Introduction
In recent years, a steady stream of media reports has revealed a long-running, deep nexus between the Pakistani military officers and terrorist organizations in Pakistan. Many of these Pakistani military officers have been arrested, dismissed from service, or jailed in connection with their involvement with militant groups.
The Pakistani military does not generally confirm media reports that link its personnel to militant organizations. However, close observers of Pakistan developments know that Pakistani government officials sometimes refer to Pakistani soldiers arrested for their role in terror attacks in Pakistan as "former" soldiers.
The cases involving Pakistani military officers range from coup plots, assassination attempts on General Pervez Musharraf when he was the president of Pakistan and chief of the Pakistani army, major terror attacks in Pakistani cities, and attacks on Pakistan Navy headquarters in Karachi, half a dozen bases of Pakistan Air Force (PAF), and Pakistan Army headquarters in Rawalpindi, among others.
The main element connecting these military officers and jihadist organizations in Pakistan is the officers' jihadist mindset, and opposition to the U.S.-led war on terror. Some of the examples of such plots, coup attempts and terror attacks in which Pakistani military officers were involved are related below. Some of these cases, revealing the jihadist mindset of Pakistani officers, occurred prior to the 9/11 attacks.
Two former officers of Pakistani military's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Khalid Khwaja and Colonel Imam - who nurtured a generation of the Taliban - were kidnapped and killed by the Taliban in 2010 and 2011, denoting the emergence of an ideologically committed and younger generation of militants who no longer accept instructions from ISI.
The ISI, which has come under international scrutiny for its long-standing role in creating and nurturing militant groups, does not officially admit any wrongdoing by its agents. However, its role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks became the subject of court investigations in two cases in the U.S. - the Chicago plot led by David Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana, and a case brought before a New York court by relatives of U.S. citizens killed in the Mumbai attacks.
In a rare instance, the current ISI chief Lt.-Gen. Shuja Pasha – who is summoned by the New York court – admitted during a conversation with then-CIA Director Michael Hayden that at least two "former" Pakistan Army officers with links to the ISI were involved in the November 26, 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, according to a book by celebrated journalist Bob Woodward.[1]
Former Pakistani Soldier Sentenced to Death over Role in 2009 Pakistan Army Headquarters Attack
In mid-August 2011, Pakistani media reports revealed that a military court sentenced to death a "former" soldier over the October 10, 2009 terror attack on the General Headquarters (GHQ) of Pakistan Army in Rawalpindi.[2] The soldier was identified as Mohammad Aqeel aka Dr. Usman, who served in the medical corps of Pakistan Army.
Imran Siddiq, another member of the Pakistani military, was jailed for life, along with others.[3] Dr. Usman was reported to have links with terrorist groups Jaish-e-Muhammad and Harkat-ul-Ansar.[4]
Serving Pakistan Army Brigadier, Four Majors Arrested for Links to Hizbut Tahrir
In June 2011, the Pakistan Army, in perhaps the first such case, confirmed the arrest of Brigadier Ali Khan, one of its brigadiers posted at the GHQ in Rawalpindi.[5] Ali was arrested over his alleged ties with Hizbut Tahrir on May 6, just four days after the May 2, 2011 killing of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Hizbut Tahrir has been proactively seeking to recruit Pakistani soldiers in its mission to engineer a Pakistani military-led Islamic revolution in Pakistan.
After the arrest of Brigadier Ali Khan, the Pakistan Army also arrested four military officers. Major-General Athar Abbas, spokesman of the Pakistani military's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) department, confirmed their arrests, stating that four army majors were detained for their links with Hizbut Tahrir.[6] The four majors were not believed to be deployed at the GHQ in Rawalpindi.
Later, a former military official, Brigadier (ret.) Shaukat Qadir, told a journalist that Pakistani military was undecided on whether to commit Brigadier Ali Khan and the four majors to a military trial or dismiss them from service.[7]
Former Pakistan Navy Commando Arrested in 2011 Karachi Naval Base Attack
In May 2011, Pakistan detained a former commando of Pakistan Navy and his brother in connection with the May 22, 2011 terror attack on PNS Mehran, the main airbase of Pakistan Navy in Karachi.[8] The former commando was identified as Kamran Ahmed, who was reportedly sacked from the Pakistan Navy 10 years ago.
