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The Pakistan armed forces have launched a joint military offensive in North Waziristan from June 15, 2014 to wipe out Pakistani and foreign terrorists.
The prominent terrorist groups include Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), several Afghan terrorist groups and their factions, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) supported infamous Haqqani group, Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), Al-Qaeda, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) etc.
The powerful Pakistani army was insisting on a full-fledged military operation against terrorists as the army had begun to realise that slowly and steadily the writ, power and influence of the army was diminishing and the terrorists have inculcated the courage of even targeting the army.
Nonetheless the civilian government under the leadership of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced to hold peace negotiations with the Taliban. The negotiation commenced on March 16, 2014 at Islamabad, but failed soon as the Pakistan government insisted on the cessation of hostilities as well as holding of talks under the constitution. Several factions of the Taliban refused to accept these conditions and insisted on the promulgation of Shariat Law (Islamic law) first in the area of their control and then in the whole of Pakistan.
An important faction of the Taliban which was against the peace negotiations killed 23 Frontier Corps soldiers who were in their captivity since 2010 with the sole objective of derailing the talks. But the last nail in the coffin of the peace negotiations came on June 8 when terrorists attacked Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, in which 36 people, including 10 terrorists, were killed. Besides these assaults, terrorists also attacked army installations, which was very humiliating for a professional army.
Once the peace talks failed the army made several aerial raids on the hiding places of terrorists in North Waziristan in which more than 400 Pakistani and foreign terrorists, including Abu Abdur Rehman Almani, an Uzbek commander, the mastermind of the Karachi airport attack, were killed and more than 60 hiding places smashed.
Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has stated that the administration had to take action against the terror groups as the strategy of negotiations failed. Now the operation will continue till it completes the assigned task.
Air Force, ground troops, artillery guns, tanks, heavy weapons are used under Operation Zarb-e-Azb. After breaking the backbone of terrorists through aerial raids and migration of the civil population, the army started ground operations from June 30. Afghan security forces were also requested to seal the border from their side so that the terrorists could not run away to Afghanistan or get any assistance from that side of the border. Infantry troops and personnel of the Special Services Group made house-to-house searches in which more than 25 terrorists were killed, several surrendered and troops recovered large cache of lethal weapons, unearthed factories manufacturing improvised explosive devices (IEDs), tunnels etc.
More than 450,000 people were displaced from their homes and registered themselves as internally displaced persons (IDPs). However, instead of residing in camps they are living with their relations in Bannu, tDera Ismail Khan, Lakki Marwat etc. Some IDPs have also gone to Afghanistan. The IDPs are not residing in camps partly because of tribal traditions and partially because of fear of backlash from terrorists.
Pakistanis who were also fed up with the inhuman activities of terrorists welcomed Operation Zarb-e-Azb. Analysts agree that North Waziristan has become the epicentre of terrorism and the much-delayed military operation against terrorists was the need of the hour.
Several tribal leaders of Miran Shah, Mir Ali and Datta Khal fully endorsed the military offensive and assured that in future they will not allow the terrorists again to re-establish themselves in the area. The influential people of the area were fed up with the activities of terrorists as their authority was clipped. Now as the army is poised to eliminate the terrorists, elders would like to establish themselves again in the region.
Most of the political parties except Jamat-e-Islami (JI) supported the army offensive against terrorists. Sunni Ulema Board and large number of Islamic clerics issued fatwa in support of the army offensive; they declared that the Pakistan army is doing jihad (holy war) by eliminating terrorists. Several countries like Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, United Nations, United States etc also supported the army offensive.
Many Uzbeks, Chinese, Chechens and Afghan terrorists also took refuge in this area. These terrorists are involved in terrorist activities not only in Pakistan but in other countries, including Afghanistan, China, Russia and India.
Some analysts opined that it would have been better if the government could have solved the problem of terrorism through negotiations, but a large number of Pakistanis feel that terrorists will not adhere to peaceful negotiations and they simply want to buy time so that they can make more preparations. The critics also said that the terrorist organizations would increase terror attacks, killing large number of civilians, just to show their strength. Few pessimists have also alleged that most of the terrorists have already left North Waziristan and the army is killing innocent civilians.
The terrorists attacked a Pakistan International Airlines plane at Peshawar, and in reaction Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airways, both of United Arab Emirates, suspended operations from Peshawar airport.
The hard core Pakistanis allege that these terrorists are getting support from abroad, especially from India and Afghanistan, to create trouble in Pakistan.
It is heartening to see that the Pakistani army has initiated an offensive against terrorists, but it will not bring the desired result if the offensive does not include all radical Islamist groups, including ISI-sponsored terrorist groups. The situation will become very complicated if Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which is a hard-line Sunni group and ideologically very near to Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), opts for an alliance with it.
Besides the military action in North Waziristan, there is a need to curb the rising trend of Islamic fundamentalism in Pakistan. At present the military action against TTP and other terrorist groups is because they were targeting Pakistani establishments, especially the armed forces. There was no action against these terrorists till they were killing minorities, Shias, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces and making terror attacks in India or Indian establishments outside India. Action should also be taken against the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), including its founder Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, who is roaming freely in Pakistan and the ISI-sponsored Haqqani faction.
In the past, the Pakistani army took action against terrorists in the Swat valley, South Waziristan etc. but the terrorism instead of ending continued to grow. It clearly shows mistakes in the operation.
The basic problem in the military offensive is that it is not against all terrorists, but only against those terror groups which are not toeing the line of ISI. Secondly, madrassas which are the breeding ground of terrorism are increasing in the country. In this 21st century when people are becoming more liberal, fundamentalism is increasing in Pakistan. This trend needs to be curbed.
By Special Arrangement with : South Asia Monitor (http://www.southasiamonitor.org)