Islamic Emirate of Waziristan
Encyclopedia
Waziristan
Waziristan is a mountainous region near the Northwest of Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan and covering some 11,585 km² . The area is entirely populated by ethnic Pashtuns . The language spoken in the valley is Pashto/Pakhto...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
that some commentators claim gained de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
recognition from the Government of Pakistan
Government of Pakistan
The Government of Pakistan is a federal parliamentary system, with an indirectly-elected President as the Head of State and Commander in Chief of the Pakistani Armed Forces, and an indirectly-elected Prime Minister as the Head of Government. The President’s appointment and term are...
when it was named as party to the Waziristan Accord
Waziristan accord
The Waziristan Accord was an agreement between the government of Pakistan and tribals, resident in the Waziristan area to mutually cease hostilities in North Waziristan . The agreement was signed on 5 September 2006 in the North Waziristan town of Miranshah...
, the agreement reached between Islamabad
Islamabad
Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...
and local tribesmen to end the undeclared Waziristan War on 5 September 2006.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16191502/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16240565/site/newsweek/http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/06/79810.aspx
Description
The Islamic militants in Waziristan are said to have close affiliations with the Taliban. Waziristan is often mentioned as a haven for al-QaedaAl-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
fighters, who will be required to either leave the area or act peacefully as a condition of the negotiated peace accord. Some of these militants call their organization the "Taliban." - "The tribal militants call themselves "Pakistani Taliban," or members of a newly coined and loosely knit entity, the Taliban."
Tribal leaders control the area of the North Waziristan
North Waziristan
North Waziristan is the northern part of Waziristan, a mountainous region of northwest Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan and covering . Waziristan comprises the area west and south-west of Peshawar between the Tochi river to the north and the Gomal river to the south, forming part of Pakistan's...
Agency and the South Waziristan
South Waziristan
South Waziristan is the southern part of Waziristan, a mountainous region of northwest Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan and covering some 11,585 km² . Waziristan comprises the area west and southwest of Peshawar between the Tochi River to the north and the Gomal River to the south, forming...
Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas
Federally Administered Tribal Areas
The Federally Administered Tribal Areas are a semi-autonomous tribal region in the northwest of Pakistan, lying between the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and the neighboring country of Afghanistan. The FATA comprise seven Agencies and six FRs...
(FATA). In practice they have replaced these two agency-level governments as the political body controlling the area, although formal dissolution of the agencies is not part of the truce agreement.
Partisans in North Waziristan declared an "Islamic state
Islamic State
An Islamic state is a type of government, in which the primary basis for government is Islamic religious law...
" in February 2006. According to anonymous sources, the Pakistan government effectively acknowledged the organization in the Waziristan accord
Waziristan accord
The Waziristan Accord was an agreement between the government of Pakistan and tribals, resident in the Waziristan area to mutually cease hostilities in North Waziristan . The agreement was signed on 5 September 2006 in the North Waziristan town of Miranshah...
of 5 September 2006 which referred to the organization in the agreement, however the agreement does not recognize the Taliban as an independent state, but only as a security body charged with fulfilling the obligations of the treaty.
There is speculation that some al-Qaeda leaders have found refuge in the area controlled by the Emirate, which is a staging ground for militant operations in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
. A condition of the truce is that no support be given for these operations. Local observers view the truce accord as a prelude to hot pursuit
Hot pursuit
In law enforcement and international law, hot pursuit can refer to:*An immediate pursuit by the police such as a car chase.*In international treaty law, laws of federal states, or other legal rules governing cross-border police operations when law enforcement officers and agents of one...
chases of mujahideen
Mujahideen
Mujahideen are Muslims who struggle in the path of God. The word is from the same Arabic triliteral as jihad .Mujahideen is also transliterated from Arabic as mujahedin, mujahedeen, mudžahedin, mudžahidin, mujahidīn, mujaheddīn and more.-Origin of the concept:The beginnings of Jihad are traced...
into Pakistan by NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Details of the agreement may be found under Waziristan accord
Waziristan accord
The Waziristan Accord was an agreement between the government of Pakistan and tribals, resident in the Waziristan area to mutually cease hostilities in North Waziristan . The agreement was signed on 5 September 2006 in the North Waziristan town of Miranshah...
.
Leadership structure
The Taliban in Waziristan is led by Maulavi Jalaluddin Haqqani, a veteran mujahideen commander and member of the Zadran tribe, who aligned himself with the Taliban and rose to be a cabinet member of the Islamic Emirate of AfghanistanIslamic Emirate of Afghanistan
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan was founded in 1996 when the Taliban began their rule of Afghanistan and ended with their fall from power in 2001...
