Re: The fall of Swat..
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Re: The fall of Swat..
nice book mo3 ..the following is by a local journalist in swat
Militants surging up in the twin cities of Swat, VALLEY SWAT
By: Khurshid Khan
November 5, 2008
Mingawara (also Mingāora or Mingora) and Saidu Sharif are considered the most peaceful areas in the turbulent valley of swat as compared to other rural areas here. But it seems now that this urban area of swat is moving towards anarchy and the writ of government is gradually slackening. The police are imprisoned themselves in their own police stations and even traffic police have shunned their duties. Several police officers and constables have been murdered since the last month. The district co-ordination officer (DCO), District police officer (DPO), Deputy inspector general of police (DIG) and Commissioner Malakand range are confined to their offices and houses. Even they avoid meeting complainers in their offices.
The gates of Saidu Sharif and Rahimabad police stations are closed and the sign of Government writ in the city is almost nominal. The Mingawara police station building has been blown up. The policemen never ventures to come out even in daylight. Army officers rely on helicopter instead of roads for traveling. Earlier, Taliban used to freely patrol the city during night but the situation is different now and they can be seen in the city in the broad day light. Last Friday, the Taliban warned the staff and patients of central hospital on gun point to observe the strict codes of seclusion and wear burqas, which ushers that Mingawara and Saidu are also yielding to the grip of militants now. People say that due to the critical situation, several people from war struck areas migrated here but are now compelled to quit the area as the situation is also spiraling out of government’s control here. A local journalist Ghafoor Khan Sheda points “operation Rah-i -Haq is now progressing towards Phase III where the battle field will be Mingawara and Saidu”.
Militants can raise their venomous head here any time. If it happens, then a conventional war can erupt between security forces and Taliban here which will turn this cradle of peace into ruins. Several innocent lives will be lost while others will be forced to migrate. There will also be a great loss to private and public properties as well.
It’s the demand of the day that surgical action should be carried out in the suspected hid outs of the militants in the city. It will curb the evils with minimum losses if steps are taken in this direction promptly and quickly through rapid forces.
[EMAIL=“[email protected]”]
How very sad and disturbing....how I wish there were more Greg Mortensens in the world...
Greg Mortensen - fascinating - thanks for sharing.
Re: The fall of Swat..
Firenze: Nawaz Sharif will say anything to get the media attention, beliveing in his words is just stupid, other day Nawaz said pak is like a failed estate now dont tell u also belived him???
This guy Nawaz just want popularity and media attention and he will do anthing to get it! Before this guy joint hand with Zardari to kick musharaf out, thinking he will have a better luck, now that Zardari is the president, this guy is literally against him. And he is using this masla news to get the attention! Pretty Obvious to say the least!
Re: The fall of Swat..
Whatever they are Taliban or not Taliaban or Indian supported criminals but they seem to gaining control of more and more areas in NWFP and people are not even clear whether we need to fiht them or not!
Re: The fall of Swat..
Shaukat Aziz was told many times to solve this problem when it was controllable, and he was busy eating his kulfi in melody. I wonder which country supplies the TTP the ammunition and weapon hmmmm.
Re: The fall of Swat..
That country is called Pakistan. Every bacha knows the truth about Swat, Taliban and ISI. The mysterious FM radio station that can never be shut down, the burning of schools that is never challenged etc.
Re: The fall of Swat..
^ Not the entire country, have the guts to blame your hindustan loving general musharraf for this mess he created.
Re: The fall of Swat..
Bye election was targetted in an otherwise peaceful area
Over 30 killed in Shalbandai suicide attack
Over 30 killed in Shalbandai suicide attack - GEO.tv
Updated at: 1218 PST, Sunday, December 28, 2008
SWAT: The death toll in the Shalbandai suicide attack during the by-election polling being held at a Shalbandai school located in Boner area here mounted to over 30, including the children and police personnel.
Sources said that in a by-election being held on Sunday a suicide bomber blew himself up at a polling station located in a school at a place called Shalbandai in Boner area, which initially killed 10 persons, while the death toll continued rising after retrieval of bodies from the debris and thus far the total has mounted to 33 dead.
Secretary Election Commission said that polling has been suspended in the wake of suicide attack and the staff has been called back as a precautionary step.
Hospital sources told that over 30 bodies were brought to the Dagar Hospital, while the injured have also been shifted to the hospital for medical aid. Relief and rescue operation still continued, while the officials fear death toll rising after completion of the work of clearing the debris.
