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C O N F I D E N T I A L PESHAWAR 000394 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  7/9/2018 
TAGS: PTER MOPS PGOV PINR PK
SUBJECT: FATA: KHYBER OPERATION TRANSITIONS TO NEGOTIATIONS 
 
REF: A) PESHAWAR 379, B) PESHAWAR 348 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Michael A. Via, Acting Principal Officer, 
Consulate Peshawar, State. 
REASON: 1.4 (a), (b), (d) 
 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (C) A military operation in the Bara area of the Federally 
Administered Tribal Areas' (FATA) Khyber agency has given way to 
negotiations with tribesmen.  Khyber's Political Agent (PA) has 
prepared a list of demands that he intends to deliver to 
militant leaders with whom he believes he is negotiating from a 
position of strength.  The PA is already thinking of enforcement 
mechanisms which include levying heavy fines and having Frontier 
Corps forces stationed nearby and ready to respond. 
 
¶2. (C) Khyber's PA believes that the "successful" operation has 
bought him six to twelve months of breathing space that he 
intends to use to "consolidate" the GOP's presence in Khyber. 
Both the FATA Secretary for Law and Order and Khyber's PA told 
post separately that Frontier Corps forces would soon move to 
the Mangori area of Khyber agency (near Warsak) and the Mitchni 
area on the Peshawar/Khyber/Mohmand border.  While both 
officials were relatively upbeat in their appraisal of the Bara 
operation, it is still too soon to tell whether upcoming 
operations will meet with a similarly small measure of militant 
resistance.  End Summary. 
 
Readout on Bara Operation 
------------------------- 
 
¶3. (C) FATA Secretary for Law and Order, Ghulam Qadir and 
Khyber's Political Agent (PA), Tariq Hayat Khan told post in 
separate meetings on July 7 that military operations in Khyber's 
Bara area have given way to negotiations with tribal leaders. 
Qadir said that Mangal Bagh was not apprehended in the 
operations and is playing a leading role in negotiations with 
the GOP.  According to both Qadir and Tariq, the operation has 
had very few casualties due to the mission's limited objectives 
and the fact that "miscreants" did not resist as troops captured 
and demolished militant hideouts.  Four Frontier Corps troops 
were killed and three others were injured, however, in a 
militant ambush on July 8 which Khyber's PA attributed to 
"carelessness" by the Frontier Corpsmen.  One alleged militant 
was also killed during the first day of the operations when he 
failed to stop at a security checkpoint. 
 
¶4. (C) Khyber's PA expressed his opinion that "successful" 
military operations in Khyber's Bara area have helped to 
reestablish the writ of the government.  According to the PA, 
warlord Mangal Bagh's followers are defecting from his 
Lashkar-i-Islam organization and government offices are 
reopening in the area.  Lashkar-i-Islam continues to battle with 
a rival group, Ansar-ul Islam in the Tirah Valley.  Tariq 
claimed to have played a role in instigating the current round 
of clashes which have left more than a dozen Ansar and 
Lashkar-i-Islam fighters dead. 
 
¶5. (C) The PA conceded, however, that he was not given a 
sufficient amount of troops to carry out a "proper operation" 
against Mangal Bagh; only two wings of Frontier Corps troops 
(approximately 1,000 troops) were assigned to the Bara 
Operation.  (Note: Tariq has previously expressed frustration 
over his inability to procure the necessary troops to tackle 
Mangal Bagh early in his tenure as Khyber's PA, ref. B.  End 
note.)  Ghulam Qadir, however, reasoned that the two wings were 
"sufficient."  The "strike force" portion of the two Frontier 
Corps wings that were deployed to Bara will likely depart the 
agency in three to four days, but the "static" deployment will 
remain in the area to ensure law and order. 
 
