The unmanned combat aerial vehicle, popularly known as drone), took off from its base and headed towards a direction it never navigated before. The target was the chief of a militant outfit that runs a parallel government in a number of provinces of Afghanistan with a sizeable force of militants that can suddenly appear from nowhere at a targeted location, subdue the local security forces, and establish their writ by wreaking havoc in the area — the takeover of Kunduz in October 2015 is one such example. The day when the drone was navigating through the rugged mountainous-terrain of Balochistan in search of its target, the chief was traveling in a private taxicab without any guard or armed escort. The poor taxi driver, who was driving him to his destination, was probably unaware of the risk his apparently rich customer carried. Before they could have sensed any danger to their lives they were turned into ashes as the missile fired by the drone was right on its target.
For a few days, a haze of mystery surrounded the real identity of the main victim of the drone attack. All suspicions and denials expressed by the government of Pakistan couldn’t hold ground for long, and they had to at last admit that the person holding valid Pakistani passport and ID card in the name of Wali Muhammad was in fact the chief of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Akhtar Mansur. Further revelations that came to fore were more surprising: Wali’s name was found in the final voter list of Chaman municipal committee, and he also had an apartment in Karachi. As per his documents, he was a Pakistani national irrespective of how he managed to obtain them. His frequent flyer portfolio is another proof that no immigration agency in the country or abroad could ever question the authenticity of his personal documents.
For a high profile militant of his stature, commuting on a common road in a private taxicab are sufficient proofs of how confident he was of the legality of his personal documents. A little twist in his fate deprived him of the identity he once enjoyed. From a Pakistani citizen he became a head of a leading insurgent force of Afghanistan. The Pakistani CNIC found from his death-site shows that it was renewed sometime in the year 2012. What our numerous intelligence agencies have been doing all these years is a puzzle. Couldn’t they ever detect him indulging into some mysterious activities to maintain his contacts with his militant forces and commanders based in Afghanistan? Was he so tech-savvy and well equipped that no monitoring system in the country could even catch a little blip of any mysterious signal emanating from his abode in Karachi? While our secret agencies were searching each and every nook and corner of the city for abettors and supporters of militants, a top level militant from Afghanistan, disguised as a Pakistani, was roaming around the country with all legal protection granted to him by NADRA, passport office, and the Election Commission. Those languishing in jail for being suspected of providing support and facilitation to terrorists must be having a chuckle at this revelation.
Leaving aside what the world would be thinking of us, let’s see how we took this incident. The uproar that echoed from corridors of power and some religious parties was identical to what was observed back in November 2013 — long before the Zarb-e-Azb — when the then chief of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Hakeemullah Mehsud, was targeted by a drone attack. Funeral prayers in absentia were performed by different factions of the TTP in Karachi then, and now this religious duty was performed by the Jammat-ud-Dawa and Ahl-e-Sunnat-Wal-Jamat — an act against a clause of the National Action Plan (NAP) dealing with glorification of terrorists. Back then Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan was as harsh and critical of the drone attack as he is this time. The former chief of the Jammat-e-Islami (JI) was so deeply shocked at the demise of Mehsud that he called him a “martyr,” but the current chief of the JI opted not to cross his limit probably fearing the stern reaction of the ISPR that his predecessor’s careless statement had invited.
Apart from what government officials and religious party leaders think of Mullah Mansur, the most amazing aspect is hypocrisy of those people who have suddenly become very vocal on this issue. What kept them silent on several other drone attacks that took place prior to the latest attack? Last year, 69 militants were targeted by the drone attacks in FATA and 34 more were droned this year, prior to the recent attack in Balochistan. Among the victims were Maulana Noor Saeed, a key commander of the banned TTP, and five militants belonging to the Haqqani network of the Afghan Taliban. Hardly any one of them expressed any concerns for these victims of drone attacks. Their conspicuous silence and passivity during the major terror attacks that were carried out at the Karachi Airport, Army Public School, Safoora Goth, and Iqbal Park raise several questions as to whose lives matter most to them and who they really glorify — the people of Pakistan or militants?
Despite launching a successful Zarb-e-Azb operation and taking other measures against the menace of terrorism, nothing appears to have changed so far in terms of our understanding and interpretation of the concept of terrorism. Our leadership has to take a clear-cut stand on this issue. Making a NAP means nothing when its own authors are not clear on the definition of terrorism, and are ready to look away when its clauses are ignored or trampled by those who are supposed to be its custodians. The TTP is now being called a terrorist outfit with its links to the RAW and NDS. If it is true then why do our reactions sound similar for both — the chiefs of the TTP and Afghan Taliban? Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, Tariq Fatemi issued a statement conveying what he considers the most concerning issue, “Afghanistan shouldn’t become a safe haven for terrorists again.” It really explains why the Afghan Taliban chief, Mullah Mansur, was roaming on our soil and why our condemnation of the latest drone attack is so loud.
The writer is a Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Research & Security Studies, Islamabad