Militants-related violence continues to grip Pakistan in 2006, and the Pakistani government still has a long way to go in its fight against terrorism and extremism, despite a dual-track strategy combining mailed fist with velvet glove for dissolving tensions.

Involved in a two-front war against terrorism, with one in southwestern province Baluchistan and the other in the tribal region on the Pakistani-Afghan border, the Pakistani government vows to root out terrorism across the country by means of military activities and political dialogue.     

Restive Baluchistan

Anti-government Baluch tribes, demanding greater political rights, autonomy and control over their natural resources in southwestern province Baluchistan, have long attacked security forces, government installations, public assets, which have claimed the lives of hundreds of people including civilians since early 2004.

Located in remote and tough terrain, Baluchistan is sparsely populated and backward in terms of economy, but rich in natural resources, with officials saying about 23 percent of Pakistan's total natural gas output is from the province.

Baluchistan's tribal militants have killed 339 people and injured 870 others in more than 1,300 sabotage incidents from January 2004 through July 8, 2006, according to government statistics.

Three Chinese engineers were shot dead by militants self-claimed as "Pakistan Liberation Army" on February 15, 2006, just days before Pakistani president's visit to China. The well-planned terror attack is believed to impose more pressure on the Pakistani government.

In July 2006, the security troops raided many militants' training camps in Dera Bugti, an area harboring militants from Bugti tribe, the biggest Baluch tribe in the province, killing scores of militants and pressing hundreds of others to surrender.

In a major operation, the government forces on Aug. 26, 2006 killed the Bugti tribal chief Nawab Akbar Bugti, a prominent anti-government figure. Since then, small-scale bombings targeting policemen and civilians are repeatedly reported in Baluchistan.
 
But Pakistani Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao has recently said that the situation is cooling down fast in the province, and the militants have been unable to carry out any major subversive activities.

Pakistani military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan also said that law-enforcement agencies have broken the back of anti-state elements in Baluchistan.

"There were more than 50 Ferrari camps in the province most of them have been crushed but some are still functional and we would finish them also," he said.

During his remarkable visit to Baluchistan on Dec. 7-9, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, vowing to push forward economic development of Baluchistan, announced a grant of 6.3 billion rupees (US$100 million) for various development projects in the province.
 
Importantly, the president also announced amnesty in Baluchistan for all those militants willing to surrender arms and said the government was ready for talks on peace and development.

The Baluch tribals, the dominating residents in the southern and eastern regions of Baluchistan, have a history of being in trouble with the federal government. Analysts foresee that the ongoing economic development plans will help alleviate poverty in the province, but to achieve stability there will require more negotiations between the government and the local tribes.

Northwest tribal region

The Pakistani government joined the US-led war on terror after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. It has sent some 80,000 troops to hunt al-Qaida militants and Taliban fighters who sneak into northwestern Pakistani tribal region seeking refuge following the Taliban fall in Afghanistan.

Pakistan has since arrested hundreds of al-Qaida and Taliban members, including top lieutenants of Osama bin Laden. Hundreds of troops have lost their lives during the clashes between government forces and local tribal militants, many of whom share the same Pashtun tribal background and have a history of close links with the tribals in southeastern provinces of Afghanistan.

According to an official statement released recently, Pakistan has arrested over 500 Taliban suspects, out of whom some 400 have been handed over to Afghan authority.

The first half of year 2006 has seen numerous bombings and attacks targeting security forces in the Federal Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA), a semi-autonomous region, running from south to north on the border.

On Sept. 5, 2006, Pakistani government enters into a peace deal with local tribal elders in North Waziristan, belonging to FATA, in an effort to end violence in the region and at the same time stop cross-border movement of militants.

The government reportedly is continuously approaching tribal elders for holding jirgas and working to promote the North Waziristan-like deals to other tribal areas on the border.

But things are not always going smoothly for the government which is pushing forward its holistic approach combining peaceful dialogue and military activity.

On Oct. 30, 2006, Pakistani military killed some 80 alleged militants in Bajaur tribal region, during an air raid targeting a seminary, which, officials said, has served as a camp for training militants for cross-border fighting.

Days later, a suicide bomber on Nov. 8 attacked recruits at a military compound in northwestern town Dargai, killing 42 soldiers, which came to be the biggest casualty the army has suffered since it initiated the military operations in northwestern tribal region years ago.

The military spokesman Shaukat Aziz said on Nov. 9 that the government's policy for reaching peace deals in tribal region will not change due to the deadly suicide bombings.

Militants' cross-border movement

The West world and neighboring Afghanistan have repeatedly blamed Pakistan for not doing enough to stop the cross-border movement of religious fighters from northwestern Pakistan's tribal region into Afghanistan.

In a report released on Dec. 11, 2006, the Brussels-based International Crisis Group said that the tribal areas in northwestern Pakistan, especially the North and South Waziristan, remain a "Taliban sanctuary" and a "hub for attacks" on the international forces and the Afghan government.

Afghan government officials have on many occasions accused Pakistani government of supporting Taliban militants in Afghanistan, where escalating insurgency-related violence has claimed nearly 4,000 lives so far this year.

Rejecting the claims, Pakistani government said it is committed to combating terrorism, and as a victim of terrorism, Pakistan has sacrificed much for the international war against terrorism.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on Dec. 15 said that Pakistan is committed not to allowing its territory to be used by militants and had done all within its means to deal with this issue.

Islamabad chose to drop support for Afghanistan's Taliban regime in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States and joined Washington's "war on terror".

But Pakistani government's hunt for al-Qaida members and Taliban militants on the border has not been going as smoothly as what the Western world expects.

The Pashtuns, who reportedly constitute the majority of the Taliban militants in southeastern Afghan provinces, are thought to have close links with tribals in Pakistan's northwestern region due to the same ethnic background.

The people of Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and FATA as well as the adjacent eastern regions of Afghanistan are overwhelmingly Pashtun with about 28 million Pashtuns on the Pakistani side of the border, and nearly half that on the Afghan side.

Reports suggest there might be some cross-border infiltration by militants into Afghanistan from Pakistan, which, however, could not fully justify the tough accusation that it is Pakistan which should be blamed for the insurgency in Afghanistan, analysts say.

Pakistan said it is keen to improve the management of the border, and the challenge is to facilitate orderly traffic of goods and people while addressing the problems of drug trafficking, smuggling, terrorism and other trans-border crimes.

But Pakistan's proposal to fence the Pak-Afghan border was not acceded by the Government of Afghanistan, said Pakistan's foreign ministry.

Accordingly, Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to conduct coordinated patrols along the border, which will be conducted by Pakistan Army, Afghan National Army, international coalition forces, while remaining on their respective sides of the border.
 
Also, Pakistan and Afghanistan are planning holding jirgas or tribal councils on both sides of the Pakistani-Afghan border, in an effort to persuade tribesmen to quit fighting in Afghanistan through peaceful dialogue.

However, it is foreseeable that the handling of cross-border movement will continue to be a worrying issue for the concerned parts on either side of the Pakistani-Afghan border.

"We are facing a problem of terrorism and we're victim of terrorism and we're trying to fight terrorism and root it out from Pakistan," Fazal-ur-Rahman, a researcher in a government-funded think tank, told Xinhua.

The anti-terror fight will remain a tough task for Pakistani government, who needs to balance its involvement in handling militants in both southwestern and northwestern regions, with a balanced using of military operation, political dialogue and development plans.

Besides, while offering help in hunting militants on the Pakistani-Afghan border to the alleged "war on terror" led by Washington, the Pakistani government will also need to give enough consideration to the thinking of the local tribals.

(Xinhua News Agency December 28, 2006)