Columbia International Affairs Online: Policy Briefs

CIAO DATE: 02/2011

Pakistan: dealing with peace in the tribal areas?

Laila Bokhari

November 2010

Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Centre

Abstract

The six Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) along Pakistan's western border have long been seen as a hub for militants, some with sympathies to the Taliban and al-Qaeda. The region has increasingly come to the world's attention as a recruitment and training base for groups responsible for attacks on Pakistani soil and as a launch pad for attacks on US troops and their allies in Afghanistan. Even though the various groups comprising the Pakistani Taliban have been around for a number of years, it was only in December 2007 that they formally established themselves as a united force.