SUMMARY
The conflict between TTP (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan: Taleban Movement of Pakistan) and the Laskar of Orakzai tribe can be traced to TTP's infiltration and increasing control in the remote Orakzai agency in Pakistans North West Frontier Province (located at the border with Afghanistan). As such, throughout 2008, TTP attempted to alter the traditional tribal structures by imposing new leadership structures as well as new legislation, derived from their fundamentalist interpretation of Sharia as opposed to the traditional tribal order (Pashtunwali). Further, there are reports of TTP killings, abductions and threats directed at tribal leaders that would not subject themselves to TTP-imposed laws and continue to oppose TTP's rule in the region.
On 10 October 2008, tribal leaders from various Orakzai tribes met in a traditional assembly (a so-called jirga) in order to discuss the possibility of establishing a traditional army to combat TTP (a Lashkar). This meeting ended abruptly by a TTP suicide attack, killing at least 82, mostly tribal leaders or elders. The jerga did manage to establish a Lashkar by the beginning of 2009, some delays being reported to be caused by weak coordination within the Orakzai tribes.
The Laskar of Orakzai tribe was not a particularly successful fighting force as the tribe was divided, and some sub-tribes, such as the Mamozai, chose to ally with TTP. Further, the Laskar of Orakzai tribe had access to antiquated equipment (such as surplus material remaining from the Afghan war of the 1980s), impossible to match the sophisticated heavy weaponry owned by TTP. Further, the Lashkar s hopes of help from the Government of Pakistan were relatively futile - the Pakistani security forces were concentrated in more strategically important areas, such as the Swat valley, the Khyber Pass or Waziristan. Most fighting was relatively small in scale, mainly involving gun-battles, skirmishes and low-scale bombing or torching of known TTP buildings. Reports indicate the fighting had a very limited impact on the overall strength or influence of TTP in the region.
Violence was of a localized nature and mainly occurred in the Orakzai Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan. The area is mountainous and relatively isolated, making any intervention from the exterior relatively difficult. Further, as the area does not border Afghanistan, it has limited strategic value for parties engaged in the Afghan conflict, especially when compared to areas such as the Khyber Pass.
The non-state conflict between the Laskar of Orakzai tribe and TTP is first included in UCDP data in 2009. In December of that year, fighting between the two groups had resulted in over 25 battle-related deaths.
