The Waziristan conflict (2004–2006) was an armed conflict that began in 2004 when tensions rooted in the Pakistani Army's search for al-Qaeda members in Pakistan's mountainous Waziristan area (the Federally Administered Tribal Areas) escalated into armed resistance by local tribesmen. Clashes erupted between the Pakistani troops — who were frequently assisted by US air strikes — and al-Qaeda militants joined by local rebels and pro-Taliban forces. The struggle was seen as a part of the War on Terrorism, and had connections to the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan.

On September 5, 2006, it was announced that the Pakistan government and pro-Taliban tribes signed a peace agreement in which the tribes agreed to expel foreign militants and cease cross-border attacks in exchange for a reduced presence of Pakistani troops. If this peace treaty holds, it marks the end of the Waziristan War.

Timeline

Initial troop movements – July 2002
In July 2002, Pakistani troops entered the Tirah Valley in the Khyber Agency for the first time since independence in 1947. They proceeded to move into the Shawal Valley of North Waziristan, and later South Waziristan. This was made possible after long negotiations with various tribes, who reluctantly agreed to allow the military's presence on the assurance that it would bring in funds and development work.

However, once the military action started in South Waziristan a number of Waziri sub-tribes viewed the action as an attempt to subjugate them. As attempts to persuade them to hand over the foreign militants failed, and missteps by the authorities increased feelings of ill-will, the security campaign against suspected al-Qaeda militants turned into an undeclared war in 2004 between the Pakistani military and the rebel tribesmen.

Waziri attempts on President Musharraf's life – December 2003
In December 2003, two assassination attempts against President Pervez Musharraf were traced to Waziristan. The government responded by intensifying military pressure on the area, however the fighting was costly and government forces would sustain heavy casualties throughout 2004 and into early 2005 when the government switched to a tactic of negotiation instead of direct conflict.

Fighting breaks out – March 2004
In March 2004, heavy fighting broke out at Azam Warsak, near the South Waziristan town of Wana. Pakistani troops faced an estimated 400 militants holed up in several fortified settlements. It was speculated at the time that Osama bin Laden's deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri was among those trapped by the Pakistani Army, but he either escaped or was never among these fighters.

In April of 2004 the Government of Pakistan signed the first of three truce agreements with militants in South Waziristan. The second was signed in February 2005. The first two truces would not have a substantial effect in reducing bloodshed.

On May 4, 2005, Pakistani commandos captured Abu Faraj al-Libbi after a raid outside the town of Mardan, 30 miles north of Peshwar. Abu Farraj al-Libbi was a high ranking al-Qaeda official, rumored to be third after Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri. Al-Libbi replaced Khalid Shaikh Mohammed after his arrest in March of 2003 in connection with the September 11th attacks. The Pakistani government arrested al-Libbi and held him on charges in relation to being a chief planner in two assassination attempts on the life of President Pervez Musharraf in December 2003.
On January 13, 2006, the U.S. launched an airstrike on the village of Damadola. The attack occurred in the Bajaur tribal area, about 7 km (4.5 miles) from the Afghan border, and killed at least 18 people. The attack again targeted Ayman al-Zawahiri, but later evidence suggests he was not there. DNA analysis showed that at least five high-ranking al-Qaeda foreigners were killed, including Midhat Mursi, a bomb building expert, for whom a $5 million award was offered.
On March 4, 2006, Pakistani forces started a massive assault on pro-Taliban elements in the region. Pakistani officials said 46 militants and five soldiers died after fighting erupted, although some reports put the death toll at over 70.
On June 21, 2006, pro-Taliban militants in the Bannu region of North Waziristan stated they shot down a military helicopter that was reported to have crashed. The government denied missile fire as the cause, stating it was due to technical faults. On the same day militants killed an inspector and two constables on a road connecting Bannu and the main town of Miranshah; the police officers were reportedly ambushed and killed while praying along side their vehicle.

Ceasefire - June 2006
Also on June 21, 2006 the military head of the Taliban in Waziristan, Sirajuddin Haqqani, issued a decree that it was no longer Taliban policy to fight the Pakistan Army. This marked the end of significant fighting in South Waziristan, however the Taliban intentionally did not circulate the decree in North Waziristan thereby keeping pressure on the Government as the terms for a comprensive accord were worked out.

On June 26, 2006, a suicide car bomber killed nine Pakistani soldiers. Officials say that the explosives-laden vehicle detonated about six kilometres (four miles) east of Miranshah, the main town in the North Waziristan region.

