BBC NEWS | South Asia | Pakistan's risky militia strategy

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Pakistan's risky militia strategy: "Pakistan's risky militia strategy

By Haroon Rashid
BBC Urdu service, Islamabad

Militant in South Waziristan
The Taleban have dealt ruthlessly with captured militia members

After years of failure, the people in charge of running the 'war on terror' in Pakistan's tribal areas are using militias as a new card.

But there remains a strong possibility that this strategy could make a difficult situation even worse.

Some analysts contend that it could lead to all out-war along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan.

Pakistan has deployed 180,000 highly trained members of its security forces in the tribal areas for the last seven years - but they have been unable to control the few thousand militants who operate there.

So what are the chances that the tribal militias will be able to succeed where the security forces have failed?"