In August 2011, a Pakistani newspaper reported that three officers of the Pakistan Navy were to be tried by a military court in connection with the PNS Mehran terror attack – reportedly for their negligence.[9] The three were identified as PNS Mehran base commander Commodore Raja Tahir and his subordinates.
WikiLeaks Reveals 2006 U.S. Cable: Pakistani Airmen Sabotaging Aircraft Used in Counter-Terror Operations
In May 2011, whistleblower website WikiLeaks revealed a March 2006 cable sent by the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad to Washington, which quoted Pakistan's then-Deputy Chief of Air Staff for Operations Air Vice Marshal Khalid Chaudhry as saying that airmen of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) were sabotaging Pakistani F-16s deployed in security operations against the Taliban in the Pakistani tribal region.
Generally, F-16 aircraft are used in wars, not in counter-terrorism operations. But the same U.S. embassy cable confirmed that Pakistan does use the F-16s in counter-terrorism operations in the Pakistani tribal region.
According to the cable, Air Vice Marshal Chaudhry claimed "to receive reports monthly of acts of petty sabotage, which he interpreted as an effort by Islamists amongst the enlisted ranks to prevent PAF aircraft from being deployed in support of security operations…"[10]
Times Square Bomber Faisal Shahzad's Father and Retired Vice Marshal Detained
In May 2010, Air Vice Marshal (Retired) Baharul Haq was taken into preventive custody by the intelligence agencies in Pakistan just days after his son Faisal Shahzad carried out a failed car bombing in New York's Times Square.[11]
The inference is not that Baharul Haq had links with terrorist organizations, but his detention in the town of Hasan Abdal, carried out reportedly to prevent him from speaking to the media, revealed the reach of Pakistani militants to the highest levels in the Pakistani military.[12]
Former Pakistan Army Major Linked to 2009 Attack on Sri Lankan Cricket Team in Lahore
Ahsanul Haq, a former major of Pakistan Army who trained militants for war in Afghanistan and Kashmir, was arrested over alleged links to the Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad, but was later released.[13]
Haq told a journalist that during his arrest for five months in 2007 he was "treated like a VIP" by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).[14] A Pakistani police report in to the 2009 terror attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team found that Haq "gave logistical support to unspecified Taliban and other fighters."[15]
Senior police investigator Zulfikar Hameed said that the police force reported its suspicions to the ISI, which told him the major was not involved in the 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan cricketers, and therefore Haq was no longer wanted by the police.[16]Haq is now aligned with the Tablighi Jamaat, a revivalist Islamist movement.
57 Personnel of Pakistan Air Force Arrested Over Links with Terrorists
In the months after the 2003 assassination attempts on Pakistan Army Chief and President General Pervez Musharraf, at least 57 employees of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) were arrested by Pakistani authorities on charges of contacts with terrorists and involvement in anti-state activities.[17]
The website of the Pakistani daily The Nation noted that six Pakistani military officials were sentenced to death, adding: "Six officials, including Khalid Mehmood, Karam Din, Nawazish, Niaz, Adnan, and Nasrullah were sentenced to death, while 24 were arrested and dismissed from service for opposing [anti-terror] policies of the then-President [Pervez] Musharraf and his government.."[18]
"The arrested, accused, and the convicts had been working at various airbases, including Pakistan Aeronautical Complex Kamra, Minhas Airbase, Sargodha Airbase, Lahore Airbase, Faisal Airbase, and Mianwali Airbase," the report said, adding that 26 of the 57 officials were sentenced to 3-17 years of imprisonment by a military court.[19]
Pakistan's ISI Officers and Al-Qaeda Directed Former Pakistani Cadets Headley and Rana in Mumbai Attacks
David Headley and Tahawwur Husain Rana – who are jailed in the U.S. over an international terror plot involving Denmark and the November 26, 2008, terror attacks in Mumbai – are graduates of a military academy based in the Pakistani town of Hasan Abdal.[20]David Headley, who changed his name from Daood Gilani, is a Pakistani-American and Tahawwur Husain Rana is a Pakistan-Canadian citizen.