Waziristan peace accord signed – September 2006
On September 5, 2006, the Waziristan Accord, an agreement between tribal leaders and the Pakistani government was signed in Miranshah, North Waziristan. to end all fighting. The agreement includes the following provisions:

The Pakistani Army will help reconstruct infrastructure in tribal areas of North and South Waziristan.
The Pakistani Military will not tolerate any assistance to intruders in North Waziristan, and will monitor actions in the region.
Prohibition on local tradition of arms and other equipment possession with the tribal leaders autherized in vouge of Russian war in the region.
The Pakistan government is to compensate tribal leaders for the loss of life and property of innocent tribesmen.
“Foreigners” (a euphemism for al-Qaeda and other foreign jihadists) are not allowed to use Pakistani territory for any terrorist activity anywhere in the world.
2,500 foreigners who were originally held on suspicion of having links to al-Qaeda or the Taliban were to be detained for necessary action against them.
The agreement, dubbed the Waziristan accord, has been viewed by some political commentators as a success for Pakistan. Further details of the agreement, as well as comments on the agreement made by US, Pakistani, and Taliban spokesmen is available in the Waziristan accord article.

Casualties
There has been no conclusive reports on the casualties of the war, though some authors, especially Pakistani writers, have estimated that the total casualties on both sides to be more than 1,000. Some have speculated that the unofficial number of Pakistani soldiers killed in action to be somewhere around 3,000.

A Pakistan writer, Ayaz Amir states that the army's "Casualties were high, perhaps unsustainable, although we’ll never know the exact figures, the Pakistan army not given to embarrassing disclosures." Imran Khan, leader of a Pakistani oppositional political party stated: "Waziristan has been a disaster; there’s been a disgraceful withdrawal from there. The Pakistan Army has been defeated."

According to AFP in 2007, around 700 soldiers and 1,000 militants have died in the operations.

Role of the United States in the conflict
Pakistan received about $4 billion from the United States for the logistical support it provided for the counter-terrorism operations from 2002 to 2006, and for its own military operation mainly in Waziristan and other tribal areas along the Durand line, according to a report of the Asian Development Bank. The Bush administration also offered a $3 billion five-year aid package to Pakistan for becoming a frontline ally in its 'war on terror'. Annual instalments of $600 million each split evenly between military and economic aid, began in 2005.

The Islamist in Waziristan views Musharraf as American puppet and traitor of Islam like former Egyptian President, Anwar Sadat.In his autobiography, President Musharraf wrote that the CIA had paid millions of dollars to the Pakistan government as bounty money for capturing al-Qaeda operators from tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. About 359 of them were handed over to the United States.

The Islamic Emirate of Waziristan (Urdu: اسلامی امارات وزیرستان ) is a rebel organization in Waziristan, Pakistan that some commentators claim gained de facto recognition from the Government of Pakistan when it was named as party to the Waziristan Accord, the agreement reached between Islamabad and local tribesmen to end the undeclared Waziristan War on September 5, 2006.
Description

The Islamic militants in Waziristan are said to have close affiliations with the Taliban. Waziristan is often mentioned as a haven for al-Qaeda fighters, who will be required to either leave the area or act peacefully as a condition of the negotiated peace accord. Some of these militants call their organization the "Islamic Emirate of Waziristan." According to anonymous sources, the Pakistan government effectively acknowledged the organization in the Waziristan accord of September 5, 2006 which referred to the organization in the agreement, however the agreement does not recognize the Islamic Emirate of Waziristan as an independent state, but only as a security body charged with fulfilling the obligations of the treaty.

There is speculation that Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders have found refuge in the area controlled by the Emirate, which is a staging ground for militant operations in Afghanistan. A condition of the truce is that no support be given for these operations. Local observers view the truce accord as a prelude to hot pursuit chases of mujahideen into Pakistan by NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Leadership structure

The Taliban in Waziristan is led by Maulavi Jalaluddin Haqqani, a veteran mujahideen commander and member of the Zadran tribe, who aligned himself with the Taliban and rose to be a cabinet member of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the official name of the former Taliban government of Afghanistan). He has delegated much of the day-to-day field operation to his son, Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is said to be military commander over all the Taliban-aligned militants in the Waziristan tribal regions.

In June of 2006, in advance of the Waziristan accord, the elder Haqqani issued a decree that stated that while the fight with the US and Karzai governments will continue "till the last drop of blood", it was no longer Taliban policy to continue to fight with the Pakistan army. The ceasefire edict was circulated only in South Waziristan, however, to keep pressure on the Pakistan government towards reaching a peace accord in the north (ultimately the Waziristan accord).

The Haqqani edict resulted in a partial ceasefire in South Waziristan, although some tribal militias continued to fight on in hopes of winning the release of fellow rebels imprisoned by the government. Ultimately it would be the Waziristan accord that would secure the release of all rebel fighters, both Taliban and non-Taliban.

While reporting on the June ceasefire in South Waziristan, the Dawn newspaper in Pakistan also reported that a senior Taliban figure (left unnamed), in consultation with local tribal leaders, had blessed Maulavi Nazir Ahmad as head of the militants of the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe. The senior leader also endorsed Baitullah Mehsud to continue as head of the mujahideen of the Mehsud tribe and appointed, Abdullah Mehsud, a renowed fugitive jihadist, to head a shura of mujahideen representing four additional tribes.

