Pakistan’s ISI, Quetta Shura behind Rabbani’s assassination, Afghan officials say

Afghanistan’s Interior Minister and the chief of the National Directorate of Security have directly pointed the finger at the government of Pakistan, Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, and Mullah Omar’s Quetta Shura for directing the assassination of former president and head of the High Peace Council Burhanuddin Rabbani. From TOLONEWS:

The Pakistani government, the Inter-Services Intelligence agency and the Taliban’s Quetta Shura were directly involved in the assassination of former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani, Afghanistan’s interior minister said on Saturday.

Addressing the Afghan House of Representatives, Interior Minister General Bismellah Mohammadi said that the plot to kill Mr Rabbani, the head of the High Peace Council, was hatched outside Afghanistan five to six months ago.

There is “no doubt the ISI is involved,” Gen Mohammadi said.

On Saturday top Afghan security officials, including interior and defence ministers and the acting spy chief, were summoned to the parliament to brief lawmakers about the findings of an investigation into the death of Mr Rabbani.

Mr Rabbani, who was tasked with brokering peace between the Taliban and the Afghan government, was killed at his home in Kabul by a suicide bomber pretending to be a peace envoy from the Taliban leadership.

After the death of Mr Rabbani, President Karzai formed a panel comprised of senior security officials under the lead of Defence Minister General Abdul Rahim Wardak to investigate the assassination of the slain leader.

At a separate press conference on Saturday, the National Directorate of Security (NDS) said that the assassination of Mr Rabbani was organised in an area of Quetta in Pakistan.

NDS Spokesman Lotfullah Mashal said that it was beyond reason to believe that the Pakistani military could not become aware of such a plan given the close tabs it keeps on that area.

And today, Afghanistan’s presidential palace released a statement claiming that the suicide bomber was a Pakistani from the Chaman, a known Taliban haven in Baluchistan province. From AFP:

Evidence shows that Rabbani’s death last month “was plotted in Quetta and the person who carried out the suicide attack against Rabbani was a citizen of Pakistan,” the statement said.

It added that the killer had been living in Chaman, a Pakistani border town near Quetta.

Meanwhile, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani dismissed such claims and said “our intentions are beyond doubt in pursuing peace in the region.” Gilani’s statements are straight from the controversial advertising blitz that included full-page print ads in US papers and a video released on YouTube.

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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15 Comments

  • Ben says:

    Look at the irony of history. Pakistan was a committed US ally in the war against Soviet Russia. Without Pakistan

  • jack says:

    This, so called war on terror is very profitable for the Pakistan army. Pakistan army wants to maintain its centrecity in this game! They don’t want anyone to negotiate with their ‘taliban’ allies! Rabbani was negotiating peace with the talibans. Pakistan army wants to be a major player in the power equation, they never want Afghanistan to be atruly independent nation. The ISI always wants to insure that the dollars keep flowing from the west,west always depends on Pakistan Army for any activity(supply routes) in the region,countries like China would keep pampering & paying Pakistan army for the minerals and energy corridor to central asia through Pakistan,India is kept restless through terror activities…….So you see the Pakistan army would never allow Aghanistan to have independent existance without the control of ISI…..

  • Charley says:

    So, according to Mullah Ben, because PakMil once helped the US transfer US arms and US dollars to the Afghan muj, PakMil is now justified in killing US troops. Great logic!

  • Jim says:

    The Pakistanis lie like the Chinese. The stronger the proof, the more strident the denial. Admiral Mullen was right. Call the Paki’s out!
    Let’s also talk about Chinese support, encouragement, funding and facilitation of the Pakistani’s double game.
    Keep up the great work Bill.

  • mike merlo says:

    Ben’s ‘blog link’ is seriously flawed. It reads like Paki propaganda. In spite of the ‘bloggers ‘position’ India’s claim of neutrality during the Cold War the US & India cooperated on multiple occasions & on many levels. When Communist China attacked India in the late 50’s & early 60’s the US stepped up for India. When Pakistan attacked India on one occasion the US with held material from Pakistan hastening the cessation of hostilities. The aforementioned are just a few examples available via ‘open sources.’ Pakistani ‘loses’ are a byproduct of its own decisions.

  • mike merlo says:

    obviously by the posted comments Communist China’s designs & intentions are also little understood

  • CC says:

    Don’t be so hard on Ben. The Pakistanis are brainwashed this alternate history since day one. They fail to realize that the Soviet-Afghan War did not result in the USSR’s collapse. The USSR imploded because of their stagnant economy. To put it simply, there was no incentive for the people to work, and thus their economic system was extremely inefficient. The USA did not destroy the USSR; Pakistan did not destroy the USSR; Afghanistan did not destroy the USSR. The USSR was destroyed by CAPITALISM.
    I repeat, Capitalism defeated the Soviets – not the United States of America. And yet the myth of the “invincible” mujahideen lives on. Pakistan will always be doomed until they learn to understand basic economics and how market forces shape the world.

