Operation Zarb-e-Azb

Operation Zarb-e-Azb
Part of the War in North-West Pakistan
– North Waziristan – FATA – Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Date June 15, 2014 – ongoing Location North Waziristan, FATA, Pakistan 32°57′45.31″N 70°7′32.64″E Status Ongoing
Belligerents
Pakistan NWPORBAT Pakistan Army Pakistan Air Force Pakistan Navy ISI CAD Frontier Corps Frontier Constabulary Local Peace Committee	Insurgent groups Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Lashkar-e-Islam Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan East Turkestan Islamic Movement
Commanders and leaders
Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Chairman JCSC Rashad Mahmood Army Chief Raheel Sharif DG ISI Zaheerul Islam Air Chief Tahir Rafique Butt Naval Chief Asif Sandila	Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan Maulana Fazlullah Khan Said Hafiz Gul Bahadur Mangal Bagh

Operation Zarb-e-Azb (Urdu: آپریشن ضربِ عضب) is a military operation involving Pakistan against the armed insurgent groups such as the Taliban (TTP), LeI, TNSM, al–Qaeda, and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU).

The operation was launched by the Pakistan Armed Forces on June 15, 2014 in North Waziristan, in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas along the Afghan border, as a renewed effort against militancy in the wake of the attack on Jinnah International Airport on 8 June claimed by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. It has been described as a "comprehensive operation" that aims to flush out foreign and local militants hiding in North Waziristan. It is part of the ongoing War in North-West Pakistan.

Etymology

Zarb-e-Azb in Urdu means "sharp and cutting". "Azb" also refers to the name of the sword of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, which he used in the Battle of Badr and the Battle of Uhud.

Background

Jinnah Airport attack

Main article: 2014 Jinnah International Airport attack

The operation started exactly a week after the terrorist attack on the Pakistan's busiest airport. On 8 June 2014, 10 militants of TTP and Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan attacked Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 36 people, including all 10 attackers, and wounding at least 18 persons.

Following the attack, the Pakistani military launched a series of aerial strikes on militant hideouts in the tribal areas along the Afghan border. At least 25 militants were killed on 10 June, including foreign fighters. Two drone attacks on 12 June also killed Uzbek, Afghan and some local militants. On 15 June, the Pakistani military intensified air strikes in North Waziristan, and bombed eight foreign militant hideouts killing Up to 150 insurgents, a majority of whom were Uzbeks, including those linked to the airport attack and a key Uzbek commander and mastermind of the airport attack, Abu Abdur Rehman Almani. The intensified aerial strikes were conducted in the wake of the attack, and were an extension of a campaign of military operations against militants being conducted since the past few months.

Peace-negotiations

The peace-negotiations with Taliban were announced by the Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, as he came to power after the elections. Previous attempts to engage the Taliban in a dialogue process had failed. The first session of the talks was held on 26 March 2014, at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House, Islamabad. These talks were held by the committees appointed by the Government of Pakistan and Taliban. The Taliban did not name representatives from within their own ranks and instead nominated pro-Taliban religious figures to represent their views. The Taliban called for the implementation of Sharia law in Pakistan, whereas the Pakistani government demanded hostilities to be ceased, and insisted that the talks should be held within the framework of the Constitution of Pakistan. A month-long ceasefire was reached between the government and Taliban on 1 March, 2014.

The talks involved travelling of the government representatives to the area near the Afghan border by helicopter, and meetings also took place at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House. The government had indicated that stronger military action will be used if negotiations fail.

Failure

The peace-negotiations collapsed after the execution of 23 Pakistani Frontier Corps soldiers by the Taliban on 17 February, 2014. The soldiers had been held by the insurgents since 2010. On 17 April 2014, the TTP formally ended the ceasefire. More than 90 militants were killed in Taliban infighting since March 2014. The infighting resulted from the differences between the Mehsud group led by Sheheryar Mehsud and another TTP faction led by Khan Said Sajna, thus impeding the peace-talks. The peace-talks suffered a death blow due to the terrorist attack on Karachi Airport, with the Taliban claiming responsibility for the brazen attack that led to the killing of 26 people.

A Pakistani security official was quoted to have said: "the army is ready for an operation. It now all depends on the government to make a decision."

Reactions

Domestic

Social media

The decision of the Pakistani military to launch a comprehensive operation saw a massive support. Journalists, opinion makers, politicians and other local social media users commended the operation.

Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf

Pre-operation reaction

Prior to plans having materialized for the operation, Chairman Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf, the second largest national party, Imran Khan had declared an operation against militants as "suicide", stating it would cause more violence in Pakistan, especially in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Khan emphasised on the government to isolate and hold peace talks first with those militant factions who were willing to conduct dialogue.

Post-operation reaction

"PTI was not aware of this. We were not informed that a wide scale operation will be launched in North Waziristan,” PTI ]]National Assembly (Pakistan)|MNA]], Dr Arif Alvi said. He added that his party has always maintained that an operation of this scale will result in a large influx of refugees in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where PTI forms government. “The government should have told us so we could have prepared for this.”