Dreaded militant hit squad goes rogue in Pakistan
By Michael GeorgyISLAMABAD |
(Reuters) - A blindfolded man stands on explosives, trembling as he confesses to spying for the CIA inPakistan. Armed men in black balaclavas slowly back away. Then he is blown up.
One of his executioners -- members of an elite militant hit squad -- zooms a camera in on his severed head and body parts for a video later distributed in street markets as a warning.
Al Qaeda, the Pakistani Taliban and the Haqqani network -- blamed for a September 13 attack on the U.S. embassy in Kabul -- picked the most ruthless fighters from their ranks in 2009 to form the Khurasan unit, for a special mission.
The Obama administration was escalating drone strikes on militants in the Pakistani tribal areas on the Afghan border and something had to be done to stop the flow of tips used for the U.S. aerial campaign.
Militant groups don't have the military technology to match the American drone programme, but they understand the value of human intelligence, and fear, in the conflict.
So the Khurasan were deployed to hunt down and eliminate anyone suspected of helping the Americans or their Pakistani government and military allies.
Just this week, an Afghan couple visiting Pakistan was shot dead for spying in North Waziristan, where the group operates.
"The whole community is scared of the Khurasan, and sometimes we ask each other 'have you seen the videos'," said one man, who like everyone else interviewed about the Khurasan, asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals.
"They have people everywhere. How do I know who is an informer for them and who isn't?"
================================================
.reuters.com/article/2011/10/02/us-pakistan-militants-hitsquad-idUSTRE7910E720111002
No comments:
Post a Comment