The completely unreported war against the remnants of al-Qaeda and their extreme Taliban cousins has moved into an interesting phase. There have been reports of al-Qaeda and rogue Taliban in many parts of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan which run along the Afghanistan border. One of those areas was Bajaur Agency, which is seeing intense Pakistani military action to cleanse the region of Islamo Fascists:

 

Owing to the ongoing military operation against militants, thousands of people from Bajaur Agency have been left with no choice but to flee from the area for comparatively safer places in other areas of the NWFP.

Just recently these actions have resulted in the death of a high level Taliban leader:

Gunship helicopters on Thursday targeted two vehicles in Inayat Kali, Bajaur Agency, killing eight to ten militants, including Deputy Chief of the Tehreek Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Maulvi Faqir Muhammad, a high-ranking official confirmed to TheNation.

More here at Long War Journal on what the death of this leader might mean in the war effort.  What is happening now is really something interesting. Locals are starting an exodus out of nearby Mohmand Agency, indicating they feel the need to distance themselves from something:

 After a mass exodus from the strife-torn Bajaur Agency, tribesmen from the nearby Mohmand Agency have also started leaving their homes for safer places.

The migration of the tribesmen from different parts of Mohmand Agency started following a picket of paramilitary Khassadar force and a police station were bombed in Yakaghund subdivision of Lower Mohmand Agency on Thursday.

There are bombings all across Pakistan, so I doubt that alone initiated the exodus. I noted yesterday the Taliban were holding back families from leaving the war zones in order to use them as human shields. As this news is spreading I think other locals, knowing who might be hiding out in their region, are deciding to get out of the way ahead of time. There probably is no better indicator of where the bad guys are than the fact people are trying to leave their general location.

More reporting on this interesting exodus here:

People from more than 75 villages of Mohmand Agency have started to leave their homes, as a military operation is on cards in the strategic tribal agency to clear the area of Taliban militants, officials said on Thursday. 

Thousands of men, women, children and elderly people were leaving their houses to take refuge with their relatives in the suburban areas of Peshawar or inside the city, Daily Times learnt from those leaving their homes. 

The villages of Rahim Kor, Banglo, Dab Kor, Karerai, Aisho Kor, Zarif Kor, Sheen Derai and Badio were deserted after residents left. Taliban militants carrying Kalashnikov rifles and rocket-propelled grenades were patrolling different areas of Mohmand with impunity, eyewitnesses claimed. 

…

Security officials told Daily Times that an operation was likely to be launched in the next three days. The officials said the forces were deployed near the strategic Warsak Dam, which is located on the Peshawar-Mohmand border. 

According to locals, people had been fleeing the villages of the lower Mohmand Agency for three days.

The Taliban going on alert before the armed forces were mobilized, and the exodus beginning beforehand has well, could mean a lot of things. Someone inside the Pak government could have tipped off the Taliban. Or once the exodus started the Taliban knew what was coming. Either way, government and militant forces are heading for a showdown in Mohmand Agency.

In Kurram Agency the local tribes have been fighting each other, showing one of the signs of a possible Awakening movement in FATA.

In another truly interesting development, the Taliban seem to be totally cut off from outside sources of funding since they are now raising local taxes to fight their Jihad:

The Taliban are financing their “jihad” against the United States and supporting the families of the militants killed in the war with private taxation, besides Zakat and Ushr. 

Sources close to militants, tribal elders and government officials in various tribal regions where Taliban-linked militancy has paralysed business told Daily Times that the organisation has not made a uniform policy on Zakat so far. 

Taliban vary the taxation from area to area and depending on the financial status of traders. Bajaur is the worst case, where reports say the Taliban have imposed fixed taxes on traders, ranging from Rs 30 to Rs 25,000 per month. 

It seems the Muslim Street is not even raising cash for the Islamo Fascists.  Where are their powerful rich benefactors? Are they afraid to be caught sending money and other resources into the region? al-Qaeda’s fantasy of a modern caliphate are crumbling before our eyes, and very few western ‘journalists’ are paying attention. This is truly one bizarre war.

Tags: al-Qaeda, Bajaur, FATA, Kurram, Mohmand, Pakistan, Taliban