Pakistan violenceViolence plagues western border

Pakistan's regions of Baluchistan, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as North West Frontier Province) that border Afghanistan are plagued by violence between militants and government security forces, although the causes of the conflicts differ.

In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, a government offensive against pro-Taliban groups displaced hundreds of thousands of people in April and May 2009. Although the military ousted the Taliban from most areas, attacks by the militant groups continue.

In semi-autonomous FATA, the army has for years conducted military operations to root out Taliban and al Qaeda militants who fled there after the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

In Baluchistan, Pakistan's largest and poorest province, tribal militants are engaged in a long-running, low-level insurgency to gain greater control of the southwestern region's natural resources and political power. Analysts say Afghan Taliban groups are also using Baluchistan as a base.

Islamist militants in the border areas regularly attack NATO supply convoys headed for Afghanistan.

Aid agencies have also come under attack.

Severe flooding in 2010 affected much of Pakistan, and worsened the plight of those who had fled fighting.

Some of the militant violence has spilled into other parts of Pakistan, with suicide and armed attacks on troops and the country's main cities. The nuclear-armed country has also faced years of political violence as it moves between military and civilian rule.

Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was killed in a suicide attack in December 2007 shortly before a general election.

Pakistan's western border areas are racked by violence as separatists and pro-Taliban militants fight government forces to try to extend their control. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced by the fighting, many of them out of reach of aid agencies.

The main areas affected are Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as North West Frontier Province) and the semi-autonomous Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) which have a strong Taliban presence, and Baluchistan where separatists are seeking greater political autonomy and control over local mineral resources.

Severe flooding in 2010 worsened the plight of those who had fled the violence - some of the worst-affected areas were also the areas where the displaced had sought refuge.

The rest of Pakistan has also been subject to sporadic attacks by Islamist militants. Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated at the end of 2007 in an attack blamed on Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud.

The United States regularly carries out missile strikes against al Qaeda and Taliban leaders in the border areas. In May 2011, U.S. forces killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden near Pakistan's main military academy in the town of Abbottabad in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

The U.S. administration of President Barack Obama has been pressing Pakistan to take firm action against Islamist militants as part of a drive to end a military stalemate in Afghanistan.

Who are the Taliban militants?

The Taliban and other militant Islamist groups operating in Pakistan are fighting internal conflicts, regional battles in Afghanistan and Kashmir and, in some cases, global jihad against the West. Some are connected with al Qaeda. They are loosely co-ordinated, but often share resources and recruits.

They include Afghan Taliban and al Qaeda militants, who fled Afghanistan when U.S.-led troops ousted them in 2001, and Pakistani Taliban and other Pakistani groups who share a similar hardline version of Islam.

Although the Pakistani Taliban are mostly active in the tribal belt along Pakistan's western border, other militant Sunni groups are based in the country's political heartland in Punjab province.

These groups are believed to provide logistics and other help to al Qaeda and the Taliban. Two of these groups, the sectarian Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Kashmir-oriented Jaish-e-Mohammed have been blamed for bomb attacks inside the country.

The largest group, the Lashkar-e-Taiba, is an anti-Indian militant group with historical ties to Pakistan's top spy agencies. It has been accused of organising an attack on Mumbai in November 2008 that killed 166 people. It has focused on Kashmir and has not been known to attack Pakistani targets.

The Haqqani network in FATA has emerged as the most high-profile threat to U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Admiral Mike Mullen said before retiring as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in September 2011, that the network was a "veritable arm" of Pakistani intelligence. Islamabad denied the allegation.

Afghan militants used Pakistan's border areas in the 1980s as a base for fighting Soviet troops in Afghanistan. They were helped by foreign fighters, including men like Osama bin Laden who later became al Qaeda leaders. The so-called mujahideen were backed by the United States and Saudi Arabia among others.

After the Soviets withdrew, mujahideen factions formed a government in Afghanistan but tensions remained and the Pashtun-dominated Taliban faction began fighting for control of the country, taking over Kabul in 1996.

Since 2001, Afghan militants have used Pakistan's border areas to orchestrate their insurgency against the Afghan government and the U.S. and NATO forces supporting it.

