War in north waziristan

[Bengal_Tiger]

PM will soon announce military operation in NWA



ISLAMABAD- The federal government has decided to launch an operation against the militants due to the failure in peace talks with the Taliban.

According to reports, Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif is likely to announce the launching of operation against the militants during the upcoming national assembly session.


The army would start operation in North Waziristan agency while the government will provide complete political support to the army for eliminating terrorists.

The security and intelligence agencies have tightened security at sensitive installations in big cities to handle any terror attempt by the terrorists as a reaction to the operation.

The government would announce conditional talks offer to those willing to surrender their weapons.

http://www.nation.com.pk/national/20-Feb-2014/pm-to-formally-announce-military-operation-against-militants-soon

It's started!


WAR IN NORTH WAZIRISTAN

[Bengal_Tiger]

The war between militants and the Pakistan army has been going for almost ten years now.

This may be the final decisive battle. Here is what could happen.


A: Pakistan army crush TTP.

The Pakistan army crushes the TTP as they defeated them in Swat and also in South Waziristan. The decade of instability will be compared to Algeria's decade of instability in combatting "Islamist" militancy in the 1990s. Pakistan after having re-established control of the whole of FATA will be free of terrorism (or perhaps very limited terrorism with the occassional bomb here and there but not disrupting economic growth and general stability).



B: TTP tactical retreat

The TTP retreat tactically in to Afghanistan. Allow the Pakistani army to bomb the heck out of North Waziristan, killing innocent Pashtun civilians who then become TTP supporters angry at the Pakistan army who they view as the murderers of their loved ones.

The situation in Pakistan continues as it is with no great change.


C: TTP start war all over Pakistan.

The TTP angry at the Pakistani army offensive carry out operations across Pakistan, including Karachi, the economic centre and elsewhere.

- The TTP create chaos in Karachi, bringing the Pakistani economy to ruins.


- The TTP launch a ground offensive to capture Islamabad, including with the support of the many "Islamists" (including Punjabis) they have in the army. Islamabad has already been declared "dangerous" and under threat by the Pakistani interior ministry.

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Interior in a report has declared the federal capital as an ‘extremely dangerous’ city because of the existence and functioning of banned outfits besides other factors.

The Ministry of Interior, in its report on Wednesday, claimed that the capital city had been at high risk and become a sleeper cell of banned organisation members, including al-Qaeda, Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ).

It pointed out in the report that weapons and terrorists had a free movement into the country from the eastern and western borders as the miscreants were engaged in terror activities in Pakistan.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-28677-Islamabad-has-become-a-dangerous-city-Ministry

My opinion: For some reason my gut feeling is that we are not near the imminent end of this conflict i.e. crushing of the Taliban or Taliban capturing Islamabad. However this may be the beginning of the end.

[Bengal_Tiger]

TTP offers conditional truce

February 20, 2014 OUR STAFF REPORTER

TTP offers conditional truce

NORTH WAZIRISTAN - Reiterating its commitment for peaceful resolution of decade-long conflict, outlawed Tehreek Taliban Pakistan offered conditional ceasefire on Wednesday while demanding the government to stop arresting and killing of their supporters in fake encounters.
“We are ready for peace talks and ceasefire if the security forces stop arresting and killing of our colleagues in fake encounters,” TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid told this correspondent via telephonic conversation. He said they had organised all of their groups that would not violate ceasefire directives, if the government stopped killing of their colleagues. He said they were sincere in peace dialogue from the very first day. He added the government committee must obtain guarantee from the government that it would not target Taliban operatives held at various detention centres. He said they would soon announce ceasefire if the government was ready to accept the condition.
The Taliban spokesman said, “Our committee will wait for government’s assurance regarding stopping the killing of our colleagues at the hands of security forces.”