(the official name of the former Taliban government of Afghanistan). He has delegated much of the day-to-day field operation to his son, Sirajuddin Haqqani
Sirajuddin Haqqani
Sirajuddin "Siraj" Haqqani is a Pashtun warlord and military leader who fights against American and coalition forces from his base within North Waziristan in Pakistan, where it is claimed he provides shelter to Al Qaeda operatives...
, who is said to be military commander over all the Taliban-aligned militants in the Waziristan tribal regions. Experts estimate the number of Taliban operatives at between 30,000 and 35,000 in this region.
In June 2006, in advance of the Waziristan accord, the elder Haqqani issued a decree that stated that while the fight with the US and Karzai
Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai, GCMG is the 12th and current President of Afghanistan, taking office on 7 December 2004. He became a dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001...
governments will continue "till the last drop of blood", it was no longer Taliban policy to continue to fight with the Pakistan army. The ceasefire edict was circulated only in South Waziristan, however, to keep pressure on the Pakistan government towards reaching a peace accord in the north (ultimately the Waziristan accord
Waziristan accord
The Waziristan Accord was an agreement between the government of Pakistan and tribals, resident in the Waziristan area to mutually cease hostilities in North Waziristan . The agreement was signed on 5 September 2006 in the North Waziristan town of Miranshah...
).
The Haqqani edict resulted in a partial ceasefire in South Waziristan
South Waziristan
South Waziristan is the southern part of Waziristan, a mountainous region of northwest Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan and covering some 11,585 km² . Waziristan comprises the area west and southwest of Peshawar between the Tochi River to the north and the Gomal River to the south, forming...
, although some tribal militias continued to fight on in hopes of winning the release of fellow rebels imprisoned by the government. Ultimately it would be the Waziristan accord that would secure the release of all rebel fighters, both Taliban and non-Taliban.
While reporting on the June ceasefire in South Waziristan, the Dawn
Dawn (newspaper)
Dawn is Pakistan's oldest and most widely read English-language newspaper. One of the country's two largest English-language dailies, it is the flagship of the Dawn Group of Newspapers, published by Pakistan Herald Publications, which also owns the Herald, a magazine, the evening paper The Star and...
newspaper in Pakistan also reported that a senior Taliban figure (left unnamed), in consultation with local tribal leaders, had blessed Maulavi Nazir Ahmad as head of the militants of the Ahmadzai
Ahmadzai
Aḥmadzai is a Pashtun tribe. There are many separate and distinct clans, sub-clans, tribal fractions, large families etc. that trace their ancestry to different Aḥmads.-Afghanistan:...
Wazir (tribe)
Wazir (tribe)
Wazirs or Waziris are a Pashtun tribe settled in the North Waziristan and South Waziristan agencies of Pakistan as well in the urban cities of Tank, F.R Bannu,i.e Domel and adjacent villages, Karachi and Lahore. Across the border, they can also be found in Paktia, Khost and Paktika provinces of...
. The senior leader also endorsed Baitullah Mehsud
Baitullah Mehsud
Baitullah Mehsud was a leading militant in Waziristan, Pakistan, and the leader of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan . He formed the TTP from an alliance of about five militant groups in December 2007. He is thought by U.S...
to continue as head of the mujahideen of the Mahsud
Mahsud
Mahsud is a Pashtun tribe in South Waziristan, a tribal region in Pakistan. Mahsud are considered to be one of the bravest and toughest Pashtun Tribes. The Mahsud tribe lives in the centre of South Waziristan valley, surrounded on three sides by the Darwesh Waziris, and being shut off by the...
tribe and appointed, Abdullah Mehsud
Abdullah Mehsud
Abdullah Mehsud was a member of the Mahsud tribe in South Waziristan, and a Pashtun militant commander who killed himself with a hand grenade after security forces raided his dwelling in Zhob, Balochistan, Pakistan....
, a renowned fugitive jihadist, to head a shura
Shura
Shura is an Arabic word for "consultation". The Quran and Muhammad encourage Muslims to decide their affairs in consultation with those who will be affected by that decision....
of mujahideen representing four additional tribes.
It is not clear if Maulavi Jalaluddin Haqqani, and thus the entire Pakistan Taliban leadership, identifies himself as a part of a Taliban, or if it is a smaller, and perhaps non-Taliban, group of militants who invoke this name as a rallying cry.