Taliban groups control parts of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and, before a military offensive launched in April 2009, controlled parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. They also have bases in Baluchistan.

The spread of Taliban influence in the border areas has been blamed on years of neglect and poor governance, as well as insecurity in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province (formerly known as the North West Frontier Province) was formed in 1901 under British India, and divided into Settled Areas and Tribal areas. It has a Pashtun-majority population, history and culture.

Armed conflict between government troops and pro-Taliban militants has caused massive displacement, especially in Swat, Buner and Lower Dir districts.

The Swat Valley - once a major tourist attraction - became the scene of some of the worst fighting in Pakistan when the army launched a large-scale offensive in April 2009. Nearly two million civilians were displaced, and hundreds of thousands more were trapped by the fighting and out of reach of external help.

People began slowly returning home in July after the Pakistan Army said it had cleared the Taliban out of Swat.

In the 1990s, cleric Sufi Mohammad took up arms to impose sharia law in the Malakand region, which includes Swat district. He led thousands of fighters to Afghanistan in 2001 to help the Taliban resist the U.S.-led invasion, and was arrested on his return to Pakistan. Pakistani authorities released him in 2008 in a bid to defuse another uprising, led by his son-in-law Fazlullah, who has ties with other Pakistani Taliban factions and al Qaeda.

Fazlullah called his men to arms after a military assault on the Red Mosque in Islamabad in mid-2007. The mosque had been taken over by extremists who were stockpiling weapons there in a bid to impose Islamic law.

The army deployed troops in Swat in October 2007 and used artillery and gunship helicopters to reassert control. A civilian government came to power in 2008 and tried to reach a negotiated settlement, but a peace deal failed in May 2008 and fighting escalated. The militants gained control of almost the entire valley and unleashed a reign of terror, killing and beheading politicians, entertainers, soldiers and opponents. They banned female education and destroyed nearly 200 girls' schools.

But the military has also been accused by local people of deliberately targeting civilians perceived to be sympathetic to the Taliban - a charge vehemently denied by the military.

In February 2009 Pakistan authorities agreed to introduce Islamic law in Malakand region, dismantle all security checkpoints and release captured militants in return for peace. The decision was strongly condemned by the United States, which had made continued flows of aid conditional on Pakistan containing the Taliban groups.

The militants announced a ceasefire but refused to give up their arms and soon pushed into Buner district, also part of Malakand and only 100 km (60 miles) from Islamabad. Amid mounting concern at home and abroad, security forces launched an offensive in April 2009 to expel the militants.

Afghan Taliban leaders are believed to use Peshawar, capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, as a base despite the heavy presence of Pakistan military and intelligence forces.

Millions of refugees who fled Afghanistan following the Soviet invasion in 1979, settled in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Many have since returned home.

Federally Administered Tribal Areas

Pakistani Taliban tribal groups control parts of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). They draw much of their resources from jihadi groups and their countrywide networks of mosques and religious seminaries, or madrasas.

Since 2001, FATA has become a hideout for al Qaeda and Afghan Taliban militants. The areas of most concern include South Waziristan, North Waziristan and Bajaur. South Waziristan has numerous training camps for suicide bombers and has been described by U.S. officials as the world's most dangerous place.

Pakistan's seven tribal areas (or agencies) were created by the British to serve as a buffer between what was then northwestern India and Afghanistan. A special form of political administration, based on independent jirga (council) systems, was devised to govern the Pashtun tribes which fiercely resisted colonial rule. The British stationed troops in FATA to maintain control, but also granted these areas a semi-autonomous status in return for acquiescence to colonial rule.

The system continued when FATA became part of Pakistan. Pakistan chose not to base troops in the region, but retained the colonial administrative and legal structures - effectively treating FATA's population as separate from other Pakistani citizens.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa's federally-appointed governor administers FATA. It is governed through local proxies - mostly tribal elders - and laws which deprive locals of civil and political rights and the protection of the courts. The tribal elders' loyalty is rewarded with special status and financial benefits.

However, some changes were introduced in August 2011, when President Asif Ali Zardari signed the extension of the Political Party Order (2002) to FATA, which allowed political parties to operate legally in FATA for the first time.

