CIA activities in Pakistan
Encyclopedia
The following is a list of alleged CIA activities in Pakistan.
's reaction to an escalation in Vietnam.
, former US Attorney General and political critic, has accused the CIA of having played a key role in engineering the regime change from Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto to Zia ul Haq. Before his overthrow Bhutto himself accused the US of conspiring against him, although supportive evidence appears undocumented.
, the first of Osama bin Laden
's henchmen captured by the United States after the" September 11, 2001 attacks
, was wounded and feverish from the gunfight in which he had been captured in Pakistan in early spring 2002. when a CIA security team delivered him to a secret safe house in Thailand for interrogation in the early spring of 2002.
Within days, he "was being subjected to coercive interrogation techniques – he was stripped, held in an icy room and jarred by earsplitting loud music. This was the genesis of practices later adopted by some within the military, and widely used by the CIA in handling prominent terrorism suspects at a series of secret overseas prisons.
"Soon after his capture, Zubaydah nearly died of his infected wounds. At one point, he was covertly rushed to a hospital after CIA medical officers warned that he might not survive if he did not receive more extensive medical treatment. According to accounts from five former and current government officials who were briefed on the case, FBI agents – accompanied by intelligence officers – initially questioned him using standard interview techniques. They bathed Zubaydah, changed his bandages, gave him water, urged improved medical care and spoke with him in Arabic and English, languages in which he is fluent.
"To convince him that they knew details of his activities, the agents brought a box of blank audiotapes that they said contained recordings of his phone conversations. As the FBI worked with CIA officers who were present, Zubaydah soon began to provide intelligence insights into Al Qaeda... FBI agents on the scene angrily protested the more aggressive approach, arguing that persuasion rather than coercion had succeeded. But the leaders of the CIA team were convinced that tougher tactics were warranted and said that the methods had been legally approved and authorized.
had been used to kill Al-Qaeda
figure Haitham al-Yemeni
in a targeted killing
inside Pakistan
.
, a Pakistani village near the Afghan border, where they believed Ayman al-Zawahiri
was located. The airstrike killed a number of civilians but al-Zawahiri apparently was not among them. The Pakistani government issued a strong protest against the US attack, considered a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty. However, several legal experts argue that this cannot be considered an assassination attempt as al-Zawahiri is named as terrorist and an enemy combatant
by the United States, and therefore this targeted killing
is not covered under Executive Order 12333
, which banned assassinations. However this still remains a violation of sovereignty of Pakistan according to international law.
"... Hezbollah may become a threat if the US takes action against Iran or seriously threatens or attacks the Islamic organization, the majority of the report focused on the "rejuvenating effect the Iraq war has had on Al Qaeda.
"Al Qaeda is preparing for a major strike against the US, reports the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE). The terrorist organization has intensified efforts to insert operatives in the US, however, since the 9/11 attacks only a "handful" of senior operatives have been discovered inside the US. The NIE also indicates that Al Qaeda will deploy nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons if they can acquire them."
, an American Central Intelligence Agency was disclosed in 2008. Began in 2006, it was intended as part of an effort to capture Osama Bin Laden
and eliminate Al Qaeda forces in Pakistan
. The operation was reportedly hampered by conflicts between CIA offices, leading to large delays in the deployment of the program. The existence of the covert program, and its various internal conflicts, was revealed to the public by the New York Times on June 30, 2008. The New York Times article was said to be "exposing highly classified Pentagon orders".
In July 2008, CIA officials confronted Pakistan officials with evidence of ties between Inter-Services Intelligence
and Jalaluddin Haqqani
. ISI refutes this report.
Pakistan 1965
See Vietnam 1965: General Non-Communist Reactions for the US assessment of PakistanPakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
's reaction to an escalation in Vietnam.
Pakistan 1979
Ramsey ClarkRamsey Clark
William Ramsey Clark is an American lawyer, activist and former public official. He worked for the U.S. Department of Justice, which included service as United States Attorney General from 1967 to 1969, under President Lyndon B. Johnson...
, former US Attorney General and political critic, has accused the CIA of having played a key role in engineering the regime change from Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto to Zia ul Haq. Before his overthrow Bhutto himself accused the US of conspiring against him, although supportive evidence appears undocumented.
Pakistan 2002
"Abu ZubaydahAbu Zubaydah
Abu Zubaydah is a Saudi Arabian citizen, sentenced to death in Jordan and currently held in U.S. custody in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.Not neutral: Arrested in Pakistan in March 2002, he has been in US custody for more than eight years, four-and-a-half of them spent incommunicado in solitary confinement...
, the first of Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
's henchmen captured by the United States after the" September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
, was wounded and feverish from the gunfight in which he had been captured in Pakistan in early spring 2002. when a CIA security team delivered him to a secret safe house in Thailand for interrogation in the early spring of 2002.
Within days, he "was being subjected to coercive interrogation techniques – he was stripped, held in an icy room and jarred by earsplitting loud music. This was the genesis of practices later adopted by some within the military, and widely used by the CIA in handling prominent terrorism suspects at a series of secret overseas prisons.
"Soon after his capture, Zubaydah nearly died of his infected wounds. At one point, he was covertly rushed to a hospital after CIA medical officers warned that he might not survive if he did not receive more extensive medical treatment. According to accounts from five former and current government officials who were briefed on the case, FBI agents – accompanied by intelligence officers – initially questioned him using standard interview techniques. They bathed Zubaydah, changed his bandages, gave him water, urged improved medical care and spoke with him in Arabic and English, languages in which he is fluent.