Shahidullah Shahid told AFP: “The government has killed more than 60 Taliban since the start of the peace talks, in Karachi and the rest of Pakistan, under a secret operation codenamed Operation Root Out.” He further said, “The killings of soldiers in Mohmand were in response to the onslaught on Taliban members by security forces during the talks between government and Taliban committees.”
A faction of the insurgent group in Mohmand near the Afghan border announced on Sunday they had executed 23 soldiers who were kidnapped in June 2010. The Taliban’s demands include the nationwide imposition of sharia law, an end to US drone strikes and the withdrawal of the army from northwestern tribal regions - conditions unlikely to be met.

http://www.nation.com.pk/national/20-Feb-2014/ttp-offers-conditional-truce

[Bengal_Tiger]

TTP committee wants peace ‘at any cost’, Yusuf Shah

Islamabad National

11 HOURS AGO BY ONLINE

Maulana-Yousaf-Shah1
ISLAMABAD-

Member of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) appointed committee for negotiations, Maulana Yusuf Shah on Thursday said that the committee seeks peace in the country at any cost.

He expressed his hopes of results yielding from peace talks despite early Thursday’s airstrikes by Pakistan Air Force in North Waziristan that killed 35 militants.

Talking to a private news channel, Shah said that his committee will soon be holding consultations regarding the situation after the recent airstrikes by PAF.

He stressed both sides for ceasefire.

Shah said that a military operation would lead to devastation in the country, saying that the committee seeks to restore peace at any cost.

PAF jets pounded militant hideouts in NWA region on Thursday after midnight, killing 35 local and foreign militants.

http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2014/02/20/national/ttp-committee-wants-peace-at-any-cost-yusuf-shah/

[Bengal_Tiger]

TTP terms Pakistan’s constitution un-Islamic


NORTH WAZIRISTAN-

Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesperson Shahidullah Shahid addressed a press conference on Friday from an unknown place in North Waziristan.

Shahid said the government has started the war when they should have initiated a ceasefire.

TTP spokesman further said Quran and Hadith is complete constitution, government wants us to accept constitution through peace talks.

He stressed not a single clause in Pakistan constitution Islamic, all our acts are in ‘self defense.’

Shahid also offered to stop every kind of militant activities if security of their arrested companions was guaranteed by government.

We have been fighting in defence for ten years, the spokesperson said during a press conference, adding that the government should stop this root-out operation now.

He said that the Taliban still wish to engage in the peace dialogue to solve the country’s problems.

“We were ready to talk before and are ready now”, he stated.

The Taliban’s statements come after the government decided to pull the plug on the peace talks with the Taliban as the prime minister and the military leadership decided that “proceeding with the peace talks amid the bombings and slaughter of soldiers would be injustice to terror victims.”

At least 40 suspected insurgents were killed and several others injured as military jets and gunships bombed their hideouts in the North Waziristan and Khyber agencies, military sources said on February 20.

http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2014/02/21/national/ttp-terms-pakistans-constitution-un-islamic/

*The Pakistan army has bombed FATA and media are claiming aroun "40 militants" killed. This probably does not include all the civilians, women and children who die in these bombings too.



So far the TTP has not reacted yet (militarily). They have been calling for peace talks instead.

[Bengal_Tiger]

Yes TTP, you can kill the Pashtuns

It’s your gift for not bombing Punjab

Columns Comment11 HOURS AGO BY KKS


After the overwhelming success of the ‘Good Taliban, Bad Taliban’ circus, we are now experiencing a new merry-go-round: Good Sharia, Bad Sharia. Just like both Good Taliban and Bad Taliban look uncannily similar, it is the same for Good Sharia and Bad Sharia. However, while the debate surrounding Good/Bad Taliban and Good/Bad Sharia continues to take up most of the newspaper space and on-air time all over the country, what is increasingly clear is that the entire country is mulling over an issue that is relevant to only one part of the state (if one can be audacious enough to dub it that) – FATA.

As the government and the Taliban negotiation teams brought apples and oranges to the table respectively eying to make banana trifle, what the government clarified from the onset was that whatever the Taliban are planning on cooking they were going to have to restrict their gastronomic activities to FATA. Basically that means whether the Taliban are good or bad and whether their Sharia is good or bad, it is something that the Pashtuns – and them alone – would have to figure out. And soon.