Another Peace Deal in the Making? 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) Khyber's PA said that a group of 18 tribal elders 
representing a Bara peace jirga had approached his office and 
offered to broker a deal between the GOP and "miscreants" in 
Khyber agency.  The PA prepared an "undertaking" (a list of GOP 
demands) that would be conveyed via the peace jirga to Afridi 
tribal elders in Bara.  According to the PA, the undertaking 
contains the following provisions: 
 
-- Tribes will prohibit parallel government activities. 
-- Tribes will prohibit cross-border attacks. 
-- Tribes will prohibit militant training camps. 
-- Tribes will prevent militants from carrying out activities in 
neighboring tribal agencies.  (Note: Mangal Bagh's group has 
ventured into the neighboring Orakzai agency and clashed with 
Ansar-ul Islam activists there.  End note.) 
-- Tribes will prohibit attacks on GOP security forces. 
-- Tribes will not provide sanctuary to foreign fighters. 
-- Tribesmen will not carry personal firearms on government 
property. 
-- Tribesmen will not carry heavy weapons anywhere in Khyber 
agency. 
-- Tribes will provide protection to both GOP and foreigners who 
are carrying out development work in Khyber. 
 
¶7. (C) Tariq expected that several of the above provisions would 
be "softened" during subsequent rounds of negotiations, but 
insisted that he is bargaining from a "position of strength." 
According to both the Secretary for Law and Order and Khyber's 
PA, 26 of the 92 "miscreants" captured since the commencement of 
operations in Bara on June 28 are "hardcore" militants.  These 
26 prisoners will not be released in exchange for implementing 
the GOP's conditions.  Khyber's PA was also quick to 
differentiate this undertaking from the ones in South Waziristan 
where the political administration is facing "jihadis." 
 
Enforcement 
----------- 
 
¶8. (C) Should tribesmen accept the PA's conditions, an Assistant 
Political Agent would oversee a committee designed to ensure 
compliance with its provisions.  Khyber's PA said that a penalty 
of 50 million Rupees (approximately USD 735,000) would be levied 
on tribes found to be in violation of the agreement.  Further, 
the PA is authorized to suspend payments and Khassadar 
appointments to the offending tribe.  Finally, the PA said that 
Frontier Corps troops would be "standing by" to enforce the 
undertaking if necessary. 
 
Breathing Space 
--------------- 
 
¶9. (C) Khyber's PA reasoned that the operation in Bara and a 
subsequent understanding between the GOP and the tribes would 
create six to twelve months of "breathing space" for the GOP to 
"consolidate" its position.  He emphasized the importance of 
speeding up the justice system in Khyber to deny militants an 
avenue for garnering public support.  Tariq said that he was 
attempting to bring in additional magistrates to help clear an 
"intimidating" backlog of court cases.  Finally, he requested 
that the United States provide communication, mobility and 
ammunition supplies to Khassadar forces in Khyber to empower 
them to confront militants who now regularly outgun and 
outmaneuver them. 
 
Future Operations 
----------------- 
 
¶10. (C) Both Ghulam Qadir and Tariq Hayat Khan separately said 
that Frontier Corps troops would next move to the Mangori area 
of Khyber agency (located near Warsak) and Mitchni (a suburb on 
the Khyber/Mohmand/Peshawar Border).  Qaqir stated that the 
Mitchni operations would prevent Mohmand-based militants from 
"coming toward Peshawar."  According to Qadir, these two 
operations would pave the way for a future operation in Mohmand 
agency.  Khyber's PA stated that he would like to conduct a 
"clean up operation" in Landi Kotal in order to create a 
"sterile corridor" around the Tirah Valley until he could 
requisition enough troops to carry out an operation there. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶11. (C) The operation in Khyber's Bara area appears to be the 
opening salvo of a wider GOP plan to secure Peshawar's troubled 
flanks.  While both Qadir and Tariq were relatively upbeat in 
their appraisal of the Bara operation, it is still too soon to 
tell whether upcoming operations will meet with a similarly 
small measure of militant resistance. 
 
 
VIA