The newly-elected Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has said the Taleban has "the upper hand" and he has vowed he will defeat the Islamic militants.
His task is complicated by the differing nature of the insurgency in different tribal areas. Al-Qaeda is thought to be most active in North Waziristan and Bajaur.
The Pakistan Taleban meanwhile has control of most of South Waziristan and is using its base there to launch suicide attacks throughout Pakistan.
Strategic
In Kurram tribal agency the Islamic militants are mostly motivated by sectarian divisions between Sunnis and Shias, whilst in Khyber tribal agency there are criminal gangs posing as Islamists as well as an intra-Sunni sectarian dispute.
Although it is relatively peaceful at the moment, Khyber is probably the most strategically significant of all the tribal areas.
It has the historic trade route that leads from the Pakistani city of Peshawar, through the Khyber Pass, and on to Kabul in Afghanistan.
Today it is a vital supply line used to transport 85% of the fuel used by the Western forces in Afghanistan.
Earlier this week the Pakistani authorities were forced to close the road for a few hours amidst warnings of imminent Taleban attacks.
http://newageislam.com/pakistan--the-new-frontline-in-us--war-on-terror-/war-on-terror/d/771
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9:46 PM
Moderate Islamist here
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