Punjabi Taliban, fact or fiction?

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LAHORE, Pakistan -- The arrest of Punjabi militant leader Aqeel (alias Dr. Usman) not only confirmed the existence of the Punjabi Taliban but also weakened the once strong covert militant force.

During the recent terrorist attacks in various Punjab cities--especially on the military General Headquarters (GHQ) October 10 in Rawalpindi, a new term was introduced in the media: Punjabi Taliban.

The attack last march on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore is regarded as the first terrorist activity by the Punjabi Taliban. The group also claimed responsibility for the attack on the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) agency buildings and Police Emergency 15 agency last May.

Nek Muhammad, alias Zubair, was later arrested and confirmed that Aqeel was the mastermind of the attacks. Aqeel was later arrested in connection with the attack on GHQ in Rawalpindi.

The term ‘Punjabi Taliban’ is largely used for those involved in terrorist attacks in Punjab Province. But questions arise as to who the Punjabi Taliban are, what group they are associated with, and whether their organization is based in Punjab.

“These individuals fought with the Taliban in Afghanistan and many of them were trained in Pakistan’s tribal area”, professor and Pakistani analyst Hasan Askari Rizvi said. “Some banned religious outfits are ideological coherents of Taliban in Punjab, and they are the main supporters and facilitators of terrorism and suicide bombers in Punjab”.

Rizvi, views ‘Punjabi Taliban’ as a term that is applied to a variety of groups, but said there is no formal organization in Punjab.

“Punjabi Taliban is the group of individuals who mainly belong to sectarian groups and banned organisations that have Ideological coherence with Taliban”, he said.

Former jihadi leader Hafiz Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi said the term Punjabi Taliban was first used for the Pakistani mujahedeen (holy fighters) in Afghanistan during the Mullah Omar-led Taliban fighting against the warlords in the mid-1990s.

“The fighters from Pakistan, irrespective of their home province, were called the Punjabi Taliban”, Ashrafi said.

“There is no formal set up of Punjabi Taliban in Pakistan or in Punjab, but the fighters fled from Afghanistan after US-led forces invaded the country. They entered Pakistan’s tribal area and regrouped with the local Taliban; Then their sympathizers from different parts of Pakistan joined them”, Ashrafi said. “I am confident that neither the Taliban nor any jihadic organization can occupy any part of Punjab”.

According to Punjab police, a number of former jihadi activists who have close contacts with terrorists have been arrested. Punjab’s Law Minister Rana Sana Ullah says, “We have a list of former jihadists and we monitor their activities, but a lot of them are missing”, he said.

“We don’t have any threat regarding Talibanization in Punjab. They work individually and we are after them, but they can’t capture an inch of Punjab’s territory”, he said.