About the Author(s)

Waseem Abbas Turi

The author is a student of English Literature and Linguistics at NUML Islamabad. As a young Youth Parliamentarian, he writes to amplify marginalized voices, challenge injustices, and inspire change. Through his words, he strives to educate, uplift, and empower. He believes writing can transform lives and create a more just world. Spoken words are just the flow of time, but written words endure throughout the ages.

The Haqqani Network is Afghanistan most capable and sophisticated insurgent group. The co-founder of the haqqani network was Jalaludin Haqqani .They have found sanctuary in Pakistan tribal areas near the Afghan border, specifically in North Waziristan. Supported by some elements of the Pakistan security establishment, they operate across the border in southeastern Afghanistan. Due to increased coalition pressure in both Pakistan (through drone strikes) and Afghanistan (via special forces) the Haqqanis have sought new sanctuaries and infiltration routes. They have increasingly turned their attention to Kurram Agency as a potential sanctuary. Kurram holds strategic importance, providing access to key Afghan provinces and being the shortest route to Kabul from Pakistan.

In February 2011, a peaceful agreement was signed between the shia and sunni community that brought nearly four years of internecine warfare to an end. As part of the agreement Sunni and Shia groups agreed to reopen the agency main road that has been blocked since April 2007.Upper Kurram plays the role of “parrot beak” shape that protrudes deep into eastern Afghanistan. Upper Kurram is the easy way to access Afghanistan Capital Kabul from anywhere in Pakistan. It’s the most expensive way for the Haqqani Network to be active across the borders and easily handle their task. The Haqqani Network was in north Waziristan but due to drones strikes came under pressure. After that, they change their routes and move toward Kurram Agency. The Haqqani Network has successfully exploited an ongoing Sunni-Shia rift in Kurram. During wars the other militant groups Al Qaeda, TTP etc were also actively engaged, with at least some assistance from the Pakistani Security establishment. According to Britinica, wikipedia and some other international researchers, the Haqqani network was backed by the CIA to defeat the Soviet Union.

Brief History of Kurram.

It dates back to the fifteenth century when the Turi community established a summer headquarters in Ariob ( currently located in Paktia province). By 1700 AD Turi tribes consolidated their control over the upper Kurram and control over Bangash tribes. Most of the Bangash tribes embraced shia tenets. Mostly, upper and central Kurram Bangash embraced shia tenets and lower Kurram remained sunni tenets.

As per war extremist background, The first communal violence happened in the 1930s.During the holy month of Muharram and Nowruz, the Persian New year.

Later in 1979 when the Iran revolution occurred, revolution exacerbated the Sectarian conflict in the Kurram because of the religious sympathy and Saudi involvement exacerbated the sectarian violence. Shia claimed Sunnis blacked by Saudi funds while Sunnis claimed Shia backed by Iranian funding.Both school of thoughts forward this area to religious extremism and exploited very brutally, still Kurram is facing religious extremism issues.

From the Mujahideen Struggle to Operation Enduring Freedom.

During the 1980s, Kurram agency served as strategic depth for the militant groups and for the national,International security agencies. The Shia Sunni another conflict occurred in 1986. When Shia Turis Community prevented sunni Mujahideen fighters from passing into Afghanistan. In response Zia Ul Haq allowed mujahideen and other sunni tribes to purge shia Turis in the upper Kurram city of Parachinar. At that time Shia Leader Arif Hussain Alhusaaini was also assassinated.Which opened the doors for insurgence. Commander Abdul Sayyaf in Jaji camp, Pakitia. Sayyaf was the well known facilitator of all the militant groups. Over the course of the next year Osama Bin laden constructed another camp for Arab fighters against soviets.

Capital of Kurram Parachinar became the central distribution for the mujahideen.They received weapons and other equipment supplies from Peshawar, delivered through loaded trucks. The mujahideen and fighters moved toward the

Afghanistan Pak borders. The line of communication between them was known as the ” Logar Route”. Ran from the Jaji in Paktia province all the way to the logar. The militant groups started their operation against soviets. The fighters used facilities of the Tora Bora camp, which was constructed by Khalis Commanders. Fighters used routes and roads which were constructed by Osama from Jaji camp to Kurram.