After the arrest of Headley and Rana in Chicago, pressure mounted on Pakistan over the involvement of the Pakistani military's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in the 2008 Mumbai attacks. In the summer of 2009, the Pakistani military reportedly arrested five people, including "some former or current Pakistani military officials."[21] The former Pakistani military graduates were also accused in the U.S. prosecution complaints of reporting to Ilyas Kashmiri, an Al-Qaeda commander.[22]
According to a media report, two Pakistani intelligence officials, speaking anonymously, said that phone records showed the five Pakistani officers had contacted Headley and Rana.[23] The five included a retired brigadier general and two active lieutenant colonels.
New Delhi Court Issued Arrest Warrants for Two Pakistan Army Officers
In July 2010, based on the information revealed by David Headley to the U.S. authorities in Chicago, a court in New Delhi issued non-bailable arrest warrants against two serving officers of the Pakistan Army and three Lashkar-e-Taiba commanders.
The two Pakistan Army officers were identified as Major Iqbal and Major Sameer Ali.[24]The arrest warrants were sought in order for Interpol to issue red corner notices for their arrest in connection with the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks case.
The Indian government has named at least five "serving" members of the Pakistani armed forces – Majors Sajid Majid, Major Iqbal, Major Sameer Ali, Sayed Abdul Rehman aka Pasha and Abu Hamza – for their role in the Mumbai terror attacks.[25]
Pakistan's ISI Chief, Army Officers Wanted By New York Court for the 2008 Mumbai Terror Attacks
The case involving David Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana has revealed that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of the Pakistani military was behind the November 26, 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. The officials of ISI are recruited from all the three wings of the Pakistani military: air force, navy, and army.
In a case brought before a New York court by relatives of U.S. citizens killed in the Mumbai terror attacks, summonses were issued for several former and current Pakistani military officers, including ISI chief Lt.-Gen. Shuja Pasha, Major Iqbal, Major Sameer Ali, Nadeem Taj, and others.[26] In the same case, terrorist commander and Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and several other militants are named as defendants.
In December 2010, the Pakistani government took a decision to defend the ISI chief, Lt.-Gen. Shuja Pasha, before the court in New York.[27] In June 2011, the government of India indicated that it may join the New York lawsuit filed by the relatives of the U.S. citizens killed in the Mumbai attacks against Shuja Pasha, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, and others.[28]
According to a book by journalist Bob Woodward, Lt.-Gen. Shuja Pasha admitted in a conversation with the then-CIA Director Michael Hayden that two "retired" officers of Pakistan Army who had ISI links were involved in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, adding: "There may have been people associated with my organization [ISI] who were associated with this… That's different from authority, direction and control [of the Mumbai attacks operation]."[29]
In 2009, Colonel Shahid Bashir was Arrested for Links to Hizbut Tahrir
In May 2009, Colonel Shahid Bashir, Commanding Officer of the Shamsi Air Force base in Baluchistan, was arrested by military police for his links with Hizbut Tahrir.[30] Along with him, two others arrested included retired Pakistan Air Force fighter pilot Squadron Leader-turned lawyer Nadeem Ahmad Shah and a U.S.-educated mechanical engineer and visa holder Awais Ali Khan.[31]
According to a Pakistani media report, Colonel Shahid Bashir was court-martialled on charges of spying and for provoking Pakistani armed forces personnel to get involved in terrorist acts.[32]
Pakistan's Dawn TV: Terror Group Jundallah Was Formed By "Two Army Junior Officers"
In July 2010, Pakistan's independent television channel Dawn TV broadcast an investigative report that revealed that Jundallah, a Sunni jihadist organization, was formed in 2000 by two officers of the Pakistan Army at a military camp in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province.[33]
Dawn TV reported: "Two [Pakistan] Army junior officers laid the foundation of the terrorist organization named Jundallah within the military, in February 2000 at the Quetta military camp. After the foundation of Jundallah, i.e. 'the Army of Allah,' the two officials declared jihad to be their organization's prime objective, and also started propagating their militant ideology.
"According to Dawn News investigations, 30 officers from different Pakistani Army units based in the Quetta military camp soon joined Jundallah, after being impressed by the jihad ideology. Written orders, with preparations for jihad at the top, were circulated to the members of the organization, after they took an oath for jihad on the Holy Koran. Meanwhile, the work of collecting donations from different units [of the Pakistan Army] was also taken up, for various necessities and for publishing jihadist literature. Parts of these donations were being provided to the Afghan Taliban.