After an initial miscue, the Government of Pakistan
Government of Pakistan
The Government of Pakistan is a federal parliamentary system, with an indirectly-elected President as the Head of State and Commander in Chief of the Pakistani Armed Forces, and an indirectly-elected Prime Minister as the Head of Government. The President’s appointment and term are...
has consistently emphasized the Taliban was not party to the accord. However, on 24 September, The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
published an article revealing the previously unnamed "senior leader" to be none other than Mullah Omar
Mohammed Omar
Mullah Mohammed Omar , often simply called Mullah Omar, is the leader of the Taliban movement that operates in Afghanistan. He was Afghanistan's de facto head of state from 1996 to late 2001, under the official title "Head of the Supreme Council"...
, the former leader of the Taliban in Afghanistan. Regarding Mullah Omar's role in the southern ceasefire and the truce in North Waziristan
North Waziristan
North Waziristan is the northern part of Waziristan, a mountainous region of northwest Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan and covering . Waziristan comprises the area west and south-west of Peshawar between the Tochi river to the north and the Gomal river to the south, forming part of Pakistan's...
, the Telegraph quotes Lateef Afridi, a tribal elder and former member of the Pakistan national assembly, as saying:
"Had [local tribal militants] been not asked by Mullah Omar, none of them were willing to sign an agreement…. This is no peace agreement, it is accepting Taliban rule in Pakistan's territory."
A true state?
Though proclaimed by the rebels as a "state" or "emirate", there are questions regarding the region being called as such. Those who support that the region is a state point to the facts that the federal authority is little to nonexistent and that the area is ruled mostly by tribal elders. Moreover, Taliban reportedly control most of the region with its own authoritarian rule including beheadings for murder and other Shari'ah punishments which the Pakistan government has been unable to stop. Such brazen show of authority has led one author in the Wall Street Journal to remark that Waziristan Agency was a "state within a state."Pakistan’s new Waziristan strategy
On 4 June 2007 the National Security Council of PakistanNational Security Council of Pakistan
The Prime minister Secretariat National Security Council is a consultative body that is chaired by the President of Pakistan and Prime minister of Pakistan. It is a principal forum that is mandated for considering national security and foreign policy matters with the senior national security...
met to decide the fate of Waziristan and take up a number of political and administrative decisions to control “Talibanization” of the area. The meeting was chaired by President Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf , is a retired four-star general who served as the 13th Chief of Army Staff and tenth President of Pakistan as well as tenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Musharraf headed and led an administrative military government from October 1999 till August 2007. He ruled...
and it was attended by the Chief Ministers and Governors of all four provinces. They discussed the deteriorating law and order situation and the threat posed to state security.
The government decided to take a number of actions to stop the “Talibanization” and crush the armed militancy in the Tribal regions and the NWFP.
The NSC of Pakistan has decided the following actions will be taken to achieve the goals:
- Deployment of unmanned reconnaissance planes
- Strengthening law-enforcement agencies with advanced equipment
- Deployment of more troops to the region
- Operations against militants on fast-track basis
- Focused operations against militant commanders
- Action against madrasahMadrasahMadrasah is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, whether secular or religious...
s preaching militancy - Appointment of regional coordinators
- Fresh Recruitments of police officers in NWFP
The ministry of interior has played a large part in the information gathering for the operations against militants and their institutions. The Ministry of Interior has prepared a list of militant commanders operating in the region and they have also prepared a list of seminaries for monitoring.
The Government is also trying to strengthen the law enforcement in the area by providing the NWFP Police with weapons, bullet-proof jackets and night-vision devices. The paramilitary Frontier Corps will be provided with artillery and APC’s. The state agencies are also working on studying ways to block FM frequencies of illegal FM radio channels.
See also
- Durand LineDurand LineThe Durand Line refers to the porous international border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, which has divided the ethnic Pashtuns . This poorly marked line is approximately long...
- Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir
- PashtunistanPashtunistanPakhtunistan or Pashtunistan, meaning the "land of Pakhtuns" or "land of Pashtuns", is a modern term used for the historical region inhabited by the native Afghans or Pashtun since at least the 1st millennium BC...
- Separatist movements of PakistanSeparatist movements of PakistanThere are various separatist movements of Pakistan. Several parties based on ethnic lines exist though only two, the Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz and Balochistan Liberation Front are of much significance....
- Taliban
- Tehrik-i-Taliban PakistanTehrik-i-Taliban PakistanTehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan , alternatively referred to as the Pakistani Taliban, is an umbrella organization of various Islamist militant groups based in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas along the Afghan border in Pakistan. Most, but not all, Pakistani Taliban groups coalesce under the TTP...
- War on TerrorWar on TerrorThe War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...