FATA SECURITY UPDATE: OCTOBER 15-28

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 021698 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/03/2016 TAGS: MOPS PGOV PK PREL PTER SUBJECT: FATA SECURITY UPDATE: OCTOBER 15-28 REF: PESHAWAR 653 Classified By: Amb. Ryan C. Crocker, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) -------------- Talibanization Spreading -------------- ¶1. (C) Embassy contacts in North Waziristan continue to report "foreigners" departing NWA for other tribal agencies, apparently a response to the September 5 jirga agreement. The contacts add that militant commanders who remain in NWA are "thriving," and that Taliban commanders are demanding fees and "taxes" from local businessmen. One journalist tells post that the Taliban is distributing pamphlets in NWA "requesting" that businesses "fund jihad." Truck drivers, for example, are asked to contribute PRs. 15,000 (about USD 250) per six months. Contacts also report that the Taliban are meting out punishments for "crimes" like selling video cassettes. Taliban who had been "hiding in the hills" during Pak-Mil operations in NWA during much of the last two years now feel secure visiting Miranshah; the locals report "many new faces" in the area. ¶2. (S) A journalist in South Waziristan tells post he has seen troubling signs of Talibanization spreading to settled areas of NWFP, particularly Tank district. He reports that the NWFP police are "losing control of the situation." As an example, he cites the closure of a police checkpoint between SWA and Tank that formerly discouraged extremists from moving from SWA into the rest of NWFP. Several contacts report that militants "firmly control SWA" and that SWA young people increasingly find suicide bombings and other militant activities "inspirational." -------------- Security Incidents -------------- ¶3. (C) According to press reports, on October 18, Afghan security officials paraded three captured self-confessed Taliban before reporters. Two of the militants were from Miranshah, NWA. The two Waziris said that Mullah Saifullah, an NWA militant commander who signed the NWA peace accord, sent them to fight Coalition forces in Paktika. The men reported they entered Afghanistan on October 15 or 16, though they did not say where they crossed the border. (Note: If Mullah Saifullah encouraged them to cross the border to attack Coalition forces after September 5, he violated the jirga agreement. End Note.) ¶4. (S) Contacts, ODRP, and the press continue to report that militants from NWA avoid embarrassing or incurring the wrath of NWA tribal leaders by crossing into Afghanistan via South Waziristan (primarily) or other FATA agencies. ODRP and other Embassy officials continue to raise concerns over this "work around" with Pak-Mil and other GOP officials. -------------- -------------- Attacks on Coalition Forces Near the Pakistan Border -------------- -------------- ¶5. (S) ODRP reports the following security incidents within five kilometers of the Pak-Afghan border: --October 15-16: Both nights, Coalition forces observed anti-Coalition militias (ACMs) crossing into Afghanistan in the vicinity of Zia Oba and BCP 213, opposite SWA. The ACMs were attempting to set up rockets to fire at Coalition targets. U.S. and Coalition forces engaged the ACMs. --October 17: U.S. forces engaged ACMs after a rocket attack on Forward Operating Base (FOB) Bermel. The point of origin of the attack was within 5 km of the Pakistan border, opposite the NWA/SWA seam. ISLAMABAD 00021698 002 OF 002 October 21: TF Spartan patrol reported contact with an ambush of 20-40 ACMs opposite the Chitral and Dir Agencies. October 22, 23, 26, 27: Rocket fire on FOB Bermel. Fire originated from within five kilometers of Pakistan border. October 23: Rocket fire on FOB Tillman. Fire originated from within five kilometers of Pakistan border. October 23: RPG and small arms fire on FOB Shkin, opposite SWA. October 25: Rockets fired at hospital in vicinity of Nawa Pass, opposite Bajaur Agency. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶6. (C) As the Mullah Saifullah incident illustrates, mechanisms to enforce the September 5 jirga agreement are either barely functional or do not exist. Security officials tell post they are committed to enforcing the NWA agreement and to attacking militants when opportunities arise, as occurred in Bajaur Agency on October 30 (Reftel). Officials add that developing enforcement infrastructure and capacity "takes time." Post continues to stress to the GOP that the difficulty of the proposition makes it all the more imperative that enforcement and capacity building begin immediately. End Comment CROCKER