ISLAMABAD: The marauding Pakistani Taliban is making inroads deep into the southern districts of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province after running a parallel administration in the adjoining tribal regions, much like its Afghan pathfinder did before the final advance to Kabul in August 2021.
In most parts of the north and south Waziristan tribal districts, the militants have already established their writ. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) representatives there dispense civil and criminal justice based on their tribal code of conduct and interpretation of Islam. They are seen regularly patrolling the rugged mountainous region, keeping Pakistani security forces at bay through ambushes, IED blasts and targeted hit-and-run.
The surge of the Pakistani Taliban has heaped misery on tribal families twice over, having already been forced to flee home once before to escape a military offensive.
The situation is just as volatile in adjacent Tank, Lakki Marwat and Bannu districts, where the TTP has been targeting police and army personnel almost daily. The presence of Afghan militants in large numbers has made life grimmer for the locals.
Afghan militants have long had roots in north and south Waziristan, especially those that were groomed, trained and indoctrinated in nurseries there along with their Pakistani counterparts. More than 50 Afghan militants were killed in targeted intelligence-based operations by the military, police and counter-terrorism units over the past three months, officials said,
Pakistan has officially informed and warned Kabul about the recent militant depredations in the country and the participation of the Afghan Taliban in these activities.Questioning the approach of his predecessor and the erstwhile Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government in combating terror, Army chief General Asim Munir said last Friday during an in-camera session of parliament that the policy of talking to TTP had been a mistake.
After the Afghan Taliban wrested Kabul, the militant regime there facilitated Islamabad’s talks with TTP, resulting in the release of hundreds of the outfit’s leaders and fighters detained in Pakistan. Scores of militants exiled in Afghanistan were allowed to return to their country along with their families.
The dialogue with the TTP, according to Gen Munir, yielded nothing for Pakistan but helped the outfit regroup. The army chief said security forces were committed to restoring peace in the country, adding that operations were being conducted regularly to eliminate all traces of terrorism. “The terrorists have no other option but to accept the writ of the state,”he declared.
Lawmakers fear the army’s stance may have shut out the option of engaging the TTP in talks again. The military’s decision came after the killing of a high-ranking ISI officer, Brig Mustafa Kamal Burki,in Angoor Adda area of South Waziristan on March 21.
Burki had reportedly played a key role in bringing the TTP leaders to the negotiation table. He was the one who signed all previous agreements, particularly the Kabul agreement between the TTP and Islamabad.
As intelligence-based operations against the TTP gather steam in the troubled districts, the buzz is that the military is focused on an offensive spanningthe Ghulam Khan, Datta Khel, Shawal, Shawa and Spin Wamare as of North Waziristan. In South Waziristan,operations are likely to cover Azam Warsak, Zar Milan, Angoor Adda, Sar Kand and Ladha.
In most parts of the north and south Waziristan tribal districts, the militants have already established their writ. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) representatives there dispense civil and criminal justice based on their tribal code of conduct and interpretation of Islam. They are seen regularly patrolling the rugged mountainous region, keeping Pakistani security forces at bay through ambushes, IED blasts and targeted hit-and-run.
The surge of the Pakistani Taliban has heaped misery on tribal families twice over, having already been forced to flee home once before to escape a military offensive.
The situation is just as volatile in adjacent Tank, Lakki Marwat and Bannu districts, where the TTP has been targeting police and army personnel almost daily. The presence of Afghan militants in large numbers has made life grimmer for the locals.
Afghan militants have long had roots in north and south Waziristan, especially those that were groomed, trained and indoctrinated in nurseries there along with their Pakistani counterparts. More than 50 Afghan militants were killed in targeted intelligence-based operations by the military, police and counter-terrorism units over the past three months, officials said,
Pakistan has officially informed and warned Kabul about the recent militant depredations in the country and the participation of the Afghan Taliban in these activities.Questioning the approach of his predecessor and the erstwhile Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government in combating terror, Army chief General Asim Munir said last Friday during an in-camera session of parliament that the policy of talking to TTP had been a mistake.
After the Afghan Taliban wrested Kabul, the militant regime there facilitated Islamabad’s talks with TTP, resulting in the release of hundreds of the outfit’s leaders and fighters detained in Pakistan. Scores of militants exiled in Afghanistan were allowed to return to their country along with their families.
The dialogue with the TTP, according to Gen Munir, yielded nothing for Pakistan but helped the outfit regroup. The army chief said security forces were committed to restoring peace in the country, adding that operations were being conducted regularly to eliminate all traces of terrorism. “The terrorists have no other option but to accept the writ of the state,”he declared.
Lawmakers fear the army’s stance may have shut out the option of engaging the TTP in talks again. The military’s decision came after the killing of a high-ranking ISI officer, Brig Mustafa Kamal Burki,in Angoor Adda area of South Waziristan on March 21.
Burki had reportedly played a key role in bringing the TTP leaders to the negotiation table. He was the one who signed all previous agreements, particularly the Kabul agreement between the TTP and Islamabad.
As intelligence-based operations against the TTP gather steam in the troubled districts, the buzz is that the military is focused on an offensive spanningthe Ghulam Khan, Datta Khel, Shawal, Shawa and Spin Wamare as of North Waziristan. In South Waziristan,operations are likely to cover Azam Warsak, Zar Milan, Angoor Adda, Sar Kand and Ladha.