So Where Does ISIS Stand In Pakistan?
After the wave of attacks in ‪‎Iraq‬, ISIS has turned their attention to ‪‎Afghanistan‬ and the Pakistani Consulate in ‪Jalalabad‬, killing 7 and injuring another 11.
Now, we aren’t going to sit here and tell you that ISIS doesn’t exist in ‪Pakistan‬. It does, but so minimally that they aren’t able to make any kind of strong showing. From the women arrested in Karachi fund raising to the commanders that have been arrested in the Punjab, ISIS doesn’t have the strength or the fear factor that al-Qaeda or the TTP have (had) in Pakistan.
We have watched as a couple of news channels have broadcast “confirmed” information of ISIS cells in Pakistan, based on circumstantial evidence and assumptions, but this is the job of the Pakistani media – disgrace and confuse – not inform and educate.
So where does ISIS stand in Pakistan? Lal Masjid.
With the leader of the Lal Masjid Brigade vowing his undying allegiance to ISIS, we are all clear on where the orders are coming from. The question now becomes why has the political government, the democratically elected government of Pakistan, not stood up and taken action against the radical cleric and the misfits that have been indoctrinated by him. We put forward a theory the other day in response to a column in a domestic newspaper, you can find that on our website here.
The real question here, for any analyst, is what was the point of the National Action Plan? After the APS attack, there should only have been one reaction from this government, any government.
The National Assembly and Senate should have been called into a joint session and a declaration of war should have been made. That’s the long and short of the discussion.
The fact that it took weeks to work out the response and framework of the National Action Plan is an embarrassment to this nation, the families of the children that were killed and all those Pakistanis who have lost someone to this bloody war.
Has the time finally come for the Government of Pakistan to be shaken from its roots? Has the time finally come for the people of Pakistan to stand up and demand their rights under the Constitution that these “democrats” claim to honor and respect so much?
There are already mosques in Islamabad, Peshawar, Karachi and Lahore that are spreading the ideology of ISIS. Some militants have already left jihadi groups for the brutality of ISIS. This fight is just getting started and already has all the signs of the Taliban revolution. This will grow if certain things aren’t immediately done.
- All rogue mosques, mullahs and militants must be taken off the game-board. Period.
- We need to understand that this is a pawn sacrifice game to begin with and will only get harder as the months and years pass, if we don’t act now. Pawn sacrifice means that they will sacrifice their low-level fighters because they have an endless supply, but they will take our trained soldiers, which isn’t an endless supply, with them.
- The National Action Plan either needs to be scrapped or moved under General Nasir Janjua, National Security Advisor. General Janjua brings battlefield knowledge and experience to the theatre and will be able to bring them down more effectively than the political government.
- Afghanistan needs to be given a clear message – If you provide safe haven to TTP fighters, we will take out Kabul in response. This message was delivered after the APS attack, but it needs to be reinforced with fighter jets crossing the border into Afghanistan. They must know that we are serious against any designs being hatched between them and India against Pakistan.
- India and Modi need to be set straight. We have seen from the Wikileaks story that both the US and the UK refused to accept the Indian evidence on the Mumbai attacks against Pakistan. What does that tell you? That the evidence wasn’t evidence. It was manufactured to give Pakistan a black-eye, much like Samjotha Express. For those who are new to the game, Samjotha was blamed on Pakistani jihadi groups, but in the end, it was proved that a serving Indian Colonel had assisted the violent Hindu nationalist groups in carrying out the attack. A serving Indian colonel supplied terrorists with explosives and support to attack and kill passengers on a train headed for Pakistan. Much like after ‪Pathankot‬, we heard that a retired Indian airmen was supplying information to a “Pakistani” woman for money.
- A true rehabilitation plan must be developed and implemented in FATA, Balochistan and all areas that have been cleared of terrorists/militants.
Until real socio-economic, education, health care and justice are provided to these areas, the terrorists will return with a stronger narrative and it will become significantly more difficult to remove them the next time.