As the government and the Taliban negotiation teams brought apples and oranges to the table respectively eying to make banana trifle, what the government clarified from the onset was that whatever the Taliban are planning on cooking they were going to have to restrict their gastronomic activities to FATA.

And so, if TTP’s (Good/Bad) Sharia directed them to bomb the entire country, they will have to make do with bombing the Pashtuns alone – for the time being any way.

The Taliban on their part have been cooperative enough and reciprocated by demanding that all law enforcing forces be removed from their new play place. FATA is going to be the Taliban’s small gift for not bombing Punjab. The Saudi Crown Prince has been kind enough to bring the wrapping papers.


So while the Baloch continue to be butchered by those who must not be named, Karachi being made a hub of violence by those who can be, but won’t be named, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa being regularly bombed by those who we have just named, it is Punjab that would remain free of Sharia compliant bombs. That is what we have been negotiating with the Taliban over the past few weeks: the Good/Bad Sharia remains in FATA and so does the butchery that it causes.


And it is a perfect deal to be very honest for someone who lives in Lahore and has all their interests in this city. Like this scribe for instance, or the prime minister of the Deobandi Republic of Pakistan.

Now to facilitate this Sharia experiment in FATA, there is a narrative that had to be proliferated in the media. That the Pashtuns are these antediluvian, radical people who seamlessly fit into the Taliban persona like Christian Bale fits into the Batsuit. The said narrative has been proliferated rather well, if the reverberations among the Pakistani “intelligentsia” are anything to go by. And it bins the Pashtuns’ ideological history into Pakistan’s theological garbage can.

The Pashtuns have been the ones to suffer the most courtesy the Taliban, and after TTP’s political wing the PTI came into power in KP, the numbers have risen to unprecedented heights. Therefore, a people that has collectively suffered the most shouldn’t have any qualms if it were to suffer a little more. I mean the Pashtuns are born Islamists, it’s only logical that they bear the brunt of Islamism.


Also there is talk that Saudi Arabia is looking for a 100,000 acre area to establish its stranglehold in the country – as if it didn’t have that already. Now once FATA is gifted to Saudi Arabia’s offspring, the Saudi stranglehold would obviously be adjacent to FATA as well. This would create this Islamist zone in the north west of Pakistan, which would gulp the entire Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Inshallah), especially since TTP’s blood brothers rule the roost in KP’s parliament. Once the Saudis with Audis establish themselves in town, there won’t be any Good Sharia or Bad Sharia, there would be just the one Sharia: THE Sharia – the one the Saudis have established in their own kingdom.

That’s pretty much the deal between the Raiwind Republic and Saudi Kingdom. And it’s the Pashtuns that are the first ones to be sacrificed at the altar of the Taliban. So yes TTP, you can kill all the Pashtuns you want. It’s your gift for not bombing Punjab.

http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2014/02/22/comment/yes-ttp-you-can-kill-the-pashtuns/

*This writer seems to be saying that there will be no Pakistan army war to crush the Taliban. Instead Pashtunkhwa will be handed over to the Taliban and Punjab will be Taliban-free.


If he is correct, it means that the Punjabis who rule Pakistan do not see Pashtuns as equal fellow countrymen but as "others", as "Pathans". That Punjabis look out for themselves first and will damage Pashtuns for Punjabi interests if required.

On Pakistani nationalist hate-site, defence.pk a few days ago a Pakistani Punjabi army officer openly boasted of how elders in an area of Punjab refused to allow refugees from Waziristan to be housed there, saying they were "enemies of Pakistan (i.e. Punjab)".

[Bengal_Tiger]

Blast in Kohat kills 6 people, injures 11 others.

By Web Desk

Published: February 23, 2014


KOHAT: A blast in Kohat killed at least six people and injured 11 others, Express Newsreported on Sunday.