"To convince him that they knew details of his activities, the agents brought a box of blank audiotapes that they said contained recordings of his phone conversations. As the FBI worked with CIA officers who were present, Zubaydah soon began to provide intelligence insights into Al Qaeda... FBI agents on the scene angrily protested the more aggressive approach, arguing that persuasion rather than coercion had succeeded. But the leaders of the CIA team were convinced that tougher tactics were warranted and said that the methods had been legally approved and authorized.
Pakistan 2005
On May 15, 2005, it was reported that Predator dronesUnmanned aerial vehicle
An unmanned aerial vehicle , also known as a unmanned aircraft system , remotely piloted aircraft or unmanned aircraft, is a machine which functions either by the remote control of a navigator or pilot or autonomously, that is, as a self-directing entity...
had been used to kill Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
figure Haitham al-Yemeni
Haitham al-Yemeni
Haitham al-Yemeni was an al Qaeda explosives expert from Yemen. He was killed in North Waziristan, northwest Pakistan, near the Afghanistan border, in early March 2005 in a drone attack by an unmanned CIA-operated RQ-1 Predator aircraft...
in a targeted killing
Targeted killing
Targeted killing is the deliberate, specific targeting and killing, by a government or its agents, of a supposed terrorist or of a supposed "unlawful combatant" who is not in that government's custody...
inside Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
.
Pakistan 2006
On January 13, 2006, the CIA launched an airstrike on DamadolaDamadola airstrike
On 13 January 2006 the Central Intelligence Agency fired missiles into the Pakistani village of Damadola in the Bajaur tribal area, about seven kilometres from the Afghan border, killing at least 18 people. Originally the Bajaur tribal area government claimed that at least four foreign members...
, a Pakistani village near the Afghan border, where they believed Ayman al-Zawahiri
Ayman al-Zawahiri
Ayman Mohammed Rabie al-Zawahiri is an Egyptian physician, Islamic theologian and current leader of al-Qaeda. He was previously the second and last "emir" of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, having succeeded Abbud al-Zumar in the latter role when Egyptian authorities sentenced al-Zumar to life...
was located. The airstrike killed a number of civilians but al-Zawahiri apparently was not among them. The Pakistani government issued a strong protest against the US attack, considered a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty. However, several legal experts argue that this cannot be considered an assassination attempt as al-Zawahiri is named as terrorist and an enemy combatant
Enemy combatant
Enemy combatant is a term historically referring to members of the armed forces of the state with which another state is at war. Prior to 2008, the definition was: "Any person in an armed conflict who could be properly detained under the laws and customs of war." In the case of a civil war or an...
by the United States, and therefore this targeted killing
Targeted killing
Targeted killing is the deliberate, specific targeting and killing, by a government or its agents, of a supposed terrorist or of a supposed "unlawful combatant" who is not in that government's custody...
is not covered under Executive Order 12333
Executive Order 12333
On December 4, 1981 President Ronald Reagan signedExecutive Order 12333,an Executive Order intended toextend powers and responsibilities of US intelligence agencies and direct the leaders of U.S...
, which banned assassinations. However this still remains a violation of sovereignty of Pakistan according to international law.
Pakistan 2007
A new NIE focused on three years, The Terrorist Threat to the US Homeland, says "Al Qaeda has reorganized to pre-9/11 strength and is preparing for a major US strike has sparked debate among government officials and observers about the Bush administration's foreign policy and counterterrorism efforts." It "indicates that the Islamic terrorist organization's rise has been bolstered by the Iraq war and the failure to counter extremism in Pakistan's tribal areas."... Hezbollah may become a threat if the US takes action against Iran or seriously threatens or attacks the Islamic organization, the majority of the report focused on the "rejuvenating effect the Iraq war has had on Al Qaeda.
"Al Qaeda is preparing for a major strike against the US, reports the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE). The terrorist organization has intensified efforts to insert operatives in the US, however, since the 9/11 attacks only a "handful" of senior operatives have been discovered inside the US. The NIE also indicates that Al Qaeda will deploy nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons if they can acquire them."
- "We assess that al-Qai'da's homeland plotting is likely to continue to focus on prominent political, economic, and infrastructure targets with the goal of producing mass casualties, visually dramatic destruction, significant economic aftershocks, and/or fear among the U.S. population. The group is proficient with conventional small arms and improvised explosive devices, and is innovative in creating new capabilities and overcoming security obstacles.
- "We assess that al-Qai'da will continue to try to acquire and employ chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear material in attacks and would not hesitate to use them if it develops what it deems is sufficient capability.
Pakistan 2008
Operation CannonballOperation Cannonball
Operation Cannonball is an American Central Intelligence Agency operation that was disclosed in 2008. Beginning in 2006, it was intended as part of an effort to capture Osama Bin Laden and eliminate Al Qaeda forces in Pakistan...
, an American Central Intelligence Agency was disclosed in 2008. Began in 2006, it was intended as part of an effort to capture Osama Bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
and eliminate Al Qaeda forces in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. The operation was reportedly hampered by conflicts between CIA offices, leading to large delays in the deployment of the program. The existence of the covert program, and its various internal conflicts, was revealed to the public by the New York Times on June 30, 2008. The New York Times article was said to be "exposing highly classified Pentagon orders".
In July 2008, CIA officials confronted Pakistan officials with evidence of ties between Inter-Services Intelligence
Inter-Services Intelligence
The Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence , is Pakistan's premier intelligence agency, responsible for providing critical national security intelligence assessment to the Government of Pakistan...
and Jalaluddin Haqqani
Jalaluddin Haqqani
Mawlawi Jalaluddin Haqqani is the leader of the Haqqani network, an insurgent group fighting against US-led NATO forces and the government of Afghanistan. He also fought in the 1980s Soviet war in Afghanistan, including in the Operation Magistral...
. ISI refutes this report.