SECURITY SECTOR REFORM IN PAKISTAN’S KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA TRIBAL DISTRICTS

Abstract

In its quest to stabilize the newly-merged tribal districts (formerly the Federally Administered Tribal Areas or FATA), Pakistan introduced a broad array of governance reforms in the region in May 2018. The reforms replaced the archaic colonial-era administrative system with modern state institutionsexisting in the adjoining KP. However, peace remains of paramount importance in the smooth and swift implementation of the reforms in a conflict-prone complex setting. This paper discusses the current security scenario in the erstwhile FATA and the existing challenges facing a successful implementation of the security sector reforms (SSR) being introduced by the government. It argues that the sole focus on the law enforcement aspect of the security sector reform does not comply with the diverse and complex security needs of the region especially in the aftermath of the Taliban coming into power in neighbouring Afghanistan in August 2021. The situation requires an allencompassing approach for SSR framework.