What's brewing in northwest Pakistan?

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan(AA) - Pakistan's northwestern North Waziristan tribal region -- once the militants' stomping ground -- has seen a reignited violence amid a series of ambushes and bombings in recent weeks.

At least ten army troops have been killed and 35 injured over the past month in ambushes and bombings in the restless district, which borders neighboring Afghanistan.

The latest in the series was an improvised explosive device (IED) blast last week which killed four troops, including a lieutenant colonel and a major in Madakhel area of North Waziristan -- the epicenter of fresh spate of violence.

The attack followed a clash between a group of protesters and troops at a checkpoint in the same area killing three protesters and injuring five soldiers late last month.

The army accused Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) -- an ethnic nationalist movement in northwestern and southwestern Pashtun populated areas championing Pashtun rights -- of inciting protesters to attack the checkpoint.

Whereas, the PTM, which demands withdrawal of army from North Waziristan, blames army for human rights violations in the region, a charge army vehemently denies.

The group -- launched after the January 2018 killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud, a young tribal aspiring artist, in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city -- took part in general elections last July and won two seats in the National Assembly from North and South Waziristan.

The group's two senior leaders and elected parliamentarians Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir are currently in jail and facing trial on terrorism charges.

North Waziristan was one of the seven semi-autonomous tribal regions, which through a constitutional amendment, has recently been merged into northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province -- a move supported by the PTM.

The army had launched a full-scale onslaught on North Waziristan in 2014 to dislodge Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) -- a conglomerate of different militant groups in the country.

The army successfully pushed the militants towards Afghanistan but not before it lost over 700 troops. More than 3,500 suspected militants were also killed in airstrikes, and clashes, according to the army.

The operation had also displaced nearly a million tribesmen, of them, the army says, over 90% have returned to their homes in recent years.

Tribesmen are going to vote, for the first time in the country’s 72-year history, in elections for the provincial assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa next month.

- Politics and militancy

Rahimullah Yusufzai, a Peshawar-based expert on Afghanistan and tribal affairs, reckon that the army is currently combating two parallel factors -- politics and militancy -- simultaneously in North Waziristan.

"This time, situation is more complicated as the army is facing a two-way brunt," Yusufzai told Anadolu Agency.

"Earlier, it was militancy alone that they [army] had to tackle but now, there is an additional factor of politics to deal with as on the one hand, they [army] have to handle militants who have managed to regroup, while on the other, the PTM is demanding their withdrawal", he said.

Yusufzai does not see an alliance between the left-wing PTM and the militants, however he opines the two have found a "common enemy".

"I have no evidence to believe that the two have forged an alliance but this is equally true that both sides want army's withdrawal from the region," he went on to say.

He said the militants on the run had managed to enter North Waziristan under the guise of displaced tribesmen following the return of Taliban leader Hafiz Gul Bahadur from Afghanistan.

Once an ally of the army against the TTP, Gul Bahadur, who had gone to Afghanistan following the 2014 military operation, is reportedly based in Gurwek -- a historic village of North Waziristan because of its role in Pashtuns' resistance against British forces in 1930s -- near Afghan border.

"He is no longer an ally of Pakistan army because of 2014 operation that had dismantled his group as well. In fact he is regrouping militants", he added.

Viewing the ongoing fencing of Pak-Afghan border as another key reason behind recent surge in terrorist attacks, Yusufzai observed that militants were trying to strike back to save their infiltration points.

Kamal Hyder, an Islamabad-based analyst sees a TTP-Daesh nexus behind the sudden surge in attacks in the region.

The two terrorist groups, he observed, had regrouped in bordering areas, and were trying to destabilize the region.

“The bordering areas of Kunar, Paktia and Nangarhar provinces have already become a foothold for Daesh, which has joined hands with TTP and its affiliates to open new battlegrounds,” Hyder told Anadolu Agency .

- Dialogue

The country’s major opposition parties -- Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and Pakistan People’s Party -- have called for a dialogue with the PTM to find a political solution to the problem.

Yusufzai too echoes the opposition’s call for a political solution warning that mere use of military might could further spoil the situation.

“Fighting on two fronts at a time will not be a wise move. The government and the army should try to cool down the temperature, and engage PTM in dialogue,” he said.

“The long presence of army on ground, raids, and interaction with civilians have triggered some genuine complaints, which need to be addressed,” Yusufzai maintained.

The government, however, does not seem to be in a mood to initiate any dialogue with the PTM.

Holding the PTM responsible for recent attacks on security forces, adviser to prime minister for information, Firdous Ashiq Awan, in a statement, said the government would never bow to “terrorists”, and their “ facilitators”.

Pakistan army spokesman Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor, on April 29, accused the PTM of getting funds from foreign intelligence agencies, saying this crossed a red line.

"We have details that Indian and Afghan intelligence agencies transferred funds to the PTM on several occasions," Ghafoor told reporters.

Hyder too denounced the PTM for “indirectly supporting” the militants and asked: “Who will benefit from withdrawal of army from North Waziristan?”

“We are really worried over the current situation”, Yousaf Wazir, a resident of Miranshah, the capital of North Waziristan, told Anadolu Agency.

During last few months, he said, over a dozen pro-government tribal elders had been killed by militants in targeted attacks.

“These [attacks] have spread fear among the locals,” he added.

*Islamuddin Sajid in Islamabad also contributed to this story.