The incursion said to have been launched by militants from across the Afghan border into Bajaur Agency on Thursday is the third of its kind in as many months, all three carried out by fairly large packs fully equipped with sophisticated weapons and clad in military uniforms. They were of course pushed back by the Pakistani security forces, but not before fierce fighting lasting many hours that resulted in numerous casualties on both sides.
The invading horde comprised hundreds of men, who the eyewitnesses say entered from the Afghanistan's border province Kunar just before dawn. In the clash that followed they lost about a dozen of their men but before being pushed back they had killed five villagers, including three women. And as they retreated they took with them about a score of locals. The latest attack was not very different in plan, size and execution from the earlier two, in Upper Dir and South Waziristan. Invariably, the prime targets of the invading forces were leaders of pro-government locals who were in the process of raising 'lashkars' for self-defence.
Who these invaders are, opinions differ; as the agencies identify them to be regular Afghan troops, independent sources describe them a joint force of Afghan and Pakistani Taliban, the latter said to be Maulvi Faqir Muhammad's men. In the wake of Osama bin Laden's killing, the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan had promised larger than usual attacks on government assets and forces. Afghan areas bordering Pakistan from where these attacks come are more or less in the control of the Taliban ever since the US forces withdrew from Kunar and Nuristan provinces in March last year. With those Afghan areas in their virtual control, the Taliban are now fighting to take control of the adjacent Pakistani districts.
By all accounts, the Afghan war has entered its final phase. In less than a fortnight, the United States troops will start a troop drawdown, a development likely to be generally interpreted in no other way than that the war is coming to an end. No wonder then the Afghan Taliban, like other belligerents, would like to gain a position of strength before arriving at the negotiating table. As for Afghanistan, there the peace process has already begun.
In Pakistan, too, we must start moving in that direction. The fact is that in defiance of Pakistan military's best efforts, the wave of Talibanisation hasn't been stemmed - not because the military operations were anytime lacking in commitment or determination. Time has come for the government to get involved, with all seriousness and total commitment, with the problem of militancy - which stems as much from radicalism as from other factors like lingering colonial-vintage indifference and negligence towards our tribal people.
Mainstreaming the people of the tribal areas by placing them on an equal footing with the rest of Pakistanis in terms of fundamental rights, political empowerment and socio-economic well-being should be the government's first priority. The situation underscores the need for a debate in Parliament on whether the Fata region is granted provincial status.