Pak Taliban pledge to join forces in fight against India

“We are fighting the Pakistan Army because it has launched operations in our tribal areas, but we cannot allow India or any other power to invade our country,” Qari Hussain, a top commander of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan based in South Waziristan, said in a statement.

Hussain, known for training suicide bombers, claimed an Indian attack on Pakistan would help the cause of the Taliban as it could force the army to stop military action in the tribal areas and the Swat valley of NWFP. However, the Taliban have “no intention of exploiting such a situation because our priority would be to fight India”, he said.

Another group of Pakistani Taliban headed by Maulvi Nazeer issued a statement that said: “We would raise a force of 15,000 tribal Taliban to fight on the side of Pakistan’s armed forces. We would infiltrate 500 suicide bombers into India to cause havoc there.”

Maulana Faqir Mohammad, the deputy leader of the Pakistani Taliban who is leading militants against Pakistani security forces in the restive Bajaur tribal region, was the first commander to issue an anti-India statement. “India has hatched a conspiracy to blame Pakistan and the mujahideen for the Mumbai attacks. India’s discriminatory attitude toward its Muslim population was the reason for these attacks,” he said.

“We are warning India not to invade Pakistan as any aggression would be resisted jointly by Pakistan’s armed forces and the mujahideen.”

The outlawed militant group Lashkar-e-Islam, based in Khyber Agency, too issued an anti-India statement. It said: “We have the history of our tribal forefathers before us. They offered sacrifices for Pakistan and defended its borders. It is our religious and moral duty to stop those wanting to invade and capture our territory.”

The strongly worded anti-India statements by militant groups operating in the NWFP and adjoining tribal areas showed they “are out to prove their patriotism” in the wake of the tensions between India and Pakistan, the pro-establishment The News reported.

Jamat-ud-Dawah spokesman Yahya Mujahid rejected Indian charges about Saeed’s links to the attacks and said Pakistani authorities are “already watching their activities”. Had there been any doubts, “they would not have been allowed to go free”, he said.

“Everybody knows that the previous regime would not have let us live in freedom had it suspected any of our activities. It is mere Indian propaganda so as to conceal the failure of its intelligence and law enforcement agencies,” Mujahid claimed. “The Indian claims are aimed at hoodwinking the Indian people. However, it is up to the Pakistani Government to decide as to what to do and how to respond to the Indian demand in a befitting manner,” he said.

When his attention was drawn to reports about fears that India might carry out air strikes on the headquarters of the Jamat-ud-Dawah in Muridke, Mujahid refused to comment saying it was the responsibility of Pakistan’s armed forces to protect the country’s frontiers against any outside aggression.

“Like all other people of the country, we will stand behind the armed forces if the Indians resort to any aggression against Pakistan to conceal their own criminal negligence that resulted in the Mumbai mayhem,” he said.