HOLY TERROR
(BOOK FOUR)
Spring was slow coming to
this part of northern Pakistan, and the cold March winds coming down off the
mountains still stung with the biting cold of winter, and were bitter and harsh
to anyone unprepared for the vagaries of weather in this part of the world.
The two Mossad agents struggled head-on onto the wind, wrapped
up in their thick sheepskins, their eyes stung as they trudged wearily onwards.
The village could be seen in the distance, and a young boy tended a herd of
goats in one of the nearby fields, but he paid the men little heed. A village
like many others in this region, but one in which they finally hoped to find
their prey. If it had a name, it wasn’t on any map they knew of, situated on
the northern bank of the Indus River valley. To the south, the peaks of Nanga
Parbat could be seen, still covered in snow. It was a bleak and inhospitable
place.
Mullah Ali Bin Wazir was one of the last surviving Taliban who
had sought sanctuary in northern Pakistan, where many of the people openly
supported his former regime, still declaring their allegiance for Bin Laden.
This was a volatile part of the world, as Bin Laden’s followers frequently
crossed into Kashmir, engaging Indian forces and generally fomenting unrest in
a region inhabited by two religions, where both nuclear powers claimed
sovereignty. It was now a very dangerous part of the world.
Bin Wazir had fled here from Afghanistan, seeking to
consolidate a new power-base, whilst avoiding the long arms of the American
President in his self-declared ‘War on Terror’. Like most Americans he talked
big, but delivered very little, and the Mullah thought himself safe here, for
he knew that President Musharraf would not dare allow any American operation
within Pakistan’s own borders, for fear of an uprising against his regime by
the more extreme religious elements, all followers or supporters of Al Qaeda.
Israel did not respect international borders when it came to
anti-terrorist operations, and a quiet word from the American CIA was all they
needed to mount an operation of their own within Pakistan. President Musharraf
was indeed aware of it, but would never publicly admit it. He was playing a
delicate political game, only too aware of the extremists within his own
country who were trying to undermine his rule. Should the mission become public
knowledge, he would publicly condemn the Israelis, who knew they walked a thin
line across international opinion. They had been walking such a thin line ever
since the foundation of the modern nation of Israel, and they weren’t afraid to
cross it if the need arose.