Well, not many. But, all the same, the vast stretch of Pakistan's western border with Afghanistan has become not only a center of great conflict but also a new priority for the United States' so-called "global war on terror."The border in question is known as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan, which are outside the four provinces of the country, comprising a region of some 27,000 square kilometers. FATA is bordered by Afghanistan to the west with the border marked by the Durand Line, the North-West Frontier Province and the Punjab to the east, and Balochistan to the south.
The total population of FATA was estimated in 2000 to be about 3,341,070 people, or roughly 2 percent of Pakistan's population. Mostly Pashtun tribes inhabit the region. Only 3 percent of the population resides in established townships. It is the most rural administrative region in Pakistan.
FATA comprises seven administrative agencies, namely Khyber, Kurram, Bajaur, Mohmand, Orakzai, North and South Waziristan and six frontier regions. The main towns are Miranshah, Razmak, Bajaur, Darra bazzar and Wana.
This week FATA was the focus of attention of both US President George W. Bush and the Pentagon. During his long speech at the National Defense University Bush spoke about Afghanistan and drew attention to FATA in these words:
''As we take these new steps in Afghanistan, we must also help the government of Pakistan defeat Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters hiding in remote border regions of the country. These extremists are increasingly using Pakistan as a base from which to destabilize Afghanistan's young democracy. In the past year, the Taliban, al-Qaeda and other extremist groups operating in these remote regions have stepped up their attacks against the Pakistani government.''
Following Bush, Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaking at the House Armed Services Committee, offered a blunt and clear assessment of the war in Afghanistan and called for an overhaul in US strategy there, warning that thousands more US troops, as well as greater US military involvement across the border in FATA, are needed to battle an intensifying Taliban insurgency.
''Afghanistan and Pakistan are inextricably linked in a common insurgency that crosses the border between them. Until we work more closely with the Pakistani government to eliminate the safe havens from which they operate, the enemy will only keep coming. ... I am not convinced that we are winning in Afghanistan. But I am convinced we can. … Frankly we are running out of time. Not sending US reinforcements to Afghanistan is too great a risk to ignore," he said.
Mullen's boss, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, also spoke about Afghanistan with the committee and signaled that the US would give increasing priority to the Afghan war and the threateningly expanding insurgent sanctuaries in Pakistan.
With US leaders having declared their intention to give priority to eliminating safe havens in FATA, a new page is about to open in the difficult relations with Pakistan, which vowed a few days ago that it would not allow US forces cross into FATA.
However, the US is determined to cross into FATA and conduct commando operations there, as shown by a helicopter-born operation carried out last week in the South Waziristan region of FATA. Moreover, it is reported that Bush secretly approved orders in July allowing US forces to carry out ground assaults inside FATA without approval from Pakistan.
With all these dangerous and ominous signs and developments, FATA and its problems are likely to become a new flashpoint between the US and Pakistan and that, of course, will make matters worse for everybody.
We will hear a lot about the once remote, now very ''near'' FATA in the coming days.
