Kohistan, Chitral are quiet terrorist havens in northwestern Pakistan

Spiegel has an interesting report on how the Taliban are sheltering in areas of Pakistan far removed from the tribal areas that have become the focus of discussion. Kohistan is one such area, as Spiegel notes, and the Pakistani Army isn’t viewed as a threat. In fact they are often “quite nice”:

Rafiullah, 25, is an insurgent, or as he puts it, a “holy warrior.” Hundreds, probably thousands of them have retreated to the mountainous regions of northern Pakistan to recover from their battles against NATO troops. Pakistan remains relatively safe, NATO soldiers are far away and the insurgents’ only adversary here is the Pakistani army — and “sometimes they are quite nice,” says Rafiullah. He considers Kohistan particularly safe “because here, in contrast to regions directly on the Afghan border, there are no US drones.”

More on how top terrorist leaders, including Osama bin Laden, may be sheltering in the region:

Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is also thought to be in this region, as is his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri. At the beginning of the week, the US news channel CNN cited an unnamed NATO source as saying that the world’s most wanted man was hiding out in the Chitral District, some 150 kilometers (93 miles) northwest of Kohistan. Bin Laden doesn’t live in a cave, the source said, but in comfortable houses. In June, a 52-year-old Californian was arrested in Chitral with a night-vision device, pistols and a meter-long sword. His aim was to kill bin Laden and collect the reward on offer of more than $50 million (€36 million).

Kohistan is seen as another place where the terrorist leader may be hiding. The region is known as a place where extremists come to rest. Fighters from other Pakistani regions and from Afghanistan spend time here. It is a welcoming place — those arriving in search of a bed, a meal or a tea are quickly provided for.

And this article in The News documents how the district of Chitral, which borders the restive Afghan provinces of Kunar and Nuristan, has served as a Taliban staging point into Afghanistan.

The US government has pledged to donate an additional $2 billion in military aid to Pakistan, yet the Pakistani military has refused to move against the most obvious Taliban and a Qaeda strongholds in North Waziristan, and even in South Waziristan. Don’t expect the Pakistani military to move against the quiet havens in places like Chitral and Kohistan.

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

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10 Comments

  • Tim says:

    “The US government has pledged to donate an additional $2 billion in military aid to Pakistan”
    So basically, today Osama Bin Laden is richer by $2 Billion!

  • michael says:

    blaming others is convenient and bashing pakistan seems to be in.
    but safe havens seem to exist on both sides of the border,
    e.g. in kunar and nuristan in afghanistan.
    what exactly do coalition troops do about safe havens in afghanistan, other than pulling troops out of kunar and nuristan?

  • Sohail Rizki says:

    If Pakistan is not taking action against terrorists, then who is killing Pakistani army officers?

  • Sumit says:

    @Sohail
    I am not sure if you are aware with terms like Good Taliban and Bad Taliban. Good Taliban are Pakistani assets where Bad Taliban are in fight against Pakistani establishment.

  • bard207 says:

    michael,
    ————————————————————————-

    blaming others is convenient and bashing pakistan seems to be in.

    but safe havens seem to exist on both sides of the border,
    e.g. in kunar and nuristan in afghanistan.
    what exactly do coalition troops do about safe havens in afghanistan, other than pulling troops out of kunar and nuristan?
    ———————————————————————
    There weren’t enough coalition troops in Nuristan and Kunar to stem the Taliban crossing the border from Pakistan.
    The Frontier Corps fired in the direction of coalition helicopters and got whacked.
    Why don’t the Frontier Corps fire in the direction of the Taliban if the sovereignty of the Pakistani border is that important? Would the Taliban return fire at the Frontier Corps or would they admit they were wrong for crossing the border at unauthorized places and without getting their visa checked by the Frontier Corps or similar?
    When Taliban and similar religious extremists kill Pakistani military, police and citizens, why doesn’t General Kiyanni and the Pakistani Army get mad and choke off the Taliban supply lines until the Taliban give money and apologize to General Kayani and the Pakistani Army?

  • Bing says:

    “and choke off the Taliban supply lines ”
    I’ll give ya one reason: The taliban, NATO, Pak army supply lines are all one and the same.

  • Spooky says:

    The FC doesn’t fire at the Taliban because, being local Pashtuns, that’d be like firing on family. The FC should not be handling security, even if their officers are picked from the Regular Army.

  • Mr T says:

    “but safe havens seem to exist on both sides of the border”
    Sorry, not buying that one. We can send troops, artillery, drones, helicopters gunships, fixed wing aircraft, ect anywhere in Afghanistan. Thats not the case in Pakistan where we can only use drones in selected areas and rely on Pakistan for everything else.

  • bard207 says:

    Spooky,
    —————————————————————
    The FC doesn’t fire at the Taliban because, being local Pashtuns, that’d be like firing on family. The FC should not be handling security, even if their officers are picked from the Regular Army.
    ————————————————————
    I am well aware of the sentiments of the Frontier Corps in regards to the Taliban crossing back and forth on the Afghanistan – Pakistan border. Replacing the Frontier Corps with regular Pakistani Army troops would probably get only minor improvement in sealing the border since the Pakistani Army helps militants cross the Eastern border into India.
    The point that I am making is that Pakistan is inconsistent when it complains about border incursions by U.S. helicopters and drones.
    If sovereignty is truly that important to Pakistan and the U.S. should cease all air activity crossing the border to respect that sovereignty, then the sovereignty of Afghanistan is also important and Pakistan must do much more to respect the sovereignty of Afghanistan.
    If that includes shooting at ground traffic (Taliban) as they have done in shooting towards U.S. helicopters, then that is what Pakistan must do. Since they (FC and/or Pakistan Army) aren’t complaining about the Taliban crossing the border and they are also failing to take appropriate measures to stop it, the sovereignty violation complaint by Pakistan is hugely flawed and bogus.
    I read several Pakistani dominated web sites and see the sovereignty concept invoked quite often in complaints about drones and helicopters, yet they (Pro Pakistan participants) are pleased that the Taliban are being supported by Pakistan.
    Since the Long War Journal is not dominated by Pakistan supporters, I am able to point out the logical inconsistencies of Pakistan’s position in regards to sovereignty without being booted.

  • Mr Wolf says:

    I suggest this border crossing thing is worth testing. Send some ground troops to these known safe-havens and see how quickly they are captured by the Pak Army, if at all. If they are not captured and can remain in place for a sustained timeline (ie while operations are currently underway, not as a staging ground) would we see Pak/NATO military officers make excuses or suggest that someone had to do it, and the Pak military has stated it will not. Make it SIMPLE. Let politicians on either side use it as a election point, but with those elections soon to be over, the political fallout will be insignificant right now.

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