Taliban commanders claim ISI is arming and training them

Taliban commanders claim ISI is arming and training them

Taliban commanders have passed on a staggering statement in which they have claimed that they are being helped by Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). A number of middle-ranking Taliban commanders
revealed that ISI is arming and training them.

One of the Taliban commanders, Mullah Qaseem, told the BBC that Pakistan provides them with weapons and shelter.

“Pakistan plays a significant role. First they support us by providing a place to hide which is really important. Secondly, they provide us with weapons,” Qaseem told BBC.

Meanwhile, other Taliban commanders also supported Qaseem as they explained how they were trained in Pakistan in a network of camps. Mullah Azizullah, who is of the Taliban commanders, told the experts
that the people who gave them training were from ISI or they certainly had very close contacts with the ISI.

“They are all ISI men. They are the ones who run the training. First they train us about bombs; then they give us practical guidance,” Azizullah said.

Another Taliban commander by the name of Nijab in the meantime accused ISI for also training suicide bombers. Nijab remarked he himself was trained by ISI for one month where he also saw suicide bomber
though he said they were trained separately in different camps.

“I was in the camp for a month … They were giving us practical training in whatever weapons we specialised in … suicide bombers were taken to a different section and kept apart from us. Those who were
taught to be suicide bombers were there,” he said.

United States has linked ISI with Taliban and Haqqani network many a times and since Pakistan military officials have not responded to the Taliban accusations as of yet, there can be trouble on a major
scale between United States and Pakistan, as Talibans have claimed ISI funds them to fight with the foreign troops.

The Taliban commanders revealed the extent of Pakistani support in their interviews for a BBC Two documentary series by the name of “Secret Pakistan” whose first part was broadcasted yesterday. However,
all left to see if how the Pakistani military officials will respond to this sensitive matter.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=1725

Posted by Imran Shaukat Khan on Oct 27 2011. Filed under Pakistan, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry