In the West,
Friday the thirteenth is considered to be a very unlucky day.
The superstition was so entrenched in western society that
seafaring people won't embark on a journey on that day. January
13, 2006 was Friday and on that ominous day one or more unmanned
aircraft showered bombs in a house located in Bajur Tribal Area
of North West Frontier Province (NWFP), which is home to
Pashto-speaking people.
All told, about 18 people died in that bombing. First, Islamabad
denounced the bombing by saying that all dead were local
civilians. But the provincial government differed in their
opinion. They said four or five of the dead were "foreigners."
In the parlance of Pashtun people "foreigner" means al-Qaeda
soldier. The story that is emerging now sounds very interesting
despite the fact that some innocent civilians died in the
attack.
The bombing incidence was shrouded with mystery in the aftermath
of the attack. Nonetheless, bit-by-bit new information was
coming out from NWFP's tribal area that borders with
Afghanistan. It was known to U.S. counter intelligence that the
region between Afghanistan and Pakistan (NWFP's tribal areas)
where border is porous and mountainous is ideal for al-Qaeda and
Taliban hideout because the folks who live there are very much
sympathetic to Mullah Omar's cause. They are arch conservative
and fundamentalist as far as Islam goes. The U.S.
counterintelligence coordinator, Henry Crumpton, told BBC on
January 17, 2006 (Tuesday) that bin Laden was believed to be
somewhere in the border area, the region where an alleged US
missile attack targeted Al-Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahri on
last Friday.
The U.S. counterintelligence had "time sensitive" information
about a post Eid Dinner in a house in the village of Damadola in
Bajur region of NWFP on Friday, January 13. The same house was
known to be the place where "foreigners" used to hangout. Based
on this "time sensitive" intelligence the U.S. sent unmanned
airplane or drone as they are called to carry out the bombing
operation.
The house was destroyed and 18 people lay dead. A villager said
that they are too poor to feed their family; therefore, hosting
a dinner party for "foreigners" was absurd. But be mindful that
the Pashtuns are famous for making up stories and they often lie
through their teeth. The provincial authority in Pakistan now
says that 10-12 "foreigners" were there in the ill-fated dinner
party.
Initially, Pakistani authorities were very upset. The bilateral
relationship between Washington and Islamabad is at the nadir
now. The Bush Administration had lost faith in Pervez
Musharraf's government who only arrested very low profile al-Qaeda
men. America has given a massive amount of aid to Pakistan in
the aftermath of 9-11 with the hope that al-Qaeda's number 1 and
2 men could be arrested. But thus far only low level al-Qaeda
operatives were arrested and handed over to the U.S.
authorities. On top of it, Mullah Omar, the dethroned leader of
Taliban whose followers are creating unnecessary trouble for
Hameed Karzai's government, is still on the loose. The Bush
Administration has now realized that Pervez Musharraf won't
deliver the goods so what is the point of supporting him.
Pakistan's Prime Minister, Shawkat Aziz, is supposed to visit
Washington anytime now; however, this bizarre incidence of bomb
attack in a remote place that is teeming with al-Qaeda men is
causing some concern. Recently, he said that despite the
importance of ties with the United States, attacks inside
Pakistan "cannot be condoned." The U.S. military won't send
planes inside Pakistan without getting a clearance from
Pakistani authority first. The Musharraf Administration may play
dumb to save his administration from the wrath of the political
Islamists in Pakistan. We read in the news that in many
Pakistani cities the Islamists took to the streets chanting
"Death to America" and called for Musharraf's immediate
resignation.
Nonetheless, President Musharraf knows how to play the game;
therefore, his PM has now gone into offensive with the Bush
Administration to calm down his jittery people. In a harsher
tone he said, "Pakistan has committed to fighting terrorism, but
naturally we cannot accept any action within our country which
results in what happened over the weekend." Mr. Aziz was
referring to the missile strike of Friday in the border village
of Damadola.
Immediately after the aerial attack Pakistani authorities denied
that any al-Qaeda man was there in the demolished building (made
out of mud). But as more news are coming out albeit slowly, they
are revealing much more than what was anticipated. Pakistani
intelligence officials now say that the target of the attack was
al-Qaeda's No. 2, Dr. Ayman al-Zawahri, who they said, was
invited to a dinner celebrating an Islamic holiday in the
village but he sent aides instead. This was refuted by U.S.
counterterrorism officials who have not ruled out that Osama bin
Laden's chief lieutenant was killed in the attack.
Immediately after the attack the villagers in Damadola said they
have buried the dead but now we read in the news that the
authorities have taken the bodies of the "foreigners." It is
believed that most "foreigners" were Egyptian. Pakistani
authorities have extracted DNA from the blood. Supposedly, the
Egyptian authorities have DNA sample from Dr. Ayman al-Zawahri.
Dr. al-Zawahri, the second man in command in al-Qaeda
organization, is a high-value target for American
counter-intelligence who appeared in several videotaped
propaganda bulletin televised by Al-Jazeera TV.
There is millions of dollars bounty on al-Zawahri's head and the
U.S. government would do anything to get this man dead or alive.
Parenthetically, I would like to remind the readers that the
world has not seen any more video from both bin-Laden and al-Zawahri
since December 2004. Some terrorism experts in the West think
that bin Laden is dead because the terrorist leader is a
publicity hungry person. His silence for over two years is
highly unusual and may indeed mean that he could be dead. Some
experts think that bin Laden may have been killed in the giant
earthquake that struck Kashmir and adjoining NWFP area of
Pakistan on October 8, 2005 while other thinks that he died of
medical complications. If it is true that bin Laden is not alive
any more, then, al-Qaeda will not publicize this news. Only time
can tell the truth about bin Laden's whereabouts.
The political fallout of the aerial attack in Bajur territory of
NWFP on January 13, 2006, will be big one inside Pakistan unless
the Musharraf Administration portrays his administration to be
innocent. That is what is exactly being played now. Musharraf's
lieutenants are upset over the bombing. Mr. Riaz Khan, an AP
writer, wrote the following: "Frustration has been growing over
a series of suspected U.S. attacks aimed at militants along the
porous frontier. The United States has 20,000 soldiers in
Afghanistan, but Pakistan says it does not allow them to hunt
down or attack militants across the border. Foreign Minister
Khursheed Kasuri told Parliament the attack could hurt
Pakistan's support for the war on terror."
The hardliner MPs in Islamabad In Parliament had urged Prime
Minister Aziz to cancel his forthcoming visit to Washington this
week for talks on security and investment and a meeting with
President Bush. But given that Musharraf Administration is
falling out of favor, Mr. Aziz said the trip would go ahead.
In summary, the news of a bizarre aerial attack in remote corner
of Bajur Tribal territory in NWFP shook up the International
community in which 18 people had been killed. However, 4 or 5 of
them are believed to be al-Qaeda men. Both the U.S. and
Pakistani authorities are tightlipped about the identity of the
dead "foreigners." The jinx of 'Friday the Thirteen' had fallen
on al-Qaeda men even though this is a western myth.
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Dr. A.H. Jaffor Ullah, a researcher and columnist, writes from
Ithaca, New York.
This article
first appeared in New From Bangladesh, a Bangladeshi News Portal
