Pakistan’s Last Gambit? continues...

The second consequence, with equal portent for the future, was the consolidation and galvanisation of terrorist and extremist groups in different parts of the country, helping al Qaeda and the Taliban to establish itself even more firmly in the tribal areas and to confront the security forces head on. Till the 1990s, such bases and training programmes were strictly under the command of the Pakistan Army and the ISI. In the last 15 years or so, different terrorist groups have set up ‘independent’ training bases and sanctuaries inside Pakistan.

There has been a dramatic spurt in such activities after 2007 when Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) emerged on the scene, carving out a sanctuary in North Waziristan. A BBC Urdu survey in 2009 concluded that only 38 per cent of the north western region of Pakistan remains under the control of the state.

TERRORIST SANCTUARIES IN PAKISTAN-2009

Although there has been significant success in rooting out terrorist groups, particularly al Qaeda, from their strongholds since October 2001, there has been a dramatic transformation in the nature of violence and the capability of terrorist and extremist groups. Many terrorist groups, once thought to be firmly under the state control, have created autonomous operational spaces.

PROBLEM OF INTENT

The security blowback is the result of several factors, four of which are critical to the present examination. One was the consequence of the Afghan Jihad and the creation of a sub-culture of violence in the region, especially in Pakistan. Second was the US-led Global War on Terror which provoked the rise of radical and insurgent forces in the region and elsewhere. Third was the duplicitous policy adopted by Pakistan in supporting and shoring up terrorist groups while being part of the ‘War on Terror.’ Four was the operational failure on the part of the Pakistan Army to stem the tide of violence within the country.

To be continued.....