Sir: According to the Pakistan military, so far over 180 militants have been killed, dozens captured and their safe havens and ammunition depots taken out as part of the ongoing Zarb-e-Azb operation in North Waziristan. All exit points from North Waziristan have been cordoned off and there is a growing impression that the Taliban have been cornered, pushed to the wall. As expected, the local population will bear the brunt of the engagement in the form of internal displacement from their homes. So far, thousands of people have left their homes, and some of them are reported to have gone to neighbouring Afghanistan.Like the Swat operation, this operation is also politically owned by the government and backed by all major political parties. Pakistanis have attached very higher expectations with this operation and are waiting for enduring peace and calm as a result. This operation will definitely bring some positive changes but in my view, it will not necessarily bring a permanent peace.It is probable that the Taliban may have migrated to safer places, especially since it is very difficult to seal the long border with Afghanistan. In unconventional wars, guerillas don’t usually face a large well-trained army but choose to melt away and then conduct small but planned attacks. In such kinds of operations there will always be significant success — especially early on in terms of regaining lost territory — but this should not be deemed a standard for success. This is what we witnessed in case of Operation Rah-e-Raast in Swat in 2009 and Rah-e-Nijaat in South Waziristan the same year.As for the impact on the Taliban, the issue is that even if they are being targeted in one Agency, they are present in several others. Furthermore, the TTP chief, Mullah Fazlullah, is said to be hiding in Afghanistan so he is not even in the picture as far as this operation is concerned. Mullah Fazlullah managed to escape the Swat operation, cross into Afghanistan and eventually went on to become the head of the TTP.I believe that this operation is not going to come to an end any time soon. Government officials are pledging it will come to an end before the month of Ramazan (which means before July). Why I say that it won’t end any time soon is because the effects such as massive displacement of people will be there for many months to come. I fear it may take the Wazirs and Dawars of North Waziristan years to return to their homes, just like the Mehsuds of South Waziristan.Aside from the above complexities, another flaw in the operation is that it is only against the bad Taliban like the TTP and affiliated al Qaeda fighters, while the ‘good Taliban’ like the Haqqani network and Gul Bahadar group are to be spared. Such a discriminatory approach to terrorism in itself perpetuates the problem.The above description does not mean that the Zarb-e-Azb operation will achieve nothing. It will disrupt the TTP for a few months, stop attacks in major cities and will bring down the otherwise increasing graph of kidnapping and extortion in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA. It will also assuage the anger of all those families that have lost their loved ones in terrorist attacks. But it cannot bring long-lasting peace.Azizullah KhanD I Khan