Prime Minister, Yusuf Raza Gilani, President Asif Ali Zardari and the interior minister, while strongly condemning the dastardly attack, expressed their deep sympathies on the precious loss of lives.
^ Not the entire country, have the guts to blame your hindustan loving general musharraf for this mess he created.
Apparently the ghost of Musharraf is currently in power and issuing orders in Swat? The problem is the deep rooted love that the Pakistani establishment has for the jihadi gang.
Buner is the next ideal place for Taliban to expand after fall of Swat. And this not new. I know many people have already fled Buner.
Re: The fall of Swat..
^ The jihadi General Musharraf, in a bid to retain his power was there from 1999-2008 assisting this menace to go on, abhi jummah jummah 3-4 maheeney nahee hoey us ko gaye hoey, and the same ISI/Army which prior to Musharrafs control was a demon (as per you) became saintly in your eyes, and just three months ago you turned your back on it and reclassified them as a bunch of Jihadiz. This just shows the shallowness of your arguments, and your hidden agenda.
Re: The fall of Swat..
Its mind boggling why these Swat terrorists are winning...
Re: The fall of Swat..
What has happened to the army in Swat? Why has the army fought successfully against miliants in Bajaur, Waziristan and other areas yet Swat seems to be a big problem? Swat unlike other areas is neither tribal or shares a border with Afghanistan. On top of that Swat was one of the more peaceful regions within the Pashtun areas. I had thought that the army had actually gained control of Swat before yet things have gone downhill. At one point the militants were pushed back to remote villages but have they really come to the main roads again?
Why is the government meeting militant demands? From what I gather the provincial government wants the army to leave - even though they dont appear to be doing much but if they left their is no check for militancy at all then. I dont see how FC, Police can do a better job. The militants must have some really strong roots within Swat for them to hold on there - it really is only up to them to rise up…but the government wont back them properly…
DAWN.COM | Pakistan | Plight of women in Swat
THE current situation in Swat is such that any sign of peace in the valley has been washed away. The people are living through the most miserable phase of its history. No doubt, the valley has witnessed invasions, turbulence and chaos from the time of Alexander’s invasion in 327 BC to the formation of Swat state in 1917.
However, at least in living memory the present chaos engendered by militancy has no parallel. It has adversely affected the physical and cultural environment, the economy, tourism, trade, governance and social life in the valley.
Unfortunately, in all this, women have been the worst sufferers. The militants’ obscurant version of Islam begins and ends with womenfolk. According to their belief, women are the source of all sins. A cleric while delivering the Friday sermon in Marghazar village was heard telling his flock, ‘My fellow Muslims, listen! The prices of daily commodities are rising because women abandon their homes and loiter about in the markets.’
In fact, the Fazlullah-led militants have announced a complete ban on female education from Jan 15, 2008 on FM radio. Some days ago, they announced that no government or private educational institution would be allowed to enrol girls and that all schools and colleges should stop educating them by Jan 15. Schools found violating this ban would be blown up. Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan somewhat modified the announcement saying that schools would remain closed until an Islamic curriculum was devised for imparting education to girls.
Parents and students have lost hope of schools reopening in this volatile atmosphere. The militants have usually been seen to follow up on their words and, despite the army’s presence, there have been no signs of the restoration of peace and harmony.
The militants have bombed or torched more than 100 girls’ schools and colleges to forcibly stop 80,000 girls from going to school in the district. There were 10 high schools, four higher secondary schools and four degree-awarding colleges and a network of primary schools across the district for girls and women, besides a postgraduate institution for young men and women to study at the master’s level.
Against the culture of keeping womenfolk away from development, the rulers of Swat state (1917-1969) encouraged female literacy, the first step on the way to progress, by establishing girls’ schools and colleges. The valley had the highest female literacy rate as compared to neighbouring districts.
After the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan, their repressive activities started getting support in the Pakhtun areas of Pakistan along the Durand Line. Swat is among the more recent victims of Talibanisation. The secular nature of Swati society is slowly and gradually leaning towards extremism.
The clergy first started speaking against girls’ and women’s education through unauthorised FM radios and at public gatherings. But as they got more emboldened, they attempted to stall female education — and eliminate the presence of girls and women in the market — through fiercer means including bomb blasts. Many schools have been destroyed in this way.
Then they turned their wrath on women doctors and the female nursing staff in hospitals warning them to observe strict purdah, confine themselves only to wards for women and not to attend calls on their cellphones. The medical superintendent of a group of hospitals complied with the order and circulated a notice to the entire female staff telling them to do as they had been told. Women patients and visitors were also advised to conform to Taliban instructions.
