ISLAMABAD, 10 March 2007 — Hours after former Afghan Prime Minister Gulbuddin Hematyar hinted at possible talks with President Hamid Karzai, NATO/ISAF forces scored a major gain by arresting Hakimullah Mehsud, a key militant commander and brother of Baitullah Mehsud. Hakimullah was arrested during a raid on a hide-out near the Pakistan-Afghan border.
Intelligence sources told Arab News late on Thursday that Baitullah, who had signed the peace deal with the government, had gone missing. Some people believe he was probably killed when NATO forces raided the hide-out to arrest Hakimullah.
President Gen. Pervez Musharraf had recently indicated the army would hit the Mehsud brothers because they were still carrying out attacks on government forces.
Meanwhile, as tension mounted in tribal regions the federal government initiated a dusk-to-dawn curfew in Bajaur Agency. Authorities say it was a preventive action to preempt further violence or attacks by militants.
Baitullah, a very popular figure in the tribal region, reportedly had close contacts with some Arab organizations engaged in the Iraq insurgency. Top-ranking military spokesmen or local authorities had no knowledge about the whereabouts of Baitullah. Latest reports say Hakimullah was taken to Paktia, a stronghold of Hekmatyar. Dominant groups in Miranshah say that foreign Al-Qaeda militants are carrying out attacks on the Pakistan Army.
In Mir Ali town, according to intelligence sources, there are Arabs who received training in Iraq and are difficult to be differentiated from the locals. But Al-Qaeda operatives from Chechnya, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan can be easily identified because of their features and language.
An Iraqi known as Abu Okash, sources told Arab News, is reportedly commanding militants in Waziristan. Security forces are making every effort to net Al-Qaeda militants in the area and raids and operations are being carried out, but local tribal leaders say using force to eliminate Al-Qaeda is not advisable because it results in civilian casualties and sows hatred among the local people against the government.
Legislator Maulvi Nek Muhammad told Arab News that the sheer use of force would only prove counterproductive.
“The solution lies in holding talks with tribesmen both in Pakistan and Afghanistan and thus isolating the Al-Qaeda militants,” he said.
One Killed in Sectarian Attack
Gunmen on a motorcycle shot dead a Shiite activist in the northwestern region yesterday, a day after a member of a militant group was gunned down in a similar attack, police said.
