Frontline Pakistan : The Struggle With Militant Islam - Arz-e-Pak

The Tribal Warriors
game. Abdullah Mehsud, still defiant and at large, had been blamed
for the cycle of revenge killings.
General Khattak had lost hundreds of soldiers in battles with al-
Qaeda and its tribal supporters before he could establish partial control
over this extremely hostile land. But peace had remained elusive. The
militants had continued to hold sway, despite the military’s claim of
having cleaned up the region. In many cases, the government had
bribed the militants to buy peace. Pakistani military authorities had
confirmed having paid more than half a million dollars to top militant
leaders, in the wake of the botched military operations, to repay their
debts to al-Qaeda. The money was given to four Taliban commanders
who had earlier been on Pakistan’s list of most wanted terrorists. 31
The authorities had often paid tribal leaders to maintain peace in their
areas, but it was the first time money went to finance an al-Qaeda
operation. This policy of appeasement did not work as the militants
continued to use the territory as an effective base of operations.
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