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Waziristan War
Part of the War on Terrorism
Location of Waziristan
Date March 2004–present Location Waziristan, Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Pakistan Result Conflict ongoing
Belligerents
Pakistan  United States	Islamic Emirate of Waziristan, al-Qaeda, Taliban, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (Until 2007)
Commanders and leaders
Commander XI Corps	Osama bin Laden Mullah Omar Haji Omar Abu Faraj al-Libbi Jalaluddin Haqqani Tohir Yo‘ldosh
Casualties and losses
900 - 3,200 Pakistan police, military and paramilitary killed	1,300 - 3,300 militants killed, 2,500 foreign suspects captured (released)

The Waziristan War is an armed conflict between the Pakistani Army and Waziri tribes allied with the Taliban and al-Qaeda. It began in 2004 when tensions rooted in the Pakistani Army's search for al-Qaeda members in Pakistan's mountainous Waziristan area (the Federally Administered Tribal Areas) escalated into armed resistance by local tribesmen.

Clashes erupted between the Pakistani troops — who were frequently assisted by US air strikes — and al-Qaeda's and other militants joined by local rebels and pro-Taliban forces. The struggle was seen as a part of the War on Terrorism, and had connections to the war and Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan.

After a truce in September 2006, clashes escalated again in 2007, with local tribesmen ousting militant Uzbeks and attacking the Pakistanis again in July 2007.

Background

War in Afghanistan and Taliban activity in Waziristan

Initial troop movements – July 2002

In July 2002, Pakistani troops entered the Tirah Valley in the Khyber Agency for the first time since independence in 1947. They proceeded to move into the Shawal Valley of North Waziristan, and later South Waziristan. This was made possible after long negotiations with various tribes, who reluctantly agreed to allow the military's presence on the assurance that it would bring in funds and development work.

However, once the military action started in South Waziristan a number of Waziri sub-tribes viewed the action as an attempt to subjugate them. As attempts to persuade them to hand over the foreign militants failed, and missteps by the authorities increased feelings of ill-will, the security campaign against suspected al-Qaeda militants turned into an undeclared war in 2004 between the Pakistani military and the rebel tribesmen.

Waziri attempts on President Musharraf's life – December 2003

In December 2003, two assassination attempts against President Pervez Musharraf were traced to Waziristan. The government responded by intensifying military pressure on the area, however the fighting was costly and government forces would sustain heavy casualties throughout 2004 and into early 2005 when the government switched to a tactic of negotiation instead of direct conflict.

Timeline

First phase of the War

Fighting breaks out – March 2004

In March 2004, heavy fighting broke out at Azam Warsak, near the South Waziristan town of Wana. Pakistani troops faced an estimated 400 militants holed up in several fortified settlements. It was speculated at the time that Osama bin Laden's deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri was among those trapped by the Pakistani Army, but he either escaped or was never among these fighters.

In April of 2004 the Government of Pakistan signed the first of three truce agreements with militants in South Waziristan. The second was signed in February 2005. The first two truces would not have a substantial effect in reducing bloodshed.

• On May 4, 2005, Pakistani commandos captured Abu Faraj al-Libbi after a raid outside the town of Mardan, 30 miles north of Peshwar. Abu Farraj al-Libbi was a high ranking al-Qaeda official, rumored to be third after Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri. Al-Libbi replaced Khalid Shaikh Mohammed after his arrest in March of 2003 in connection with the September 11th attacks. The Pakistani government arrested al-Libbi and held him on charges in relation to being a chief planner in two assassination attempts on the life of President Pervez Musharraf in December 2003.

• On January 13, 2006, the U.S. launched an airstrike on the village of Damadola. The attack occurred in the Bajaur tribal area, about 7 km (4.5 miles) from the Afghan border, and killed at least 18 people. The attack again targeted Ayman al-Zawahiri, but later evidence suggests he was not there. DNA analysis showed that at least five high-ranking al-Qaeda foreigners were killed, including Midhat Mursi, a bomb building expert, for whom a $5 million award was offered.

• On March 4, 2006, Pakistani forces started a massive assault on pro-Taliban elements in the region. Pakistani officials said 46 militants and five soldiers died after fighting erupted, although some reports put the death toll at over 70.

• On June 21, 2006, pro-Taliban militants in the Bannu region of North Waziristan stated they shot down a military helicopter that was reported to have crashed. The government denied missile fire as the cause, stating it was due to technical faults. On the same day militants killed an inspector and two constables on a road connecting Bannu and the main town of Miranshah; the police officers were reportedly ambushed and killed while praying along side their vehicle.