The blast took place in the Peshawar Chowk area near the Police Line. According to the police, the bomb was planted at the location.

The injured are being taken to Liaqat Memorial Hospital. Two of them are in critical condition.

Police have cordoned off the area. Rescue teams have reached the blast site and rescue operation is underway.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/675192/blast-in-kohat-kills-3-people/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

[Bengal_Tiger]

Mass exodus: Fearing operation, tribesmen take flight



MIRAMSHAH: Thousands of tribesmen have fled North Waziristan Agency since last month as fears of a military operation in the area grew after helicopter gunships pounded suspected hideouts of militants in Mirali and Miramshah subdivisions of the agency on January 21, tribesmen told The Express Tribune.

Political Agent Siraj Ahmad Khan told journalists on Saturday that he had directed political administration officials to tell the tribesmen not to leave the agency as there was no fear of an operation.

“A military operation is not imminent and there is no need for the tribesmen to flee,” Siraj claimed.

Another political administration official said a large number of tribesmen have started migrating from Saidgi, Bangi Dar, Mada Khel, Kucha Mada Khel, Mezar and Manzar Khel areas of Ghulam Khan and Shawal Tehsils, while residents of Khushalai Tori Khel, Edak and Haider Khel have left from Mirali Tehsil and a large number of tribesmen have started to vacate homes in villages in the agency headquarters of Miramshah.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official confirmed that many residents as well as Afghan citizens living there for over two decades were trying to shift to Afghanistan.

Jalal, an Afghan elder who has been living in Ghulam Khan Tehsil along with 50 other families for the last 30 years, said the families were trying to shift to Khost, Paktia and Paktika provinces of Afghanistan due to the deteriorating law and order situation.

Another resident Gul Khan said that due to enmities and tribal feuds, he along with 25 families was trying to move to the Afghan provinces of Kunduz and Baghlan which are relatively safe. “All our business of non-custom paid vehicles has been destroyed,” he said, adding that he would not return.

“No one will leave their land happily, but now as the operation is looming we cannot stay to die,” he added.

In the mass exodus, passenger van driver Sultan Khan of Miramshah village said he was also shifting residents to Bannu. He said that people were fleeing along with their children and women, leaving behind a member of family to take care of valuables. He added that in the present situation, his rate for transportation has jumped from Rs150 per head to Rs300.

The exact number of people evacuating could not be ascertained, as none of the officials were aware of the accurate figure. Political administration officials also declined to comment, as some remain in denial that there is a mass exodus taking place.

However, local tribesmen told The Express Tribune nearly 50,000 tribesmen have fled the agency since last month.

While some officials dismiss the evacuation as ‘routine’ and say that the tribesmen will return after a month, the vehicle stands at Miramshah Bazaar, Ghulam Khan Tehsil and Mirali Bazaar reveal a contrary situation.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 23rd, 2014.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/675094/mass-exodus-fearing-operation-tribesmen-take-flight/

Political Agent Siraj Ahmad Khan told journalists on Saturday that he had directed political administration officials to tell the tribesmen not to leave the agency as there was no fear of an operation.

This is ridiculous. Nawaz Sharif - for what little his words count - has said there will be a military operation in North Waziristan.

[Bengal_Tiger]

