The law and order situation which has been bad enough in the North Waziristan Agency due to an ongoing fight between the security forces and militants (better known in the area as Taleban for their support for the Taleban fighters in the neighbouring Afghanistan) has taken an uglier turn during the recent days.
Reports coming out of Miranshah speak of the militants administering erstwhile Taleban style justice in the area. Last Wednesday, a clash broke out between the militants and a local 'gang' headed by one Mohammed Hakeem, whose men were said to have set up checkpoints on various city routes in order to collect extortion money.
The clash left 14 people dead, and three others wounded, 11 of the dead being members of the alleged Hakim gang. Afterwards, some 600 Taleban armed with rocket launchers and assault rifles dragged the bodies of their dead opponents through the city centre, hanging three of them atop electricity poles for public display.
Meanwhile, they continued to conduct house-to-house search for other members of the alleged gang, and nabbed two men on Thursday night. They killed these men, and tied their decapitated bodies to pick-up trucks, dragging the bodies on the roads to later string them up on electric poles.
This horrible summary justice, according to the militants, is meant to serve as a lesson for the areas' people, who have been warned that "those who indulge in crimes and other vices shall meet a similar fate." Clearly, they feel confident enough to think they can punish people at will and order the affairs of that part of this country according to their own liking.
Which raises the obvious question where were the government and its security forces when all this happened? Of course they were there, but chose to do nothing.
The political authorities withdrew the Khasdar Force as soon as the first clash started. More significant, the troops stationed in the Agency headquarters, too, did nothing to stop the violence. Government officials in Peshawar later tried to justify their stance, saying that it would be inappropriate to take action against the militants because they had "tremendous local support in their action against those thugs." In plain words, this means that the local people trust the militants more than the government for their security, which certainly does not reflect well on the authorities responsible for administering the area.
Nonetheless, considering that the situation there is a lot more messy than the authorities are willing to admit, it is quite possible that they had actually wanted the two sides to fight it out, in the hope that this would ultimately weaken the militants, too. Such a policy, though, can be very dangerous.
For after doing what they did unhindered, the militants will be emboldened to carry out more operations to implement their 'vice and virtue' agenda a la the erstwhile Afghan Taleban. It is utmost important, therefore, that the government establish the writ of the state in our turbulent tribal areas.