Ceasefire - June 2006

Also on June 21, 2006 the military head of the Taliban in Waziristan, Sirajuddin Haqqani, issued a decree that it was no longer Taliban policy to fight the Pakistan Army. This marked the end of significant fighting in South Waziristan, however the Taliban intentionally did not circulate the decree in North Waziristan thereby keeping pressure on the Government as the terms for a comprensive accord were worked out.

• On June 26, 2006, a suicide car bomber killed nine Pakistani soldiers. Officials say that the explosives-laden vehicle detonated about six kilometres (four miles) east of Miranshah, the main town in the North Waziristan region.

Waziristan peace accord signed – September 2006

On September 5 2006, the Waziristan Accord, an agreement between tribal leaders and the Pakistani government was signed in Miranshah, North Waziristan. to end all fighting. The agreement includes the following provisions:

• The Pakistani Army will help reconstruct infrastructure in tribal areas of North and South Waziristan.
• The Pakistani Military will not tolerate any assistance to intruders in North Waziristan, and will monitor actions in the region.
• The Pakistan government is to compensate tribal leaders for the loss of life and property of innocent tribesmen.
• “Foreigners” (informally understood to be foreign jihadists) are not allowed to use Pakistani territory for any terrorist activity anywhere in the world.
• 2,500 foreigners who were originally held on suspicion of having links to al-Qaeda or the Taliban were to be detained for necessary action against them.

The agreement, dubbed the Waziristan accord, has been viewed by some political commentators as a success for Pakistan. Further details of the agreement, as well as comments on the agreement made by US, Pakistani, and Taliban spokesmen is available in the Waziristan accord article.

The madrassa air strike

On October 30, 2006, the Pakistani army conducted an air strike, with posible U.S. involvement, against a madrassa in the Bajaur region bordering Afghanistan. The madrassa was destroyed killing 70 to 80 people. In retaliation for the attack the militants conducted a suicide bombing on an army camp on November 8, 2006, killing 42 Pakistani soldiers and wounding 20.

Second phase of the War

Waziri-Uzbek tensions

Reportedly, the fighting sparked by the killing of Saiful Adil, an al-Qaeda-linked Arab, blamed on the Uzbeks by Maulavi Nazir, described as a top pro-Taliban militant commander in the region.

According to the other version, fighting started after Mullah Nazir, whom the government says has come over to its side, ordered the Uzbek followers of Tohir Yo‘ldosh, formerly a close confidant of Osama bin Laden, to disarm.

It was also preceded by the clashes between the IMU and a pro-government tribal leader in Azam Warsak, in which 17 to 19 people died before a ceasefire was announced.

Defeat of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan

Sirajuddin Haqqani, the son of Taliban leader Jalaluddin Haqqani, tried to stop the fighting but failed. Local Taliban militants allied to the tribesmen were reported attacking and seizing the IMU's private jail in Azam Warsak.

Pakistan Army said did not intend to step in, but witnesses say government artillery fired on the Uzbek bunkers they set up to fight the tribesmen.

Heavy fighting resumed on March 29, ending a week-long ceasefire between tribal fighters and foreign militants. According to initial reports, tribesmen attacked a checkpoint manned by Uzbek militants and captured two of them. The clashes also left one tribal fighter dead and three wounded. The following day, a senior Pakistani official announced that 52 people were killed during the past two days, 45 of them Uzbeks and the rest tribesmen. One of Maulvi Nazir's aides put the death toll at 35 Uzbeks and 10 tribal fighters. However, residents in the area said that the death toll on both sides was inflated.

The conflict further escalated on April 2 when a council of elders declared jihad against foreign militants and started to raise an army of tribesmen. According to Pakistani security officials, heavy fighting concentrated in the village of Doza Ghundai left more than 60 people dead, including 50 foreigners, 10 tribal fighters and one Pakistani soldier. He also said that "dozens" of Uzbeks had surrendered to tribal forces and that many bunkers used by militants were seized or destroyed.

On April 12 2007 the army general in charge of South Waziristan said that tribal fighters had cleared the Uzbeks out of the valleys surrounding of Wana and the foreign militants had been pushed back into the mountains on the Afghan border. Four days later, the local tribesmen has urged Islamabad to resume control of law and order in the area.

Third phase of the War

Lal Masjid siege

On July 3, 2007, the militant supporters of Lal Masjid and Pakistani security forces clashed in Islamabad after the students from the mosque attacked a nearby government ministry building. The Pakistani security forces immediately put up a siege around the mosque complex which lasted until July 11 and resulted in 108 deaths. This represented the main catalist for the conflict and eventual breakdown of the truce that existed between Pakistan and the Taliban in the nortwest. Already during the siege there were several attacks in Waziristan in retaliation for the siege.