The president's spokesman said the colonial-era provisions that allow collective punishment of an entire tribe for crimes committed by a member or on their territory, would be "softened" - indicating that perhaps women, children and the elderly will be exempt from the collective punishment clause, International Crisis Group’s senior analyst for South Asia Shehryar Fazli said in August 2011.

The military has supported tribal militias to help it fight the religious extremists.

The Pakistani military has been criticised for its tactics, including attacks by helicopter gunships and heavy artillery which have forced thousands of civilians to flee to camps in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

PACT WITH TRIBAL LEADERS

From late 2003 to early 2005, the Pakistan army focused on hunting down al Qaeda in South Waziristan, later shifting its attention to North Waziristan and Bajaur at the northeastern extreme of the tribal belt.

The heavy handed tactics of then President Pervez Musharraf's government - largely a response to external pressure - were widely thought to have backfired, pushing sympathies further towards the Taliban and fundamentalist Islamic beliefs.

In September 2006, Musharraf's government decided to soften its approach, signing a deal with tribal leaders and pro-Taliban forces. Islamabad agreed to hold off military operations, free prisoners and withdraw from checkpoints. In return, militants promised to end attacks on the army, distance themselves from foreign fighters, and stop movement across the Afghan border.

The deal's supporters said it would empower tribal elders to control militants, although critics argued it would create a sanctuary for the Taliban and al Qaeda.

In the following months, attacks on U.S.-led troops in eastern Afghanistan trebled, and an October 2006 U.S. congressional report said Taliban activities in the border region had increased.

The deal unravelled in July 2007 amid a surge in violence in northwest Pakistan, following the army's storming of the radical Red Mosque in Islamabad in which troops killed 75 supporters of hardline clerics.

North Waziristan militants scrapped the peace deal, arguing that the government had violated it by launching attacks and deploying more troops in the area.

As the pact collapsed, the U.S. president's national security adviser called on Musharraf to take further action against militants in the region, pledging Washington's full support. Violence in North Waziristan and other parts of northwest Pakistan intensified sharply.

The New York Times reported in July 2007 that the United States planned to pour $750 million in aid into Pakistan's tribal areas over the next five years, as part of a campaign to win over the local population. But there were concerns over how effectively the money could be spent on development in such an insecure region.

In August 2008, Pakistani forces launched offensives against al Qaeda and Taliban militants in Bajaur - a major infiltration route for militants entering eastern Afghanistan. The militants were said to include Afghans, Uzbeks and Arabs as well as Pakistani Taliban.

A Pakistani general in Bajaur described it as a "centre of gravity" for Islamist guerrillas and said the conflict in Waziristan was more of a "tribal war", whereas the situation in Bajaur had more "international linkages".

But the Pakistani military's tactics were strongly criticised, including reports that operations forced all schools to close in more than half Bajaur's towns, affecting about 50,000 students. An estimated 20 percent of Bajaur's population was forced to flee, most finding refuge in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, says the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.

The government signed a peace deal with tribal militants in Bajaur in March 2009.

Pakistan launched a major offensive in South Waziristan in October 2009 after several months of air and artillery strikes against the Taliban. Tens of thousands of people began to flee the region in May 2009 when the military began massing troops in large numbers in the semi-tribal areas on the periphery of Waziristan.

The United States has also been targeting the region with drone missile strikes, including one in August 2009 which killed Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud. He was replaced by Hakimullah Mehsud who is believed to lead as many as 20,000 pro-Taliban militants in South Waziristan. A majority belong to the Mehsud tribe.

The region is out of reach of most foreign and Pakistani journalists and aid agencies.

Baluchistan

Baluchistan lies to the southwest of FATA, bordering both Iran and Afghanistan, and is made up primarily of Baluch and Pashtun ethnic groups. Baluch tribal militants are fighting a decades-long insurgency for greater political autonomy and control over local mineral resources.

Afghan Taliban fighters also operate in the area.

