The Pakistani army launched a ground offensive in the Afghan border region in mid-October, pitting about 30,000 troops against up to 8,000 insurgents in an operation that U.S officials praised. In recent days, the soldiers have entered three major Taliban bases in South Waziristan, largely securing one of them, though many militants are believed to have simply fled the fighting.

But the army's battlefield success could be pointless in the long run, critics say, because lawmakers have yet to present a clear post-conflict plan for the tribal region, a delay that could give the Taliban and its al-Qaeda allies an opportunity to regroup.

"I think they are running out of time," said Rasul Bakhsh Rais, a Pakistani political expert.

Pakistan's northwest tribal regions lie outside the normal government structure in the rest of the country. Power is vested in tribal elders and appointed "political agents." Residents are subject to colonial-era laws whose features include collective punishment.

Many of the tribal leaders are dead or in hiding, brought down by the Pakistani Taliban in their climb to power in recent years. Much of the economy is based on drugs and weapons smuggling. Islamic conservatism is the norm.

The army has undertaken four major operations in South Waziristan since 2004, the most recent of which was the largest. And the military has pledged this time to avoid the peace deals and stalemates that undermined previous offensives.

But an October report by the International Crisis Group in Brussels, Belgium, warned that unless Pakistan brought South Waziristan and the rest of the tribal belt into the mainstream political system, extremism would continue to spread, despite the army offensives.

Army and paramilitary forces fought the Taliban in another part of the tribal belt, Bajur, late last year and early this year. The army declared it had vanquished the Taliban there in February. But the governing system has not changed, rebuilding efforts have been patchy, and insurgents have again stepped up attacks.

Leading newspapers last week urged the civilian government to come up with a plan for the impoverished region, where fear and a lack of opportunities have led many in the population of 500,000 to aid or sympathize with the Taliban.

"Unless this happens, the victory being anticipated now could be rendered meaningless, with a new generation of militants rising," wrote the News, an English-language daily.

Lawmakers have made only the vaguest of promises. Last Monday, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's office said a provincial government had been asked to devise a strategy to rebuild South Waziristan, but provincial officials did not respond to numerous requests for comment.

Tariq Hayat, an official with the tribal Secretariat, a government body that deals with those areas, said only that local tribal leaders would be brought aboard after the offensive ends.

It could be a while before the elders in hiding are brave enough to go back. Once they do, however, they are less likely than before to take a soft line with Taliban who reappear in their midst, predicted Mahmood Shah, a former security chief for the tribal areas.

Rais said federal lawmakers were too distracted by power games in the capital to give a post-conflict South Waziristan the attention it deserved. He said the media, civil society, and the army have to push the government to act on a plan. "If you don't realize that now is the time to restructure," he said, "then when are you going to do it?"