Unbelievable
Progress of the Military Operation Zarb-e-Azb By Sajjad Shaukat (JR186SS57)
Before the start of the military operation Zarb-e-Azb,
terrorists had been, primarily, waging a war against the citizens of Pakistan,
their values, beliefs and assets. 200 million people of Pakistan had, bravely,
been facing various kinds of terrorist acts for years. Afghanistan, Iraq,
Egypt, Libya, Syria and other Muslim countries have been facing various kinds
of terrorism related attacks, being conducted by the AI-Qaeda, the Islamic
State group ( Also known as Daesh ISIS and ISIL) and other militant outfits.
But, unlike other countries war against terrorism, including the US-led Western
countries’ war against these non-state actors, Pakistan’s Armed Forces
displayed unbelievable progress through the ongoing military operation
Zarb-e-Azb which started on Jun 15, 2014 against the militants in North
Waziristan Agency (NWA) and afterwards extended to other tribal areas, has
almost successfully achieved its objectives.
In
this regard, addressing the Defence and Martyrs Day ceremony on September 6,
2017, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan saluted the valour and sacrifices of
the armed forces, which stood strong against all odds in the aftermath of the
9/11 and the unconventional war which followed to safeguard the interests of
the country.
Addressing
the ceremony, Chief of Army Staff Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa stated: The country
passed through a very difficult phase during the past two decades…Our forces
and nation have rendered sacrifices in the war against terrorism…Our houses,
schools and leaders were attacked. Efforts were made to weaken us internally.”
Noting that more than 70,000 Pakistanis were martyred and injured in this war,
the army chief vowed to collectively fight this menace of terrorism.
Earlier, showing the progress of the Zarb-e-Azb, the then
Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Raheel Sharif said, “Terrorists have been cleared
from their strongholds in North Waziristan and Khyber Agency and fight now is
moving into last few pockets close to Afghan border.” He laid emphasis on
“continuation of the operations till elimination of the last expected and
probable terrorists groups and sanctuaries.”
When the Pakistan Government decided to launch this
operation, the then DG, ISPR Directorate, Major-Gen. Asim Saleem Bajwa had said,
“Armed forces of Pakistan have launched the operation against foreign and local
terrorists…who had been waging a war against the state of Pakistan by
disrupting our national life in all its dimensions, stunting our economic
growth and causing enormous loss of life and property…with the support of the
entire nation, these enemies will be denied space across the country.” He
further stated that military operation would continue till achievement of
ultimate objectives.
On June 16, 2014, Gen. Raheel Sharif also pointed out,
“Operation Zarb-e-Azb has been launched with the objectives of rooting out
terrorists, eliminate their sanctuaries in NWA and rid the country of
terrorism.”
After the militants of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)
massacred 132 school children at Army school in Peshawar on December 16, 2014,
while emphasizing national unity against terrorists, Gen. Raheel had repeatedly
stated, “Our resolve has taken new height”, and added “We will continue to go
after the inhuman beasts, their facilitators till their final elimination.”
However, since June 15, 2014, the jets of Pakistan Air Force
starting bombing militants’ hideouts in North Waziristan Agency and Khyber
Agency and killed thousands of insurgents including foreign militants, while
Pak Army has also killed several terrorists through ground offensive and many
of them surrendered before the Army. Thus, these forces destroyed their
strongholds, demolishing tunnels and factories producing IED (Explosives),
while drying the sources of their funds and sinking their public support.
In fact, the different war between Pakistan’s Armed Forces
and the TTP insurgents (And their affiliated groups) is simply a ‘clash of
wills’ between two entities. Military thinkers agree that although the physical
force will determine the type and scale of war, yet it is the ‘will to fight’
or ‘moral force’ that determines the outcome of war. Clausewitz puts it this
way, “One might say that the physical force seems little more than the wooden
hilt, while moral factors are the precious metal, the real weapon.”
In his book, “Fighting Power: German and U.S. Army
Performance, 1939-1945”, Creveld identifies the elements of ‘moral force’, whom
he calls “fighting power, the willingness to fight and the readiness, if
necessary, to die.” The greater these elements, the less vulnerable an armed
force will be to demoralization. ‘Moral force’, then, is the crucial factor in
determining the combat power of any belligerent.
