PREFACE

I am serving in Pakistan Army since 2006. I had served ten years as an Armor officer in the Royal
Pakistani Armor Regiment, Armor Brigades, Armor Divisions and remaining six years on operations
in erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA - Now part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP)
Province). During opertaions I commanded a company, remained second in command of Frontier
Corps Wing, Anti-Smuggling Officer responsible to coordinate between military and concerned civil
departments to curtail smuggling, narcos and their nexus with terrorism and was also assigned the
duty of security of internment center.

Due to operations, I got the opportunity to see entire FATA, interact with local people and the
people of Afghanistan. I also learnt their culture, customs, manners, beliefs, tribal justice system and
nature of conflict within tribes, sub-tribes, clans, families and religious sects who shared same
culture, values, and belief systems. I also learnt the influence of non-state social groups (terrorists
groups), their emergence and effects of war against terror on the people of FATA.

FATA was considered a volatile area and very few Pakistanis went there. But this war against terror
compelled the maximum people of Pakistan and the world to know about FATA due to Media.
What I saw that the media was sharing very less information about the local people and this war
because generally journalists visited FATA either through military helicopters or miltary convoy
due to security reasons, attended briefings from military persons in military camps and
simultaneously interacted with selected local people for an hour in military camps, carried out
questioning and answering sessions and then went back to their respective cities. They spent a very
less time with the local people and shared the information to the world what they collected in an
hour. So there was a huge gap between the people of FATA and Pakistan/ World regarding the
perception of this war. This made me realise to fill the gap and apprise the world by writing a book
through local people perspective, who were actually involved in this war.

This book, then, is the result my own experiences of staying six years among local people of FATA,
fighting the war against terrorism, watching the completion of all phases of the war, i.e. clear, hold,
build and transfer, collection of data through interviews & discussions with locals, Maliks (tribe
elders), government & non-government officials, surrenderees, beneficiaries, detained Terrorists in
internment center, deradicalization center, civil jails and especially interviews with Asmat who
served under TTP, surrendered to Army and supported us against the TTP before moving to
Afghanistan due to life threat and a Malik (88-year-old, died in 2020) with encyclopedia knowledge
of the region and had businesses in Afghanistan & Pakistan.

This book doesn’t cover the story of Asmat only but a colloection of information and stories of
different individuals merged under the name of Asmat. It contains a brief overview of FATA &
South Waziristan, its demography, economic situation, financial condition of the local people .i.e.
how they earn and spent money, facilities available to them, circumstances under which Asmat was
born and spent his childhood (Part I). Imporatnce of rivaj, religion, madrassas, religious education &
how it shaped the society. Arrival of taliban in area under the cover name preachers, how religion
was exploited by these preachers, exploitation of government weaknesses, poverty, and bringing
economic opportunities for the local people, provision of free & swift justice to local people,
systematic development of bussinesses, expansion of Taliban, formation of govermnment by the
Taliban with in the region untill creation of TTP, and the circumstances which lead local people
especially young people including Asmat to join TTP (Part II). How TTP carried out recruitment
with in the area by using religious clerics, mosques and introducing their curriculum in madrassas,
transitioning of ordinary people to terrorists, trained the terroists for the attacks and made suicide
bombers which had not solution to counter even for the NATO (Part III). Deployment of Pakistan
Security forces (SFs) in the region to counter terrorism and simultaneously the fights with TTP
originates which further gains momentum and take large swath of territory in attack. Case studies of
TTP launched attack on SFs in FATA and Pakistan, how TTP carried out kidnapping of rich
individuals for money and how the SFs counter their attacks and strategies (Part IV). Followed by
the detailed information gathered from different sources .i.e. local people, detained terrorists in
internment center, surrenderees, media, books, newspapers, internet etc, regarrding TTP and other
militant groups which includes what they were doing before joining terrorists groups, how they
were picked, gathered, recruited with in different terrorists groups. Their organisation and
structure, where they were located, their strength, objectives, recruitment, political activities,
relationship with other groups, number of attacks they launched, financal and administrative
support by locals and outsiders, who provided them weapon, ammunition and ration. Role of
Foreign Intelligence Agencies (FIAs) supporting these groups. And how many young people
including Asmat find himself in terrorist quagmire, difficult to leave the group and ultimately join
TTA as only option for their own safety, their fighting strategies and splintering of groups (Part V).
Then there is a brief overview of Afghnaistan & TTA, TTA & TTP from local people perspectives,
how & why Asmat plunge into TTA from TTP and the life he spents under TTA (Part VI). The last
part covered US-Taliban agreement for bringing peace to Afghanistan, how multiple factors .i.e.
Religion, circumstances & Bussines were used by the terrorists groups, FIAs, Bussiness communities
to manipulate people for their own personal gains, especially the bussiness community including
smuggling and narcos industry and how they florished under the umbrella of terrorism and formed
a strong nexus. How the business community created a stong demand in the region for the people
included Asmat to join them under terrorist groups, to protect their cause which is definitely money.
And how Asmat find himself in quagmire, difficult to leave TTP and availed last option for his own
safety to join TTA. At the end Asmat asking asking his senior peers that what would be the future of
the region, terrorist groups and terrorism (Part VII).

Like an 'Art of War', this book was the 'War of Art'; part field study, part personal recollection, and a
little academic. I wrote this book over seven years in Base of Operations, check posts, earthen
bunkers, during combat operations, route protection duties, conferences, study periods, travelling
and on vacations in house. I'm not an expert on terrorism my field is Tank tactics (conventional
warfare), which is not quite the same thing. So, if you're looking for an expert opinion on terrorism,
there are better books to read. I am, however, an ordinary guy who is fond of travelling, going to
new places, meeting new people and learning new things from them, watching closely and keeping
notes of different events unfolding in the region. For what it's worth, then, this is my perspective on
how we got caught in terrorism, where terrorists groups came from, what it all means, and what
may happen next.

Except for references, everything written in this book reflects people's minds and perceptions
against whom the world was engaged in the last 20 years. And so, with a full heart, I humbly
dedicate this work to those who sacrificed their lives for our future, the Martyred of 20 Years of
Afghan War.