Truce in Waziristan broken

As the siege in Islamabad ensued, several attacks on Pakistani troops in Waziristan were reported. On July 14, 2007 a suicide bomber attacked a Pakistani Army convoy killed 26 soldiers and wounding 54. On July 15, 2007 two suicide bombers attacked another Pakistani Army convoy killing 16 soldiers and 5 civilians and wounding another 47 people. And in a separate incident a fourth suicide bomber attacked a police headquarters killing 28 police officers and recruits and wounding 35 people.

The assault on the Red Mosque prompted pro-Taliban rebels along the border with Afghanistan to scrap the controversial Waziristan Accord with the government.

Casualties

There has been no conclusive reports on the casualties of the war, though some authors, especially Pakistani writers, have estimated that the total casualties on both sides to be more than 1,000. Some have speculated that the unofficial number of Pakistani soldiers killed in action to be somewhere around 3,000.

A Pakistan writer, Ayaz Amir states that the army's "Casualties were high, perhaps unsustainable, although we’ll never know the exact figures, the Pakistan army not given to embarrassing disclosures." Imran Khan, leader of a Pakistani oppositional political party stated: "Waziristan has been a disaster; there’s been a disgraceful withdrawal from there. The Pakistan Army has been defeated."

According to AFP in 2007, around 700 soldiers and 1,000 militants have died in the operations.

Role of the United States in the conflict

Pakistan received about $4 billion from the United States for the logistical support it provided for the counter-terrorism operations from 2002 to 2006, and for its own military operation mainly in Waziristan and other tribal areas along the Durand line, according to a report of the Asian Development Bank. The Bush administration also offered a $3 billion five-year aid package to Pakistan for becoming a frontline ally in its 'war on terror'. Annual instalments of $600 million each split evenly between military and economic aid, began in 2005.

In his autobiography, President Musharraf wrote that the United States had paid millions of dollars to the Pakistan government as bounty money for capturing al-Qaeda operators from tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. About 359 of them were handed over to the US for prosecution.

See also

• Islamic Emirate of Waziristan
• Taliban insurgency
• War on Terrorism

References

1. ^ "Pakistan militant battles rage, 114 killed". AFP. 2007-03-21. Retrieved 2007-04-12.
2. Tony Blankley, "A battle lost in the war on terror" The Washington Times September 27, 2006. Syndicated in Townhall
3. Pacifying Waziristan by Muhammad Munir
4. Isambard Wilkinson (2006-09-15). "US outraged as Pakistan frees Taliban fighters". The Daily Telegraph.
5. David Montero (2006-06-22). "Killing scares media away from Waziristan". Christian Science Monitor.
6. "Pakistan attacks Waziristan compound". Al Jazeera. 2006-03-16.
7. ^ Rohde, David (2006-09-10). "Al Qaeda Finds Its Center of Gravity". New York Times. Retrieved 2006-09-12. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
8. John Diamond (2005-05-04). "Pakistan reports arrest of Osama bin Laden's operations chief". USA Today.
9. "'Policemen killed' in Waziristan". BBC News. 2006-06-22. Retrieved 2006-08-07. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
10. "Forces, militants heading for truce". Dawn. 2006-06-22.
11. "'Suicide attack' on Pakistan army". BBC News. 2006-06-26. Retrieved 2006-08-07. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
12. Pakistan, Taliban militants sign peace agreement
13. Waziristan accord signed
14. US outraged as Pakistan frees Taliban fighters - Daily Telegraph
15. Some See Pakistan's Truce As a Defeat - Fox news
16. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,289340,00.html
17. http://fairuse.100webcustomers.com/fairenough/nytA31.html
18. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6905808.stm
19. Pacifying Waziristan by Muhammad Munir
20. The Fall of Waziristan: An Online History
21. Waziristan: Terror Haven for Jihadists? by Erick Stakelbeck November 15, 2006 CBN news
22. War and peace, army style - September 15, 2006 Dawn (newspaper)
23. Imran Khan: Musharraf is Bush's poodle September 08, 2006 Times Now
24. ^ "Pakistan: $1 billion from U.S. to fight terror". Aki/Dawn. 2006-11-14. Retrieved 2006-11-24.

External links

• Pakistan's undeclared war by Zaffar Abbas, BBC News, Friday, 10 September, 2004
• Dozens killed in Pakistan clashes, BBC News, Friday, 5 March, 2006
• A brief description of the Waziristan War which began in 2004 in Northwest Pakistan. From the History Guy Website

• Al-Qaeda activities
• Civil wars
• Guerrilla wars
• Waziristan
• Wars involving Pakistan