Mamoond Tribe Aligns With Pakistani Army

In a major change in dynamics on the ground in Banjour Agency, Pakistan, members of the powerful Mamoond (Mamund) tribe have pledged allegiance to Pakistani security forces and are raising a militia to help combat militants.

On October 4, hundreds of members of the tribe held a grand jirga that resulted in the official formation of a lashkar to help expel the militants and bring stability to the agency. In an operation declared to begin October 5, the Qaumi Lashkar is directed to burn any house found to harbor militants with a one million rupee fine to follow.

The jirga also agreed to peace efforts extended by the government and support its security forces.

All three major tribes in Bajour are now actively supporting the Pakistani government, with fighters, against the militants. Militant strength throughout the agency is believed to number in the thousands.

While the US government has been actively courting tribal leaders for months, signs began showing last week that the Mamoond Tribe was beginning to defect to the government side. Traditionally, the Mamoond Tribe is known to be aligned with militants, particularly because of inter-marriage with Al Qaeda fighters.

The Pakistani military has been pressing an offensive into Bajour since August 6 which has killed more than 1,000 militants and some 70 Pakistani soldiers. The fighting has also displaced more than 300,000 civilians.

The fight for Bajour is being closely watched by the Americans who are pressuring the Pakistanis to be tougher on the Taliban fighters openly operating in the border regions with Pakistan.

The Pakistani military expects the operation to be wrapped up by year’s end; a task much more realistic with the defection of the Mamoond Tribe.
A Battlefield Tourist

And everyone said that bombing and attacking the tribes would turn them away from us and towards the terrorist. I guess everyone was just wrong, again.

I'm guessing counterinsurgency works, where ever it's tried.