Possible offensive: N Waziristan can be cleansed within weeks


By Our Correspondent / Latif ChaudhryPublished: February 23, 2014


Amidst growing chatter of a military operation in North Waziristan Agency, security sources on Saturday said the task of purging the area of all violent groups could be over in a “matter of weeks”.
“It would take the military four to six weeks to clear the agency of fighters,” security sources said, insisting that it was not difficult for Pakistan Army to re-establish the writ of the government in North Waziristan.
The officials also quashed the impression that the operation had only 40% chance of success, as claimed by some politicians in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
The security sources said that North Waziristan is the last militant stronghold which, if cleared, would result in a significant drop in violent attacks across the country. The military and the civil government are on the same page and there is no ambiguity on the issue.
They conceded that the operation could have a severe backlash elsewhere in the country or that the fighters could sneak into major towns and cities of the country to carry out attacks. “The responsibility of the civil administration would increase as it would have to act pro-actively to cub terrorism.”
The security sources said that a ground offensive hasn’t been started yet in North Waziristan, though F-16 fighter jets have been bombing hideouts of suspected militants in ‘targeted air raids’. “Since Pakistan doesn’t have technology to fly lethal drones, F-16s are the best option available,” they added. “F-16s hit their target with precision, almost ruling out the possibility for collateral damage.” The security sources added that ground offensive would be launched after the civil government gave the go ahead.
Asked about the possible strategy for North Waziristan operation, security sources said that it would be similar to the one carried out in Swat in 2009. Civilians and innocent tribesmen will be given time to shift to safe areas before the launch of the operation. “The operation will target all fighter groups without discrimination.”
Once cleared of militants, the security sources said, it would be difficult for violent groups to find a sanctuary in North Waziristan again. They added that the number of fighters in the area was being exaggerated.
Asked about the stalled peace talks, the security sources said that the security establishment and the civilian government were on the same page vis-à-vis peace engagement. “The military fully supports the government’s peace overtures because it believes in giving peace a chance.”
However, the security sources added that talks should be pursued from a ‘position of strength’. They said that despite the ongoing peace process, militants carried out a string of fatal attacks which necessitated the ‘use of force’.
The security sources claimed that Pakistani fighters were receiving monetary and material support from outside. Afghan spy agency, the National Directorate of Security (NDS), was in league with India. Around 3,000 personnel of NDS, Afghan National Army and other security agencies were receiving training in India.
The security sources, however, rejected as hackneyed the impression that Pakistan’s military was seeking ‘strategic depth’ in Afghanistan. However, they added that the military was not oblivious of the security of the country’s borders. “Pakistan Army is ready to face any challenge.” The security sources said that militants also have supporters and sympathisers within the country.
Commenting on the recent air strikes in North Waziristan and Khyber agencies, the security sources said that it was wrong to call them a prelude to a full-fledged operation. However, if the Taliban carry out any violent attack, they would be responded in the same coin – and the process has already started.
As part of the same strategy, helicopter gunships targeted hideouts of suspected militants in Thal tehsil of Hangu district early Saturday. A security official said that the air raids were ordered after credible intelligence suggested that militants based in the area were plotting attacks.
“The air strikes were carried out in the mountainous areas of Tora Warhi and Darsamand, situated at the confluence of borders between Orakzai and Kurram tribal agencies around 7am,” a security official said. The raids continued till 9am, he added.
The official claimed that at least nine militants – among them three commanders, Gul Nawaz, Arshad and Wali Zaman – were killed when a suspected compound was bombed.
While the air strikes were ongoing, a shell fired from unknown direction slammed into a civilian house in the Darsamand area, wounding two women identified as Sakina Bibi and Sultana Bibi. They were driven to a hospital in nearby Thal.
The security official said it was an air raid by helicopter gunships against militant hideouts in Thal. It is the only tehsil of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa where a US drone had targeted an Islamic seminary (madrassa) on November 21, last year, killing six persons.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/675110/possible-offensive-n-waziristan-can-be-cleansed-within-weeks/

- Same self-contradictory nonsense as above.

On the one hand they say they are going to do an operation in N Waziristan, then in the same breath they speak about peace talks.

Operation:

The security sources added that ground offensive would be launched after the civil government gave the go ahead.
Asked about the possible strategy for North Waziristan operation, security sources said that it would be similar to the one carried out in Swat in 2009. Civilians and innocent tribesmen will be given time to shift to safe areas before the launch of the operation. “The operation will target all fighter groups without discrimination.”

Peace talks:

Asked about the stalled peace talks, the security sources said that the security establishment and the civilian government were on the same page vis-à-vis peace engagement. “The military fully supports the government’s peace overtures because it believes in giving peace a chance.”
However, the security sources added that talks should be pursued from a ‘position of strength’.

