Osama wanted to wage jihad against Pakistan: new documents

Osama bin Laden was plotting to wage a jihad against Pakistan and the slain al-Qaeda leader wanted to manipulate Indo-Pak tensions to achieve this objective, according to newly declassified files seized from his Abbottabad hideout.
In a 42-page booklet originally in Arabic recovered from the Abbottabad compound of Osama during the raid by US commandos in which he was killed, the al-Qaeda leader gives a detailed blueprint on how and where to launch the jihad against Pakistan and establish Islamic rule in the country.
In the booklet, which was released by the Office of Director of National Intelligence yesterday, Osama alleged that India was planning to attack Pakistan as part of the larger American game plan to divide Pakistan.

And then he sets his eyes on the entire region of South Asia, arguing that it is the British colonial rulers who divided the area, which in fact is one country.
"India plans to attack Pakistan," is one of the chapters of the booklet titled 'Jihad in Pakistan'.
In the booklet, Osama wrote, "India has embarked on many important initiatives, except that it is preparing for a decisive grand battle. Among those initiatives are India's bid to purchase 134 fighter aircraft from all over the world, this will be the largest military deal in the history of the whole world."

In this regard, the booklet highlights steps by India like "military training with Britain on the highest fighting fronts, in the mountainous Siachen region on the Pakistani border...America's grand steps in nuclear cooperation with India through the purchase of an Indian nuclear reactor on Indian soil...India's convening the largest 'Strategic War Games' in Hyderabad region."

The booklet also referred to India's launch of an Israeli satellite to spy on Pakistan and its alleged announcement of increasing its force size by a million, compared to its then 1,300,000 million-strong soldier force.
"These giant steps predict an incoming storm. India has focused its attention on Pakistan's internal situation. Military analysts interpreted these steps through their statements that India will attack Pakistan, sooner or later," the booklet said.

Laying out his plan of action to wage a successful jihad against Pakistan, Osama proposed four-prong action plan.
"We have to launch raids against the Pakistani army that is deployed on the Indian border, because these are vast desert battlefields areas and it will be easy to target them.
"By these operations, we will realise that these border armies will not come to the rescue of armies that are present in Sarhad and Balochistan; on the contrary, they will focus their efforts on strengthening their positions in their areas, as they are sensitive areas from the point of view of Pakistan's war with India," he wrote.

Therefore, every attack in these areas will constitute "an anchoring nail" in the foot of the army, impeding it from movement to these areas, he argued.