For displaced Pakistanis to return home: fight the Taliban

May 19, 2015 00:40

Hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis displaced by anti-Taliban military operations in tribal areas wish only to return home -- but first they have to agree to fight the extremists themselves.

It's "social engineering" unheard of in the recent war on terror: displace an entire population, fight the insurgents who remain, then bring back those uprooted and charge them with keeping the militants at bay.

And this time, North Waziristan's displaced have little choice but to accept.

June marks one year since the army launched an offensive in this region of northwest Pakistan, which became a refuge for jihadists after the Afghan Taliban was driven from power across the border.

On the Taliban's fall in 2001, tribal chiefs welcomed them with open arms, or were forced to, transforming the area into a hub for the global jihadi movement, hosting fighters from Al-Qaeda, the Haqqani network and European apprentice militants, targeted by US drone strikes.

But in launching their operation last year, the Pakistani army pushed out hundreds of thousands of ordinary Waziris, who today live in camps, with relatives, or in rented hovels in the tribal areas.

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