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 The ongoing insurgency in Pakistan's north-western frontier remains one of the most complex and least understood conflicts around the world. With an area of 27,270 sq. km, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas are roughly the size of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and are home to over forty Pakistani militant groups. The umbrella group, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), is active in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa's 24 districts, seven tribal agencies and six provincial regions. The estimated strength of all militants within the region is at least 40,000. According to the Brooking Institutes' Pakistan Index, the total strength of the militants could be over 100,000. Whereas the insurgency is largely a Pakthun movement, the Al-Qaeda aligned rebels' ranks include Arab, Chechen, Uzbek and Sudanese fighters. Moreover, former ISI sponsored insurgent militias - such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hizb-ul-Mujahidin, Jaish-e-Mohammad, et cetera - which fought against the Indian military in Jammu Kashmir have also joined the tribal militants, calling themselves the Punjabi Taliban. Uighur militants waging a low-level insurgency in China's Xinjiang province are also allegedly present within FATA.
Title: Pakistan's Troubled Frontier
Editor: Dr. Hassan Abbas
Publisher: Jamestown Foundation (April 15, 2009)
Pages: 301 pages, Paperback
Price: U.S. $24.95
ISBN-10: 0981690521
ISBN-13: 978-0981690520
The situation, as can be seen from these selected facts, is a deeply complex one. Within this maze which features a plethora of rebel outfits, numerous rebel leaders and spokespersons, rebel infighting, shifting alliances, military operations and truces, Hassan Abbas's Pakistan's Troubled Frontier steps in as an illuminating source. The book is an edited volume comprised of short articles previously published in two of Jamestown Foundation, a Washington, D.C think-tank's, publications, Terrorism Focus and Terrorism Monitor. It has been divided into eight parts which cover the Lal Masjid incident, origins and nature of the TTP, NATO's interests and activities inside the tribal areas, profiles of the seven tribal agencies with discussions on the militant groups and insurgent commanders operating therein, the role and shortcomings of the Frontier Corps, Pakistani security forces and tribal militias in the conflict, a history of the insurgency in Swat and Pakistan's response, and security issues in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
Even most Pakistanis do not fully comprehend this conflict, resting instead with simplistic notions that the insurgency is an American-Israeli-Indian sponsored conspiracy aiming to destabilize Pakistan and lead to its dismemberment. This volume displays the intricate realities of the war. It points out that the Pakistani Taliban are not a monolithic group and that the ranks of the militants are by no means united in action and ideology. The conflict in FATA is extremely localized and the formation of militant groups and their actions and decisions are the product of local political needs and developments. Thus, Kurram Agency features a sectarian conflict with aspects of inter-tribal conflict as Sunni and Shia tribes fight one another. In South Waziristan the traditional Mehsud-Wazir rivalry manifested itself when Mullah Nazir and Hafiz Gul Bahadur joined forces against Baitullah Mehsud who had assassinated Waziri tribal elders. In Swat Sufi Mohammad's Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) joined forces with the TTP to bring about a political agenda that it had been working on since the late 1980s. Therefore, whereas there is a consensus around the idea that these militants are Islamist extremists looking to spread Shariah Law, the reality is that the motivations to fight are as diverse as the groups and their leaders.
With keen insights and powerful analyses written by Pakistani experts of FATA and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa such as Rahimullah Yusufzai, Mukhtar A. Khan and Imtiaz Ali and well-known American security analysts such as Michael Scheuer and C. Christine Fair, the book is a readable primer for the popular audience within Pakistan and abroad and a helpful source for academics and policy experts for reference.
The book could have benefited from better editing. In many parts typos and spelling errors appear. Also, the articles published herein are reprints. The book should have included new writing and previously unpublished articles. Furthermore, at least a couple of more detailed academic pieces which focus on dissecting the insurgency and its actors, as opposed to simply reporting on the developments, could have strengthened the content quality of the book.
Home to full-scale rebellion and a safe haven for international rebels, FATA itself in many ways has become the militant capital of the world. It's a 27, 270 sq. km area from where insurgencies are being or have been waged in Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and Uzbekistan and terrorist acts have been planned for Western countries. Home to leaders of the Afghan insurgency, such as Gulbedin Hekmatyar and the Haqqani network, leaders of Al-Qaeda, fighters from the Iraqi insurgency, and militants of the different nationalities mentioned earlier, FATA is truly the metropolitan hub of rebellion. Anyone wanting to begin understanding the incredibly complex nature of this conflict and gain sophisticated knowledge about the volatile situation in the region should pick up Pakistan's Troubled Frontier. 
Shehzad H. Qazi is a Research Associate at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding and Founder of the Council on Strategic and International Affairs.
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