The claim by the government and the military that the Taliban militants have decisively been defeated in Bajaur Agency, if correct, is indeed a big success against the insurgents. The government and the military have made the claim on the premise that the base of the Bajaur Taliban, Damadola, a remote dusty town on the Durand Line, has been captured and Mohmand tehsil, a former Taliban stronghold of militants, has been reclaimed. Surprisingly, after the government and the military announced success against the Taliban in Bajaur Agency, news reports about the killing of the insurgents' chief, Maulvi Faqir Muhammad also surfaced. According to Interior Minister, Rehman Malik, Faqir, along with Afghan Taliban commander, Qari Ziaur Rehman, and Omar Rehman alias Maulvi Fateh of the Swat Taliban, have been killed in an air raid in a remote part of Mohmand Agency. The latter is situated next to Bajaur Agency. But both the government and the military spokesmen have not confirmed the death of Faqir.
In order to substantiate the claim, Inspector General Frontier Corps (IGFC), Major General Tariq Khan, took along foreign and local journalists to Khar, the headquarters of Bajaur Agency. On the occasion, chief military spokesman, Major General Athar Abbas, told journalists that during the recently concluded military operation against the Taliban, which led to the reclaiming of Bajaur, 60 militants were killed while 250 were injured, besides the killing of 10 security personnel in the previously Taliban-ruled Mamond tehsil of the tribal agency. It is quite incomprehensible how, with only 62 fatalities, the fierce militants could be believed trounced. Because, according to Cutting Edge sources in Bajaur, as well as independent sources, the number of Bajaur Taliban runs into at least a thousand. It may be mentioned that the military, some months back, also claimed defeating the Taliban, but this did not turn out to be a true assessmen, as the militants once again started their terrorist and insurgent activities. Therefore, with so few casualties, there is all likelihood that the Taliban in Bajaur may regroup and once again pose a challenge to the state writ. Obviously, with hundreds of militants still alive and armed, they would definitely attempt to make a comeback as their renouncing militancy en masse is quite unlikely. Even if they did, being so hardcore and ruthless, they could be expected to restart their militant-terrorist activities anew at any future time. This would be the most likely scenario in future because the government does not have any de-radicalisation programme in place like in Iraq or Saudi Arabia.
The end to militancy in Bajaur would impact the country and Afghanistan and if the peace holds, it would be a great success. Faqir Muhammad, once a member of Sufi Mohammad's TNSM’s Bajaur chapter, has changed its strategy from not attacking the Pakistani security forces to attacking at will the government forces. The organisation which once had been carrying out militant activities in the tribal agency and headed by Liaquat and Faqir Muhammad, the TNSM, merged itself with the bigger organisation, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), when founded by Baitullah Mehsud based in South Waziristan in December 2007. Faqir Muhammad, has been the naib ameer (or vice chairman) of the TTP. The merging of the TNSM Bajaur chapter into the TTP was a tactical move. It also brought Faqir Muhammad along with Baitullah Mehsud quite close to al-Qaeda, which in 2007 changed his strategy to come from Afghanistan and Waziristan to spread in the whole of the tribal area. The main reasons for Faqir Muhammad to join al-Qaeda and the TTP were two. First, because of the October 28, 2006, the US raid on Chengai madrassa of Maulana Liaquat, in which Liaquat, along with 83 other suspected suicide bombers, was killed, there remained no other option for Faqir but to start attacking Pakistani forces. Secondly, as al-Qaeda in 2007 changed its strategy to come to Pakistan and start attacking Pakistani forces due to the Takfiri ideology and its adherents influence within al-Qaeda, Faqir could only sustain his militancy through the finances, strategic planning and arms provided by al-Qaeda. So he has to start attacking Pakistani forces also.
Perhaps the most important aspect of the recent Bajaur operation is the reported disclosure by the IGFC that the Jamaat-e-Islami provincial naib ameer and former MNA from Bajaur, Haroon Rasheed's house in Mamond area of the agency was the militants' headquarters. This disclosure was also made on the occasion of briefing journalists in Khar; and in order to back the claim, the IGFC even distributed among journalists pictures in which Haroon and Jamaat-e-Islami central naib ameer, Sirajul Haq, were reportedly seen addressing local Taliban. Siraj remained the NWFP senior minister during the MMA rule in the province between 2002 and 2007. All these pictures, according to the IGFC, were found from the house of Haroon Rasheed. The latter seems to be the real culprit as the biggest tribe of Bajaur, Salarzai, has in a subsequent move declared him as an 'enemy' of the tribe and banned his entry into his home region. Terming Haroon as an 'enemy' by the Salarzai or, for that matter, any tribe cannot be unfounded because of the very elaborate vigilance network in place in FATA since ages.
This is the first-ever incident that the JI has been accused of helping the militants by the security forces; however, the clerical outfit links with the militants have been otherwise well-known. This shows how far the present military set-up is serious about rooting out militants. Historically, the JI used to be regarded as playing second fiddle to the military in all its campaigns inside and outside the country, whether in East Pakistan or in Afghanistan. This is a good omen for the country as it is a clear indication that within the military establishment there is zero tolerance for all the so-called religious parties’ support to the Taliban and al-Qaeda militants and terrorists on whatever ideological grounds.