Till 9/11, all our jihadis (now dubbed as extremists) were waging jihad outside Pakistan, in Kashmir, Afghanistan, Chechnya or Kosovo. After terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, Pakistan was roped in to fight the US sponsored war on terror to provide safety to the US, located 10,000 miles away.
In our bid to please the US, we inducted 80,000 regular troops into the tribal belt and vigorously hunted and captured 600 Al-Qaeda and Taliban operatives and handed them over to Americans, without any trial, in return for handsome bounties. Many among the captured, being innocent, were later repatriated.
Military operations were also conducted to flush out foreign terrorist, but many innocent civilians were killed in the process. The army was primarily used to restrain militants from crossing the border and fighting foreign occupation troops in Afghanistan. All these unfriendly acts added to the resentment of locals and a time came when the Pakistan army earned the ignominious title of a 'mercenary army,' operating at the behest of the US.
The jihadists were sandwiched between US-NATO-Afghan forces and Pak troops. Caught between the devil and the deep sea, militants, under the leadership of Nek Muhammad, Abdullah Mehsud and then Baitullah Mehsud were left with no choice but to turn their guns inwards. The CIA-RAW-RAM intelligence axis took advantage of the changed situation and exploited it to the hilt, with a view to bogging down our forces permanently, cause tribal-army estrangement and discredit the army. When casualties, on both sides, began to mount, elders of the affected area tried to convince the authorities to withdraw regular troops and not to meddle in their affairs. In return, they promised to meet most demands of the government. After several failed attempts of army backed jirgas, the two sides agreed to restore peace on certain terms.
Once peace was restored after signing an agreement in February 2005, in South Waziristan, the army opened another front in North Waziristan on the pointing and nudging of the US. When the situation went out of control, another agreement was signed on August 15, 2006, with the militants of the area to avoid bloodshed and restore normalcy.
It was agreed to remove check-posts along the roadside and some forward posts. This arrangement did not suit our detractors and Pakistan came under ever-increasing pressure that increased militancy in Afghanistan was due to the peace agreements. It was also alleged that certain quarters within the army, including the ISI, were quietly supporting the Taliban. Under the mounting US pressure, the agreement was dishonoured and check-posts were re-established and 'search and destroy' missions against suspected hideouts of militants intensified.
After the US missile attack in Damadola in January 2006, the situation took an ugly turn when a US predator fired missiles on a house in Bajaur in October, killing almost all inmates. Rather than condemning the attack, the Pak army took the blame, saying that its own gunship helicopters had attacked the hideout of terrorists. It incensed the locals further and they started projecting it as the private army of the US. They told their sons not to join the army of "infidels" and Mullahs issued a fatwa that the soldiers killed in the military action were not martyrs and unworthy of funeral prayers.
On August 26, 2007, when a US predator again attacked a suspected terrorist hideout in Bajaur and killed 19 innocent people, the government accepted it as a fait accompli and preferred to keep mum.
Whatever little respect the army had was washed away after the brutal military operation against seminaries in Islamabad in July 2007, killing a large number of innocent men, women and children. The grisly episode propelled the militants in North Waziristan to scrap the 10-month-old agreement on July 15, 2007, on the plea that the army had dishonoured it. They virtually declared war against the army and ever since the army is being targeted with impunity. Mohmand Agency also heated up, where a mosque was named Lal Masjid. The ISI and commandoes involved in the Lal Masjid operation and in the tribal belt and in the kidnapping of religious elements were marked as their prime targets. It was evident from deadly suicide attacks in Rawalpindi and in Tarbela.
After a lull of over two years, South Waziristan became volatile once again in August 2007, and the peace accord was nullified by militants of Mehsud tribe on the pretext that the army had violated the accord by inducting more forces and conducting operations. Several attacks and suicide bombings took place, including attacks on forts, resulting in human losses on both sides. Another peace accord was inked in November last, but peace remained illusive. Four missile attacks by US drones against suspected targets in FATA have taken place in the last five months, but they failed to evoke any reaction from the government. A missile attack in Bajaur on March 16, which claimed 20 lives, was launched despite US assurances not to indulge in barbaric acts. This provocative step was initiated to scuttle the ongoing peace talks between the militants and the government.
