They said there is mounting evidence that the Afghan warlords are providing safe havens, logistical and monetary support to militant insurgents fleeing
counter-terrorist operations in the FATA.
The cross-border influence of the warlords has grown rapidly since their militias were hired to support US forces, notably during the 2010 troop surge in southern Afghanistan, they said.
The number of such “armed private security contractors” currently employed by the US depart of defence in Afghanistan is staggering: 15,305, including 13,330 Afghans, as of July, according to data released by the Central Command for Afghanistan and Iraq.
Officially, the contractors perform roles such as securing Nato convoys, military facilities and areas not yet policed by the Afghan government, enabling uniformed US personnel to focus exclusively on offensive combat operations.
However, the warlords’ empowered militias have frequently exceeded that brief, according to 2009 and 2010 reports by US think tanks, including the Congressional Research Service.
The empowerment of Afghan warlords, in turn, has added to the instability in the FATA and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, intelligence and militant sources said.
Current TTP safe havens in Afghanistan’s Kunar and Nuristan provinces are an ironic mirror image of North Waziristan, providing logistical support for armed incursions into Chitral and Dir, and strategic depth to the insurgents.
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Location: Islamabad
