Terrorism and Violence: A Note on the Targeted Killing in the Tribal Agency of Bajaur, Pakistan

Rahman Ullah

Abstract
Lately, the Taliban aimed to spread terror, insecurity and created space for
extremism in the absence of the local leadership in the tribal belt of Pakistan. The
existing/traditional leadership—Khan and Malik are not only considered the
symbol of power, but they also maintain socio-political order in the tribal belt
because they coordinate between government and the common people of the tribal
society.The Taliban succeeded in minimizing the role of existing structure and
created space for themselves in the absence of Khans and Maliks (traditional
leaders of the tribal society). This paper critically investigates the phenomenon of
targeted killings in Bajaur agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas
(FATA) during the War on Terror. It is concluded that the targeted killings of
tribal chieftains havean impact on the social order of Bajaur agency. The research
is based on interviews, un-published government document and a case study of the
few tribal elders to understand the impact of tribal elders targeted killing on the
existing social order in light of anthropological perspective.

Keywords: Terrorism, Target Killing, Maliks