  • villiger says:

    Charley, Mullah Ben LOL!
    Also his logic that since Afghanistan is an immediate neighbour of Pak, Pak MUST maintain “influence” (read control) over AF. By the same logic should not India maintain control over Pak? Has it ever aspired to?
    These guys are a low form of human life who haven’t learnt the simple lesson of life: live and let live. They don’t know how to live, else they would have built themselves an economy instead of spending their money in constantly trying to bring India, and of late Af, down. And begging at the same time.
    Ben, please stop crying and get yourself a life. Else you’ll be left just counting your dead, your disabled, your drowned and dislocated. Remember your PM’s grand 3D strategy? Duh, duh and once again duh. Try doing something worthwhile for a change that may earn you some respect on the international stage.

  • mike merlo says:

    Democracy destroyed the USSR not Capitalism. Capitalism & Democracy are not synonymous. Capitalism is not an ideology nor is it a political ‘system.’ Capitalism is simply an adjunct to human economic behavior(s), efforts & necessary practices organized to satisfy enterprises requiring ‘critical mass.’

  • Villiger says:

    Mike, in that sense it was communism in its purer form that destroyed the USSR, not democracy. Remnant Russia is not much of a democracy now, of course nor is it full-on free-market.
    China too has so far successfully resisted democracy, although i do believe that until they transcend that hurdle, they remain one of the world’s greatest experiments in modern times.
    I think i agree with CC’s main thrust which i read as:
    IT’S THE ECONOMY STUPID!

  • mike merlo says:

    Also with all due respect to Bill Roggio, TLWJ’s contributors & commentaries & information culled from the Intel Community this operation/assassination is part of a larger effort by Pakistan to position Hekmatyar, Quetta Shura withstanding, as the ‘go to’ choice if negotiations with the ‘Taliban’ should ever reach an exercisable conclusion.

  • Soccer says:

    So, Mike Merlo, does that make you a socialist?

  • CC says:

    Mike, I appreciate your comment, but you are only half correct. Capitalism and democracy go hand in hand, for the most part. The Communist system produced no “reward” for its workers, and thus the workers often did not even show up for work. This inefficient production led to empty store shelves, which in turn led to economic stagnation. Economic stagnation led to deficit, and deficit led to implosion.
    Capitalism promotes democracy through the free market. The free market emphasizes the importance of the individual over the collective. State-controlled markets emphasize the importance of the collective over the individual. Thus you will see that when countries start instituting aspects of capitalism (market reforms), they slowly start turning toward democracy (China) and the focus on the individual. This is why the USA has been “courting” China ever since the Sino-Russo split. The Communist Party will eventually lose power as more and more people seek individual economic freedom.

  • mike merlo says:

    Thank you all for the feed back. “Communism in its purer form,” I’d be curious to know ‘exactly’ what “purer form” is. What does Communist China “having successfully resisted democracy” have to do with what I wrote? “The world’s greatest experiment in modern times,” Communist hasn’t changed at all. Minus the Emperor’s they’re behaving the way they’ve always have. The one major difference separating them from their past is their willingness to embrace technologies & economic model(s) other than their own(see Japan).
    How does writing what I wrote make me a socialist?
    Please don’t waste ‘our’ time expounding on the obvious. I’m quite cognizant of “communist system(s).”
    As I stated earlier Capitalism & Democracy are not synonymous. You said ‘it’ yourself “for the most part.” Coexistence of the 2 within the same geospatial environment is indicative of symbiosis. Where ever the 2 are functioning side-by-side there is always tension betwixt them. Capitalism could care-a-less whether the ‘market’ is free or slaved up. Ideally Capitalism prefers a ‘closed system’ not subject to competition & ‘free’ to monopolize. Without question Communist China is headed towards a ‘meltdown.’ If democracy has a role it’ll be minor at best. Historically China has a reoccurring cycle of massive social upheavals. It could be today or tomorrow or within a decade but most certainly within a generation. I don’t know if I’d call it ‘courting.’ The US is a commercial enterprise & we simply can’t help ourselves. If there’s a way to make a dollar one should expect an American to be nosing about.

  • Mr T says:

    And freedom. Individual freedom and freedom of choice. Freedom to choose a religion and not have it imposed on you under threat or duress. Islamic nations can not allow religious freedom. It is written in the Koran. There are many other thngs Islamic societies do not allow which limits choices and freedom.

Iraq

Islamic state

Syria

Aqap

Al shabaab

Boko Haram

Isis