MUST READ: THE TALIBAN'S TURF WAS IN SOUTH WAZIRISTAN

The Taliban's Turf War in South Waziristan
By Tarique Niazi

A deadly split has opened between the native Pashtun Taliban and non-native al-Qaeda-linked Uzbek militants in South Waziristan, a tribal agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan. More than 200 Uzbeks have thus far been killed since the outbreak of fighting on March 19 (Dawn, April 5). On April 6, the government claimed to have cleared the area of Uzbek militants, who were holed up in the military bunkers that government troops left behind after a peace deal with the Taliban in 2005 (Dawn, April 6). Musharraf's regime flaunts this conflict as "the success of the peace deals" it has reached with the Taliban (Dawn, April 5). Informed sources in the region, however, reject the government's claims. "All that is happening [in South Waziristan] has little to do with the government…that has shown remarkable ignorance of tribal history" (Dawn, April 5).

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Pertinent Links:

1) The Taliban's Turf War in South Waziristan