[1] In the late 19th century, Makeen was a center of the rebellion movement and guerilla warfare against the colonial army of the British Raj, led by Mulla Powinda, a Pashtun tribal leader.

[5] Conflict flared up again in 1936 as the Mahsuds and other tribes joined the uprising led by Faqir Ipi (Mirzali Khan) against the British, resulting in another campaign that lasted until 1939.

[8] On 28 December 2007, Baitullah was in Makeen when he allegedly claimed responsibility for the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Rawalpindi during a phone call intercepted by Pakistani intelligence officials.

[9][10] A United Nations report on Benazir, however, stated that the government was quick to blame him and that she potentially faced threats "from elements in the Pakistani establishment" itself.

[13] Reporter David Rohde of The New York Times, his interpreter Tahir Ludin, and their driver Asadullah Mangal, who had been kidnapped outside Kabul by the Taliban in November 2008, were being kept in Makeen during the March 2009 drone strike.

After the drone strike, the Taliban arrested and executed a local man accused of spying, whose decapitated body was hung in Makeen's bazaar.

The Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), under the leadership of Manzoor Pashteen, launched a campaign to seek justice for Naqeebullah Mehsud after his murder.