The Afghan and Pakistani Taliban have formed a five-member
council and pledged to stop fighting their own armed forces, in order to
concentrate their fight against US-led forces in Afghanistan,
Channel 4
News reported on Monday.
According to the report, aAfter weeks of
hectic efforts, a high-level delegation of the Afghan Taliban - sent by
the Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar - finally succeeded in
bringing together different Pakistani militant groups under a single
platform.
They have united and promised to stop the suicide
attacks, kidnapping for ransom and killing of innocent people in the
country, particularly in the militancy-torn tribal areas, which was all
part of a fight against Pakistani security forces.
Taliban sources
said Mullah Omar was not happy with the Pakistani Taliban's actions and
sent a message via his senior commanders: either stop what he termed
'un-Islamic' activities or to stop claiming him (Mulla Omar) as their
supreme leader.
Sources also said that Mullah Omar was worried
over increasing numbers of Pakistani Taliban diverting their attention
from Afghanistan towards Pakistan and making it difficult for the Afghan
Taliban to continue their resistance against the powerful Nato and ISAF
forces in Afghanistan.
Focus on foreign forces
Mulla Omar,
according to Taliban sources, wants Pakistani Taliban groups to focus on
Afghanistan, where their fight against foreign forces was in decisive
phase.
"Convey my message to the Pakistani Taliban that you had
forgotten the real purpose. The real purpose was to fight against
invading forces in Afghanistan and liberate it from their occupation," a
Taliban leader quoted Mulla Omar as telling him.
The source also
said that Mullah Omar was upset over the frequent kidnapping and killing
of people who were suspected of spying for US forces, and urged them to
stop it immediately.
The Taliban on Sunday issued a pamphlet in
North Waziristan in which all militant groups were directed to stop
kidnapping for ransom and killing innocent people. The five-member Shura
council said it would investigate any complaints and would suggest
punishment against the said group, if found guilty.
The five-strong council
The
militant groups which signed accord and promised to work together with
the Afghan Taliban include the Maulvi Nazeer group in South Waziristan,
Hakimullah Mahsud group, Maulana Waliur Rahman group, both operating in
South Waziristan and part of the TTP, Hafiz Gul Bahadur group in North
Waziristan, and the powerful Haqqani network.
All groups have one
representative on the five-member Shura that will also aim to resolve
internal differences between different militant groups.
The TTP
leader and his deputy seemed to have separate groups as both were shown
in the pamphlet having different people in the Shura to represent them:
the leader, Hakimullah Mahsud, has given the name of Maulvi Noor Saeed,
the TTP leader in Orakzai Agency, to represent him in the Shura while
Maulana Waliur Rahman will be represented by Maulvi Azmatullah in the
forum.
However some sources argued that Hakimullah's nominee will
represent the TTP while Rahman's representative will be sitting in the
council on behalf of the Taliban of South Waziristan.
The powerful
Haqqani network has chosen Maulvi Saeedullah; Hafiz Gul Bahadur
selected Maulvi Sadar Hayat; and Maulvi Nazeer nominated Hafiz Ameer
Hamza to represent them in the council that will be called
'Shura-e-Murakeba'.
Militant groups have now been directed to
cooperate with the Shura members. The Taliban's pamphlet also threatened
that any individual or group if found guilty would be dealt according
to the Islamic Sharia law.
