Pakistan's game: Harbour terrorists, stage captures & gain favours from US
Representative image
NEW DELHI: Early in March, the US arrested in Afghanistan an
ISIS-K operative
involved in the 2021 Abbey Gate bombing that killed 13 Marines. President Donald Trump was quick to thank Pakistan for its help in nabbing the high-value fugitive from the Pak-Afghan border.
"I want to thank the government of Pakistan for helping arrest this monster," he told US Congress.
But what was brushed under the carpet was an open secret in intelligence circles: The operative, Sharifullah, had been in Pakistan spy agency ISI's custody for over a year. ISI ran multiple operations using his network and ultimately handed him over to the CIA at the right time - when the regime changed in Washington.
This was not the first instance of Pakistan trying to please the US by handing over terrorists that it had been using to achieve its own goals. ISI had played the same trick in 2010 when it 'suddenly discovered' Taliban military commander
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar
and handed him over to CIA.
The case of
Osama bin Laden
and his courier, Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti, further exposed the duplicity of Pakistan and its military-industrial complex. Pakistani intelligence agencies had claimed they had no knowledge of Osama's presence in Abbottabad despite the compound where he was staying being just about a kilometre away from the Pakistan Military Academy.
The Americans, it appears, didn't believe the Pakistanis and kept on hunting for the 9/11 plotter.
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But while his capture and killing vindicated the US's lack of trust in Islamabad, American leaders continued to allow themselves to be baited by the Pakistanis. Trump, who considers himself to be the greatest deal maker, seems to be the latest victim of Pakistan's dual game, feeling beholden to the favour that ISI did by offering Sharifullah as a trophy.
Sharifullah and Osama are not standalone cases. In 2002, a bombing at nightclubs in Bali had left over 200 people dead, including several Americans.
The prime suspect was Umar Patek, a suspected member of the militant group Jemaah Islamiyah. The US had announced a $1 million bounty on him.
On January 25, 2011, Patek was dramatically captured by Pakistani officials in Abbottabad and handed over to the US, which then passed him on to Indonesia as a gesture which "demonstrated the international cooperation between the US and Indonesia in addressing terrorism". Pakistan had similarly arrested Osama's man Friday Abu Zubaydah in Faisalabad six months after the 9/11 attacks.
He was swiftly transferred to CIA custody.
These capture-extraditions, though seen as attempts by Pakistan to demonstrate its commitment to counter-terrorism, have actually been selective and strategic, aimed at appeasing the US rather than genuinely combating terrorism, a senior officer said.
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