Operation hasn't started yet:

Commenting on the recent air strikes in North Waziristan and Khyber agencies, the security sources said that it was wrong to call them a prelude to a full-fledged operation. However, if the Taliban carry out any violent attack, they would be responded in the same coin – and the process has already started.

So the Pakistanis are just coming out with confusing nonsense and from what they seem to be saying this is not the beginning of a major anti-Taliban operation. On Defence.pk however Pakistani nationalists have been euphoric over what they see as the army finally starting an anti-Taliban operation.

[Bengal_Tiger]

Govt in contact with moderate TTP groups

Major operations soon against Taliban in all cities, including Karachi

February 23, 2014 ABRAR SAEED



Govt in contact with moderate TTP groups

ISLAMABAD - Amid aerial bombardment on the hideouts of the militants in the troubled areas by Pakistan Air Force jets and choppers, the PML-N government is still in contact with some of the moderate groups within the conglomeration of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan to strike a peace deal.
Sources aware of the backdoor contacts with some of the militants groups informed The Nation that the whole exercise was being carried out with complete secrecy under the supervision of Federal Interior Minister Ch Nisar Ali Khan.
Actually, it was resumption of the activity ostensibly suspended following the US drone attack in North Waziristan killing the then TTP Chief Hakimullah Mehsud last year in November, the sources explained. They said that at that time the main groups in the TTP were willing for negotiations with the government, but there were certain groups averse to the dialogue process and, keeping in view the situation, Nisar Ali Khan-led team had prepared ‘Plan B’ to tackle the situation in case the TTP leadership backed out of the dialogue process.
Under a strategy, the people dealing with this tricky process had established contacts with the main leadership of TTP while at another level the groups which seemed more inclined towards dialogue and were not setting tough conditions were contacted to cultivate some clout in the militants’ conglomeration in case of breakdown of the dialogue process with TTP at any stage.
The killing of Hakimullah Mahsud in a drone strike on November 1, 2013, shattered all the government efforts, but with the settling down of dust, Ch Nisar-led team became active again on the ‘Plan B’. The move was steadily heading for creating a wedge among the militant groups, but, all of a sudden, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif constituted another four-member committee to give peace and dialogue another chance.
Sources in the government reveal that contacts with some of the militant groups which were already in loop were contacted again and some peace agreement can be reached with them while those averse to talks will be dealt with iron hands.
Sources in the government further said that right now there was no plan to go for a full-fledged operation against militants in the restive tribal areas, particularly North Waziristan , for many reasons, including the harsh winter and difficult terrain. However, controlled surgical operations, mainly in shape of airstrikes, would continue in the troubled areas.
Sources in the government further said that major operations against Taliban would be launched in all the major cities of the country, mainly in Karachi being considered the major abode for the militants.
In this connection, a comprehensive plan to enhance cooperation and coordination among the federal and provincial intelligence agencies and law-enforcement departments has already been devised and would shortly be put in practice to hunt down Taliban in the settled areas.
It is pertinent to mention here that Federal Interior Minister Ch Nisar Ali Khan is contacting all the four provincial governments to ensure that the plan could be implemented effectively.

http://www.nation.com.pk/islamabad/23-Feb-2014/govt-in-contact-with-moderate-ttp-groups

* So the Pakistani regime is now saying there is no operation in North Waziristan, just some bombing.



* The regime is also threatening the Taliban in Karachi. If all out war breaks out in Karachi and Karachi is paralyzed, Pakistan will collapse economically.

2014-2015 could finally be the year that Pakistan ceases to exist.

[Da Bannu Mazdigar]

now this time govt is responsible for destroying the peace talks.no doubt a operation will destroy the backbone of ttp.since this is the only region Where they still are strong and majority of their top leaders are also their.any Bengali tiger why dont you use your real account iamBengali on this forum aswell.?

