BACKGROUND: South Waziristan, the largest of the seven tribal agencies in FATA in terms of area, has always been difficult to govern. It is also one of the biggest in terms of population and has, therefore, been given two seats in the country\'s National Assembly compared to one for most of the other tribal regions. Maulana Abdul Malik and Maulana Merajuddin, the two parliamentarians from South Waziristan, are clergymen and are affiliated with the pro-Taliban religious alliance, MMA. This also explains the influence of religious scholars and Islamic political parties in the overwhelmingly conservative tribal region. South Waziristan is largely mountainous, making it ideal for guerilla war. The landscape is dotted by forts that were built by the British in their largely unsuccessful colonial bid to crush the freedom struggle by the native tribes. South Waziristan, like the other six tribal agencies, is under-developed. The indicators for education, health, communication, etc are far below the national average. Government neglect has been endemic. The funding for development projects for South Waziristan and some of the other tribal regions has been increased since the US military intervention in Afghanistan in late 2001 in a bid to prompt the tribal population to cooperate with the Pakistan government in its war on terror. However, the funds are still far less than the need. Two Pashtun tribes, Ahmadzai Wazir and Mahsud, inhabit and dominate South Waziristan. Most of the Pakistani tribesmen who gave refuge to the non-Pakistanis and are now fighting alongside them against the Pakistan Army belong to the Zalikhel section of the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe. There have been no reports of al-Qaeda and Taliban hideouts in the territory populated by the Mahsud tribe, which has achieved impressive literacy rates in recent years and produced scores of senior civil and military officers. However, the recent ambush against a military convoy that destroyed eight vehicles, killed 12 soldiers and injured about 24 took place in the Sarwakai area populated by the Mahsud tribe. Rocketing of Frontier Corps forts, blowing up of a small bridge in Ladha area and other acts of sabotage were also reported from the Mahsud territory. Many tribesmen from South Waziristan fought against Soviet occupation troops in Afghanistan. Subsequently, most of these fought alongside the Taliban against the Northern Alliance and the U.S.. The tribesmen, who are born fighters and learn the use of the gun at an early age in keeping with local traditions, acquired more sophisticated fighting skills during the Afghan war. Those skills have now enabled the militant tribesmen to put up fierce resistance to the Pakistan Army and Frontier Corps troops and execute ambushes, plant landmines and fire rockets despite being outnumbered and outgunned.

IMPLICATIONS: The militants\' were shrewd enough to extend their area of activity to force Pakistan\'s armed forces to operate on several fronts. They adopted diversionary tactics by rocketing an army position in the Dogar area of Central Kurram, killing four soldiers and injuring several others. Attacks were also launched against army and militia posts in North Waziristan in a bid to disrupt their supply lines and harass troops on their way to South Waziristan. In the thickly forested Shawal valley, militants sneaked into an army post through a stream at night and killed a major and a sepoy before they could retaliate. These attacks were also designed to convey a message to the government that the conflict would not remain confined to South Waziristan. The political administration as usual pressured tribal elders to apprehend and punish the culprits under the locally prevalent concept of collective responsibility or face the consequences. However, these tactics have yet to achieve the intended results. Hostilities escalated further when four small-range rockets were fired at Peshawar. Though the rockets didn\'t cause much damage, but caused shock and added to the concern of the government. The Russian-made ROB-107 rockets were apparently fired from the Khyber tribal agency, authorities have yet to locate the staging area or identify the suspects. The attackers managed to hit the Balahisar Fort, which is the headquarters of the Frontier Corps militia. The paramilitary Frontier Corps, whose officers are drawn from the Army, has been in the forefront of the military operation in South Waziristan and other tribal regions, while the newly appointed Corps Commander has been entrusted with the overall command of the ongoing action. By now, it is clear that most of the militants managed to slip out of the cordon that the troops had laid in a 50 square kilometres area in Azam Warsak and its surrounding villages in South Waziristan. Military officials believe the militants escaped through a two kilometres long tunnel that linked the homes of two of the most wanted tribesmen, Sharif Khan and Nur Islam, in Kalosha village. The military demolished about 50 homes of the wanted tribesmen and then withdrew from the area to the regional capital, Wana. However, the matter is far from resolved and future military operations are very much on the cards. There is no doubt that the army and militia suffered heavy casualties. At least 43 soldiers and 17 militiamen were killed and many more sustained injuries. Two junior officers were taken hostage by the militants and killed. The army and militia also lost a number of military vehicles, arms and food and fuel in the ambushes. Eleven non-Pakistani militants were also reportedly killed. The number of Pakistani militants who were killed is not known. Besides, 26 civilians who were mostly women and children were caught up in the fighting and killed. The 162 persons, a majority of whom were Pakistani tribesmen, who were arrested by the troops are now undergoing interrogation. Some of the local tribesmen have already been released and the remaining are also likely to be freed in due course of time. The foreigners could expect to stay behind bars for long periods.

CONCLUSIONS: In spite of hopes, no \"high-value target\" has been captured so far. There is no evidence that Osama bin Laden, his deputy Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri or any other senior al-Qaeda figure is in the area. Members of the Western media, after converging on Islamabad for the imminent capture of Dr al-Zawahiri, have now started to return home. There were certainly a number of Uzbekistanis, affiliated to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) holding out in the area along with Chechens, Arabs and Afghans. The IMU leader Tahir Yuldavesh was among the militants hiding in the area. Unlike the U.S. and its allies who were obsessed with bin Laden and Dr al-Zawahiri and looked at the military operation in South Waziristan in context of the capture or escape of the two al-Qaeda leaders, the priorities were entirely different for the Pakistan government. Pakistani authorities were counting their dead and hoping that the fallout of the situation in South Waziristan would not become uncontrollable.

AUTHOR’S BIO: Rahimullah Yusufzai is an executive editor of The News International, an English daily published from Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. He is based in Peshawar, North-West Frontier Province, and is also a correspondent for the BBC, ABC News and Time magazine.