Giochi di guerra

The U.S. is aware of an al-Qaida presence among the anti-Houthi ranks, a senior American official told reporters in Cairo earlier this year. Because coalition members back militias with hard-line Islamic commanders, “it’s very, very easy for al-Qaida to insinuate itself into the mix,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity under the terms of the briefing. More recently, the Pentagon vigorously denied any complicity with al-Qaida militants. “Since the beginning of 2017, we have conducted more than 140 strikes to remove key AQAP leaders and disrupt its ability to use ungoverned spaces to recruit, train and plan operations against the U.S. and our partners across the region,” Navy Cmdr. Sean Robertson, a Pentagon spokesman, wrote in an email to the AP. A senior Saudi official commented by saying that the Saudi-led coalition “continues its commitment to combat extremism and terrorism.”APnews

I also want to comment on a story posted on Saturday regarding ISIS Khorasan, ISIS-K, fighters who surrendered to Afghan forces in which -- in which questioned whether they were being treated as honored guests as opposed to terrorist fighters, suggesting that they might not be held to account for activities perpetrated against the people of Afghanistan. The government of Afghanistan has assured us that these ISIS-K fighters will be treated as war prisoners. They have been transferred from Jawzjan province to government detention facilities, where they investigated and held to account for any war crimes that they are found to have committed. In televised remarks from the nation on Monday, CEO Abdullah Abdullah affirmed that commitment and President Ghani's spokesman and chief of staff echoed it yesterday, on Tuesday. I also want to highlight that the fight to destroy to destroy ISIS-K being conducted by the United States and our Afghan partners continues. We have killed numerous ISIS-K fighters this year. And as you may remember, we continued our operations against them and other terrorist organizations like al Qaida during the recent Eid ceasefire between the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban. The military campaign against ISIS has been both continuous and effective. And I am sure that that had contributed to this surrender. It is important to recognize that while we apply military pressure against the Taliban to bring them to the table of reconciliation, we harbor no illusion about reconciliation with ISIS-K; our mission is to destroy this organization. I assessed that the reporting on this topic was a moment in time after the surrender when the Afghans were working through the details, something which the Afghan government has said they could have managed better. It's important to remember that many ISIS-K fighters did quit the fight and that is a good thing. Taking ISIS-K fighters off the battlefield through attrition or surrender will make not only Afghanistan a safer place, but also protects the United States and its partners and allies.
Joseph Votel 9 August 2018

Secondo Amrullah Saleh, ex capo del National Directorate, l'estrema facilità con cui i Daeshi si sono arresi all'esercito, è la prova che si tratta di Talebani "travestiti" da terroristi di Isis. Una tecnica che l'agenzia di intelligence pakistana userebbe spesso per creare subbuglio in Afghanistan.
Uno scenario credibile. Allo stesso modo i piccoli successi vantati da Votel, da parte dell'esercito Afghano, potrebbero essere largamente esagerati da Ghani che in questo momento ha bisogno di esaltare, sia con l'alleato americano che con l'elettorato locale, i progressi conseguiti.
Si tratta di piccole astuzie spesso usate in scenari di guerra e che però non possono costituire uno strumento per cantare vittoria.
Il report dell'associated press ha un fondo di verità.
Gli uomini di Mohammed bin Zayed sono molto abili nel giocare con tribù e jihadisti.
Però è eccessivo sostenere che la compravendita di gruppi e affiliati riesca a smuovere i destini di una guerra. Piuttosto fornisce qualche momento di sosta e riflessione.
Sohaib Enjirani, cronista di Al Akhbar che ha seguito il rapimento delle due ragazze italiane in vacanza ad Aleppo, sosteneva giorni fa che il Qatar potrebbe aiutare la Turchia a svuotare il nord della Siria favorendo un massiccio trasferimento di qaedisti in Yemen.
Ipotesi possibile anche questa. Molti sono già ben stipendiati in Turchia con famiglia al seguito.
Decisamente non grandi numeri però.
Quello che pare essere fermo di questi tempi è certo giornalismo.
Sempre ben disposto a seconda dell'offerta.