Talibaner på offensiv i Europa

NEFA Foundation har på fredagen utkommit

med en ny spännande rapport:

Analysis of the Spanish Suicide Bombers Case

(För bakgrunden, läs

Pakistanska självmordsbombare i Spanien )

Baserat på bl a de omfattande åtalen och
material från Pakistan konstaterar utredaren
Douglas Farah:

The court documents and reporting about the

case make several important points.

The first is that there is some command

and control in Pakistan that exercises

control over a significant part of the

jihadist network operating not only in Spain, but
across Europe. The would-be suicide bombers

were recruited in Pakistan, trained in
Pakistan, and then sent to Spain to join

already-existing networks of sympathizers.

Some reports indicate the group was acting

under the orders of Baitullah Mehsud, the new
head of the Taliban in Pakistan, who has

been publicly blamed for the assassination of
former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

“That these people were ready to go into action

as terrorists in Spain—that came as a surprise,”

said judge Baltasar Garzon,
Spain’s highest anti-terrorism magistrate.

“In my opinion, the jihadi threat from Pakistan is
the biggest emerging threat we are facing in

Europe. Pakistan is an ideological and
training hotbed for jihadists, and

they are being exported here.”

Not only is the role of jihadists in Pakistan

a new development, it shows the
important role that diasporas from Pakistan

and elsewhere play in allowing networks to
operate and integrate across international

boundaries and great distances. This
specialized, stratified cell that operates with

outside guidance is a significant qualitative
step up from the homegrown jihadists operating

on their own, in the hopes of bringing
glory to Allah.

This type of action is a hybrid

of complicit homegrown networks within a
country working with those from outside

the network who have received special
training and instructions.

The ideological bond and

connection is formed by itinerant
preachers who bring their messages of

radicalization to the expatriate communities,
tying the radical groups in Pakistan to

their ideological soul mates in Europe.

The second lesson is that the Spanish

cell reportedly had plans not only to attack
the Barcelona metro system, but to carry out

a series of attacks across Europe.

According to the informant, after the initial

bombing in Barcelona, Mehsud in Pakistan would

issue a series of demands, including the

withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan.

If the demands were not met, there would be

another series of suicide bombing in Barcelona,
then across Europe.

“If they didn’t comply, France.

If they didn’t comply, Portugal.

If they didn’t comply, Britain.

There are many people ready there,”

the informant told police.

While the information is impossible

to verify, if accurate it would mean not only
that the cell in Barcelona had been

set up, but that it had been set up in

conjunction with other cells in other

European countries.

That, in turn, would imply that the

network of networks was able to communicate

and coordinate actions on a fairly significant level.

**

However, the emergence of a

cadre of suicide bombers
being trained and sent from

Pakistan to cooperate and

operate in conjunction with
homegrown Islamist networks in

Europe represents a significant

shift in complexity and
sophistication from the homegrown

terrorist networks operating alone.

The shift also shows

a new level of interest in

Pakistani Islamist networks

in working beyond their local
and parochial concerns.