"To spread the activities of Jundallah throughout other departments of the army, some army officers who were members of the group allied with junior officials of the [Pakistan] Air Force [PAF] deployed at the PAF Base Samungli [near Quetta]. This group planned assassination attempts, on two occasions, against Gen. (ret.) Pervez Musharraf, along with the 2003 attack at Jacobabad Airbase."[34]
Al-Qaeda Commander Ilyas Kashmiri was Pakistan Army Commando
Ilyas Kashmiri, whose death in a 2011 U.S. missile attack remains yet to be confirmed, founded Brigade 313, later an operational arm of Al-Qaeda, within his jihadist organization Harkat ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJI). After the killing of Osama bin Laden, Ilyas Kashmiri formed a new terror group called Lashkar-e-Osama to avenge the death of the Al-Qaeda leader.[35]
In August 2011, India's junior minister for home Jitendra Singh told Rajya Sabha (the upper house of Indian parliament) that Ilyas Kashmiri is plotting to attack India, stating: "There are some intelligence inputs, though not specific, regarding a plan to target India by Al-Qaeda and Ilyas Kashmiri, an Al-Qaeda-HuJI operative, and his group."[36]
Ilyas Kashmiri was a commando of Pakistan's Special Services Group (SSG) and was once rewarded by General Pervez Musharraf as a hero for a terror attack in Indian Kashmir.[37]
Pakistan Air Force Officers Held for 2006 Coup Plot against Musharraf
In October 2006, the Pakistani military foiled a coup attempt against Pakistani President and Army Chief General Pervez Musharraf, resulting in the arrest of 40 people. Pakistani journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad reported: "Most of those arrested are mid-ranking Pakistani Air Force officers, while civilian arrests include a son of a serving brigadier in the army. All of those arrested are Islamists…"[38]
The report further noted that the plot was discovered "through the naivete of an air force officer who this month [October 2006] used a cell phone to activate a high-tech rocket aimed at the president's residence in Rawalpindi. The rocket was recovered, and its activating mechanism revealed the officer's telephone number. His arrest led to the other arrests."[39]
In 2003, Pakistani Soldiers Waged Jihad in Afghanistan's Zabul Province
In August 2003, a Lahore-based newspaper revealed that 12 Pakistan Army officers and lower-ranked non-commissioned personnel were detained for their links with the Taliban and Hizb-e-Islami militants.[40] Those arrested while waging jihad in Afghanistan included a Pakistan Army major and his three subordinates.
The Pakistani soldiers were arrested in 2003 in Afghanistan's Zabul province, a hub of terror activities by the Taliban and Hizb-e-Islami. Following their arrests, they were handed over to the FBI of the United States. The FBI officers later brought them to the Shahbaz airbase in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's Baluchistan province, where the Pakistani soldiers were handed over the Pakistani Army.[41]
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) department of Pakistan Army, which first denied the report, later confirmed that "three to four" of its officers of the rank of lieutenant colonel and under were under investigation for their possible link with extremist organizations.[42]
Pakistan Air Force Personnel Convicted of Involvement in Assassination Attempts on General Musharraf
In September 2006, a full bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan upheld the death sentence of 12 people found guilty of involvement in two assassination attempts on Pervez Musharraf in 2003.[43]
The 12 convicts were Khalid Mehmood, Nawazish Ali, Niaz Muhammad and Adnan Rasheed (personnel of the Pakistan Air Force); Arshad Hussain (Lance Naek); and Rashid Qureshi, Ikhlas Ahmad, Ghulam Sarwar Bhatti, Zubair Ahmad, Rana Naveed Ahmad, Aamir Suhail, and Mushtaq Ahmad (civilians).[44]
Both assassination attempts on General Musharraf were made in Rawalpindi – the headquarters of Pakistan Army – on December 14 and December 25, 2003. The plotters had disagreed with General Musharraf's decision to ally Pakistan in the U.S. war on terror.
