Move comes amid upsurge in Taliban violence, aims to capitalise on TTP divisions. PHOTO: AFP
The government has decided to take advantage of the split within the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its affiliates, and encourage tribal elders to take charge of the affairs of the restive North Waziristan Agency (NWA), officials told The Express Tribune on Sunday.
The move is part of a new ‘carrot and stick’ strategy to reward tribal elders who choose to help the state eliminate militants from the area. On the other hand, tribesmen who continue to provide shelter to miscreants in return for money will be dealt with accordingly.
“We have given a clear choice to tribal elders to take charge of affairs in Waziristan,” a senior military official said while referring to the government’s 15-day deadline for tribal elders to purge troublemakers from the area.
A 64-member delegation of tribal elders met the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor Sardar Mehtab Khan Abbasi over the weekend. They also visited the corps headquarters in Peshawar and met Corps Commander Lt-Gen Khalid Rabbani.
The official said tribal elders were told in clear terms that they would have to squeeze the space around militants and refuse them shelter. “We hope this will work as deterrence and local tribesmen will not provide refuge to militants in return for money,” he maintained.
When asked, the official said a decision on whether an operation will be launched would be taken after assessing the result of 15-day deadline. “We are sure during this time certain groups who are not willing to reconcile will be identified making it easier for the government to take them on.”
Another official said the government would also work to restore the effectiveness of once powerful Jirga system. “Ultimately the old political structure will have to be restored in the area.”
Until 2001, the Jirga system had a lead role in maintaining law and order with the help of political agents in the tribal areas. But the decades old system was destroyed with the influx of militant groups including al Qaeda from neighboring Afghanistan following the US invasion.
In subsequent years, hundreds of tribal elders, who used to have a major say in the tribal affairs, were killed by militants.
Officials now say recent developments have provided a new opportunity that may help the government to avoid an all-out operation in North Waziristan.
A senior official, who also interacted with tribal elders over the weekend, told The Express Tribune that recent divisions within TTP ranks coupled with the ‘successful targeted operation’ by the security forces over the past few weeks had considerably weakened the stronghold of militants in Waziristan.
“This entire situation has left a power vacuum which can be filled by these tribal elders,” the official explained. He said it was due to the ‘diminishing influence’ of TTP that the tribal elders were able to travel to Peshawar for the first time in recent years.
“In the past tribe elders never dared to hold meetings with government and military officials due to fear of getting killed by militants.”
The situation is changing largely due to the fact that al Qaeda no longer has a strong presence in the area. Local militants, as such, are finding it difficult to get the finances they need to maintain their influence, the official argued.
According to security sources, the army and other law enforcement agencies as well as political agents will extend full support to the tribal elders in clearing the area from militants and restore peace and stability.
Speaking to the members of the tribal Jirga, the Peshawar corps commander vowed to clean the area from ‘terrorists’ with the help of tribal elders.
“We will stand by the tribes to restore writ of the state and rehabilitate and rebuild the agency,” Gen Rabbani was quoted as saying by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
Brig (retd) Mahmood Shah, who served as the Secretary Security for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), said the new plan devised by the government could succeed in establishing the writ of the state without the need for a ground offensive against the militants.
“It is an encouraging sign that tribal elders are ready to take on militants,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 10th, 2014.
COMMENTS (11)
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@careful reader:
Ample proof that the military public relations dept has done an excellent job - wish I could say the same for the ISI.
When has Pakistan ever taken responsibility for N Waziristan? You complain to the World that the USA has ignored your sovereignty when in fact you never had it. Shoving your duty on the shoulders of the old men who sat back and did nothing while the Taliban slaughtered 30,000+ innocent civilians is the last straw.
These tribal elders are the disease, not the cure.
Entire government of Pakistan should be entrusted to Britain.
As always, Pakistan tries to be too smart. Wait for it to blow up in the face.
“We hope this will work as deterrence and local tribesmen will not provide refuge to militants in return for money,”- A delusive concept that tribal elders provide shelters to extremists/ terrorists in return of money. Do they any other choice ? Is the govt capable to provide protection to the tribal elders against the wrath of TTP, the answer is known to all. let us hope for the best.
I think organic cleansing of FATA and re-building their tribal immune system to flush out militants is a wise approach indeed, at least on paper. Furthermore, from what I understand, Army is also trying to build out an alternate power base in the region to Hafiz Gul Bahadar, who is one of the prominent passive abettors of foreign militants. Let's hope the implementation pans out as expected.
When were the tribal elders ever effective in curtailing the terrorists?
This is what IK was crying for past 10 years, let the tribal people kick them out of the area..... Identify the ones who wants to reconcile and eliminate the ones who are causing problems !
Salute to the wisdom of this government...
The Pakistani government through its vast intelligence resources must shut down and block the financing to these criminals. That includes foreign funding and domestic funding from ransom kidnappings. Foreign funding to madresahs which teach violence more than religion must be stopped. The foreign cash influx which took hold in the 1980s must be stopped for any permanent solution to this problem.