BALUCH INSURGENCY

Tribal militants in Baluchistan have staged several insurgencies since the mid-20th century to fight for greater political autonomy and control over local mineral resources from the Punjabi-dominated authorities. Although the military maintains an iron grip on the region, Baluchistan is often cited by doomsters as the region most likely to splinter from Pakistan. Pakistan has accused India and Afghanistan of backing the Baluch nationalists.

The Pakistan government announced a roadmap in October 2008 for ending conflict in Baluchistan, focusing on redistributing natural resource revenues, a turnaround from Musharraf's strategy in the region. But the military occupation continues, with regular reports of human rights abuses, cited by the Asian Human Rights Commission and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

Baluchistan was not incorporated into Pakistan until 1948, when Pakistani troops moved in, forcing the Khan of Kalat, the monarch who had ruled the area under the umbrella of the British Empire, to give up hopes of independence.

In the mid-1950s, the People's Party, a new nationalist party, was launched by the Prince of Kalat, and in 1972 it joined with the National Awami Party, based in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and the Islamist Jamait-ul-Ullema-i-Islam in opposition to the centralising government of President Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (Benazir Bhutto's father).

Major conflict broke out in 1973 after the intelligence services intercepted a consignment of weapons headed for Baluchistan and Bhutto dismissed the regional government.

Thousands of militants fought the national army, which targeted the Baluch tribes' livestock, their key economic asset. The insurgency dragged on until 1977, when Bhutto was overthrown and the new military regime of General Zia ul-Haq arrived at a political settlement with some Baluch leaders. Around 9,000 people died in the violence.

Conflict flared again in December 2005, following a rocket attack during a visit by Musharraf to the town of Kohlu. This spurred the Pakistani military to launch a major crackdown against nationalist groups in the region.

Since then, militants have regularly blown up gas pipelines, rail tracks and power lines, and launched rocket attacks on government buildings and army bases.

The security agencies have responded by targeting hundreds of Baluch dissidents, including political activists, students, doctors, lawyers, journalists and even shopkeepers.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has cited numerous instances of intimidation, arbitrary arrests, torture, disappearances and extrajudicial killings by security forces and intelligence agencies.

Much of the militant violence is thought to be carried out by a group known as the Baluch Liberation Army (BLA), which was set up in the 1970s. The government has listed it as a terrorist organisation.

Resentment against the central government has grown as infrastructure has been built to exploit the province's rich natural resources, especially gas. The Sui field in Baluchistan's Bugti tribal area produces around 45 percent of Pakistan's natural gas. The province also has significant deposits of uranium and copper.

Development has fuelled local frustration for two key reasons. Firstly, Baluchs feel their province is being increasingly monopolised by non-indigenous migrants attracted by its economic opportunities.

Secondly, there's a widespread perception that the province does not receive a fair share of benefits from the exploitation of its resources. Baluch nationalists say natural gas generates $1.4 billion a year, but Islamabad gives the province only $116 million in royalties.

One major infrastructure project targeted by Baluch militants is the construction of a strategically important port at Gwadar on Pakistan's Arabian Sea coast near the mouth of the Persian Gulf, with the majority of funding coming from China.

Besides calling for a larger dividend from development projects and the exploitation of resources, Baluch militants want more control over their administrative affairs. Analysts say local people have few political channels through which to voice their grievances and demands.

AFGHAN TALIBAN IN BALUCHISTAN

Afghan Taliban groups have had strong links with Baluchistan for years. The Taliban movement, which swept to power in Afghanistan in 1996, sprang mainly from Islamic seminaries established in Baluchistan during the Afghan war. After their defeat by U.S.-led forces in 2001, the fighters regrouped in Pakistan. U.S. generals have often said the Afghan Taliban leadership operates from regional capital Quetta - although Pakistan denies this.

Taliban groups are very active in southern Afghanistan bordering Baluchistan, and it's here the United States stepped up its offensive against them.

Violence spreads

Following an army attack on a militant base in FATA's South Waziristan in January 2007, cities around Pakistan were hit by a wave of suicide bombings, including the capital Islamabad, and Quetta and Peshawar in the northwest.

A backlash against the security forces intensified after the July raid on the Red Mosque, confirming fears that unrest in the tribal areas was spilling over into other regions. Nearly 800 people were killed in militant-related violence in the following four months - many in suicide attacks and bomb blasts.