[Da Bannu Mazdigar]

it seems like ttp days are numbered now.THEY are responsible for pashtuns death and pak army will make them past tense

[Bengal_Tiger]

The Abandoned Refugees of North Waziristan



Pakistan refuses to acknowledge a growing crisis emerging from its tribal belt.

By Taha Siddiqui
March 27, 2014

As the government of Pakistan and the Pakistani Taliban continue to discuss conditions for a peace dialogue, thousands of refugees have fled the tribal belt that sits alongside the Pakistan-Afghan border, especially the North Waziristan area where the terrorist organization commonly known as Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is based. The refugees have made their way to safer areas in the settled areas of the Khyber Pakthunkhwa province.

The mass exodus happened when the Pakistani army carried out airstrikes in the region last December on suspected militant hideouts.

The refugee crisis has yet to be acknowledged by the government of Pakistan, because it has not formally announced any operation in the North Waziristan region, even though there have been a wave of airstrikes by the country’s armed forces in areas occupied by the TTP and other foreign terrorists.

Most of these terrorists have been hiding in Pakistan’s lawless tribal belt since they escaped from neighboring Afghanistan in the aftermath of the U.S.-led attack following 9/11.

The military’s media wing has been claiming that it has killed scores of militants in these strikes, the first of which took place four months ago. However, since journalists from outside are not allowed to visit the North Waziristan area, there is no independent verification of these claims.

Refugees who have fled the area have another story to tell. “The bombardments happened near our homes in the market area and the army was not precise in these airstrikes so many civilian homes were targeted too,” says Javed Iqbal, a 31-year-old who comes from North Waziristan’s Mir Ali area and is currently living in Bannu city, next to the Waziristan’s tribal region.

Mr. Iqbal who fled in the middle of the night with more than forty members of his family after the December air strikes had to pay exorbitant sums to transporters in his hometown to shift them to a safer area.

Even now, he and his family have received no help from official authorities. “No one is registering us or giving us any aid. Our children are not going to school anymore. There are no medical facilities being offered to us either. We are left entirely on our own,” he adds.

According to independent estimates by local non-government organizations operating within the region, more than 40,000 people have been displaced by the ongoing troubles.

“We sent out appeals to foreign and local donors to help us out with the refugee crisis but they said unless and until the government issues an official notification about an operation, they cannot help,” Nizam Dawar, a social worker based in Islamabad but originally from North Waziristan, tells The Diplomat.

Dawar, who recently met with the refugees in Bannu and has been trying to help them on his own, complains that many of the displaced families are living in the open on vacant Bannu land. They do not even have the money to buy food.

“In turning a blind eye to this influx of refugees, the government is also unwittingly allowing terrorists to flee the area under the garb of refugees. If they would acknowledge the exodus, and register the refugees or anyone escaping the area, there is a good chance that it will help the government in identifying militant elements and apprehending them,” Dawar adds.

Other refugees agree with Dawar’s assessment.

“We want an operation against those terrorists hiding in our homeland, but the government needs to plan it properly,” says Mohammad Imran, who fled North Waziristan in January with fourteen of his family members, and is currently living in Bannu in a rented house.

“There is an air of uncertainty and confusion now,” he tells The Diplomat. “The government should be clear about what it wants to do. It should ensure that common people like us are given safe passage and rehabilitation afterwards like in Swat Valley or South Waziristan operations in past.”

In past years, the Pakistani army conducted military operations in other parts of the tribal belt and also in Swat Valley, successfully driving the Taliban out of those areas. In contrast, the current Pakistani government, which came to power in May last year, has been a proponent of peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban, after a consensus to do so was developed at an all parties conference last September.

The government then announced a peace committee that was able to settle on a ceasefire earlier this month between the government and the TTP. However, within the TTP there are now breakaway offshoots that have vowed to continue the attacks.

“What we have seen is that as these groups, which to my understanding are still connected to the parent TTP organization, carry out terrorist acts. And then the government retaliates too. Its a tit for tat kind of a response,” says Safdar Hayat, former head of the tribal union of journalists, who hails from North Waziristan.

