Long story short, we completely underestimated the numbers of the enemy...the other issues have been present since long, no border reinforcement on the other side, civilian rehabilitation, all is now part and parcel of this counter insurgency.
A lack of planning is inexcusable. We have lost a good 30-40 soldiers because of this. What the hell is wrong with our military top brass? Why can't they get figure out a way to strike at the opportune time? I don't understand where was the army when their proxy AI was fighting LI/TTP combine. Only when AI got overrun, and apparently the LI/TTP rats dug in, our military swings into action. Of course, its going to be a harder fight now!
The same thing happened in Swat! The military allowed Fazlullah and his thugs to take over the valley and unleash a wave of rape and mayhem. Once action was finaly taken, 2 million Swatis were displaced! How about nipping these assholes in the bud? Why does our military keep making the mistake of giving these thugs any room to maneuver?
And lets not talk about popular consensus. Most people right now don't even know whats happening in Tirah. The fact is the military swings into action when it decides to. I just wish our generals would stop vacillating about finally taking down the TTP with a wrecking ball. Wake up General Kiyani! The days of proxy mercenary assets are over - you need to kill these dogs you called your own once upon a time. Enough is enough - no mercy for TTP or its affiliated Salafi militant groups, the Mangal Baghs, the Haqqqanis...the good, the bad the ugly!.
Does the military top brass even care about our soldiers getting killed? Or is this merely part of a strategic depth bullshit game? A game that is being played with the real lives and real blood of our soldiers.
General Kayani, if you have any regard for the lives of our soldiers, Take off the gloves.
Tell our soldiers that they are fighting for the very survival of our state. Tell them that they need to fight militants we spawned years ago - pseudo religious jihadis who don't give a **** about our country and would much rather establish a salafi fiefdom. Tell them that the top military brass made a huge strategic mistake by allowing, and then giving more space in the 90s, to an insidious tribal ideology imported from Saudi to infect our national security narrative. Unfortunately the imported ideology trumped nation-state agenda and the rest is history. Tell them it is time to fix that mistake.
As things stand, Kashmir agenda is dead and buried as these Salafi militants eye a much bigger prize - Pakistan - or will it be Salafistan? The battle for NWA will decide the outcome. Tirah Valley is just the beginning.