The tribal factor

While Northern Alliance forces claimed territorial gains, thousands of militants in Pakistan prepare to join the Taliban, writes Absar Alam from Islamabad
The United States was yesterday continuing its intensive bombing of Taliban positions in northern Afghanistan to allow the opposition Northern Alliance to make progress ahead of the month of Ramadan and the approaching winter season.
In neighbouring Pakistan over 3,000 Orakzai tribal elders held a meeting at the border between the two countries to issue a fatwa according to which any paramilitary forces trying to stop a Mujahid from crossing over to Afghanistan will be expelled from the tribe, no one will attend his or his blood relatives' funeral and he and his blood relatives will not be allowed to be buried in the area.
With tribal values reigning supreme in this part of the region, and the fact the paramilitary forces deployed along the border belong to the same tribe, there is little chance that Pakistan will be able to enforce closure of the border.
Credible reports from Pakistan's northern tribal belt have confirmed that so far more than 1,000 Pakistani fighters, in three separate batches, have crossed over to Afghanistan to join Taliban forces.
Several thousand more militants, mostly from the extremist Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e- Shariat-e-Muhammadi await their turn to enter Afghanistan. A cautious Taliban regime is reluctant to let all eager militants in.
Screening processes have reportedly been put in place by the Taliban regime amid fears that US spies might slip into Afghanistan. Only those aged between 25-50 years, are in good health, carry heavy weapons and know how to use them are welcomed.
The issue of militants crossing to Afghanistan from Pakistan will top the agenda of a summit on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly session this week in New York between US President George W Bush and Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf
During Musharraf's visit to New York Bush is expected to push for greater military cooperation between the two countries. Informed sources told Al-Ahram Weekly that Bush is expected to ask Musharraf to consider sending Pakistani commandos inside Afghanistan and to provide direct help to the military campaign similar to that offered by Turkey. Musharraf is reportedly unenthusiastic about the proposals so far.
Leaks from recent meetings between Musharraf and senior US officials, including US Central Command Chief General Tommy Franks and US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, confirm that there are several issues over which the two sides have widely diverging views.
Musharraf left Islamabad yesterday in a clear sign of confidence that the situation at home is under control. He made a surprise stop in Tehran for talks with Iranian President Mohamed Khatami. He is also scheduled to make brief stops in Ankara, Paris and London before heading to New York. Iran, which opposes the Taliban regime, has also declared that it is against a US military campaign that is mainly harming civilians.
Musharraf, meanwhile, is expected to ask Bush to provide Islamabad with economic and military support and to stop or reduce the bombing during Ramadan. The cost to the Pakistani economy of the Afghan war is estimated at $2.5 billion.
Ahead of Musharraf's visit to Washington, Pakistani officials say they have asked the Taliban's only ambassador, Abdul-Salam Zaeef, to stop giving his near- daily press conferences in Islamabad, which have attracted world-wide attention but annoyed the US.
On the military front, opposition forces said they seized a district from Taliban forces yesterday and were closing in on a key northern city.
Aided by heavy US bombing, anti- Taliban forces took control of Shol Ghar district , with some units reported as being just 14 kilometres south of Mazar-i-Sharif, said Ashraf Nadeem, a spokesman for the opposition Northern Alliance. The Taliban captured Mazar-i-Sharif in 1998, and losing it would seriously weaken the Islamic militia's position in northern Afghanistan.
US warplanes also bombed Taliban positions near Afghanistan's northeastern border with Tajikistan for the seventh time in 11 days.
A Taliban spokesman said that 10 Afghan civilians were killed in overnight US bombing raids in eastern Afghanistan. He also announced that the Taliban militia has executed a nephew of former mujahedin commander Abdul-Haq, captured and hanged by the Islamic militia last month.
In villages surrounding Jabal Saraj in northern Afghanistan, pamphlets that witnesses said were jettisoned from a B-52 bomber tumbled from the sky. Children and adults scrambled to pick them up.
The fliers showed a picture of a radio and antenna, and detailed the times and frequencies of anti-Taliban radio broadcasts in the Pashtun and Dari languages.
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