Major General (Ret.) Faisal Alvi Killed for Opposing Pakistani Army's Peace Pacts with the Taliban
On November 19, 2008, Major General (retired) Ameer Faisal Alvi, who had served in the Special Services Group (SSG) of Pakistan Army, was shot dead in Islamabad by unidentified gunmen for opposing the Pakistani army's peace agreements with the Taliban.[45]
British journalist Carey Schofield reported: "The brother-in-law [Ameer Faisal Alvi] of VS Naipaul, the British novelist and Nobel laureate, was murdered… after threatening to expose Pakistani army generals who had made deals with Taliban militants. Major General Faisal Alavi, a former head of Pakistan's Special Forces, whose sister Nadira is Lady Naipaul, named two generals in a letter to the head of the army. He warned that he would 'furnish all relevant proof. Aware that he was risking his life, he gave a copy to me and asked me to publish it if he was killed."[46]
According to journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad, Major General Faisal Alvi was "forcibly retired" from service by Pakistan Army chief General Pervez Musharraf and was killed by Major Haroon Ashiq "with his army revolver."[47]
Al-Qaeda Players: Captain Khurram, Major Haroon Ashik, Major Abdul Rahman
In 2011, Syed Saleem Shahzad's book Inside Al-Qaeda and the Taliban: Beyond Bin Laden and 9/11 investigated the penetration of Al-Qaeda inside the Pakistani military, noting that Captain Khurram Ashiq of Pakistan Army and his brother Major Haroon Ashiq and their special forces colleague Major Abdul Rahman were key Al-Qaeda players.[48]
Captain Khurram Ashiq, who was an assault commander of the Special Service Group (SSG), his brother Major Haroon Ashiq, and later Major Abdul Rahman quit service and joined Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).[49]
President Musharraf's Security Officer Passed Along Night Vision Goggles from China for Al-Qaeda
The book by Syed Saleem Shahzad, who was later picked up allegedly by Pakistani intelligence agents and killed, also revealed that that Major Haroon Ashiq developed a "mortar gun of a type available only to some of the world's most advanced military forces" when fighting alongside the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in the Pakistani tribal region.[50] He also developed a silencer for AK-47 which "became an essential component of Al-Qaeda's special guerrilla operations."[51]
According to the book, Major Haroon Ashiq later visited China to procure night vision goggles. The author writes: "The biggest task was to clear them through the customs in Pakistan. Haroon called on his friend Captain Farooq, who was President Musharraf's security officer. Farooq went to the airport in the president's official car and received Haroon at the immigration counter. In the presence of Farooq, nobody dared touch Haroon's luggage, and the night vision glasses arrived in Pakistan without any hassle."[52]
Captain Farooq was a member of Hizbut Tahrir, a fact discovered by the Pakistani intelligence nine months after his posting as General Musharraf's security officer, the book notes.[53]
Pakistani Soldiers Waged Jihad against U.S. Army in Afghanistan's Kunduz Province
A report – dated January 28, 2002 and written by investigative journalist Seymour M. Hersh – noted that Pakistani soldiers were detained in Afghanistan's Kunduz province while waging jihad against the U.S. troops.[54]
On November 25, 2001, when Kunduz fell to the anti-Taliban forces, nearly 4,000 militants were captured, among them Pakistani Army officers, intelligence advisers, and volunteers who were fighting alongside the Taliban.[55]
According to the report, the White House authorized the U.S. military to establish air corridors at the request of Pakistani military for Pakistani aircraft to rescue the Pakistani soldiers, among them two Pakistani generals.[56]
Pakistan Army Officer Took Leave to Wage Jihad in Afghanistan
In 2002, a Pakistan Army officer took leave and went to wage jihad in Afghanistan, according to a Pakistani media report.[57]
The Friday Times of Lahore reported "the case of a serving officer who had taken leave and gone to Afghanistan to fight the jihad. This officer who extricated was reported as saying that there were also other officers in Afghanistan who had chosen to fight alongside the Taliban.
"[Pakistan] Army sources say a number of Pashtun officers and perhaps JCOs [Junior Commissioned Officers] and NCOs [Non-Commissioned Officers] also went to Afghanistan to do the jihad."[58]
Pakistani Army Officers Arrested in 1995 Plot to Take Over Army Headquarters
In September 1995, a couple of Pakistan Army officers, including a major general and a brigadier, were arrested for planning a takeover of the army headquarters and the civilian government for establishing a strict Islamic political system in Pakistan, according to a report in the Daily Times newspaper.[59]
The Lahore-based newspaper added: "Some Islamic parties supported their cause when they were put on trial and convicted, accusing the government of targeting Islamic elements in the army."[60]
* Tufail Ahmad is Director of MEMRI's South Asia Studies Project (www.memri.org/sasp).
Endnotes:[1] See pages 46-47 of Obama's Wars, Simon & Schuster, 2010.
