Frontline Pakistan : The Struggle With Militant Islam - Arz-e-Pak

Pakistan’s Unholy Alliance
sympathetic towards the student militia. US diplomats in Islamabad
believed that the Taliban could play a useful role in restoring a strong,
centralized government to Afghanistan. This view was also shared
privately by many relief organizations, who were frustrated by the
fruitless negotiations of the UN Special Mission. They saw in the
Taliban, with all their prejudices, a peculiarly Afghan solution to the
problem which had defied international peacemakers for many years.
All of them seemed to have been taken in by the Taliban rhetoric of
an ‘Islamic revolution for social justice’. There was also talk of a tradeoff
between peace and security on the one hand and human rights on
the other. 31
In 1995, Islamabad decided to back the movement, which by then
had captured Kandahar and several other provinces. That also led
to the involvement of the ISI. Dozens of intelligence agents were attached
to the Taliban forces, providing them with tactical and professional
support. Most of them had operated in Afghanistan during
the anti-Soviet jihad and had close connections with various Afghan
mujahidin factions.
Amir Sultan Tarar, who had been involved in Afghanistan since the
beginning of the CIA-ISI covert operation, received a new task. Better
known by his code name, Colonel Imam, he had known many of the
Taliban leaders since the jihad days, which made him the ideal man
for the job. Bearded and wearing a turban, Colonel Imam blended
in easily with his clients and developed a close rapport with Mullah
Omar. Posted as Pakistan’s consul general, first in Kandahar and then
in the western Afghan city of Herat, he emerged as a key adviser to the
Taliban leaders and also acted as a conduit for arms and money. It was
that crucial help that tilted the balance for the Taliban in their battle
against the rival warlords. Colonel Imam and other ISI officers posted
in Kandahar covertly worked to buy off commanders’ loyalties for the
Taliban. The role of the ISI increased tremendously after the Taliban
seized Kabul in September 1996 and moved to establish their control
over the rest of the country. 32
The meteoric rise of the Taliban movement owed much to the backing
of Islamabad and help from Pakistani Islamic parties. Thousands of
Pakistani students from madrasas in the border areas were dispatched
to Afghanistan in 1997 to join the Taliban forces in the battle for Mazari-Sharif.
Madrasas in the North West Frontier Province and Balochistan
were closed down for months to allow students to participate in the
‘holy war’.