New Delhi: The first operational Sharia Court in the Khyber Agency in Pakistan convicted two men of kidnapping and killing a taxi driver.
The sentence was carried out within hours of their guilt being pronounced. They were lined up against a brick wall and shot with hundreds of people looking on.
However, it’s a little different in Mingora, Swat and other places in Pakistan's North West Frontier where the Taliban are consolidating their grip, according to a report in The New York Times with considerable help from the ISI.
The report quotes Obama administration officials as saying that ISI operatives maintain regular contacts with Taliban supremo Mullah Omar.
Close linkages also exist with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Jalaluddin Haqqani in Afghanistan.
The ISI provides financial support to all and infiltrates madrasas for recruits to these groups.
ISI officers guide Taliban commanders fighting NATO forces in Afghanistan.
The report also says the ISI shares intelligence with the Lakshkar-e-Toiba (LeT).
Islamabad denies the ISI is helping the Taliban but also admits some contact is maintained with these groups for intelligence purposes.
Washington is skeptical, but with its back to the Afghan wall, is holding out carrots and waving the stick. The ISI will help the CIA find new targets as drone attacks against the Taliban are stepped up. In return Washington has reportedly agreed to treble military and non-military aid to Pakistan.
But American officials admit the Pakistani military sees less and less advantage in responding to Washington's demands.
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