Taliban attack prisoner convoy, kill their own

NY Times:

Militants ambushed a military convoy that was carrying two high-value prisoners on Saturday, killing the two prisoners and a soldier, highlighting the reach the militants still have north of the capital, a month after a military campaign against them began.

The prisoners, captured during the military’s campaign in the Swat Valley, were important part of the leadership of the area. They were deputies of Sufi Muhammed, the spiritual leader whose son-in-law Fazlullah, leads the Taliban there.

Mr. Muhammed leads a banned group called Tehrik-i-Nafaz-i-Shariah-Muhammadi, or TNSM, which was closely linked to the Taliban. He was the leader who concluded a controversial peace deal with the Pakistanis government in February, seen as a capitulation to militants. His deputies were Muhammed Alam and the group’s spokesman, Amir Izat Khan, the military and locals said.

A spokesman for Pakistan’s military, Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, said by telephone that the attack happened at 5 a.m. near a village called Sakha Kot just north of Peshawar, the regional capital. A convoy of about six military vehicles was stopped when it hit a bomb in the road, General Abbas said.

General Abbas said it was still unclear what the reason for the ambush was, and why the prisoners themselves were killed during the course of it. Five soldiers were also wounded.

“I would say that it’s premature to conjecture that they were out to rescue them or to kill the security forces,” he said.

The attack seemed to underscore the continued vulnerability of Pakistan’s security forces, as they continue to fight a campaign against the Taliban. Military commanders have said the fight would be over within days, but since that announcement, a suicide bomber has struck and the ambush took place.

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My speculation is that the prisoners had information that the Taliban wanted to deny the government. It probably related to the whereabouts of Taliban leadership and their forces. The Pakistan army has not shown much skill in force protection in dealing with the Taliban. This has been true for years.

It appears to me that some must not take seriously the hostile threat represented by the Taliban. There is also Muslim fatalism.