War on Terror and Pakistan’s Policies towards Militancy

Saiful Islam1, Muhammad Zubair2 and Faiza Bashir3

Abstract
The weak border between Afghanistan and Pakistan and old
administrative structure in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (generally
called FATA or shortly tribal areas), made this region a hub of international
militant organizations during the Soviet-Afghan war in the 1980s. After the 9/11,
the tribal areas remained the focus of world attention for the security threat to the
world in general and the region in particular. To make the rest of the country more
secure, Pakistan army launched military operations against the foreign militants in
the tribal areas. The government then struck peace agreements with them in the
following years as well as the military operations continued in different parts of
FATA against militants. National Action Plan (NAP) was the final step towards
combating militancy. This paper examines the questions: which policy of the
government was successful in countering militancy in the tribal areas as well as in
the country? Was a comprehensive policy needed to fight against militancy in the
country? Primary and secondary sources are incorporated in methodology.

Key words: FATA, Militancy, 9/11, Peace Agreements, Military operations