Spinkai is a small town in South Waziristan, and at the time of Operation Zalzala it was part of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, an autonomous area of Pakistan. The town is mostly inhabited by the Pashtun tribe Mahsud. Since 2004, South Waziristan had been a major control and command area of Taliban and Al-Qaida forces until it was cleared by Pakistan Defence Forces in 2009 in the Operation Rah-e-Nijat.