Afghan Taliban invade Pakistan with frontal assault

NY Times:

Hundreds of Taliban militants poured into northwestern Pakistan in a large frontal attack on a paramilitary base late Saturday and Sunday that left at least 40 militants and 6 Pakistani soldiers dead, according to Pakistani security officials.

The attack, on an outpost of the Frontier Corps paramilitary force in the Mohmand district, appeared to be the heaviest assault on Pakistani troops in months. And in a reversal of usual patterns, it involved a large number of Taliban forces from Afghanistan attacking into Pakistan, signaling coordination among militants on both sides of the border.

At the same time, a separate and equally deadly battle played out just 60 miles to the south. Gangs of Sunnis and Shiites fought each other, rampaging through the villages of the Hangu district over the weekend, destroying dozens of homes and leaving at least 40 people dead between the rival groups, according to reports from authorities carried by Pakistani news media and accounts from local residents. Hundreds of Taliban fighters rushed in to support Sunni gangs, as government attack helicopters hovered overhead, trying to intimidate gunmen into withdrawing.

“Both sides are trying to overrun each other’s villages,” said Abdul Rehman, a Sunni and resident of Hangu. He estimated that 60 people had died and said the incoming Taliban fighters appeared eager to drive Shiites out of the region. “They seem to be bent on settling this Shia question for good.”

Taken together, the battles underscored the persistent lawlessness in Pakistan’s border region with Afghanistan, where Taliban militants and other warlords have tightened their grip despite the Pakistani military’s attempts to make inroads in the past year.

The assault in Mohmand was particularly troubling. In the past, militants have often pulled away from high concentrations of Pakistani troops, only to return later. But this time, an estimated 600 Taliban fighters directly assaulted a paramilitary base at Mamad Gatt, according to Frontier Corps officials.

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The emotional immaturity of the Taliban and other "militants" in this area is so low that it is hard to come up with a rationale for some of their actions including this one. Demonstrating coordination with Taliban on both sides of the border is a good way to give the US and Pakistan a reason to coordinate their own efforts including allowing US combat forces to pursue Taliban fleeing into Pakistan.

The other battle also demonstrates that Islamic religious bigots can spark a sectarian civil war without the presence of US troops as an excuse for the fighting.