[2] Dawn (Pakistan), August 14, 2011.
[3] The News (Pakistan), August 14, 2011.
[5] Dawn (Pakistan), June 22, 2011.
[6] The Express Tribune (Pakistan), June 23, 2011.
[7] The Express Tribune (Pakistan), June 27, 2011.
[9] The Express Tribune (Pakistan), August 4, 2011.
[13] Daily Times (Pakistan), June 8, 2010.
[14] Daily Times (Pakistan), June 8, 2010.
[15] Daily Times (Pakistan), June 8, 2010.
[16] Daily Times (Pakistan), June 8, 2010.
[23] Daily Times (Pakistan), November 25, 2009.
[24] Hindustan Times (India), July 22, 2010.
[25] The News (Pakistan), May 12, 2011.
[26] Daily Times (Pakistan, January 13, 2011.
[29] See pages 46-47 of Obama's Wars, Simon & Schuster, 2010.
[30] The News (Pakistan), June 22, 2011.
[31] The News (Pakistan), June 22, 2011.
[32] The News (Pakistan), June 22, 2011.
[33] See: Pakistani TV Program: Jundallah Was Formed By 'Two [Pakistan] Army Junior Officers... Within the Military, in February 2000, At the Quetta Military Camp'; MEMRI Special Dispatches Series No. 3347, November 4, 2010 (http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/4734.htm)
[34] See: Pakistani TV Program: Jundallah Was Formed By 'Two [Pakistan] Army Junior Officers... Within the Military, in February 2000, At the Quetta Military Camp'; MEMRI Special Dispatches Series No. 3347, November 4, 2010 (http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/4734.htm)
[35] Roznama Aaj (Pakistan), June 9, 2011.
[40] Daily Times (Pakistan), August 31, 2003.
[41] Daily Times (Pakistan), September 1, 2003.
[42] Daily Times (Pakistan), August 31, 2003.
[43] Daily Times (Pakistan), September 26, 2006.
[44] Daily Times (Pakistan), September 26, 2006.
[45] Daily Times (Pakistan), November 20, 2008.
[46] The Friday Times (Pakistan), June 10-16, 2011.
[47] The surname Ashiq is also spelt as Ashik, but less commonly. See page no. 93 and also pages 80-123 of Inside Al-Qaeda and the Taliban: Beyond bin Laden and 9/11, Pluto Press and Palgrave McMillan, 2011
[48] See page no. 82 and also pages 80-123 of Inside Al-Qaeda and the Taliban: Beyond bin Laden and 9/11, Pluto Press and Palgrave McMillan, 2011
[49] See page no. 83 and also pages 80-123 of Inside Al-Qaeda and the Taliban: Beyond bin Laden and 9/11, Pluto Press and Palgrave McMillan, 2011
[50] See page no. 88 and also pages 80-123 of Inside Al-Qaeda and the Taliban: Beyond bin Laden and 9/11, Pluto Press and Palgrave McMillan, 2011
[51] See page no. 88 and also pages 80-123 of Inside Al-Qaeda and the Taliban: Beyond bin Laden and 9/11, Pluto Press and Palgrave McMillan, 2011
[52] See page no. 88 and also pages 80-123 of Inside Al-Qaeda and the Taliban: Beyond bin Laden and 9/11, Pluto Press and Palgrave McMillan, 2011
[53] See page no. 88 and also pages 80-123 of Inside Al-Qaeda and the Taliban: Beyond bin Laden and 9/11, Pluto Press and Palgrave McMillan, 2011
[57] Daily Times (Pakistan), September 1, 2003.
[58] Cited in Daily Times (Pakistan), September 1, 2003.
[59] Daily Times (Pakistan), May 31, 2004.
[60] Daily Times (Pakistan), May 31, 2004.
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Stratfor 
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - January 19, 2012: On Jan. 12, Thai authorities arrested a man they say was a member of the Lebanon-based Shiite militant group Hezbollah who was plotting an attack in Bangkok. In uncovering the plot, Thai police cite cooperation with the United States and Israel going back to December 2011. Bangkok is indeed a target-rich environment with a history of terrorist attacks, but today Hezbollah and other militant and criminal groups rely on the city as more of a business hub than anything else. If Hezbollah or some other transnational militant group were to carry out an attack in the city, it would have to be for a compelling reason that outweighed the costs.
