Pakistani Taliban commanders have stepped up anti-India rhetoric in the wake of tension between the two countries and offered their men and suicide bombers to fight alongside the armed forces in the event of hostilities on the eastern frontier.

Militant commanders have called on Pakistan’s security establishment to end military operations against the Taliban in the tribal areas following the terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Taliban leaders have issued statements saying they are not “anti-state” and are ready to “die for the motherland”.

“We are fighting the Pakistan Army because it has launched operations in our tribal areas, but we cannot allow India or any other power to invade our country,” Qari Hussain, a top commander of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan based in South Waziristan, said in a statement.

Hussain, known for training suicide bombers, claimed an Indian attack on Pakistan would help the cause of the Taliban as it could force the army to stop military action in the tribal areas and the Swat valley of NWFP. However, the Taliban have “no intention of exploiting such a situation because our priority would be to fight India”, he said.

Another group of Pakistani Taliban headed by Maulvi Nazeer issued a statement that said: “We would raise a force of 15,000 tribal Taliban to fight on the side of Pakistan’s armed forces. We would infiltrate 500 suicide bombers into India to cause havoc there.”

Maulana Faqir Mohammad, the deputy leader of the Pakistani Taliban who is leading militants against Pakistani security forces in the restive Bajaur tribal region, was the first commander to issue an anti-India statement. “India has hatched a conspiracy to blame Pakistan and the mujahideen for the Mumbai attacks. India’s discriminatory attitude toward its Muslim population was the reason for these attacks,” he said.

... contd.