While the terrain is, indeed, extremely rugged, the area along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border is heavily populated, contrary to popular belief. The area of the FATA has millions of Pakistani residents, and most of them are ‘extremely conservative and hostile toward the Pakistani government.’ In 1998, South Waziristan had a population of nearly half a million people. The population has significantly leapt in volume today, along with an ‘estimated 1.7 million Afghan refugees living on the Pakistani side of the border.’

The Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in Pakistan are areas bordering Afghanistan, outside the four provinces, comprising a region of some 27,220 square kilometers. The area has Afghanistan to the north-west, North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) to the east and Balochistan to the south. The area is colloquially referred to as Pakistan’s Tribal Belt or Pak tribal belt. South Waziristan forms part of Pakistan’s FATA.

The Pakistani army is currently bombarding the region known as the jihadists’ ultimate refuge. South Waziristan is known as ‘jihadist central.’ The place is said to still be the location of several terrorist training camps where jihadists of all stripes have been eventually based. ‘There are literally thousands of Arab, Uzbek, Uighur, Chechen, African and European militants currently located in the Pakistani badlands, and a good number of them are in South Waziristan. Many of these foreigners are either teaching at or enrolled in the jihadist training camps.’

Jihadist bombmakers of today are said to be more highly skilled than ever. They have also been training foreign students and recruits at training camps such as those in South Waziristan. These jihadist experts ‘have been permitted to impart the knowledge they have gained to another generation of young aspiring militants through training camps in places like South Waziristan.’ Terrorist tradecraft, already a shared capacity-building skill, will spell a difference in the success of many grassroot terrorist cells.

If there is a nucleus to the global jihadi movement right now, South Waziristan may very well be it.

Via STRATFOR