In order to flourish, terrorism needs an environment of inequality that allows militant leaders to capitalize on the dissatisfaction of the disenfranchised and pursue their own agendas. Militant leaders find followers in situations, where there is little economic development and where economic repression and inequality create an environment in which expectations are met with frustration and humiliation. For militant leaders, such surroundings are ideal to construct an ideology that is rooted in religion, history or nationalism and that helps them glorify terrorist acts. The Federally Administered Tribal Areas have been suffering from all these symptoms and it was natural for militant leaders in this area to snatch the opportunity, declare war on Pakistan and an international community that ignored the festering dissatisfaction for too long.
Since British colonial rule, the usual method of pacifying a tribe was bribing the tribal chief, who would offer unconditional support to the Government of Pakistan. This system worked for decades but tribal people have resented this system for many reasons. The sole recipients of this system have been tribal elites, while the majority of people in the FATA have never received any social and economic benefits. The bitterness against the Pakistan Government was brewing long before the US invasion; however the US invasion in Afghanistan and drone attacks in the FATA led to an explosion of anger among the younger tribesmen, who formed TTP (Terhrik Taliban Pakistan) to take over from the old guard and resist the Pakistan Army.
There may be resentment throughout the FATA against Pakistan's role in the war on terror, but the nature of the uprising varies from agency to agency. For example, the militancy in Swat is local in nature, where their main intention has been to install Sharia law which the local residents have been demanding since the 1990s. In Khyber Agency on the other hand, pockets of Taliban fighters are augmented by criminal gangs with various aims, such as getting quick money through kidnapping and robberies of NATO trucks. These attacks serve two purposes, cutting the NATO supply line to Afghanistan and acquiring the latest equipment from the supply line.
Taliban attacks come as full scale attacks from bunkers and trenches, stocked with ample supplies of weapons and food; unlike in Iraq, where insurgents would attack without planning. Such tactics show that the Taliban are neither mindless nor reckless; they have a thorough understanding of warfare. It is for this reason that Taliban attacks last for weeks and days. Unlike Iraq, which is paved with roads and plain deserts which make it navigable, the FATA has a tough terrain with high mountains, treacherous valleys, rocks and boulders at every corner providing excellent cover for the militants. The TTP and its affiliated groups are engaged in a deliberate strategy of assassination of all tribal elders and politicians who they perceive to be opposed to their ideology. The aim of such targeted killings is to deprive the state from leadership and allow them to fill the vacuum.
During the past few years, the US has bombed numerous villages and homes in Afghanistan based on faulty intelligence, killing hundreds of children and women. The result has been a widespread perception in Afghanistan and the FATA that the US is killing them because of their race and religion. It would not be wrong to say that the chaos in the FATA is fallout from the US invasion of Afghanistan. The Taliban have one clear message; any one supporting the US (and Pakistan) will lose their lives and they are able to inflict damage at will. Most local leaders in the FATA are dead; while the remaining few (including members of parliament) are leaving for safer places. The power of militants is on rise that can be clearly observed in recent Swat deal, where militants forced NWFP Government to surrender and imposed Sharia at their terms and conditions. The issue is not Sharia but behind Sharia is motivation to remove the Pro-Western Government and install a Iran style theocracy.
Militancy in the FATA is the product of the crisis in Afghanistan. Pasthuns on both side of the border have a perception that their homeland is under occupation by foreign forces and Pakistan is acting as a proxy for US and NATO forces. Unless these perceptions are not removed, the militancy in the FATA will continue.
Dr. Tanvir Orakzai has been working as a freelance writer since 1996 and has contributed to the "Pakistani Think Tank and various other journals and magazines around the world." He is currently stationed in Singapore.
Related materials from the Atlantic Community:
- Jordan Michael Smith: Time is Running Out
- Abbas Daiyar: Playing With Fire: Arming Tribal Militias Won't Work
- Assem Akram: A New Strategy for Afghanistan
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April 20, 2009
Alexander Josef Pilic, Member of CDU Berlin, Silver Contributor (38)
To argue that colonialism, the US-led invasion and tragic mistakes of bombing wrong targets is the cause of militancy in these areas, neglects totally the responsibility of the sovereign state of Pakistan.
The British did not invent bribery, it is as common in lawless areas as is violence. The war on terror was declared for well-known good reasons, it is not the fault of the coalition forces or their governments, that the retreated Taliban try to win support of inhabitants and tribal leaders by declaring it a holy war against all Muslims.
With hindsight it is easy to say that the international community looked away too long. Until the Taliban regime was connected to the 9/11 attacks, hardly anybody voiced concern in the west about the rise of Islamic extremism in Afghanistan. Now finally everybody realizes that Pakistan has no control over the tribal areas.
Too bad that it took so long but the way the international system works is that we rely on functional governments as acteurs to maintain stability. No doubt that most foreign involvement in Afghanistan was not orchestrated perfecty but Pakistan's government should lead an initiative in order to stabilize the region.