 |
|
| Up-to-the-minute perspectives on defence, security and peace issues from and for policy makers and opinion leaders. |
|
Pakistan's North West Frontier around the Khyber Pass has become a Taliban playground. They now control over 500Kms of frontier and its environs bordering Afghanistan following a series of disasterous "peace agreements" with the Pakistan Government. And what they don't control they influence.
The latest domino is Hangu. Seven days of operations by the Pakistan Army have finished with an agreement under which they will pay compensation and withdraw. The Taliban have agreed to recognise the government's authority, stop attacks on government security forces and refrain from running parallel government and legal systems. To date they have made such agreements in half a dozen other territories - and stuck to none of them.
The Taliban , al Qeda and allied terrorist groups have established over 100 terrorist training camps in the region, claim U S Intelligence sources. A few days ago Pakistan Prime Minister Syed Yusaf Gilani and his cabinet were told there are over 8,000 foreign fighters in the tribal areas.
This is the context in which it has been alleged strikes have been made inside Pakistan territory from unmanned planes.
The situation in these "badlands" is monitored by bloggers of The Long War - click on the link at the top right hand side to connect.
Follow Us
Defence Blogs
Visitors
Cookies
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Defence Viewpoints website. However, if you would like to, you can modify your browser so that it notifies you when cookies are sent to it or you can refuse cookies altogether. You can also delete cookies that have already been set. You may wish to visit www.aboutcookies.org which contains comprehensive information on how to do this on a wide variety of desktop browsers. Please note that you will lose some features and functionality on this website if you choose to disable cookies. For example, you may not be able to link into our Twitter feed, which gives up to the minute perspectives on defence and security matters.
UKDF Defence Viewpoints is intended as a forum for political discussion and debate on security, defence, peace and strategic issues. The views of authors are theirs alone, and publication of them here should not be interpreted as an endorsement by the U K Defence Forum, which holds no views of its own, or any of its associates. We are grateful to thinktanks, academics and publications for permission to reproduce their material. Copyright remains with original authors even when anonymous.
Designed by:
