Intelligence Bureau Director General Aftab Sultan has confirmed the existence of the fearsome militant organization, Daesh or IS, in Pakistan and warned the group is an emerging threat to the country because sectarian outfits and the Pakistani Taliban are sympathetic to its ideology.
The statement of the chief of the biggest civilian spy agency, who is also an experienced retired police officer, is contrary to claims of Interior Minister Ch. Nisar Ali Khan that there is no presence of Daesh or Islamic State in the country. The Foreign Office has also denied its existence in Pakistan, several times in the past. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif recently claimed that the backbone of the terrorists has been broken and his government would not rest till the war against terrorism was taken to its logical conclusion. The military leadership also boasts of its successes in operations against the militants. However, despite its achievements, the IB chief’s assertions indicate a tough situation in Pakistan to exist for decades.
The spymaster told a Senate committee that hundreds of fighters from Pakistan were joining Daesh in Syria. Briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Interior about his agency’s counterterrorism operations, he said, “Daesh exists in Pakistan and all other militant groups operating here have a soft corner for it. Even the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) coordinates with Daesh though both are archrivals in Afghanistan while Daesh is also exploiting cyber space.” The IB unearthed a big network of Daesh in Pakistan as after the Safoora Goth incident in Karachi some of its terrorists entered the Punjab. Admitting that law and order had improved in the country after the launch of the Zarb-e-Azb operation, he warned that terror incidents could not be averted in the country in the next eight to ten years.
Last week, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a warning over the reach of the Daesh group in South Asia and called for international action against it. In a report on Daesh’s threat to international peace and security, presented to the Security Council, Ban said groups such as the Tehreek-e-Khilafat in Pakistan “are sufficiently attracted by its underlying ideology to pledge allegiance to its so-called caliphate and self-proclaimed caliph.” Ban called the terrorist organisation “an unprecedented threat to international peace and security.” He said: “This is a matter of considerable concern, since these groups appear to be emulating IS (Daesh) tactics and carrying out attacks on its behalf. In 2016 and beyond, member states should prepare for a further increase in the number of foreign terrorist fighters travelling to other states on the instructions of Daesh. The recent expansion of the Daesh sphere of influence across West and North Africa, the Middle East and South and Southeast Asia demonstrates the speed and scale at which the gravity of the threat has evolved in just 18 months.”
The report said 34 militant groups from around the world had pledged allegiance to the extremist group as of mid-December 2015, and that the number will grow in 2016. It said it could also woo militants from several countries including Pakistan. It urged UN member states to prepare for increased attacks by Daesh associated groups from countries such as the Philippines, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Libya and Nigeria, travelling to other nations. According to estimates, Daesh is the world’s wealthiest terrorist organisation which generated $400-$500 million from oil and oil products in 2015, despite an embargo. According to the UN mission in Iraq, cash taken from bank branches located in provinces under IS control totaled $1 billion. The mission also estimates that a tax on trucks entering IS controlled-territory generates nearly $1 billion a year.
In his last State of the Union address on January 12, US President Barack Obama had warned that both Afghanistan and Pakistan were among the countries that would continue to face instability and turmoil for decades. “The IS militants — although concentrated in Iraq and Syria — are also establishing bases in the Pak-Afghan region,” he said and also identified a link between militancy and instability and warned that some unstable regions might become safe havens for terrorists. However, Prime Minister’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz rejected the statement. “Whatever the US President said about instability in Pakistan and Afghanistan are his predictions and have nothing to do with ground realities,” he told reporters.
It appears the Pakistani leadership is in a state of denial about the presence of the international terrorist group. The country had adopted the same approach about the existence of al Qaeda on its soil for almost two decades until 9/11. The government can deny Daesh’s existence in Pakistan, but it cannot rule out the presence of the same ideology in all parts of the country. After the killing of at least 141 people in the Army Public School, Peshawar, in 2014, a cleric of Pakistan’s infamous Red Mosque had refused to condemn the killings and said the military offensive against the Taliban militants in North Waziristan was un-Islamic. Maulana Abdul Aziz, who survived a 2007 military operation against militants hiding in the mosque when he was caught trying to escape wearing a burqa, openly told the media he respected Islamic State (IS) because of similarity in their missions and he had no repentance over supporting it. He said though they had no direct link with the leadership of IS, yet they deliberated on the issue and decided to promote the mission and message of IS. Commenting on a video released by Jamia Hafsa students declaring their support for IS and its chief Abu Bakar al Baghdadi, the cleric said the students had made the video with his consent. “The girl students of the seminary wanted to take out a rally in support of IS but I stopped them,” he claimed. Hundreds of madrassas across the country teach the same ideology to their students.
In the situation, the government should take the warning of the IB chief and world leaders seriously and start implementing the National Action Plan in true spirit. The Punjab is the breeding ground for almost all sectarian organizations operating in the country. Military operations should be launched in the province to neutralize the threat of IS.
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