Taliban silence on Rabbani spotlights splits

Experts suspect bomber who killed Rabbani while to be from Taliban may not have been sent by Mullah Omar.

KABUL: The Taliban's "no comment" on the murder of Afghanistan's top peace broker highlights splits within the militia and a plethora of factions who may have wanted him dead which threaten fresh chaos.

Experts now suspect that the turban bomber who killed Burhanuddin Rabbani while claiming to bring a special message from the Taliban may not have been sent by the militia's supreme leader Mullah Omar, or had his approval.

With a range of factions standing to benefit from Rabbani's death, the lack of clarity on the identity of the assassins fans concern about political instability, ethnic tensions and a nebulous insurgency in Afghanistan.

"Whether the assassination of Rabbani was authorised by the Taliban leadership, or was an operation by rogue Taliban or indeed, whether it was conducted by non-Taliban, one would expect an authorised Taliban response, whether it is confirmation or denial or condemnation," said Kate Clark of the Afghanistan Analysts Network.

"Instead, there has been confusion and silence."

This "may indicate division in the senior ranks about this assassination and what they want to say about it," Clark said.

After the killing, the Taliban's two main spokesmen – usually swift to claim attacks and exaggerate casualty tolls – were unusually quiet.

Their phones were switched off, they did not send their usual stream of text messages to reporters and there was nothing about the death on their glossy website, Voice of Jihad.

Police and other officials said the attack was carried out by a Taliban bomber who waited for the Afghan former president for up to four days, thought to be carrying a special message from the militia.

Afghanistan's intelligence agency said Thursday it believed the Taliban's leadership body, the Quetta Shura, was involved, but did not provide details.

Nearly 24 hours after the attack, the Taliban issued a "no comment" statement on Wednesday, angrily rebutting reports in some media that they had claimed responsibility.

"Until we receive more information and our information is complete, our position is that we cannot say anything on this issue," spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid wrote in Pashto.

On Thursday, Mujahid told AFP that the Taliban were still investigating who the attackers were.

"If the leadership knew (their identity), they would have shared it with us," he said. "We're investigating at the moment to find out who did this and who they were and who had sent them."

Killing Rabbani would fit a recent Taliban pattern of assassinations including that of Karzai advisor Jan Mohammad at his home in July.

But Mahmood Saikal, a former deputy foreign minister, said he thought they may be reluctant to claim the killing of such a prominent anti-Soviet warlord and Islamic scholar who was widely respected if not always liked.

According to Human Rights Watch, Rabbani was implicated in war crimes during the brutal fighting that killed or displaced hundreds of thousands of Afghans in the early 1990s.

"Rabbani was not an angel but he was involved in half a century of struggle against invasions," Saikal said, pointing to Rabbani's Islamic scholarship.

"Given that, I think they (the Taliban) have realised that if they claim his death, they'll lose more than they gain."

Saikal, like many Afghan analysts, also accused Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of involvement.

Afghans have long been suspicious of Pakistani involvement in their country and Islamabad's historic links to the Taliban.

"Look around and see who opposed peace and stability in Afghanistan," he said. "The ISI has a problem with stability in Afghanistan."

But one Pakistani security official speaking anonymously to AFP insisted that the assassination "came as a great shock to Pakistan."

Another added: "We should not forget that there are many Taliban groups operating inside Afghanistan who are opposed to peace talks."

The United States is stepping up pressure on Pakistan to act against the Haqqani network, perhaps the Taliban's most dangerous faction and blamed for last week's 19-hour siege targeting the US embassy in Kabul.

Others groups like Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-i-Islami are also key players in the insurgency.

The number of players who could have wanted Rabbani dead highlights the vulnerability of President Hamid Karzai's government.

"Though Rabbani was loved by few, his death is a troubling omen for a fragile Afghan government," said Shashank Joshi of think-tank the Royal United Services Institute.