The Revival of Militancy in Pakistan

Militancy could be broadly divided into three dimensions:

The Variety of Terrorist Organizations Operating in Pakistan:
1. Sectarianism in Pakistan : There are a series of sectarian and militant groups in
Pakistan. Lashker-e-Jhangvi, Sipah-e-Sahaba are the Sunni militant groups. While
Sipah-e-Muhammad and Fatimoon are the Shia militant groups in Pakistan. These
groups are responsible for sectarian based killings. (The detail of this topic will be
discussed in detail in the Saudi-Iran rivalry section).
2. The Terrorist Organizations using religion as a cover for their attacks. TTP is on the
top of the list. It’s compromised upon approximately 37 small groups, and having
presence in North Waziristan, South Waziristan, Aurangzai, Khyber, Momand and
Malakand division. Secondly, Qari Gulbahadur Group from North Waziristan is
responsible for majority of the attacks in North Waziristan and Banu Division.
Thirdly, Islamic State of Khurasan Province (ISKP) having basis in Afghanistan
but responsible for a series of attacks across Pakistan.
3. The Separatist Organizations in Baluchistan. The most important group is Baloch
Liberation Army (BLA). The second most important group is Majeed Brigade, a
branch of BLA, comprised upon suicide-bomber specialists. Baloch Liberation
Front (BLF), Baloch Republican Army (BRA) are other militant groups.

These terrorists have adopted guerilla war strategy against Pakistan.

All these militant groups are using Guerilla Warfighting techniques. First, the major
techniques of guerilla techniques are hide, hit and run. The second major technique is the also
excessive use of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) and Suicide-Bombings. These
militants are equipped with latest weapons, mostly US and NATO weapon, which were left in
Afghanistan. The value of weapons has been valued at least 1.3 billion+ dollars, additionally,
they also used Russian weapons, which are available in abundance in Pakistan and
Afghanistan.

The Revival of Militancy in the Merged Districts (Ex-FATA):

There is a dangerous increase in the number of militants like TTP and other militants in South
Waziristan, North Waziristan, Aurakzai, Bajaur, and Teera region of Khyber, where Taliban
have established their training and recruiting centres mostly in the hilly belt once again. Most
attacks of TTP are against the military, paramilitary (In that Area Frontier Corps) and police,
especially the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), in these areas.

The Revival of Militancy in Banu Division:

District Lakkimarwat of Banu Division is the worst hit. There are repeated attacks in different
parts of the district against police and military troops. The deadly attack on CTD in Bannu
City, The suburban areas of Banu City, especially the ex-FR (Frontier Region) there are
increasing number of militants in the ex-FR region where they are attacking the military,
paramilitary and the police.

The Revival of Militancy in Malakand Division:

There have been repeated attacks in Swat especially Matta, that used to be a strong hold of
the Taliban till 2008, Chitral, Upper and Lower Dir. Majority of these attacks are being
carried out by the Swat Chapter of TTP. Security forces are the prime targets of militants.

The Expansion of Attacks in Other Parts of the Country:

There is a dangerous increase in attacks in Southern Punjab, primarily Mianwali, because it is
adjacent to Lakkimarwat. Attacks in D.G Khan and Bakkar as well as they are near D.I Khan.
Attacks in Islamabad, Faisalabad, Lahore and even Karachi as well. And most of these
attacks are being carried out by TTP and other terrorist organizations. The deadliest of all
these attacks were in Bisham and Dassu of Kohistan district (the attacks on Chinese).

The Prime Targets of TTP Militants:

1. Security Personnel of Pakistan are prime targets of terrorist organizations in KP and
Baluchistan.
2. Chinese citizens are being repeatedly attacked, like in Dasu (Kohistan), Bisham,
Gwadar, Quetta, Karachi, etc., in which numerous Chinese professors’, engineers etc
lost their lives,
3. Major targets are the developers of CPEC-based projects, primarily against Frontier
Works Organizations (FWO) and National Logistics Cell (NLC).
4. There are numerous attacks against the Shia population of Pakistan especially in
Quetta, Peshawar, Kohat and other parts of the country, by TTP and ISKP.

