzbekistan.
As far as the bond between the TTP and the IMU is concerned, the two have a long history of collaboration, even before Baitullah Mehsud had launched the TTP in December 2007. Therefore, officials in the security establishment are not ready to believe that the TTP has no role in the January 13 killing of 17 Pakistani soldiers.
TTP absolved as Uzbeks claim killing 17 soldiers - thenews.com.pk
It was rather strange on the part of the TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan not to claim responsibility for a terrorist attack which had targeted the Pakistani soldiers and that too in Miramshah area of North Waziristan, a TTP hub.
The security forces convoy was attacked two weeks after 22 Levis personnel were beheaded by the TTP (on December 27, 2012) which had claimed the bloody act. Therefore, it was quite unusual for the TTP to stay silent after the killing of 17 soldiers in North Waziristan in a terrorist attack. The military convoy was targeted hardly a day after the TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud told his militia not to attack the Pakistani security forces in North Waziristan in accordance with a peace agreement between the authorities and the senior Taliban leader Maulvi Gul Buhadar.
But the international media was quick to suspect that the military and the militants may have cut a clandestine peace deal, which had prompted the TTP chief to direct his men through a pamphlet to stop attacking the Pakistani security forces in North Waziristan and concentrate on targeting NATO forces in Afghanistan instead.
The khaki circles in the garrison town of Rawalpindi had strongly refuted these media reports, saying the military top brass would never cut a deal with those who are brutally beheading soldiers. The khaki circles also cited the January 13 killing of 17 soldiers in North Waziristan to support their claim that there was no deal.
However, well-informed tribal sources in North Waziristan insisted that Hakimullah Mehsud would not have directed his men to stop attacking the Pakistani troops without any reason. According to them, Hafiz Gul Buhadar, the pro-government Taliban leader from North Waziristan who has frequently served as a negotiator between the military and the militants, was the one to have persuaded the TTP ameer not to target the Pakistani troops.
But the killing of the 17 soldiers hardly 24 hours after Hakimullah had issued these directives came as a rude shock to Guls peace bid, raising questions about the identity of those responsible for the attack.
The mystery stands resolved, with the Mujahideen Ansar, a militant group comprised primarily Uzbeks living in Waziristan, claiming the attack, saying the soldiers were killed in response to Pakistani militarys complicity with US drone strikes. These attacks have killed several top Uzbek commanders, including the previous two leaders of al-Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), Abu Usman Adil, in 2012 and his predecessor, Tahir Yuldashev, in 2008.
Taking exception to the January 13 attack, the Pakistani military authorities had given a 48-hour deadline to a tribal jirga and local Taliban headed by Hafiz Gul Bahadur to stop attacks on armed forces and government installations or else the military would use force to prevent such acts. Buhadar is learnt to have subsequently told the authorities that the TTP had nothing to do with the killing of the 17 soldiers, adding that it was a crude attempt to sabotage his military-militants peace efforts.
While Hafiz Gul Buhadar must be hoping that the Mujahideen Ansars responsibility claim would absolve him and the TTP and pave the way for a truce between the TTP and the militants, well informed sources in the security establishment still hold the TTP responsible for the killing of 17 soldiers. They refuted the thesis that the Taliban are far from being a unified group and an agreement signed by one key leader cant be taken as universal.
According to these circles, the TTP and the IMU have long been collaborating and conducting joint operations inside the tribal areas. They cited the TTPs December 16, 2012 blatant assault on the Pakistan Air Force base inside the Peshawar Airport. Four of the fidayeen (suicide) attackers were later identified as Uzbeks belonging to the IMU.
To tell the truth, Uzbek militants have been active in Pakistan since the 1990s, with the IMU being the main group which organises and directs these militants. Formed in 1998 by Tahir Yuldashev, the focus of IMU has always been ousting Uzbek President Islam Karimov and to install an Islamic regime in Uzbekistan.
As far as the bond between the TTP and the IMU is concerned, the two have a long history of collaboration, even before Baitullah Mehsud had launched the TTP in December 2007. Therefore, officials in the security establishment are not ready to believe that the TTP has no role in the January 13 killing of 17 Pakistani soldiers.
TTP absolved as Uzbeks claim killing 17 soldiers - thenews.com.pk
That was what the LeT used to claim responsibility for the Mumbai attacks.
looks like proxies have also got proxies now 
