The decimation of the Taliban in the Malakand Agency and in it’s suburbs was imminent, but the weeks long military operation is taking it’s toll on the people who are displaced in specific and upon rest of the Pakistan in general. The sooner it ends, the sooner miseries would quell and things would look more hopefull, until then confusion and frustration and the fear grips the country.
Far numerous, better-equipped and aerially-supported Pakistan Army troops have thrashed the Taliban and the terrorists are on the run. Terrorists have either been killed, arrested or they are on the run. The top leadership of the terrorists is still out there in hiding, more likely in the FATA area, and that is worrisome.
Like all other operations, the Operation Rah-e-Raast is painful and controversial. But there are also lessons to be learned in what has happened out there at every front. Slogans and songs apart, we need to be very much on our toes and take the inventory of what has happened and what should happen next. In Waziristan at least the militants remain largely untouched, their networks apparently intact. If there is to be success in the final goal of wiping out militancy, Waziristan should be the target.
