Daily Times

India entered the Afghanistan fray more out of spite for Pakistan and less for love of the Afghans. Eighteen years since 9/11, Indian cooperation with the Afghan Unity Government faces impending dangers, which may imperil Indian investments in the war-ravaged country. Most of the threat comes from Indian miscalculation of the risks. India has a poor track record of meddling in the affairs of other countries. In 1987 it sent its armed forces to Sri Lanka, which resulted in a major disaster and even caused a Tamil suicide bomber to assassinate the Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. After the US-led NATO forces invaded Afghanistan following 9/11, India saw a grand opportunity to invest in Afghanistan to gain brownie points with the US but more to gain a foothold so that its secret agency RAW could establish bases to destabilize Pakistan.

Indian investments in the reconstruction of Afghanistan have been manifold but due to the intransigencies of its intelligence agency, RAW, numerous catastrophes face Indian defence planners. On October 18, 2018, Kandahar’s governor Zalmay Wesa, the powerful provincial police Chief Abdul Razik and the province’s intelligence chief Abdul Mohmin were killed when their own guards opened fire on them at a security conference. Asian Tribune of October 26, 2018, in its Op-Ed titled ‘RAW behind killing of NDS/CIA operatives in Kandahar’ lifted the shroud of secrecy from the identity of the main culprits. Quoting reports, the Online Daily revealed that an intelligence setup was established inside the Governor House Kandahar to maintain optimum secrecy and deception. It disclosed that the intelligence setup inside the Governor House was the joint venture of the Afghan intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security (NDS), India’s infamous spy organization RAW and the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The Daily further informs that two companies of Black Water (CIA) XEE and XZEE were also imparting training to the Afghan youth, Indian nationals, ETM and IMU militants for launching them to Pakistan. The cover name of the clandestine intelligence and terrorist setup which was working inside Kandahar’s Governor House involving various cover officers and officials of RAW was “888 Brigade”. Naming reliable sources, the Daily asserts that the ‘888 Brigade’ remained involved in terrorist activities inside Pakistan. It was running a setup at the hill top of Splanji near Quetta which was later destroyed by law enforcement agencies of Pakistan. The informed daily reveals that the ‘888 Brigade’ even tried to establish a setup in Kohat which was successfully wiped out by Pakistani security forces as well.

India has a poor track record of meddling in the affairs of other countries. In 1987 it sent its armed forces to Sri Lanka, which resulted in a major disaster and even caused a Tamil suicide bomber to assassinate the Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. After the US-led NATO forces invaded Afghanistan following 9/11, India saw a grand opportunity to invest in Afghanistan to gain brownie points with the US but more to gain a foothold so that its secret agency RAW could establish bases to destabilize Pakistan

Exploiting numerous terrorist organizations, General Raziq carried out terrorist acts inside Pakistan such as attacks on Lawyers in Quetta, on Police Training Center Quetta, on the Hazara Community in Quetta, on APS Peshawar and numerous others.

General Abdul Raziq was not only involved in terrorist activities inside Pakistan but was also disreputable for brutal and unlawful killing of innocent Afghanis. He was working as a mercenary for forces inimical to Afghanistan. According to reports he was running his own jails and torture centers to punish his political opponents and the Afghan Taliban. He also supervised police activities in Kandahar province and covertly visited India to get briefing from RAW and acquire sophisticated equipment, which was provided to RAW by the Israeli secret  service Mossad.

Asian Tribune discloses that apparently differences erupted between Kandahar-based RAW diplomat Jagdev Krishna and General Abdul Raziq regarding their share of percentage of kickbacks from the purchase deal of night vision devices, telescope fitted snipers and chemical agents from Israeli Intelligence agency, Mossad. The RAW agent finally settled the dispute by cultivating a proxy in the inner security cordon of Governor House – the front organization of NDS, which resulted in the massive killing of NDS-CIA high-value personnel.

On November 23, 2018, a deadly suicide attack was planned to wreak havoc in the Chinese Consulate at Karachi. The perpetrators of the heinous act were killed before they could execute their mission. Its mastermind, Aslam Achu, who was under treatment in India, planned the gruesome assault. On Christmas eve, Aslam Achu, a leader of proscribed Baluchistan Liberation Army (BLA) was killed in Afghanistan along with other 3 commanders and 4 guards. Dr. Jumma Khan Marri, the founder of overseas Balochis, in a social media interview has exposed Indian intelligence agency RAW for placing Aslam Achu in Kandahar rather than a safe place like India. He claims that India is paying Baloch insurgents to foment insurrection in Baluchistan.

Indian senior politicians as well as defence analysts are now lamenting that they backed the wrong horse in Afghanistan. They claim that the Taliban with the support of Russia, China, Pakistan and Iran are gaining supremacy. Since the Indians were with the northern alliance and sponsored Karzai and later Ashraf Ghani, now their investments in Afghanistan will come to naught if the Taliban end up in control of Kabul.

The writer is a retired Group Captain of PAF. He is a columnist, analyst and TV talk show host, who has authored six books on current affairs, including three on China

Published in Daily Times, January 5^th 2019