After that in 2001 collapse of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.al-Qaeda and affiliated fighters sheltering in and around Jalalabad, Nangarhar began a mass exodus to bin Laden have a complex in the Tora Bora Mountains. Tora Bora was under the control of Younus Khalis, who sheltered bin Laden and introduced him to Mullah Omar. Khalis also is considered by some to have been a father figure to bin Laden.. Later in mid late December 2001.It is rumoured that the majority of these fighters fled into upper Kurram Agency and took shelter with sympathetic Sunni tribesman.This was the same route used by Osama, but Osam Bin Laden did not expect Shia Community resistance against him and his fighters. Approximately, 200 Al Qaeda Arab affiliated Arabs were tortured over to Pakistani government authorities by shia in lower Kurram. The Shia community showed extremely hard resistance against them. They stopped Bin Laden and his fighters.

Escalation of Sectarian Violence in Kurram.

Between 2001 to 2007 there were no severe clashes in the Kurram valley despite Al Qaeda being there in the central Kurram and in the other mountainous area. In 2004 when the Taliban started an insurgency against the Pakistani state.The other militant organisations were also activated,its includes Punjab-based Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), Lashkare-Jhangvi (LeJ), and Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), began shifting to the FATA after the Musharraf government banned them in 2002. Another organisation, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), reportedly moved to the FATA from Kashmir due to a severe earthquake in 2005.

Before 2007 there were clashes but it was small and due to the intervention by tribal and govt officials resolved easily. But On April 6, 2007, a procession of Shias was attacked in the agency headquarters of Parachinar, a city of 70,000 people, igniting sectarian clashes across Kurram. During this fighting

Sunnis were claimed that shias backed by Iranis in the form of Hizbul Hussain and Mahdi Militia groups while shias were claimed that sunnis backed by the TTP, Al qaeda, SSP, Orakzai, and Waziristan, Punjabi extremists from JeM and LeJ, as well as Haqqani affiliated fighters from neighbouring North Waziristan who sought to expand their access to Afghanistan, also backed the Sunnis.

The main artery of Kurram was blocked, that was the Thall Parachinar main road. It mostly suffered the shia community of Upper Kurram. The Haqqani network took advantages of this road and brutally killed shia community and tortured by taliban and took control over it. Later it proved in 2009 and 2010 during negotiation between shia community and haqqani network. Fighting eventually petered out by April 15, following a ceasefire negotiated by the warring tribes and a military imposed curfew throughout the main towns.The report also claimed that,Six Sunni tribes in Kurram the Teri Mangal, Ali Sherzai, Musazai etc along with the Mamuzai tribe from neighbouring Orakzai, amassed a total of $1.17 million weapons.

The phase of another war was declared in November 2007. It was a bloodier war than before.Over a hundred people were killed in the first two days, including eleven Pakistan Army soldiers in Parachinar. Taliban and other militant groups engaged very actively and hundreds of families fled toward Afghanistan Paktia and khost. According to the UNHCR, over 900 families (over 6,000 people) fled to Afghanistan to escape the violence.Upper Kurram shias faced shortage of basic needs. They used another route for travelling that was Paktia province, and then through the city of Jalalabad in Nangarhar province before travelling on to the Pakistani city of Peshawar. Shias were not safe there but it was a risk for them.

There was no other way for travelling,Upper Kurram Shais were disconnected with Pakistan.Moreover, September 2008, following eight straight weeks of heavy fighting, a tribal jirga, meeting of Sunni and Shia elders, finally agreed to a ceasefire.These accords signed by both sides on October 17, 2008 in Murree, Pakistan. It was called Murree accords it includes [Dozens of people kidnapped by both sides were released, the Thall Parachinar road was reopened, and internally displaced people (IDPs) were permitted to begin returning home.

Furthermore, This agreement, however, also did not last longer, as major clashes resumed in June and July 2009 and killed over one hundred people. Taliban led by Hakimullah Mehsud was behind all the insurgent violence,he was famous for the anti shias movement and he got fame because he was becoming the leader of Taliban now at this time he was the leader in Kurram for taliban. By now, TTP was playing a central role. When the Taliban was expelled from Waziristan in October 2009 then they moved toward Kurram and Orakzai. Later, the Pakistan army launched operations against them in Kurram and Orakzai. According to the UN report By April 2010, the UN declared that the number of people who had fled operations in Kurram and Orakzai since November 2009 had reached 21,000.