Hayat feels the government has been held hostage to the security policy of the state. “The Pakistani military establishment expects the Afghan Taliban to go home soon since the Americans are pulling out. So it cannot launch a full-scale operation in North Waziristan since the Afghan Taliban occupy the same space as the Pakistani Taliban,” Hayat explains, adding that until then the government will continue to carry out what it calls targeted strikes.

But for the refugees these strikes and no visible strategy from the government means many more months of misery.

“The people are turning against the Pakistani government and the military,” warns Imran, the refugee in Bannu. “The tribal belt was already neglected, even constitutionally we have no rights. And now in times of conflict, the state is not coming forward to help us,” he adds. Indeed, the Pakistani constitution does not apply to the tribal belt.

Divided into seven different agencies, the tribal belt is governed by the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR), an early 20th century draconian law introduced during the British colonial period of South Asia. Even after independence in 1947, the Pakistan government continues to govern the area through FCR, which does not allow basic constitutional rights to the citizens of the tribal belt.

For this reason, most of the region has remained impoverished and neglected, and often used as an experimental backyard for Pakistan’s military’s security policy.

It was here the Americans and the Pakistanis trained the Mujahideens in the eighties to fight the Soviets. And it is here today that the Pakistani state is accused of providing safe havens to Afghan insurgents.

Islamabad has come under international pressure to act against these hideouts. Since 2004, the CIA has carried out its own secret drone strikes.

Now Islamabad has apparently asked the Americans to halt the drone strikes, yet has started its own air attacks using fighter jets and gunship helicopters.

“At least when there were drone strikes, we knew they would be more precise and very targeted. But ever since these airstrikes by the Pakistani army have started, many civilian homes have been damaged and locals killed because they shell and hit the villages indiscriminately,” Imran, the refugee who escaped in January says, adding that even though the drone strikes created a lot of mental stress, it did not force them to flee, as they have had to do now.

“No one knows when we will go back home. All we want is peace. The government should fulfill its responsibility to take care of its citizens,” he concludes.

Taha Siddiqui is an investigative journalist working with various local and international media outlets focusing on terrorism, politics and minority issues in the country. He tweets @TahaSSiddiqui

http://thediplomat.com/2014/03/the-abandoned-refugees-of-north-waziristan/

- 40,000 refugees from the Pakistan military bombing of Waziristan.


- No army offensive against the TTP.


- The TTP have ended their one month ceasefire against the Pakistani military.

- "Huge" attack on Pakistani security convoy

http://www.dawn.com/news/1100702/militants-launch-huge-attack-on-landi-kotal-fc-fort

[Smarty]

I remember very well paki army declared in 2009 that operation in south waziristan will be final and decisive one, governament enforced one week holiday during operation. At that time south waziristan, mehsud portion was base of TTP. When army started relentless aerial bombardment and artillary/tank shelling of entire mehsud region, most of the taliban fighters had already shifted to other places.
Pakis dont get it, you cant defeat taliban with conventional warfare. TTP are not more than 5 thousands, but they are highly mobile guerrella fighters who can play cat and mouse game with 1.5 lakh paki army, exhausting and bleeding them to slow death. This war would take many shapes but wont end, taliban can engage paki army for 100 years but pakis , being a regular army, doesnt have the resources, stamina and morale to fight war in FATA for decades. Nuristan and kunar have becomes of TTP, so north waziristan wont be a big loss for them. There are more around 30 thousand troops of paki in camps and posts of n.waziristan, they are restricted to their posts, even after operation, they will be restricted to their posts and would continue to recieve attacks from taliban.

[HalloIsBack]

now this time govt is responsible for destroying the peace talks.no doubt a operation will destroy the backbone of ttp.since this is the only region Where they still are strong and majority of their top leaders are also their.any Bengali tiger why dont you use your real account iamBengali on this forum aswell.?

sorry but i could not find a user with the name iamBengali
can you send me a link for it please