*WASHINGTON:* United States has started to act like an ally of Pakistan inThe war against terrorism after realising that Pakistan’s support inAfghanistan war cannot be gained for granted.
The recent acts of CIA and State Department are testimony to this changingbehaviour.
The US State Department has offered a $5 million reward for information onMullah Fazlullah, the Afghanistan-based chief of the Tehreek-e-TalibanPakistan(TTP).
The announcement came two days after Fazlullah’s son was reportedly killedalong with around two dozen others in a US drone strike in Afghanistan.
The US State Department also offered rewards of $3 million each forinformation on Abdul Wali, the head of a Pakistani Taliban affiliate, andMangal Bagh, the leader of an allied Pakistani militant group accused ofattacking NATO convoys.
The State Department announcement came as Pakistani Foreign SecretaryTamina Janjua visited Washington for talks with US officials that wereexpected to focus on improving counter-terrorism cooperation and on USPresident Donald Trump’s strategy for ending the war in Afghanistan.
Washington and Kabul accuse Pakistan of harbouring Afghan Taliban andfighters of the allied Haqqani network, a charge that Islamabad denies.Islamabad charges that the TTP maintains sanctuaries in Afghanistan. USPresident Donald Trump in January suspended around $2 billion in securityassistance to Pakistan, charging that it failed to crackdown on the AfghanTaliban and Haqqani network. In its statement, the State Department said itwas offering the rewards for information on the three militant leadersbecause they pose threats to Pakistan, as well as US-led coalition troopsin Afghanistan.
*TTP confirms Fazlullah’s son killed in US drone strike **—A12*
The TTP has also threatened attacks against the US homeland, it said. Thegroup claimed responsibility for a botched May 2010 bomb attack in New YorkCity’s Times Square.
The numerous strikes claimed by the group in Pakistan include the October2012 attempted murder of Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai. She received the2014 Nobel Peace Prize.
Fazlullah was appointed the TTP chief after the killing of HakeemullahMehsud in a US drone strike in Nov 2013.
He was the leader of the TTP chapter in Swat, from where he fled toAfghanistan after a military operation in 2009 that cleared the valley.
In 2015, the US State Department designated Fazlullah as a speciallydesignated global terrorist, freezing all of his assets in the UnitedStates or in possession or control of US persons.
Wali is the leader of a TTP affiliate called Jamaat ul-Ahrar, or JUA, whichhas struck civilians, religious minorities, military personnel and lawenforcement officials and killed two local employees of the US Consulate inPeshawar in March 2016, the State Department said.
On Wednesday, a suspected US drone strike on a training camp in a remotepart of Afghanistan killed more than 20 militants.