Musharraf imposed a state of emergency in Pakistan in November 2007 citing rising militancy as a key reason. He suspended the constitution, sacked most judges and locked up lawyers. Diplomats said his main aim was to stop the Supreme Court ruling that his earlier re-election as president had been invalid on the grounds he was still army chief at the time. Emergency rule was lifted in December.

Militants continue to target cities across the country.

Move to civilian rule

Musharraf came to power in a military coup in 1999. He named himself president in 2001, while remaining head of the army, and later granted himself sweeping new powers including the right to dismiss an elected parliament. Parliamentary elections were held in 2002, and Musharraf won a presidential election in 2007.

Hundreds died in the run-up to general elections in February 2008, including opposition leader Benazir Bhutto who was assassinated at a campaign rally in December 2007.

Bhutto's grieving Pakistan People's Party went on to win the elections. Musharraf, under threat of impeachment, eventually resigned in August and was replaced by Bhutto's widower Asif Ali Zardari.

Zardari was sworn in as president in September 2008, and announced a renewed commitment to tackle the militants using a combination of negotiations, economic and political reforms, and military force.

Despite having committed itself to the deeply unpopular U.S.-led campaign against Islamist militancy, the government formally protested against U.S. missile strikes on the border areas soon afterwards.

Displacement

In both northwest and southwest Pakistan, hundreds of thousands of citizens have fled violence. Calculating the numbers is difficult, because of a lack of access.

The number of displaced peaked at more than 3 million people in 2009. By May 2010, the figure had dropped to 1 million, but returns since then have been offset by new displacements, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) said.

The government has prevented aid from reaching those displaced in Baluchistan, and insurgent attacks on aid workers in many areas have also made it very difficult for agencies to reach them, IDMC said.

International aid agencies are trying to boost their development activities. The tribal areas in particular have suffered from poor literacy, scarce development funding and the fallout from the instability in Afghanistan.

Severe floods in 2010 hit hardest those areas where the displaced sought protection, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre said. The floods affected not only those living in displacement camps, but also the many families sheltering those who had fled conflict. For more, see AlertNet's Pakistan floods briefing.

Pakistan hosts the largest refugee population in the world - 1.7 million Afghans, the majority living in urban areas. Another 3.6 million Afghans have returned home since March 2002, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR says.

KHYBER-PAKHTUNKHWA

A surge of violence in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa's Swat, Buner and Lower Dir districts in 2009 forced nearly 2 million to flee their homes. Some sought shelter in the region's overcrowded displacement camps, which offered limited access to clean water and food.

But aid workers said the majority of displaced were reluctant to live in formal camps for cultural reasons, as they felt their dignity was compromised, and women cannot strictly observe 'purdah' where they should be separated from men. As a result, many lived in cramped conditions with host communities or relatives.

Men often stayed behind to protect homes and livestock, although this left women and children vulnerable to increased sexual violence and exploitation.

Thousands slowly began to return to their homes in Swat after the government said in July 2009 the area was safe.

Many people were also displaced when a massive earthquake hit Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Kashmir in 2005, killing 75,000 people and leaving up to 3.5 million homeless.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has also been a refuge for millions fleeing fighting in other parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

FEDERALLY ADMINISTERD TRIBAL AREAS

At least 1 million people in the tribal areas (FATA) were displaced in May 2011. The largest groups were from Bajaur, South Waziristan and Mohmand agencies, but large numbers of unregistered displaced people from Khyber, Kurram, Orakzai, Kohat and Peshawar were also living either in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa or other parts of Pakistan.

Aid workers’ access to FATA has been continuously restricted since 2004 although some humanitarian agencies had a limited presence in Mohmand, Bajaur and Kurram agencies in April 2011, IDMC says.

BALUCHISTAN

Baluchistan displacement dates back to 2005 when the government launched a military offensive against separatists.

Aid agencies in Baluchistan include the UNHCR, which mainly supports Afghan refugees in the province, and the World Food Programme. But humanitarian and development workers have come up against bureaucratic hurdles when trying to help the local population.