The Prime Targets of Separatist Organizations in Baluchistan:

1. The security forces in Baluchistan, primarily military and Frontier Corps (FC) and
Navy.
2. Attacks on Chinese in Baluchistan and Karachi.
3. Attacks on CPEC developers.
4. Attacks on settlers in Baluchistan, especially from Punjab, AJK and Sindh.
5. Attacks on the state infrastructure like Gas pipelines of Sui and Mari, electricity
transmission lines, railway, etc.
Reasons for the Revival of TTP and Other Islamist Insurgencies:
1. The Victory of Afghan-Taliban against US and NATO troops encouraged TTP to
challenge the writ of the state in Pakistan once again. Despite bringing more than
150,000+ troops, bringing all the possible military technologies to Afghanistan,
fighting the longest ever and most expensive war in the history of US and NATO. The
world’s strongest military machine i.e. US & NATO, failed to defeat Afghan-Taliban.
And after 2 decades of long fighting, power was handed over back to Afghan Taliban.
This encouraged the Pakistani-based terrorist organizations like TTP and Gulbahadur
Group etc., to resume attacks against the Security Forces, Chinese, and other hard
(army) and soft (civilian) targets in Pakistan.
Furthermore, Pakistani Taliban have the leverage of using the bordering areas of
Afghanistan with Pakistan as a launching-pad for terrorist attacks in Pakistan.
Majority of the parts of the border of Pakistan with Afghanistan are still porous,
especially in the hilly-areas, and TTP and the rest of the terrorist organizations easily
cross the border and infiltrate into Pakistan. Afghan Taliban have got closer relations
with TTP and other Pakistani-based Taliban groups. Therefore, they are reluctant to
go for operation against Pakistani Taliban on Afghan Soil, and they have not been
able to stop TTP and other Pakistani Taliban from using Afghanistan as a launching-
pad.
2. The ambiguous policies of the Government of Pakistan have been responsible for the
revival of TTP and other insurgent groups. No government is ready to take the
responsibility and keep blaming each other for the flawed negotiations with TTP.
There are increasing number of speeches on the floor of the Parliament both by the
Opposition and the Government benches; the crux of which is Pakistan allowed TTP
and Gulbahadur Group militants to come back to their hometowns but without
weapons. Unfortunately, weapons were available in Pakistan in the merged districts in
Malakand division in abundance. Pakistani Taliban demanded the reversal of 25th
Amendment or FATA Reforms Bill and implement Frontier Crimes Regulation
(FCR) once again. Through the 25th amendment, the Frontier Crimes Regulation
FCR was abolished, and the constitution of Pakistan and Pakistan Penal codes (PPC)
Criminal Procedure Court (CrPC) were extended to FATA. They also demanded the
control of the areas to be given to TTP. They also demanded the establishment of the
Malakand version of the Shariah Bill that was promulgated in 2008. Such demands
were never to be accepted by the government of Pakistan. Resultantly, terrorist TTP
and other terrorist organization started terrorizing Pakistan once again.
3. The serious loopholes in the Policing System and the overall security apparatus of
Pakistan provided TTP and other militant groups to come once again in Pakistan. Till
2018, there was no formal policing system in the merged districts (ex-FATA). There
were Levies and the Khasadar. As per the Frontier Crimes Regulation FCR these
Security Personnels were not allowed to enter the villages and houses of the people as
per the then Policy System. In 2018, when the Police Act was extended to ex-FATA,
the local policing still does not enter the villages and houses of the people.
Resultantly, they cannot implement the writ of the state. Furthermore, they are not
trained and equipped enough to fight such trained insurgencies. Whenever military
forces vacated specific areas after the military operations, a policing vacuum was
created there. TTP and other militant groups once again entered and established their
 strong-holds in those areas. These Policing problems are common across Pakistan,
specifically in KP and Baluchistan, that has resulted in the spreading of militancy
across the provinces. For Example, the CTD department of Banu does not have its
own building and has hired a private property.

