Special Series: Reckoning with Zarb-e-Azb
Tanqeed presents Reckoning with Zarb-e-Azb, our project assessing an operation that, two years later, is still ongoing. In the coming months, we will be releasing more articles analyzing the costs this military venture.
We may never know the full story of Operation Zarb-e-Azb. The Pakistani military officially launched the assault on June 15, 2014 in North Waziristan, part of Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas, which have been central to Pakistani military strategy and the American “war on terror.”
The tight regulation of movement into and out of the region, especially North Waziristan, has made access to information notoriously difficult. Another issue is the opaque and seemingly erratic policies of the myriad governmental departments, committees, and boards, as well the security forces, towards the region.
And now, with nearly 1 million people displaced, Pakistan’s security forces are planning an even bigger role in managing the humanitarian fallout from its own operation. The government plans to set up a FATA development committee headed by “a three-star general” and funded to the tune of Rs. 200 billion for the next year to “ensure no delays in development activities.” The move comes after the military’s central command reportedly expressed dissatisfaction over the slow pace of development in FATA.
As the security forces take center stage again in FATA, it is a critical moment to assess the costs of Zarb-e-Azb. Therefore, Tanqeed will run a series of articles in the coming weeks to gauge what has happened over the last two years of the military assault, particularly its consequences for the ordinary people whose lives have been disrupted by the conflict.
Project collaborators:
Shah Shuja
D. Wazir
A. Serafina A.
Next: Zarb-e-Azb | A Primer
As the security forces take center stage again in FATA, it is a critical moment to assess the costs of Zarb-e-Azb.