Laila Bokhari
is a research fellow with the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI). Her areas of research cover the phenomenon of terrorism and the evolution of radical Islamism and political violence, with a particular focus on Pakistan and Afghanistan. Between 2001 and 2009 she wo...
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Pakistan: dealing with peace in the tribal areas?
Laila Bokhari
, 22 November 2010
Executive summary
The six Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) along Pakistan’s western border have long been seen as a hub for militants, some with sympathies to the Taliban and al-Qaeda. The region has increasingly come to the world’s attention as a recruitment and training base for groups responsible for attacks on Pakistani soil and as a launch pad for attacks on US troops and their allies in Afghanistan. Even though the various groups comprising the Pakistani Taliban have been around for a number of years, it was only in December 2007 that they formally established themselves as a united force.
Western intelligence services also voice concern about the numbers of their own citizens travelling to the tribal areas for training. Long-term connections between some tribes and the militants is an issue that has become both a headache and an opportunity for the Pakistani authorities.
For years, the Pakistani Army has relied on a two-pronged approach to the militants in those areas: sporadic military strikes and negotiations. The authorities have brokered a number of peace agreements with both tribal leaders and members of the Taliban, often with the intention of exploiting local power politics and weakening the militant groups by dividing them. Most such deals, however, have collapsed. Furthermore, the agreements have been criticized because they effectively appear to cede space to the insurgents, rather than minimizing their power. This brief examines the peace deals that the Pakistani authorities have made with militants and tribal leaders and the reasons for their failure.
