Several retired Pakistani military officers and soldiers have joined the Islamic militants who are now at war with their former institution. Mohammed Aqeel, the ring leader of the bloody siege of the army’s headquarters in October, worked in the army’s medical corps before joining the militants operating from the lawless tribal region of Waziristan.

Earlier this year the Pakistani police arrested Major Haroon Rashid, who worked for the Al-Qaeda and the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and was involved in the murder of a retired general of the Special Services Group (SSG), who had spearheaded the operation against militants. Major Haroon, who sports a long beard, quit the army in 2001 after Pakistan announced its support for the US attack on Afghanistan. He travelled to Waziristan where he trained the militants.

Captain Khurram, his younger brother, went to Afghanistan to fight alongside the Taliban insurgents after resigning from the army in 2002. He was killed fighting the British forces in Helmand in 2002. Ilyas Kashmiri, a retired army commando, was one of the most dreaded militant commanders who was killed in a US drone strike in North Waziristan last month.

According to intelligence sources, many former soldiers are either fighting in Afghanistan or helping the Taliban forces in northwestern Pakistan. They have been involved in the planning and formulation of strategies that have made the militant attacks more effective.

The militants also have sympathisers among the serving officers. At least six army officers, including those of the ranks of colonel and major, were arrested a few years ago for their alleged links with the Al-Qaeda and other militant groups. Among them was a major with whom Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of 9/11 attacks, stayed at the Kohat Garrison before he was arrested in 2003.

How deeply the militants have penetrated the security forces was revealed when several low-ranking air force personnel were arrested for their involvement in a failed plot to assassinate former president General Pervez Musharraf in 2003. They were members of Jaish-e-Mohammed, a banned Pakistani militant outfit which was closely linked with the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. That incident led to a massive purge in the air force and the army.

Analysts maintain that there are still some officers with radical Islamic leanings in the military ranks who are not happy with Pakistan’s offensive against the militants. Interestingly, there are many more bearded officers and soldiers than before. And while not all of them might necessarily be inclined towards Islamic militancy, there is always the danger of their turning to jihad.