http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/07/20097174112823610.html
ANALYSIS: PAKISTAN'S WAR ON THE TALIBAN
Karachi's war on the Taliban
By Imran Khan, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Karachi
Karachi police have arrested Taliban fighters they say have
committed crimes to raise funds for commanders operating in the troubled North
West Frontier Province [AFP]
It was a little after midnight when the distinctive crack of gunfire
disturbed the neighbourhood and then, within seconds, chaos.
Flashing police lights, rapid gunfire and chants of "allah o akbar"
intermingled with garbled instructions shouted into police radios.
This was how one resident describes a police raid in his Karachi
neighbourhood.
The raids are becoming commonplace as ethnic tensions rise in Pakistan's
financial capital - a city of 16 million people, which makes it bigger than
some 60-odd countries in the world.
The reason for the raids? The Pakistani Taliban.
According to official police documents leaked to Al Jazeera, the
Pakistani Taliban are using Karachi to fund their fight across Pakistan.
'Chilling reading'
The documents make for chilling reading.
They list neighbourhoods in which the Taliban are present. These are
no-go areas for law enforcement agencies between midnight and 4am, say the
police.
In video
Taliban 'using Karachi funds'
The Taliban have armed pickets who ensure that no strangers can access
their homes.
The Taliban, the documents say, use these neighboruhoods to rest and
recuperate.
Every 30-to-35 days between 20 and 25 Taliban fighters come to Karachi to
take a break from their fight with Pakistan's army in the North West Frontier
Province (NWFP).
Once they are safely in the place that they control they begin to raise
money to finance their fighting.
To do this they turn to crime; kidnap for ransom, bank robbery and street
theft.
And this is big business.
Another document shows just how much money is transferred from local
banks within the area that, the police allege, finds its way to Taliban
fighters in Pakistan's north west.
According to the police, $17m have traveled this route from one bank
alone.
But there is a concern in Karachi that much of this money could simply be
cash sent by hardworking Pashtun businessmen to their families back home.
There are some, though, who seem to be convinced that at least a small
portion is being used to finance Taliban activity.
There also seems to be a religious justification for the criminal
activity.
Fatwa
Reportedly, a cleric in Waziristan in the troubled NWFP has issued a
fatwa, a religious edict, stating it is legal to partake in criminal activity
to fund the fighting.
All of this has made the Karachi law enforcement community nervous.
I met with a senior police officer for an off-the-record briefing on
Taliban criminal activity.
He says that the Taliban are firmly established within Karachi and that
Talib networks are very difficult to infiltrate with the resources that police
have.
That said, they are mounting raids as and when they have actionable
intelligence.
But good, hard intelligence is hard to come by.
Many fear Taliban activity is only adding to existing ethnic
tensions in Karachi
Jameel Yousef is a silver-haired resident of Karachi who has a long
history of dealing with criminal activity.
He is the former chair of the citizens' police liaison committee, a
watchdog set up to help families who have suffered crime to deal effectively
with the city police force.
Yousef was also a key official in the case of Daniel Pearl, a Wall Street
Journal correspondent, who was kidnapped and subsequently murdered in the city.
"You see we have investigated a number of these kidnap cases in the last
few years," he says, "and each time we found something new ... the financial
system is being used to transfer funds to militant safe havens in the north
west.
"Criminal activity is the Taliban's biggest money spinner it would seem.
But getting things like cellphone numbers that can give good intelligence, is
very difficult."
His words back up information in the leaked documents.
However, the Pashtun community is worried about the reports.
In the sprawling suburb of Sarabgot, a Pashtun area, I met with Dr Zia
Uddin - a member of the Awami National party who represents the Pashtuns.
"The Taliban are Pashtun, so for them operating out of a neighbourhood
like this is no problem. But we are not protecting them.
"They are as big a problem for us as they for Pakistan. Their activities
need to be dealt with by law enforcement agencies."
Ethnic tensions
But there is also another problem. Taliban activity is adding to the
ethnic tensions in Karachi.
The city has had a long history of violence among the different ethnic
groups who live here. The biggest problem has traditionally been with the
city's largest ethnic community - the Mohajirs.
"The financial system is being used to transfer funds to militant
safe havens in the north west... criminal activity is the Taliban's biggest
money spinner it seems"
Jameel Yousef, former chair of the citizens' police liaison
committee
Mohajirs are descendents of Indian Immigrants who came to Pakistan after
Partition in 1947.
They have often clashed with the Pashtun community here, who they say
operate as "mafia", controlling the construction industry.
The Pashtun, for their part, say that for decades they have been denied
jobs, basic services and housing because of their ethnicity.
These tensions have often spilled over into violence and, when you add
the Taliban to this already volatile mix, the situation becomes explosive.
The Pakistani government has a huge challenge on its hands.
If it wins its war with the Taliban, it has to tackle their fundraising
activities in the heart of Karachi.
But the government needs to be sensitive in its handling of the issue and
ensure it is careful it does not paint all Pashtun as Taliban.
If that happens, already frustrated Pashtuns may take their anger to the
streets which could spark gunfights across the city.
If you destabilise Karachi, the financial heart of Pakistan, then you
threaten to derail the whole country.
That is something Pakistan simply cannot afford.
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