Islamabad - Pakistan's military says it can bring the
notorious Haqqani militant network, considered one of the most lethal
threats against U.S.-led coalition troops in Afghanistan, to the
negotiation table.
Instead, Washington is pushing Pakistan to carry out military assaults against Haqqani hideouts in the tribal regions.
The
network is affiliated with the Taliban and al-Qaida and blamed for most
of the major attacks in Afghanistan, particularly the often brazen
assaults on the capital Kabul. It has been described as the glue that
binds together the militant groups operating in Pakistan's tribal North
Waziristan.
"The Haqqani network has been more important to the
development and sustainment of al-Qaida and the global jihad than any
other single actor or group," a study released earlier this month by
West Point's Combatting Terrorism Center said.
A senior Pakistani
military officer now says that Pakistan can deliver the Haqqani network
to the negotiation table. Pakistan has kept open communication lines
with Jalaluddin Haqqani, the elderly leader of the al-Qaida aligned
network. The officer spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was
not authorized to release the information.
The officer denied U.S. and Afghan allegations that Islamabad is aiding and arming the network.
But
delivering the Haqqanis would guarantee the Pakistanis a major role in
negotiations to end the war and shore up their influence in Afghanistan
after the Americans have gone.
Pakistan's offer to bring the
recalcitrant Haqqani and his son Sirajuddin, the network's military
chief, to the peace table comes amid accelerated efforts to find a
negotiated end to the protracted Afghan war ahead of the 2014 U.S.
military pullout.
But Washington wants Pakistan to go after the Haqqanis because they are threatening coalition forces in Afghanistan.
During
a visit to Afghanistan earlier this month, Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm.
Mike Mullen bristled at Pakistan's reluctance to clear out safe havens
on its territory.
"There has been frustration with the speed with
which that (safe havens) has been addressed ... because in particular,
the Haqqani network, which continues to be central to this, not
exclusive, but central, in feeding this fight in Afghanistan," he said.
"At some point that has got to stop. We continue to engage on that, to
bring pressure on that, but I would be hard pressed to be able to tell
you time and place when it is going to happen, but it needs to happen."
The
senior Pakistani officer said a military assault on Haqqani hideouts
would quickly engulf the entire tribal region in a war that the
Pakistan army can't win.
For years, the dilemma of how to deal
with the Haqqani network has bedeviled Pakistan's relationship with
both the United States and Afghanistan.
Pakistan sees the
Haqqanis as allies in a postwar Afghanistan. Deep links were found by
the West Point study between the Haqqani network and Pakistan's
intelligence agency, known as ISI.
Maj. Gen. Daniel Allyn, the
coalition's commander for eastern Afghanistan, recently called the
Haqqani network "enemy Number One", ahead of the Taliban's one-eyed
leader Mullah Mohammed Omar.
On Tuesday, the U.S. designated
Mullah Sangeen Zadran, a commander in the Haqqani network, as a
terrorist, freezing any assets he has in the United States and barring
Americans from doing business with him.
Skeptical of Haqqani's willingness to negotiate, Allyn also complained about safe havens in Pakistan.
"From
what I've seen from Haqqani so far, their ruthless tactics and the way
they have senselessly murdered by the hundreds Afghan citizens, it's
hard for me to imagine that (reconciliation) is very high on their list
right now, particularly as long as they have the safe haven they enjoy
in Miram Shah," Allyn told the online Long War Journal in an Aug. 9
interview.
Miram Shah, North Waziristan's capital, has been the
target of numerous U.S. drone assaults, as have nearby areas suspected
of concealing insurgent hideouts.
Haqqani's religious school, or madrassa, has been hit several times and several insurgents have been killed.
Yet
people in the area say dozens of militants still roam the area with
relative ease, including Arab Al-Qaida fighters and members of the
Uzbek-dominated Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.
U.S. demands for
Pakistan to launch military operations against Haqqani havens have
escalated as the U.S. and NATO prepare to deploy more troops to the
eastern border regions, analysts and Western officials say.
Ahead
of his departure last month as head of Afghanistan's military
operation, Gen. David Patraeus announced that the thrust of the war
would be redirected against Taliban hideouts in the east of
Afghanistan, where Haqqani's Afghan headquarters is located.
Yet
at least two Western officials in the region say Haqqani's network
cannot be defeated militarily. Speaking on condition of anonymity to
allow them to speak candidly, the two officials, both of whom have
Western military experience, said Pakistan's soldiers are poorly
trained and equipped. A military operation in North Waziristan's Miram
Shah would temporarily disrupt Haqqani's operation but not defeat it,
they said.
They also said the calls for attacks on Haqqani safe
havens in Miram Shah are part of the larger U.S. strategy that uses
military pressure to bring insurgents to the negotiation table.
Pakistan
has 140,000 soldiers deployed in its tribal regions. Battles with
Pakistani insurgents there have resulted in the deaths of more than
3,000 Pakistani soldiers, more than the U.S. and NATO combined.
According
to the Pakistani military officer, an all out war with the Haqqani
network would result in numerous military deaths and leave Pakistan,
battered by relentless suicide bombings, vulnerable to more militant
attacks.
Insisting Pakistan can bring the Haqqanis to the table
without a military operation, the Pakistani senior military official
says it's still not clear what the Haqqanis could be offered if they
agree to open talks.
Mohammed Ismai Qasemyar, a representative of
Afghanistan's High Peace Council tasked with finding a peaceful end to
the 10-year war, said: "We won't make any deals with Haqqani." The only
promises on offer so far are personal security guarantees and "every
rights granted all Afghan citizens."
On their part, Haqqanis would have to denounce al-Qaida, he said. AP
