The solid border surfaces of northwestern Pakistan have long had a reputation of iniquity and militancy, which President Barack Obama labeled as “The most dangerous place in the world.”
The Pakistani government, faced with global supervision over the presence of groups associated with Al -qaeda and Taliban, moved in 2018 to overhaul the outdated semi -automatic region management. It connected What was known as federally governed by tribal areas in the main political and legal framework of the country, promising economic progress and reduction of violence.
Today, many in the region see effort as failure.
AND Renewed wave of terrorismEspecially after Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in 2021, he canceled most of the progress to stability. The attacks rose abruptly in Pakistan, with more than 1,000 deaths throughout the country last year, compared to 250 in 2019, according to the Institute of Economics and Peace, the International Research Center. The Pakistan group classified as one of the countries that are most affected by terrorism and the other only Burkina Faso in Africa.
The troubles of the region can be monitored according to the sharp laws of the colonial era that have been in force for more than a century and have to control the population rather than serve. The vague legal status of tribal areas and the proximity of Afghanistan also made them a geopolitical councilor.
The connection of the underdeveloped region into the neighboring province did not solve deeply rooted questions, experts say. Exacerbating the law and order there is another great challenge for a nation of 250 million people facing economic instability and political unrest.
The tribal elders and Islamist parties are now going so far as to advocate the reversal of merging. This is also the primary goal of one of the greatest sources of insecurity in the region: Pakistani Talibani, who are in a campaign aimed at relentless attacks on security forces in a campaign aimed at overthrowing the Government and establishing Islamic Caliphate.
Pakistani leaders “promised development, peace, jobs and fair judicial system-all that we have been denied for decades,” said Noor Islam Safi, activist of Mohmanda, one of the seven district of the British era of the British era.
“The promises were empty,” he said during a protest in Mohmand, which he led in mid -January. “All we got is neglect, growing violence and a growing sense of hopelessness.”
The former tribal region, which covers about 10,000 square kilometers – less than 5 percent of Pakistani land mass – and is home to more than five million people, has long been a major emblem of terrorism, repression and neglect.
In 1901, the British imposed sharp border laws to suppress resistance and protect themselves against Russian expansion. Pakistan inherited these regulations at birth in 1947.
The people of the region denied basic rights and excluded from national management; They did not receive the right to vote in the Pakistani elections until 1997. The inhabitants lived under a constant threat to arbitrary arrest and the absence of fair trials. The collective punishment was common. The entire communities have suffered actions of one individual, facing prison, fine, destroying property and exile.
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan In 1979, the region turned into an installation for Islamic fighters supported by the United States, the Arab Nations and Pakistan who fought against Moscow forces.
“This border region has long served as a geopolitical chessboard, where the ambitions of colonial and postcolonial forces sought The influence of Afghanistan and the transformation of global geopolitics At the expense of local communities, “said Sartaj Khan, a researcher in Karachi, Pakistan, with an extensive expertise in the northwest of the country.
After the Soviet retreat in 1989, the region descended into an iniquity, becoming the center of fugitives, criminal networks, weapons and drug smuggers and abductors demanding a ransom.
The region became a militant stronghold after September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Pentagon, while US military operations in Afghanistan were shouted by Taliban and Qaeda militants into tribal areas.
Groups like Tehrek-E-Thail Pakistan, also known as TTP or Pakistani Taliban, have been translated to the establishment of control. Such groups offered rudimentary management as they intimidated and killed tribal elders who resisted their rule.
Over time, TTP has expanded its terrorist network beyond border areas, carrying attacks by Pakistan, including in the main cities like Karachiand even internationally, especially in New York, with Try Times Square Bombing In 2010.
After a a huge operation In tribal areas, the army declared a victory over TTP in 2018. That year, Pakistani Parliament abolished the laws of colonial era and connected the region with the neighboring province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
But the gaps in the integration process, analysts and political leaders say, left the region vulnerable when the Taliban He returned to power. Taliban’s reprovement was given by TTP shrines across the border in Afghanistan and an access to an advanced, American weapon that was seized after collapse of the American Afghan government.
This made it possible for Pakistani Taliban to escalate attacks in former tribal areas. Since mid -2021, most of the advanced terrorist attacks in Pakistan have occurred in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with a significant concentration in seven former tribal districts, the most important of which is North Waziristan and South Waziristan.
TTP killed 16 Pakistani soldiers in South Waziristan in December, and Pakistan replied Air attack within AfghanistanEnhancing tension with taliban rulers in Kabul.
In Kurram County, 50 miles southeast of Kabul, sectasy violence Stronged land disputes have led to more than 230 deaths last year. Closing roads from warring tribes retained residents trapped in a cycle of violence.
Further to the north along the Afghan border, in the Bajaur district, 34 attacks were recorded in 2024, and primarily performed Islamic State Khorazan, or Isis-KA local branch of the Islamic State, which represents global security risks.
In other districts, TTP and local Allied groups are controlling, extorting money from merchants.
New legal frameworks in the former tribal areas remain generally unverified due to inadequate administrative capacity and insufficient number of formal police officers. While the region has promised $ 563 million annual development financing, Pakistan’s economic struggles caused the shortcomings. Many basic services are still underdeveloped or dysfunctional.
“A sudden merger, not a gradual and thorough process, failed to replace the management system that has acted for more than a century,” he said Top with Ahmad ShinwariDevelopment expert with extensive experience in the region.
While police staff are recruited and established cells, traditional semi -formal police, made up of illiterate individuals representing their tribes, fought to move into a formal structure, making them vulnerable to militant attacks. The courts exist in some places, but officials in many areas say that they have prevented them from safetying to build a judicial infrastructure, forcing residents to travel long distances for justice.
As part of the global help of Trump’s administration, Main initiatives in former tribal areasIncluding the regulation of land settlement and improvement of infrastructure, they are disturbed.
The connection of the region initially collected broad support among the inhabitants of the eager for equal nationality, but significant resistance occurred to the changes that followed. Replacing the outdated tribal police and Jirgas, or the Council of the tribal elders, prompted deep concern about the influence of a centuries -old way of life.
“Our Jirgas has solved cases in months, sometimes for days, but the Pakistani overloaded judiciary lasts years,” said Shiraz Ahmed, a resident of a remote village who traveled 60 miles to hearing about a dispute in the land.
While some groups in former tribal areas call for a reversal of merging, analysts have said that it could basically hand over to the region of militant groups.
