Pakistan from inception has
been striving for its survivability by encountering various internal and
external security threats. Initially the threat reabsorbing wars of gigantic
India which pushed Pakistan to be allied with United States (US) then its
involvement in Afghan War in the era of cold war as an interest oriented policy
of US to the weaponization and Nuclear Armed race. From the promotion of the
culture of terrorist in Zia’s regime and foundation of the concepts of religious
extremism, islamization and violence as the seedling phase for Global
Terrorization and extremist ideology to the 9/11 attack on World Trade Complex
(WTC) and Musharraf’s secular regime with Pakistan’s U-turn and Anti-terrorist
strategies and participation in Global war on terror meanwhile settling and
hiding of terrorists in the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA) of
Pakistan. Now the name of Pakistan has become synonymous with terrorists and it
itself trying to get rid of its self-made, violent and non-state actors, The
Terrorists and regionally Pakistan is being called to be as a hub of Terrorists.
The years after the 9/11, Pakistan has faced enormous internal security threats
committed mainly by terrorists group especially Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)
which made Pakistan to launch several military operations from Operation-al-Mezan
(2002) to the Operation Rah-e-Raast and Rah-e-Nijaat till the Operation
Koh-e-Sufaid (2011). Although their drive was in short to nail out the hidden
bases and hideouts of the terrorists groups and maintenance of law and order in
the operational region but none of these operations proved to be very fruitful
with long term security impact. Therefore, the initiatives to launch the
Operation Zarb-e-Azab were taken:
ZARB-E-AZAB (meaning the strike of the sword the Holy Prophet (PBUH) used in
Badr and Uhud) is among one of these anti-terrorist operations after the Rah-e-Nijaat
and Rah-e-Raast military offensives in South Waziristan and Swat valley
respectively. The operation initiated on 15th of June 2015 during which round
about 30,000 soldiers were managed to launch this operation after the
indiscriminate and blatant attack on the Jinnah International Airport on 8th of
June 2014. Further the failure in the negotiations civil government and
terrorist groups left Pakistan Military to initiate this Anti-Terrorists
offensive in the region of North Waziristan (NWA), one of the Federally
Administered Tribal Areas.
Although the prior operations did to their best with lasting effect but these
were confined to their given targets while the North Waziristan the hub of
terrorist outfits and sanctuaries was still left unaffected and the revoking
attacks on different institutions became the causes for the start of this
operation. Later the Operation Zarb-e-Azab was launched to curtail terrorism and
extremism, mainly against TTP outfits in NWA, and to stop foreigners from
internal penetration and security of people and porous border, especially for
the revival of peace and order situation in FATA.
In this operation, the Pakistani Army smashed around 2,763 radicals, terminating
837 sanctuaries, piloted 9,000 intelligence-based operations and 226 Pakistani
brave officers and soldiers were martyred. During this operation the Pak Army
destroyed the far-reaching quantity of arms and ammunition and captured around
18,087 weapons and 253 tons of explosives [the given figures of Operation
Zarb-e-Azab are only provided by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
(The arms and ammunition showcasted by Pakistan Army after driving out militants
from Pakistan’s North Waziristan with Pak- Aghan border_Photo by APP)
In 2015 around one year after the start of this Operation, Pakistan Army is
believed to clear approximately 80% of the area with the five known cities of
Miran Shah, Mir Ali, Datta Khel, Boya and Degan of North Waziristan. This
operation is believed to have large impact and positive approach towards
Pak-Afghan relations and their mutual interests for the survival and security of
the region. Along with this the impact of this operation upon the resulting
standing of Pakistan can be understood from the operations influence on internal
stability while showcasing the positive image of Pakistan in international arena
as a state with anti-terrorist stance. It also improved the ties between China
and Pakistan in the security concerns over china Pakistan economic corridor. Due
all these efforts and with the cooperative functioning of civil and military it
resulted in the decreased number of terror attacks with decline in internal
instability and the shift of new way to the prosperity to Pakistan.