It is not clear if Maulavi Jalaluddin Haqqani, and thus the entire Pakistan Taliban leadeship, identifies himself as a part of an Islamic Emirate of Waziristan, or if it is a smaller, and perhaps non-Taliban, group of militants who invoke this name as a rallying cry.

After an initial miscue,the Government of Pakistan has consistently emphasized the Taliban was not party to the accord. However, on September 24, The Daily Telegraph published an article revealing the previously unnamed "senior leader" to be none other than Mullah Omar, the former leader of the Taliban in Afghanistan. Regarding Mullah Omar's role in the southern ceasefire and the truce in North Waziristan, the Telegraph quotes Lateef Afridi, a tribal elder and former member of the Pakistan national assembly, as saying:

"Had they (local tribal militants) been not asked by Mullah Omar, none of them were willing to sign an agreement... This is no peace agreement, it is accepting Taliban rule in Pakistan's territory."

A true state?

Though proclaimed by the rebels as a "state" or "emirate", there are questions regarding the region being called as such. Those who support that the region is a state point to the facts that the federal authority is little to nonexistent and that the area ruled mostly by tribal elders.Moreover, Taliban reportedly control most of the region with its own authoritarian rule including beheadings and other violent punishments which the Pakistan government has been unable to stop. Such brazen show of authority has led one author in the Wall Street Journal to remark that Waziristan Agency was a "state within a state"

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The War on Terrorism, The War Against Terror, or War on Terror can refer to several distinct conflicts, but it is most recently the name given by the United States of America and some of its allies[1] to an ongoing campaign with the stated goal of "ending international terrorism," launched in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S., for which al-Qaeda claimed responsibility.

In his address to a joint session of Congress and the American people following the attacks on September 11, 2001, President Bush defines the "war on terror." "Our war on terror begins with al Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated."

"And we will pursue nations that provide aid or safe haven to terrorism. Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists. From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime."

The campaign's stated goals include preventing those groups identified as "terrorist" by the United States (largely focused on militant Islamist groups such as al-Qaeda and its affiliates) from carrying out attacks and posing a threat to America and its allies; "spreading freedom" and liberal democracy; and putting an end to state sponsorship of terrorism in so-called rogue and failed states,[10] beginning with Operation Active Endeavor, NATO's anti-terrorism response to the trafficking of weapons. It was followed with the 2001 overthrow of the Taliban government in Afghanistan, which had sheltered elements of al-Qaeda including its leader, Osama bin Laden.

The War on Terrorism was launched by U.S. President George W. Bush, with support from NATO and other allies. The "War on Terror" has taken many forms, such as diplomacy, going after "terrorist financing," domestic provisions aiming to prevent future attacks, and joint training and peacekeeping operations with a wide variety of nations.

The phrase Global War on Terrorism (or GWOT) is the official name used by the U.S. military for operations designated as part of the campaign. Thus, the "War on Terror" as defined by this article is largely a military effort, and has been compared in both its unspecified, continuing duration and its multiple theaters of operation, to the Cold War. The war is also characterized as an ideological struggle, "involving both a battle of arms and a battle of ideas," and some have characterized it as a "clash of civilizations." Although the U.S.-led coalition that invaded Iraq in 2003 and toppled President Saddam Hussein was made up of allies in the "War on Terror," the current Iraq war and its alleged links to the larger campaign against terrorism have been highly controversial. The Bush Administration has been accused of acting in violation of international law, human rights, and the U.S. Constitution in its execution of the campaign, particularly with regard to the internment of prisoners of war (or "illegal combatants") in its military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

The U.S. government's articulation of military doctrines such as pre-emptive war and "regime change" as part of the War on Terror, as well as Bush and Blair's justifications for the war, have also been controversial. Both the larger concept of a "War on Terrorism," and the specific tactics used, have been subject to widespread criticism outside of the United States, and world opinion polls have shown limited support even in some nations whose governments and militaries are supportive. In addition, according to the U.S. government's own measures, international terrorist incidents have been on the rise since the campaign began. However, the U.S. and allies have claimed victories, such as democratic elections in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the capture of alleged 9/11 planner Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. The War on Terrorism has resulted in high military casualties on both sides, as well as high civilian casualties, although very few United States civilians have been killed other than those who died on 9/11, and is a "long war" whose planners expect it to continue for the foreseeable future.

In December 2006, the British Foreign Office advised the government to stop using the phrase "War on Terror." A spokesperson for the department said the government wanted to "avoid reinforcing and giving succour to the terrorists' narrative by using language that, taken out of context, could be counter-productive." Also, in December 2006, U.S. Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, as he prepared to end his tenure, expressed regret over the Bush Administration's use of the phrase "War on Terror," saying the phrase had created unattainable expectations and that "it's not a war on terror. Terror is a weapon of choice for extremists who are trying to destabilize regimes and impose their — in the hands of a small group of clerics — their dark vision on all the people that they can control."

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