To understand this we should look at why the previous operations were not 100% successful, they have reduced terrorism but not completely finished. Pakistan has failed to implement a successful anti extremism ideology, the same extremist who supported terrorism and terrorists, called them holy warriors are sitting in the government chairs. Tahir Asharfi is one big terrorist who is protected by the state, there are many others who are acting on TV channels to be peace makers but behind the scenes are in bed with the extremists, these same people conspire against the state. Our governments have still not informed us how did the terrorists got brainwashed, who issued fatwas of jihad against Pakistan state, army and people, who declared army as kufaar and mushrikeen, which madrassas they receive training from, who gives the funding.
You can't finish terrorism
It is not possible in this part of the region..this is because it's partly ethnocentric issue of afghan wannabe nationalists looking to take control of sovereign Pakistani territory they deem to be theirs
So whilst it's not 100% of the tribal population, a percentage of them at least support the terrorist
And wider portion of the wider pashtun population, have at least some sympathy to perceived fellow "afghans"
This is why EVEN AFTER multiple peace talks, released TTP terrorists.
Attempt's to reach out to Afghanistan and Taliban
And TTP terrorism and murder
The population STILL does not want the Pakistani military to slaughter the TTP scumbags
So once again, their is NO SOLUTION, just repeated mowing the lawn operations
And continuous pressure on the Afghans,
Removal of Afghan population from Pakistan,
Increased border patrol, walls, fencing etc
That's all you can do, because you can't kill the ethnocentric jahilat of the afghans
Ex NSA Moeed Yousuf called the period after an offensive, a "Negative peace".
"For those of us in the peace-building profession, however, ‘absence of violence’ is a wholly unsatisfactory concept. Peace-builders like to talk of ‘negative’ versus ‘positive’ peace. The former denotes a mere absence of violence, implying that countries in conflict have managed to subdue active and frequent acts of violence. Most countries that claim to have ended terrorism achieve this state. But data shows that this is not enough. In many cases, negative peace reverts to violence.
Positive peace is a far more ambitious benchmark to achieve. It implies that the deeper causes that make populations vulnerable to terrorism have to be tackled by addressing virtually everything encompassing ‘good governance’, that is improving service delivery; ending political alienation among segments of the population; reversing extreme ideologies; and strengthening rule of law. It also implies an effort to reduce the incentives for domestic terrorists or external actors looking to destabilise a country, or even better, incentivise them to support stability instead." https://herald.dawn.com/news/1398745
Pakistan has never made any major effort for positive peace as he calls it. After ZeA, much of FATA was in ruins. A decade later, much of it is still in ruins. The rebuilding never took off other than some shiny shops in Miranshah. There are some IDPs still in camps. Children still being blown up by IEDs/Mines/unexploded Artillery shells etc. and these are all surface level problems that should have been addressed long ago.
People such as prothought and Tameem undergo significant challenges when studying data points and time periods associated with events. The data indicates that force alone did not effectively resolve issues until we engaged in peaceful discussion to address grievances, as all military conflicts must include a political dimension. While Imran Khan was not always right in his actions, he demonstrated enough understanding to recognize that this conflict could not be won through military means. As a Pashtun himself, he understands the culture, recognizing that they will fight to the end. An ex-Pak military officer himself, a Pashtun, once remarked that they change guns more frequently than they change their wives.
The issue I have with Pakistani political and military leadership is that they think one-dimensional. I don't know if it's due to a lack of situational awareness, something needs to be done to optimize thinking.
Number of Terrorism-Related Incidents
2006 | 1043 |
2007 | 1315 |
2008 | 2102 |
2009 | 2790 |
2010 | 2204 |
2011 | 2799 |
2012 | 3668 |
2013 | 3923 |
2014 | 2779 |
2015 | 1773 |
2016 | 1032 |
2017 | 606 |
2018 | 325 |
2019 | 284 |
2020 | 319 |
2021 | 425 |
2022 | 630 |
2023 | 920 |
2024 | 604 |
Total* | 31806 |
@Asfandyar Bhittani I love your post and you hit the mark.
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