Militants also ordered the segregation of students at the Saidu Medical College, telling the principal to keep away women students from research labs after a certain time. Meanwhile, another college refused to take in women because of the continuous threats of the militants from 2007 onwards. Militants regularly monitor hospitals and colleges. In fact, working women and those attending school or college, or going to the doctor or in the marketplace are given a bad character by the militants.
Indiscriminate mortar shelling has hit houses and killed and injured civilians. In these, the toll for women casualties has been higher since they are more often at home, while unannounced road obstructions or curfews have made sudden medical emergencies, especially among pregnant women, difficult to be attended to. As a consequence women have lost their newborns as they have not been able to make it to the hospital in time. Besides, with their men also casualties of militancy, many of them are losing breadwinners in the family.
The threatened closure of educational institutions has proved to be the last nail in the coffin. The mindset of the militants — who routinely resort to the violation of fundamental rights in order to accomplish their goal — is clear and their misused and illegal authority has led them to establish a state within a state. Swat is not a no-man’s-land and is very much an integral part of the country. By tradition its inhabitants are not religious bigots. In fact, society in Swat is more civilised and accommodating of opinions than the rest of the Pakhtun belt. Islamabad should understand that and break its silence to take assertive action against the militants if it does not want Talibanisation to engulf the area and paralyse the entire structure of society.
Where are all the international and national human rights organisations and women rights groups? They must raise a collective voice against this victimisation of Swati women and girls. It is also time for the media to take drastic steps to highlight the current lot of Swati women whose repressive treatment should also serve as a wake-up call for women parliamentarians to take an active part in rescuing them from the spread of a venomous culture.
Re: The fall of Swat..
This is getting to be ridiculous. Where is the control of the government? Instead they're mobilizing troops away from the Western border and towards the eastern border. This leaves the US army easy access to invade into the Western border, which might very well be the reason US is moving troops from Iraq to Afghanistan (at least the request was submitted to Congress, who denied it, but doesn't mean they wont try again to get approval). US comes in across the Pak-Afghan border to fight Taliban parties based out of NWFP.
I can already see another coup this year - Zardari might very well be ousted, leaving Nawaz free to come in. Why Nawaz? Who else is there - the country is tossed between PML and PPP and army. Same story, new packaging.
The mumbai attacks seem to be a complete ploy to get troops out of NWFP and onto the Eastern border - a complete distraction that allows US troops to come in from the West.
That's how I interpret these events.
Regardless, shame on the Pakistani gov't for giving such a careless regard to SWAT. It really angers me that a place which was once open for Pakistani tourists to travel freely in has become a haven for these brutists. The same crap they created in Afghanistan will be Pakistan's fate, and Zardari and his croonies are too busy being distracted playing with his newfound wealth that he doesn't give a rat's arse. His FIL lost us Bangladesh, and this bufoon is losing us NWFP.
Re: The fall of Swat..
^^Easy there. Unlike most of us, those on ground there know the reality and Army probably has a strategy in place. I'm pretty sure they have substantial force still on the western borders to continue operations. The latest of which is in the area of Jamrud.
What you see in Swat is those who fled from Waziristan when the operation was started there, and some who slipped through the Afghan border because Karzai wets his diaper everytime Pakistan suggests mining the border. It'll all be sorted soon.
The move to Eastern borders was just as vital, because there was an imminent danger and a very possible breach in the making. Army needs to respond and reposition its forces in accordance with ground realities and priorities.
All is still intact, and Army is still fighting in the northern areas.
All is still intact, and Army is still fighting in the northern areas.
From all news reports, the army is NOT fighting in Swat, but sitting in forts and bunkers in Mingora.
From all news reports, the army is NOT fighting in Swat, but sitting in forts and bunkers in Mingora.
Mingora is in swat, and was full of extremist elements. Army needs to stay posted there to make sure they don't return (It's called holding the position) while advancing into the mountains where they have fled to.
Mingora is in swat, and was full of extremist elements. Army needs to stay posted there to make sure they don't return (It's called holding the position) while advancing into the mountains where they have fled to.
Mingora is the extent of the army's control, rest of Swat is in Taliban hands. It's much like how Afghan army sits in Kabul, while rest of country is not in their hands. There has not been any attempt to hit the taliban in their well known locations. The army does not even venture out from it's bases more than a few kms.
Re: The fall of Swat..
Accept the reality my emotional brothers, most of NWFP is not in the control of Pakistani government well they were not even under government control long before this war. These areas always known as "qabaili alaqey", wtf are we in Africa.. ?