Reasons for the Separatist Insurgency in Balochistan:

There are 2 major schools of thoughts regarding the separatist insurgency in Balochistan.

The Centralist School of Thought

It comprises of those who support strong Centre and weak units (Provinces in this case). This
school of thought gives numerous arguments for the rise of insurgency in Balochistan. They
argue that landlords, clergy, and tribal chieftains do not allow, the rise of the middle class,
rise means the economic and educational development of the society. If the middle-class
rises, the hold of these entities declines. Further, it claims that Baloch Sardars contributed
to the same issue. They say that the benefits given by the Centre to the Provincial Groups
were pocketed by these Baloch Sardars. They did not allow the construction of educational
institutions, health institutions and business opportunities in their areas and thus hamper the
rise of the middle-class.
These Tribal Chieftains develop their own Tribal Militia (armed group) against the State
whenever and wherever they wanted. There is a strong tribal system in Balochistan. Tribes in
Baluchistan have armed disputes routinely with each other. Resultantly, the tribal chieftains
weaponized their respective tribes. Secondly, at times these tribes also have dispute with the
state. In such situation, the tribal chieftains used these Militias against the state whenever
they wanted.
There a series of Sardars of Balochistan established links with the intelligence agency of
India called RAW to get finance and weapons. To create unrest in Balochistan and keep
attacking the security forces and the state infrastructure like gas pipelines, electricity
transmission lines, railways etc. Kulbhushan Jadhav, the captured RAW Agent has made
confessional statements: RAW supports the separatist organizations in Balochistan by
providing funds and weapons. Afghan and Iran have been used as launching pad for terrorist
attacks in Balochistan and Karachi. The prime objectives in these attacks are to sabotage
CPEC and destabilize Balochistan.

The Federalist School of Thought

Those who support strong units and weak Centers are called Federalists. This school of
thought has a series of objection on the Centralists. If Baloch Sardars were the prime reason
for insurgency in Balochistan, then why there are repeated attacks in District Lasbellah
where the Sardar the Jaam family have always been in the favour of the Centre and Pro-
state. Why there are attacks in Makaran Division where the Sardari system is non-existent in
many areas and weak in many more. It means Sardars system is not the main/only reason for
attacks.
If the Baloch tribes are weaponized, so are the Pashtoon tribes too. Illegal Weapons are
existent/available across the country including Karachi. It means the Baloch tribes and
Sardars cannot be held solely responsible. It has been primarily the policies of the state. The
policy of joining the Afghan-Jihad in the 1980s and War on Terror in 2001 have been the
prime reasons for weaponization of the Pakistani society. Weapons came from across the
world and mainly from Afghanistan. The same applies to the situation in Balochistan. The
real reasons for insurgency and instability in Balochistan are:
1. Alienation of the common public is the first major prerequisite for the rise of
insurgency in a particular area. The common people get aliened from the state when
their socio-economic rights are not being fulfilled. This is true in the case of
Balochistan. For example, Sui-Gas was explored in 1952 and was provided to all the
major parts of country, Punjab Sindh and KP, by 1960. But Quetta, the capital of
Balochistan got it in 1984. Sui area is still deprived of this facility. The reason Centre
gives for it that the cost of the pipeline is big in Balochistan while the number of
beneficiaries is less, because the population is dispersed. Majority of the areas do not
fall on the national criteria that ensures the construction of the pipelines. Minimum
threshold of the population is lesser than the standard the Centre has set for providing
pipeline. But there are atleast 20+ places in Balochistan which fall under the criteria
devised by the Centre yet they are still deprived of the gas facility.
Saindak Copper Mine Chaghi Balochistan was explored in 1996 by Chinese
company called MCC Metallurgical Company of China. The ratio distribution was
50% MCC, 48% Centre, 2% Balochistan. In 2012, this was revised. MCC was given
45%, Centre 50% and Balochistan 5%.
Till 2000, there was only one public sector university, one teaching hospital, in the
whole province of Balochistan. While the average teaching hospitals in other
provinces is minimum 3. The number of educational institutions had been less
because the financial share of Balochistan has been considerably low. For instance,
The then Principal Secretary to the PM 2016, in 1997, the PSDP of the whole
province was 130 million while that of Lahore alone was more than 180 million.
Having lesser financial resources, it was not possible for the government of
Balochistan to carry out the required number of developmental projects. Such socio-
economic depravations result into alienation from the State.
2. The Rise of Armed Insurgency. When the socio-economic rights of the people are not
being fulfilled by the state, and when the state adopts coercive measures instead of
socio-economic engagement creates an environment for the rise of armed
insurgencies. Almost all the Baloch Nationalist leaders have this opinion. And the
held state responsible for the rise of insurgencies.
3. Invitation to a Foreign Power/ Foreign Involvement. When insurgency spreads across
an area of a country, it provides an opportunity for the foreign agencies to fuel up the
crisis. That is the case in Balochistan. RAW has been involved in supporting the
separatist organizations of Balochistan. This involvement of RAW is not the cause,
rather the effect of the flawed policies of the Government of Pakistan in the province
of Balochistan.
Solutions:
1. Intelligence-Based Operations (IBOs) is one of the viable solutions. Major operations
like Zarb-e-Azab, or Rah-e-Raast or others are not required right now as militancy has
not spread to that extent. Such operations have heavy economic cost on one hand and
massive social cost on the other, i.e. displacement of people. Intelligence-based
operations should gear up, but such operations should be targeted, precise, that do not
result in collateral damage or the displacement of the locals and separation. The
security forces and government need to restore the confidence of the common public
of the warzone areas, which could only be done when their areas are being cleaned
without displacing or harming them.
2. A need for a comprehensive strategy to wipe-out militancy one and for all.
i. Police Reforms: Increase in the number of police, sufficient funds, and the
required weapons. This would enable police to fight the insurgent groups in a
much better way.
ii. Negotiations should always be an option with the insurgent groups, but the
government should negotiate at a point of strength. There would always be a
group of people within the insurgent groups who would be tamed and
convinced to drop weapons and join the mainstream. This would happen only
when they are socio-economically benefitted.
iii. A grand strategy for de-weaponization of society. Starting with merged
districts, KP, and Balochistan. First option should be volunteered dropping
and handing over of the weapon and such people should always be financially
benefitted. Secondly, search operation. It is a tedious and time-taking process
but Pakistan does not have the option of not adopting the policy.
iv. Socio-economic development.
v. Institution Building.

