Renewed speculation has arisen in the past week that the Pakistani military would begin a military operation in North Waziristan agency to engage militants there. North Waziristan is the only agency of the tribal badlands straddling Afghanistan and Pakistan in which Pakistani forces have not yet engaged in any major air or ground operations. Though a showdown there has been a long time in coming, the Pakistani military does not want to appear to be bending to American demands. However, given that the TTP has once again in the last few months demonstrated its ability to attack across Pakistan, it is now in Pakistan’s national interest to disrupt TTP operations. Just how and when it will strike, and what effect such a move will have, remain unclear.