During the successful military operation, Zarb-e-Azb”
retreat of the Taliban from North Waziristan has proved that such elements like
‘will to fight’ and ‘moral force’ have been more found in Pakistan’s Armed Forces
then the Taliban militants.
Nevertheless, there are other causes which also demoralized
the insurgents of the TTP and their affiliated militant outfits. Firstly,
strong determination and cohesiveness as noted in Pakistan’s Armed Forces
played a key role in expelling terrorists from North Waziristan Agency and
other tribal regions. And during street to street fighting, without bothering
for their lives, and by air-dropping commandos at the risky places, our forces
made a great headway in disrupting the Taliban supply routes, and links.
Secondly, general masses of the area opposed the brutal acts of these
terrorists which compelled them to leave their houses. They came to know that
under the cover of Islamic laws—terror, not Sharia was these militants’ real
agenda. Hence, they were misusing Jihad which does not allow suicide attacks in
killing their own Muslim brethren.
Undoubtedly, Pakistan’s Armed Forces have successfully
broken the backbone and organized capability of terrorists to launch well
thought-out attacks against the government assets and on innocent people. They
have met serious setbacks during the operation Zarb-e-Azb, and almost totally
been eliminated from Pakistan. It appears, as if the militants of TTP have lost
major grounds, and in severe frustration, they are trying to create some kind
of so-called pressure on the government and the Armed Forces through some
terror-activities which are due to external support of Indian RAW and some
foreign secret agencies to these terrorists, as they want to destabilize
Pakistan which is the lonely nuclear country in the Islamic World. However,
Armed Forces have castigated these terrorist’s groups to put up strong resistance.
International
community knows very well that Pakistan’s Armed Forces have successfully
defeated the the foreign-backed terrorists by the military operations
Zarb-e-Azb and Radd-ul-Fasaad. Army and top intelligence agency ISI have broken
the network of these terrorist groups by capturing several militants, while
thwarting a number of terror attempts. Peace has been restored in various
regions of Pakistan, including Karachi and Balochistan province.
It is mentionable that the North Waziristan Agency is the
largest tribal agency with difficult and complicated topography. But, by
sacrificing their own lives, the North Waziristan Agency and some other tribal
areas have been cleared by the Pak Army. Therefore, the Internally Displaced
Persons (IDPs) have returned to North Waziristan and some other tribal areas
and Pak Army helped them in their resettlement.
As terrorists had accelerated un-Islamic practices, while
challenging the writ of the state, and had frightened the entire nation by
their terror-acts. Therefore, leaders of various political and religious
parties including all segments of society and media anchors—particularly
commentators of TV channels, who wanted that a handful of terrorist elements
must not be allowed to dictate their agenda and to impose their self-perceived
ideology on the majority of Pakistanis are admiring the successes, achieved
during the operation Zarb-e-Azb. Now, the whole nation is united against
terrorism and is backing the military operation against these brutal militants
in other regions of the country.
Addressing the 218th Corps Commanders’ Conference on
February 4, 2019, Gen. Qamar Bajwa stated, “The dividends of improved internal
security situation must reach out to the people of Pakistan through
socio-economic development…Concurrent focus shall now be on strategising and
implementing comprehensive national response against machinations by hostile
intelligence agencies…inimical forces to undo the national gains for peace and
stability.”
By the grace of Allah, and with the
sacrifices of both Pakistani nation and the military, the peace has rejuvenated
in the country. Pakistan
is the only success story in the world in the war against terrorism.
Three tiers including the state, people and Law Enforcement Agencies jointly
fought the war, which was the main reason behind unprecedented success. No country in the world history has come out of the
menace of terrorism so fast as Pakistan did.
Notably, The
war on terror has had multifaceted ramifications for Pakistan such as political
and security repercussions, economic repercussions and socio-cultural
repercussions.
No doubt, the progress of the Zarb-e-Azb is very
encouraging, as it is fruitfully advancing towards its logical end. The unbelievable
progress of the Operation Zarb-e-Azb can be judged from the fact that what the
well-equipped and well-modernized the US-led NATO countries could not do in
Afghanistan in more than 14 years, Pakistan’s Armed Forces had done in one
year. Taking note of the ground realities, the US and other Western countries
have started appreciating the capabilities of Pakistan Army and other security
agencies like ISI.
Sajjad Shaukat
writes on international affairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic
Militants, Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International
Relations
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