One tribal leader has claimed that 5,000 people living in the Khyber Pass region have been killed in the past 18 months. At least, 70 have been beheaded by the Taliban while hundreds have been killed by Pakistani government forces, he said. The numbers may be in dispute, but there is little to defuse the argument that the inhabitants of Khyber Agency, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, are caught in the middle of a struggle between the Taliban and the Pakistani government for control of the Khyber Pass, a primary supply route from Pakistan into Afghanistan. The Taliban have famously attacked supply convoys heading for Afghanistan while the US continues to send attack drones into the area, targeting militants but resulting in untold deaths of local residents who want little more than to live in peace. The Pakistani government also launches periodic ground and air offenses to try to stem the insurgency there. There is not likely to be any quick resolution for those living in the area. Created by the British as a buffer between Afghanistan and British India (the area which now lies in Pakistan), Pashtuns in both countries ordinarily consider themselves Afghans and the Taliban have exploited this to full effect, seeking sanctuary, winning support and intimidating the communities that live throughout the region. At the same time, government actions in the region have resulted in numerous casualties to local residents and done little or nothing to bring the region under control. The US says that the key to winning its campaign in Afghanistan lies in Pakistan's ability to control its own territory, so it funds, backs and, no doubt, strategizes with the Pakistani government on how to pacify the region. Unfortunately, the dire poverty of the area gives young people there little reason to believe that anyone is on their side and makes for fertile ground when it comes to recruiting insurgents. Given the concentration of weapons in the area, military action will have to continue. But as is the case with snuffing insurgencies anywhere, if living conditions are made a priority and the government is actively involved in improving the lives of those affected, there will be no soil in which an insurgency can take root. The time has come for both the Pakistan and the US to put as much emphasis on improving the lives of the Pashtuns in the Khyber Pass area as they do on physically eliminating the Taliban. __
