A Saga of Decisive Combat of Pakistan Army in North and South Waziristan (2009- 2016)

Abstract

The entire security landscape of the world was altered due to the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America's World Trade Centre. After this incident, the US accused Al-Qaeda headship of the attacks. Henceforth, President Bush demanded the Afghan Taliban hand over Osama Bin Laden to the US. However, when the Taliban did not respond positively, the US attacked Afghanistan. The US also pushed Pakistan to take a U-turn on its Afghan policy; hence, President Musharraf decided to offer logistics and other relevant backing to the American force sin their operation in Afghanistan. After the defeat of the Afghan Taliban in 2002, many militants from Afghanistan came to Pakistan's tribal areas through a porous border. As Pakistan supported the US War on Terrorism (WoT), a militant insurgency was started in the tribal areas of Pakistan. This research examines the counter-terrorism strategies of the Pakistan army that it implemented from 2009 to 2016. The study explains the military operations of the Pakistan army in former FATA against hardcore terrorist groups like Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other small and affiliated radical organizations. It is analyzed that military operations namely Rah-e-Nijat and Zarb-e-Azb in former FATA with a focus on North and South Waziristan relatively remained successful.