Yet another highly provocative act was undertaken by NATO-Afghan forces when they launched an air attack on a security post in Mohmand Agency on June 10, killing several soldiers and civilians. Then Hamid Karzai threatened to send his troops into FATA to combat the Baitullah-led Taliban. US drones have intensified intrusive flights over the tribal belt while Indian drones have started to indulge in similar provocations in the Lipa-Pandu-Chakothi sector in Azad Kashmir.
Over 120,000 security personnel have been involved in counterinsurgency operations in FATA for the last five years and have lost more than 1200 combat soldiers, without achieving any result. In fact, the militants have become more aggressive and besides attacking small posts, they are making use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and suicide bombers against convoys. Several incidents of kidnapping and ruthless beheading of soldiers by the militants took place in 2007. The army, on the other hand, used gunship helicopters and artillery guns to support ground operations, which enhanced collateral damage. Even jet fighters were employed on few occasions. It led to large-scale displacement of people and brought untold suffering to the people of FATA and destroyed their fragile economy. These punitive acts added to the resentment in tribal people and, in turn, promoted Talibanisation which has spread to all the seven tribal agencies and to nearby settled parts of the NWFP. It is now slowly making inroads in the Punjab as well.
Our troops have been fighting the militants under most adverse conditions. The regular troops were pushed into the tribal belt without any acclimatization and training in guerrilla warfare. They had to contend with the reservations of the paramilitary troops who felt that their domain had been intruded and they had been relegated to lower position. Lack of intelligence and language problems were other problems. They did not know how to deal with suicide attacks or IEDs and had no night fighting capability. The jammers and night goggles, provided by the US in 2006, were limited in quantity. The assigned targets were kept secret from the unit concerned till the last moment on the excuse of security leaks, leading to fleeing of the prey. Based on the intelligence provided by the CIA or FBI, they were given marching orders in the middle of the night to reach a particular area in quick time, without disclosing the purpose. As a result, the attacking troops remained seriously handicapped with regard to reconnaissance of the target area, preparation and planning. With such handicaps and lack of coordination between various elements, most attacks proved costly and unproductive.
While our leaders constantly blow up dangers of extremism and terrorism, most Pakistanis do not believe them. They believe US anti-Islamic policies and the genocide of Muslims in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan and also in FATA, together with President Musharraf's role to assist US forces in killing Muslim militants, have fuelled religious extremism in Pakistan. They believe Americans are not fighting the war on terror to control militancy but to control natural resources of Muslims. They say the Pak army is being misused at the behest of America to fight its own people to protect US interests and not Pakistan's interests. This impression is prevalent among lower ranks of the army as well.
While the rulers and the US put the blame of every terrorist act on al-Qaeda or Baitullah-led militants, the Taliban in Pakistan are not shunned by the public since they offer a better system of governance and quick justice. The Taliban in Afghanistan had demonstrated their ability to make the restive country peaceful and drug free.
In FATA and settled areas of the NWFP, the local Taliban have been able to control miscreants and brought relief to tribal people by taking criminals to task. It is contrary to the policy of our rulers and law enforcers who tend to protect the corrupt and criminal. Lower courts take years to decide cases and in most cases, give verdicts in favour of criminals. People feel the USA and India are behind terrorist acts to keep the army permanently engaged in the war on terror. It is questionable why the BLA in Balochistan, with its leadership living in Kabul, is being backed by the RAW-RAM-CIA-Mosad-MI-6 axis of evil based in Kabul. It is an open secret that the military bases provided to US forces in Balochistan in October 2001, are being misused for clandestine operations in Balochistan. Thousands of FBI and CIA agents are still operating unchecked in Pakistan under the plea of nabbing terrorists.
There is a widespread perception that the US will continue its efforts to keep Balochistan simmering to prevent Gwadar from becoming a seaport with the assistance of China, and to create misgivings between Iran and Pakistan.