Introduction
In the year 2008, Military Operation Rah-e-Raast was launched in Malakand division. In
2009, Rah-e-Nijaat was launched in South Waziristan. In 2014, series Khyber Operations
were launched. In 2014, the mother of all military operations Zarb-e-Azab was launched in
North Waziristan. Rad-ul-Fasaad was launched across the country in 2017-18. Resultantly,
militancy was apparently defeated in the ex-FATA, Malakand division, and other parts of KP
and Balochistan as thousands of militants were either being captured or they infiltrated into
Afghanistan. Many more were killed. The government and policy makers thought they have
defeated TTP and other terrorist organizations, but unfortunately the defeat was temporary as
there has been a dangerous revival of militancy in the war-zones in Pakistan. There are
numerous factors or reasons responsible for the revival of militancy and the state needs to
adopt a comprehensive approach to eliminate the menace one and for all.
Analysis of the introduction

One of the best ways to write an introduction

1. Check the topic first (revival of militancy in Pakistan is topic)

2. Start the topic from the decline of militancy in Pakistan (start contrary to the topic line):
mention series of operations done against militancy
3. Show an impact (impact was Pakistan made the militants flee to Afghanistan)
4. Show the current reality, the other side maybe (that militancy is back in Pakistan)

Following was a breakdown of the missing persons topic by Sir Fareed Ullah Khan in
the online class, date 25-6-2024
Missing persons in Baluchistan (A breakdown)
1. Claim of the families of the missing persons state has picked their relatives
2. There are no missing persons with the state. all those picked by the state are already
announced
3. Human rights org., Political leaders of Baluchistan also blame the state
4. Supreme court Judicial Commission on Missing person claim that all the above opinions
are partially true.