Zone of conflict

The war in the country’s northwest is continuing. The media headlines may have declined in number or prominence, since that time in 2009 when troops surged into Malakand. But the fact is that there has still been no obvious victory. Even in the Swat Valley, people fear a militant comeback at some point in the not very distant future. But while life is back to something resembling normalcy in this region, the same cannot be said for other areas such as Orakzai, where in the last few days some 30 insurgents have been reportedly killed in the skirmishes and battles that take place. The lack of media access to these parts makes it almost impossible to ascertain the precise truth, and there is really no way of saying how many troops have died. Reports of the abduction of paramilitary forces have come in from Tank and other such incidents occur periodically.

The military, which is more trained to fighting a conventional war, faces a guerilla-like insurgency. This indeed is the weakness of conventional armies everywhere. As a result, Nato forces in Afghanistan have suffered, too. But even so, we must ask quite why there have been so many claims of victory in South Waziristan, in Bajaur and elsewhere. The people of these regions do not feel secure at all. There is still a very long way to go. And what is most unfortunate is that people are not being told the truth about what is going on. The residents of the tribal regions, who have watched what is happening at close range, also ask questions about the degree of army commitment and how genuine the will to battle the Taliban combatants is. The fact that few top leaders have been arrested and some allowed simply to walk away in Swat and Dir, according to local accounts, makes the situation even more complex — and disturbing.

These are all factors we need to think about. We have one of the largest standing armies in the world; the effort to defeat the Taliban has been on since 2002. As citizens we need to know why success has been so hard to achieve, especially given the mayhem that they have wreaked on ordinary Pakistanis and on hundreds, if not thousands, of military and paramilitary soldiers.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 26^th, 2011.