Has Al Qaeda infiltrated the Pakistan Navy?

There’s very disturbing news coming out of Pakistan concerning the alleged level of infiltration of that country’s Navy – particularly because the US is arming that service with modern aircraft and refurbished US Navy warships.

The story began to unfold when Pakistani security forces uncovered a cell (or cells) of Al Qaeda sympathizers within the Navy. According to the Asia Times:

Al-Qaeda carried out the brazen attack on PNS Mehran naval air station in Karachi on May 22 [about which I wrote last week] after talks failed between the navy and al-Qaeda over the release of naval officials arrested on suspicion of al-Qaeda links, an Asia Times Online investigation reveals.

Pakistani security forces battled for 15 hours to clear the naval base after it had been stormed by a handful of well-armed militants.

At least 10 people were killed and two United States-made P3-C Orion surveillance and anti-submarine aircraft worth US$36 million each were destroyed before some of the attackers escaped through a cordon of thousands of armed forces.

An official statement placed the number of militants at six, with four killed and two escaping. Unofficial sources, though, claim there were 10 militants with six getting free. Asia Times Online contacts confirm that the attackers were from Ilyas Kashmiri‘s 313 Brigade, the operational arm of al-Qaeda.

. . .

Several weeks ago, naval intelligence traced an al-Qaeda cell operating inside several navy bases in Karachi, the country’s largest city and key port.

. . .

The official explained the grouping was against the leadership of the armed forces and opposed to its nexus with the United States against Islamic militancy. When some messages were intercepted hinting at attacks on visiting American officials, intelligence had good reason to take action and after careful evaluation at least 10 people – mostly from the lower cadre – were arrested in a series of operations.

“That was the beginning of huge trouble,” the official said.

Those arrested were held in a naval intelligence office behind the chief minister’s residence in Karachi, but before proper interrogation could begin, the in-charge of the investigation received direct threats from militants who made it clear they knew where the men were being detained.

The detainees were promptly moved to a safer location, but the threats continued. Officials involved in the case believe the militants feared interrogation would lead to the arrest of more of their loyalists in the navy. The militants therefore made it clear that if those detained were not released, naval installations would be attacked.

It was clear the militants were receiving good inside information as they always knew where the suspects were being detained, indicating sizeable al-Qaeda infiltration within the navy’s ranks. A senior-level naval conference was called at which an intelligence official insisted that the matter be handled with great care, otherwise the consequences could be disastrous. Everybody present agreed, and it was decided to open a line of communication with al-Qaeda.

Abdul Samad Mansoori, a former student union activist and now part of 313 brigade, who originally hailed from Karachi but now lives in the North Waziristan tribal area was approached and talks begun. Al-Qaeda demanded the immediate release of the officials without further interrogation. This was rejected.

The detainees were allowed to speak to their families and were well treated, but officials were desperate to interrogate them fully to get an idea of the strength of al-Qaeda’s penetration. The militants were told that once interrogation was completed, the men would be discharged from the service and freed.

Al-Qaeda rejected these terms and expressed its displeasure with the attacks on the navy buses in April.

These incidents pointed to more than the one al-Qaeda cell intelligence had tracked in the navy. The fear now was that if the problem was not addressed, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) supply lines could face a new threat. NATO convoys are routinely attacked once they begin the journey from Karachi to Afghanistan; now they could be at risk in Karachi port. Americans who often visit naval facilities in the city would also be in danger.

Therefore, another crackdown was conducted and more people were arrested. Those seized had different ethnic backgrounds. One naval commando came from South Waziristan’s Mehsud tribe and was believed to have received direct instructions from Hakeemullah Mehsud, the chief of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (Pakistan Taliban). Others were from Punjab province and Karachi, the capital of Sindh province.

After Bin Laden was killed by American Navy Seals in Abbottabad, 60 kilometers north of Islamabad, militants decided the time was ripe for major action.

Within a week, insiders at PNS Mehran provided maps, pictures of different exit and entry routes taken in daylight and at night, the location of hangers and details of likely reaction from external security forces.

There’s more at the link.

Even more worrying is that those who attacked PNS Mehran were equipped with “sophisticated assault weapons and night vision goggles”, according to one source. The most likely source for such equipment is Pakistan’s own military or security forces. The information they had been given enabled them to avoid surveillance cameras, and cut their way into the base without being intercepted. The base’s Rapid Response Force was able to push the terrorists back once the attack had started, but its commanding officer was killed, among other casualties.

