Not so long ago, “Counter-Terrorism” was an abstruse word for Pakistan’s military till General Tariq Khan stepped up and was handed over the command of 14 Division and later on Frontier Corps. It was August 2008, when Colonel Nauman (Commandant Bajaur Scouts) informed General Tariq Khan about the deplorable situation in Loe Sam, Bajaur in which FC troops supported by a single tank got ambushed by the militants. It was only after when Colonel Nauman was asked to reach the fort at Khar that he realized that all other administrative and government buildings were fully taken over by the militants.

Upon reaching the fort, Nauman, who previously also had served under General Tariq as GSO-I in Armoured Division, explained the situation to the General, who then without any delay requested the Air Force for an airstrike in the region due to which the militants within the radius were obliterated. This was about breaking the Khar siege which then ultimately paved way for the defining battle in Bajaur that restored the military’s credibility and forced the American military officials to praise the ruthless military operation in Bajaur. The former U.S Secretary of Defence Robert Gates said that the United States was ‘encouraged’ by the Bajaur operation.

ON–GROUND SITUATION

Military operations are conducted to achieve a special environment and Bajaur being a strategic region was once under the rule of Afghani Militants. It was before this battle that the provincial government was looking for options to shift its business from Peshawar to Abbottabad and Bajaur itself was run as a separate state by an Afghan militant Qari Zia Rehman. The Indus highway was closed and Khyber international route to Afghanistan was unsafe and vulnerable for NATO logistics. The Corps Commander’s house was even subjected to a number of mortar attacks. Bajaur comprises of four valleys i.e. Chamarkand, Mamund, Salarzai, Utmankhel. The main issue was Chamarkand and Mamund since these both were connected with Afghanistan’s Kunar province. General Tariq Khan wanted Regional Command-East headed by General Curtis Scapparotti to block the movement of militants from Kunar as SIGINT indicated that safe havens were offered to the militants hiding in Afghanistan. Before the military operation in Bajaur, the road from Khar to Loe Sam was heavily infested with tunnels and all roads were controlled by the militants.

Bajaur serves as a gateway to Kunar Province in Afghanistan. The militants seized Bajaur and even created a network of interconnected tunnels, equipped with ventilation systems.

On various occasions, Pakistan Air Force played a vital role in Bajaur, using 500 and 2000-pound bombs to destroy and break the tunnels and well-structured compounds.