Little, however, is being said about these groups, numbers, affiliations and funding.
IslamOnline.net's correspondent recently visited the troubled region and reported back on the main militant groups operating there.
The militants, known as local Taliban, can be divided into pro and anti-government forces.
Yet, they all follow the same ideology and recognize Mullah Omer, the leader of the ousted Taliban regime in neighboring Afghanistan, as their leader.
Baitullah Mehsud
Foreign Militants
Punjabi Taliban
Mangal Bagh
Mohajirs
Funding
Baitullah Mehsud
According to local tribesmen and intelligence sources, Baitullah Mehsud commands the largest Taliban group in the tribal belt.
Intelligence sources say he commands an armed and high-trained militia of 20,000 to 25,000 soldiers.
However, local tribesmen estimate the real number between 7,000 and 8,000.
Mehsud is being blamed for the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto, which he vehemently denies.
He was recently elected as leader of all anti-government Taliban groups operating in the tribal belt under the banner of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, making him the most influential person in the area.
His group's major strongholds are Laddah, Makeen, Tiarza, Shakai, Spinkai Ragzai, Nawazkot, Tauda Cheena and Kotkai areas in South Waziristan, which have been under constant bombings by the security troops for the last many months.
His tribe, from which he gets his last name, is the most powerful in troubled South Waziristan.
Foreign Militants
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| Yuldashev and his men sought shelter with ethnic Pashtun tribesmen after fleeing Afghanistan. |
Some 2500 to 3000 foreign fighters have since moved to Mehsud-dominated areas of South Waziristan and Mir Ali town of North Waziristan.
Most of the foreign militants belong to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU).
They fled from their country in the mid 1990s after an unsuccessful coup against President Islam Karimove and settled in different parts of Afghanistan.
They were pushed towards Pakistan's northern tribal belt after US-led forces ousted the Taliban government in Afghanistan.
Their leader Jumma Namangani was killed in a US air strike in Kandahar in November 2001.
Tahir Yaldashev, who was elected as leader of the Uzbek militants after Jumma's death, managed to escape Afghanistan after a gunbattle with Pakistani security troops in 2004 near Wana.
Punjabi Taliban
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| Mullah Nazir commands a militia of some 600 fighters in South Waziristan. |
This group has a limited number of militants and is restricted to Wana but is considered the second influential group in the region because of government support.
Commonly known as Punjabi Taliban, it is believed to have been formed by security forces copying the US strategy adopted in Iraq to counter Al-Qaeda through local Sunni tribes.
Punjab is the most populated of Pakistan's four provinces with almost 50 percent of the total 160 million population.
It is considered the powerbase of the country's politics and armed forces.
Mullah Nazir escaped an assassination attempt in Wana a few months back, which he blames on foreign militants.
Mangal Bagh
This group has been operating in Kyber agency, located some 25 Kilometer from Peshawar, the capital of NWFP, for the last many years.
It was formed by Mangal Bagh, a local who had fought alongside Taliban against the West-backed Northern Alliance and later against US forces.
The group has some 500 militants and is associated with Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.
Mohajirs
This is new group of some 200 militants that shot to fame after the bloody military attacks on Islamabad's Red Mosque in July of last year.
Khalid Umer, the mysterious commander of the group, made headlines after he captured a local mosque and shrine in Mohmind agency, some 50 Kilometers from Peshawar, and named it after the Red Mosque.
Unlike all other militant groups, this group is dominated by "Mohajirs", people who had migrated from India after the independence of Pakistan and settled in different parts of the country, particularly in the urban areas of southern Sindh province.
Umer stunned the newsmen at his first encounter with media, saying he could not speak Pushtu, the language of Pushtuns.
He replied to all the questions in Urdu, the language of Mohajirs.
The majority of his militants do not even know a single word of Pushtu.
Little is known about Umer's background.
He claims he had fought alongside Taliban in Afghanistan and came to Pakistan after the US invasion.
"But we don't know when and how he formed his group?" local sources told IOL.
Funding
Security and defense analysts believe that pro-government Taliban are financed and armed by government agencies.
"The pro-government Taliban have no finance problem. They are being fed by the government very well," local sources told IOL.
"However, the anti-government Taliban use every tactic to get finances and arms."
The major such source is Rahdari (corridor) system.
"They provide safe passage to the transporters, and smugglers, who smuggle goods from Iran and Afghanistan to Pakistan. In return, they pay them hefty amounts as taxes," an intelligence official told IOL.
He said smugglers normally use unconventional mountaineer routes, which are almost inaccessible for security forces.
"It's almost impossible for security forces to cover all such routes. If we block one route, they find a new way with the help of local tribesmen or militants, because they don't consider it smuggling. They call it a trade."
The corridor system was also the major source of income for the Taliban government.
The intelligence official claimed the international drug mafia also pays militants to provide them a safe passage.
However, local tribesmen contest the claim.
"This is not true. Yes, they do provide safe passage to goods smugglers but not to narcotics smugglers."
The intelligence official asserts that Al-Qaeda gives money and logistical advice to local militant groups, particularly Baitullah Mehsud.
"Al-Qaeda funds don't always come in cash. They come in different forms. Many Afghan and Pakistani businessmen, mostly settled in the Arab world and harboring sympathy for the cause of Al-Qaeda, are given money to buy high-priced goods like cars. These goods are shipped to Pakistan and sold, often tripling Al-Qaeda's investment," he said.
"The businessmen, with sympathy to Al-Qaeda, take a small cut while the network spreads the wealth among its allies."
South Waziristan is known as a famous route of Afghan trade transit for trade of re-assembled vehicles in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Intelligence sources say different foreign secret agencies are also funding the militant groups.
"They may not know who is funding them, but it is realty that the Indian, Israeli and Afghan agencies are providing them funds, arms and training because they are operating against Pakistani forces," said the intelligence official.
"They are financing militants as they want a permanent unrest in the country raising concern about safety of its nuclear program," he added.
"The tribal belt has become a battlefield for the international secret agencies. I believe this all is part of the Great Game," the official.
"We have proofs that various suicide bombers were trained by Indian intelligence agency RAW at its training camps set up across the border (in Afghanistan)."
Taxes imposed by militant groups are another source of income.
"They have imposed taxes of meager amount on the local residents as they provide protection to them, and are responsible for curbing the crimes in their respective areas
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