Causes and factors responsible for Operation Zarb-e-Azb: perspective of internally displaced persons of North Waziristan, Pakistan

After 9/11 incident, the US and NATO forces entered Afghanistan to defeat Al-Qaida and its affiliated militant group–Taliban. The NATO forces invasion pushed militants from Afghanistan to take refuge in nearby places. Due to close proximity and vulnerable borders, many of these militants entered Pakistan’s erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), which resulted in the growth of militancy and extremism in the region. Pakistan launched a series of operations to counter terrorism and its facilitators. Operation Zarb-e-Azb was the continuation of those operations, started as a last vengeance in North Waziristan Agency with the aim to evacuate common people and then to extinguish militants. Resultantly, operation started in the mid of June, 2014 and the people of North Waziristan Agency started migration to the adjacent areas i.e., Bannu, Lakki Marwat and Karak etc. with worries and miseries in their hearts. Operation Zarb-e-Azb has been discussed in the literature. However, the perspective of IDPs has been overlooked. The study is descriptive-exploratory which is accomplished on a mixed study approach. This research article aimed to assess the perception of IDPs camped in Lakki Marwat from 2014-17 regarding the operation's causes and factors and the problems IDPs faced during displacement.