What makes the Asia Times report even more believable is that the journalist who wrote it was tortured and murdered a few days later – allegedly following intimidation by Pakistani security services. Reuters reports:

Police said there were signs of torture on the body of the reporter, Saleem Shahzad, who worked for Hong-Kong based online Asia Times and Italian news agency Adnkronos International.

Ali Dayan Hasan, Pakistan representative for Human Rights Watch, said Shahzad had told him that he was under threat by Pakistan’s military intelligence agency.

“He told me he was being followed and that he is getting threatening telephone calls and that he is under intelligence surveillance,” he told Reuters.

“We can’t say for sure who has killed Saleem Shahzad. But what we can say for sure is that Saleem Shahzad was under serious threat from the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) and Human Rights watch has every reason to believe that that threat was credible.”

. . .

Hasan said Human Rights Watch has called for an inquiry into the death of Shahzad, who closely followed security issues and militancy in Pakistan.

He wrote a story stating that al Qaeda had carried out an audacious attack on a Pakistani naval base in the southern city of Karachi this month in which 10 people were killed, and suggesting that some naval officials had suspected links with al Qaeda.

Again, more at the link. ISI is allegedly regarded as a supporter of terrorism by the US Government.

If Mr. Shahzad was killed because of his Asia Times article – which I submit is highly likely, if the above report is true – what does this say about the weapons and equipment that the USA is currently supplying to Pakistan? Will this sophisticated hardware end up being used against US interests by terrorist sympathizers in Pakistan’s Navy?

The US agreed to upgrade Pakistan’s two old P-3 Orion maritime surveillance aircraft to the P-3C standard, and sell it 8 more aircraft from US Navy stocks (also to be upgraded to P-3C’s), plus Harpoon anti-shipping missiles to be carried by these aircraft.

Two of the newly upgraded aircraft were destroyed during last month’s terrorist attack on PNS Mehran, but Pakistan has already asked the USA to replace them. As Defense Industry Daily points out:

While the P-3 Orion and Harpoon missile orders are separate deals, the Harpoon is the Orion’s critical surface warfare capability. A P-3 without Harpoon missiles is a patrol aircraft and a threat to submarines. One with Harpoon missiles can become a threat to any surface ship within the wide arc of its range – which in Pakistan’s case extends to the Strait of Hormuz, and across a wide swath of the Indian Ocean.

There’s more at the link. Bold print is my emphasis.

Nor are modern aircraft the US’s only naval gift to Pakistan. That country has just taken delivery of an Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate, formerly the USS McInerney, which was decommissioned by the US Navy in October last year and immediately recommissioned as the PNS Alamgir. It’s armed with Harpoon anti-ship missiles, anti-submarine torpedo tubes and a 76mm. (3-inch) cannon. It can carry up to two helicopters, which can be equipped with anti-submarine or anti-ship weapons.

The ship was provided to Pakistan free of charge. The Pakistan Navy paid for a major overhaul and some upgrades, using US Foreign Military Financing funds (which means, of course, that the US taxpayer actually paid for them). The ship was damaged during engine trials in January this year, but was repaired before it left for Pakistan on March 21st. Pakistan is said to want up to eight frigates of the same class. I don’t know whether the USA is willing or able to provide them . . . and in the light of the latest developments, I’m not at all sure it would be wise to do so!

If the Asia Times report is correct, it looks as if Al Qaeda’s infiltration of the Pakistani Navy is extensive in both breadth and depth. For a terrorist organization to know where its captive members were being held, and the progress of their interrogations, and when and where they were moved on an ongoing basis, reveals an almost complete penetration of that Navy’s internal security systems. If trained naval terrorist sympathizers can get access to a warship like Alamgir, or an aircraft like the upgraded P-3C Orion, they could use its Harpoon missiles to target oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz (which would cause panic on world oil markets, and drive the price of oil to new heights); or European warships engaged in anti-piracy operations off the Horn of Africa; or even a US aircraft-carrier like the USS Carl Vinson, from which Osama bin Laden’s body was ‘buried’ at sea in April this year. All of these potential targets are within relatively easy striking distance from Pakistan.

(Let’s not forget, too, that Pakistan is a nuclear power. As I wrote last week, I shudder to think of the carnage that could be caused if terrorists were able to infiltrate its nuclear forces and make off with a couple of warheads . . . )

This is an extremely worrying development. I suspect that a lot of US naval officers and security experts are burning the midnight oil trying to figure out how to deal with this.

Peter