Local leaders in Pakistan’s Pashtun tribal belt are raising sharp criticism of the military’s actions in the newly integrated FATA districts, accusing the Pakistan Army of supporting Taliban-linked militants and extracting tribal resources with impunity.
The once-autonomous Federally Administered Tribal Areas—now designated as merged districts within Khyber Pakhtunkhwa—have become ground zero for mounting unrest. Traditional elders and Pashtun politicians assert the army is offering covert backing to factions of the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), including the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, allegedly enabling them to occupy ancestral land and deplete its mineral and forest wealth.
Public frustration is boiling: the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) and Pashtun National Jirga have demanded an independent inquiry, charging that military operations have sidelined local authority and fueled resentment. They say the army’s so-called “backlash” is more punitive than protective, targeting families under the guise of anti-TTP actions, but often resulting in property seizures or forced evictions.
The military, for its part, maintains it is fighting a resurgent insurgency. Since the Taliban’s return to power in Kabul in 2021, the Pakistan Taliban have mounted increasingly frequent attacks across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, complicating stabilization efforts. Islamabad insists that its operations are intended to restore order and prevent militants from using FATA as a launchpad for cross-border violence.
Analysts caution that decades of uneven security campaigns and half-hearted tribal peace deals have alienated the very communities the army claims to protect. Military offensives in the tribal belt have frequently led to mass displacement, property destruction and lingering economic hardship—conditions that militants have exploited to embed themselves in vulnerable populations.
With voices from FATA growing louder and more unified, Pakistan now faces a critical choice: clamp down harder or pursue genuine reconciliation. The outcome will shape not only Pashtun trust in state institutions but also the country’s ability to counter the Taliban insurgency without repeating the mistakes of the past.
