LAHORE: Preliminary investigations by the Pakistani authorities show that the terrorists who had targeted the GHQ building in Rawalpindi on October 10 and those involved in the October 15 multiple terrorist attacks in Lahore were in fact Punjabi Taliban belonging to three Sunni Deobandi sectarian-cum-jehadi groups which are working in tandem with the Pushtun-dominated South Waziristan-based Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan to carry out joint terrorist attacks in almost every nook and corner of the country.
Well placed intelligence circles say some banned militant-cum-sectarian groups in Punjab are gaining strength with every passing day after having joined hands with the South Waziristan-based Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. They say several members of the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) from southern Punjab, who fought in the Afghan war, have tied up with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan to carry out attacks against important installations. South Punjab has grabbed the attention of the agencies over the past few months because of the alleged involvement of the Punjabi Taliban – a blanket term for members of banned sectarian and jehadi groups like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan and Jaish-e-Mohammad arrested in Punjab and the federal capital after a spate of terrorist attacks.
The sources pointed out that the leader of the GHQ attackers, Mohammad Aqeel alias Dr Osman had been affiliated with the SSP, LeJ as well as the JeM before eventually joining the ranks of the TTP. The links of operatives of outlawed sectarian and jehadi groups from the impoverished south Punjab with Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and other militant groups in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Swat are also a cause of concern in the ruling circles of Islamabad, as well as for the western governments. The Americans are especially worried because the purported liaison between the outlawed sectarian groups, for whom southern Punjab serves as catchment area and TTP in parts of NWFP threatens the stability of the country.
While Punjab as a whole has, for long, been one of the hubs of radical Islam, the locus is in South Punjab. Also known as the Seraiki region, South Punjab has a population of 27 million and comprises 13 districts – Multan, Bahawalpur, Rahimyar Khan, Layyah, Lodhran, Khanewal, Muzaffargarh, Bahawalnagar, Rajanpur, Bhakkar, Vehari, Jhang and Dera Ghazi Khan. Pakistan government is anxious because it believes that fresh recruits for the jehadi groups challenging its writ are coming mostly from the southern districts of Punja – Bahawalnagar, Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Muzaffargarh, etc. The intelligence agencies say at least four Sunni Deobandi pro-Taliban militart and sectarian organisations – Sipah-e-Sahaba, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Harkatul Jehadul Islami have forged a strong alliance with outfits in the southern Punjab.
Investigators believe the local militants provide logistical support and, in certain cases, human resource, to the Taliban for carrying out their terror operations in Punjab. The investigators have found evidence of close collaboration between the TTP and the Punjabi militants, especially those belonging to the Sipah-e-Sahaba and the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, in several other terrorist incidents — the Marriott bombing in Islamabad in September 2008 and the March 2008 attack on Sri Lankan cricketers and the siege of the Manawan police training academy in Lahore. Most militants involved in the terrorist acts in the recent months have been identified as being from southern Punjab. There is significant presence of Punjabi militants in the tribal areas. Now the TTP and Punjabi militants — are part of the same front and have one mission. The alleged nexus between the Punjabi Taliban and Pashtun militant groups has also led to a convenient theory that the militants in the southern Punjab are regrouping to take over some southern districts like D.G. Khan or Muzaffargarh just as they have done in Swat.
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