The Thall Parachinar road still closed and later in July 2010 Pakistan military declared that, our operation almost completed and the main road is now safe for travelling. But people were still worried and avoided travel or travelled under escort by Pakistani troops.The prolonged road closure caused severe shortages of food and medicine and led to high inflation in wheat flour prices, a local staple. To ease the burden, a local aircraft service began offering limited flights from Parachinar to Peshawar, but these flights was low capacity and are too expensive for most residents.In September 2010, reports indicated that the Haqqani Network was involved in peace talks between Kurram Shia and Sunni tribes, despite their history of fighting against Shia since 2008. The Shia opposed the Haqqanis attempts to use Kurram as a route into Afghanistan due to their presence in North Waziristan.

Despite resistance, the Haqqanis continued to seek access through the region. Some reports also claimed that Shias later agreed for access to Afghanistan.

North Waziristsan and the search for new sanctuary.

Haqqani network training centre and across border activity was managing from north Waziristan.The Haqqanis are afforded protection in this area by a local tribal leader, Hafiz Gul Bahadur, who controls the territory between Miram Shah and the Afghanistan border with Khost. Drone strikes started against them during 2004 to 2008. It holded the al qaeda and haqqani network decreases their movement. They increased infiltration across the borders and numerous attacks were started in Kabul Afghanistan, a foreign minister of Norwegian was assassinated in Serena hotel Kabul. Paktia and Khost are under attack by these militant organisations.The Haqqani Network danger was highlighted by its involvement in the December 30, 2009, attack on CIA personnel in Khost. A Jordanian jihadist, posing as an ally, detonated an explosive vest, killing four CIA officers during a meeting about Ayman al-Zawahiri’s whereabouts. Though the Haqqani Network didn’t publicly claim responsibility, Siraj Haqqani referenced the attack and the bomber by name in an interview. In response, U.S. drone strikes in North Waziristan focused exclusively on Haqqani-controlled areas, with seven strikes targeting Mir Ali, Miram Shah, and Datta Khel in the following two weeks.

Drone strikes in the north Waziristan, Miran shah etc area, the infiltration across the borders stopped , but in contrast to crossborder militant infiltration in 2008 and 2009, Haqqani Network fighters are no longer able to enter or exit Loy Paktia in large groups and many are being captured or destroyed. Moreover, they moved toward the Kurram for the new sanctuary due to increased activity in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. On February 5, 2011, Shia and Sunni communities in Parachinar, Kurram, ended a four-year feud that had resulted in over 2,000 deaths and 3,500 injuries. A 220 member tribal jirga, including tribesmen and National Assembly members, security establishment, haqqani network formalised the peace accord.

However, the agreement had already been reached through negotiations involving tribal elders, government officials, and members of the Haqqani Network. This deal was later accepted by both communities but unfortunately, after the deal, attacks on Shia vehicles in Lower Kurram near Baggan on March 25, 2011, Up to thirteen people were killed and as many as forty five kidnapped. Both shia and sunni elders strongly demanded from the govt to take immediate actions against those who are violating Murree agreement. Remember that, Thall Parachinar road is still unsafe and most probably uses for its own interest whether it is uses by locals for self interest or by some militant organisations or by security establishment.

To conclude, the Haqqani mediated peace in Kurram appears beneficial to all parties involved, whether it was for their own purpose or for the sake of the Pakistan state, as four years of bloody sectarian violence has ended in Kurram. This short term peace builded but created the large distances between shia and sunni sects. Haqqani successfully achieved their targets, whenever they wanted to exploit the Kurram, they could easily do it and create a new sanctuary for the filtration. Kurram is the safe haven for national and international terrorist groups. Haqqani establishing a new sanctuary in Kurram also provides the Haqqanis with additional infiltration routes into Afghanistan, particularly toward Jalalabad, Gardez, and Kabul. In the short term, the peace will allow freedom of movement in Kurram with reduced large-scale violence, though occasional skirmishes and interference from spoiler groups are expected. However, allowing insurgents and transnational terrorists to operate in the region could destabilise Kurram over time, especially with increased militant activity and drone strikes. If Sunni militants gain a strong foothold, they could threaten large Shia communities in upper Kurram. Additionally, groups like the TTP might use Kurram, along with other agencies, to expand recruitment, establish new safe havens, and intensify efforts to overthrow the Pakistani state. The short term peace could thus lead to long term challenges in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

References.

3 Khan p.116; Mariam Abou Zahab, “Sectarianism in

Pakistan’s Kurram Tribal Agency,” Terrorism Monitor, VII (6) March 19, 2009

Afghanistan: The Bear Trap: Mohammad Yousaf – Amazon

TORA BORA REVISITED: HOW WE FAILED TO GET BIN LADEN …

THE HAqqANI NETWORk IN kURRAM – Institute for the Study of War