Army Operation In Swat

[dabong1]

SWAT, Feb 16: Over 75 militants surrendered unconditionally along with their weapons to security forces at a ceremony here in the Kanju Police Line Swat on Saturday.

According to press release issued by the Swat Media Centre, the surrendering militants were being documented, community elders were signing affidavits and police were registering their names and addresses to monitor their behaviour and activities.

The militants began surrendering on January 24, 2008, initially from the worst-hit areas of Swat. The numbers swelled up to over 100 militants and sympathisers. As of now, over 175 militants have surrendered to the security forces.

District Coordination Officer Arshad Majid addressed the gathering and welcomed the surrender. He said violence was not a solution to problems and added that development without peace and security was impossible in the country.

He said the federal government had announced a Rs3 billion package for the development of the Swat valley. He called upon the people to forge unity in their ranks and be cautious of the elements trying to harm the tourism industry of the valley.

He said that no law could be enforced in the area by taking the law into one’s hands. He said the writ of the government should be established at all costs.

The ceremony was attended by DIG Akhtar Ali Shah, DPO Waqif Khan, SP (Investigation) Rafique Khan, officials and media persons.

Meanwhile, Unknown persons blew up a telephone exchange office in Charbagh’s Allaabad Kozabanda on Saturday. The building was destroyed and around 10,000 phone lines to Khwazakhela and Matta were affected. Adjoining buildings were also partially damaged in the blast.
75 militants surrender in Swat -DAWN - Top Stories; February 17, 2008

 

[Spring Onion]

Suicide blast kills 13 people in Swat today.

 

[roadrunner]

Suicide blast kills 13 people in Swat today.

yeehaaawww..getting rid of Musharraf from government sure did stop those attacks.. i guess he wasn't the source of instability after all.

 

[Spring Onion]

yeehaaawww..getting rid of Musharraf from government sure did stop those attacks.. i guess he wasn't the source of instability after all.

I would like the responsibilty shifted to Zardari and Nawaz Sharif now.

at first i was very sad that now they are going to oust Musharraf but now even if they do so i think it will be good for Musharraf because we all know Zardari and Nawaz Sharif dont have the guts to say no to US so let them bear the burnt of public anger and blams.

lets see what they can do.


At best i can see Zardari will adopt policy of PPP which the party applied in case of Bugti and we are going to see the militants getting stronger.

 

[mujahideen]

Operation in Swat relaunched

LAHORE: The security forces have restarted the military operation in Matta tehsil of Swat, Channel-5 reported on Friday. According to the channel, the measure followed a remote-controlled bomb explosion in Matta. Security forces shelled suspected positions of militants from Kanju, the channel said, and the operation had not ended until midnight.

daily times monitor

 

[khanz]

so much for baitullah's ceasefire army did the right thing continuing the operation until he's captrued or taken out.

 

[moha199]

Yes we should go after Baitullah masood and radio mullah. We should hunt them down capture them alive if possible so we can put the example of not messing with Pakistan or not then dead both of them.. They are the real terrorists and we should punish them to the fullest. No mercy on them and not Peace with them they have the blood of innocent Pakistanis.

 

[mujahideen]

Yes we should go after Baitullah masood and radio mullah. We should hunt them down capture them alive if possible so we can put the example of not messing with Pakistan or not then dead both of them.. They are the real terrorists and we should punish them to the fullest. No mercy on them and not Peace with them they have the blood of innocent Pakistanis.

I totally agree with you but we have to find ways by which an Army operation can be prevented, because if an Army operation takes places many more innocents people will die. I think what needs to happen is that we must convince the people of the area to turn over Baitullah and and Fazullah. What also needs to happen in addition to this is we must also evict all the foreigners. I have said this many times before and I will say it again that we should negotiate with our people but foreigners should be given only two options that is to leave our territory or be killed.

 

[moha199]

I totally agree with you but we have to find ways by which an Army operation can be prevented, because if an Army operation takes places many more innocents people will die. I think what needs to happen is that we must convince the people of the area to turn over Baitullah and and Fazullah. What also needs to happen in addition to this is we must also evict all the foreigners. I have said this many times before and I will say it again that we should negotiate with our people but foreigners should be given only two options that is to leave our territory or be killed.

i UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO SAY BUT I DON'T SEE IT HAPPENING BROTHER. THIS GUY MASOOD AND RADIO MULLAH WE HAVE GIVEN TIME TO THEM WE HAVE MADE DEAL WITH THEM THAT YOU STOP ALL THIS AND WE WILL LEAVE YOU ALONE BUT THEIR DEMANDS ARE SO OUT OF QUESTIONS ILL TELL YOU WHAT THEIR DEMANDS ARE AND YOU BE THE JUDGE" LET US WORK FROM PAKISTANI SOIL TO LAUNCH ATTACKS IN AFGANISTAN AGAINST AMERICANS AND NATO" WE CAN'T AFFORD THIS WE MUST NOT ALLOW THIS AND THEY ARE NOT LEAVING US WITH ANY OPTION. SECOND I UNDERSTAND THAT PEOPLE SHOULD HAND THEM OVER TO US BUT IT IS UNLIKELY BROTHER IT WILL NOT HAPPEN WE HAVE TRIED IT TWO YEARS AGO BUT WHAT HAPPEND THEY USED THAT TIME TO GET THEM STRONG AND NOW WE SEE ALL THIS SUCIDE BOMBINGS YOU TELL ME SHOULD WE TRUST THEM? I WOULD SAY NO!!! I WOULD SAY SINCE WE HAVE STARTED THIS MISSION NOW FINISH IT OFF KILL THESE BASTERDS WHO HAS HIJAKED OUR RELIGON AND PUNISH THEM AND MAKE THEM AND EXAMPLE TO OTHERS THAT WE WILL NOT ALLOW THIS IN PAKISTAN.

 

[mujahideen]

Pakistani military sees success against militants

A suicide attack in the Swat area of Pakistan on Friday left at least 27 people dead. It came days after the military took a number of journalists, including the BBC's Barbara Plett, to Swat to show how their fight against pro-Taleban militants was progressing.

The helicopter flies past snow-capped peaks, it hovers over terraced hillsides and green valleys with rivers running through them.

This is Swat, Pakistan's "little Switzerland" in the northwest of the country.

Once a popular tourist attraction, it was occupied by militants last year.

This week the army brought journalists to the area to show us it has defeated the insurgents.

We land on the mountain tops from which the militants once controlled the valley.

In November, thousands of troops launched a major offensive to recapture these strategic positions, scaling the heights in surprise attacks.

They destroyed rebel bases until the militants collapsed as an organized force, says military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas, as soldiers lay out tea and cakes for the visitors.

"I think the Swat operation was a great success for the army and the people," he says.

"Ninety per cent of the militants have been cleared out. A few pockets of resistance are left, and soon they will also be cleared."


Military precision

This was the second Swat revolt in the past 20 years. Both times the militants have demanded Sharia, or Islamic law, which in this part of the world means social justice.

The rebels were followers of a local cleric, Maulana Fazlullah, reinforced by pro-Taleban tribesmen from near the Afghan border and banned jihadist groups from the Punjab province.

People initially supported (Fazlullah), thinking that a bit of violence by him will force the government to enforce Sharia," says Maj Gen Nasser Janjua, the regional commander.

"But later his atrocious approach in the name of providing justice scared the peace-loving people who started demanding an army operation."

The general speeds through a PowerPoint presentation outlining operational details with military precision.

He said more than 200 militants had been killed and less than 200 detained.

He showed video of bomb-making materials hidden by a false ceiling in a mosque.

Recovered rifles and rocket-propelled grenades were displayed on a long table.

But the general admitted that troops had failed to catch the cleric and other leaders and that many of the militants fled elsewhere, taking their arms with them.


More work to do

Those militants still in the Swat district are thought to be hiding in the hills around the Piochar Valley.

This was the rebels' safe haven, a no-go area for police.

"Some have been able to merge themselves with the civilians," says Lt Col Nadir Hussain, the Battalion commander holding the heights above Piochar.

"A few days back we got reports that they shaved their beards and trimmed their hair, so they are trying to be normal."

From the mountain we can see the place where a roadside bomb killed 13 members of a wedding party last week.

Lt Col Hussain says the road was a regular supply route for his troops and the explosive device was probably meant for them.

So the army still has work to do, but Lt Col Hussain is proud it was able to ensure that recent elections went ahead.

"That was the first time the police entered the valley and they were able to conduct the elections in a congenial environment, so that shows that the government's writ has been established," he says.


Political solution

Snow is melting in the Shangla Pass where the militants took their last stand, dripping into the bunker where they sheltered from incoming fire.

They held the strategic ridge for two weeks from entrenched positions.

The rebels greatly outnumbered the forces of District Police Chief Muhammed Iqbal.

He ordered his men to run because "we thought it would be better to vacate the place and shift our ammunition and arms to safer places, instead of being captured and slaughtered".

He is more optimistic, now that the policemen are back with their numbers doubled, and he hopes the newly elected government will be able to solve the problem of Islamic militancy.

"This is their duty to bring peace to the valley, because it's impossible for any of us to get peace through arms.

"If you see the history of the people and the insurgency throughout the world, the last resolution was through negotiations, not through arms."

In the north-west, many are talking about a political solution to the Islamist tide that has swept the region.

And here in Swat, militants could again win support if popular demands for justice and better governance are not met.

That is something the army, with all its fire power, cannot deliver.

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Pakistani military sees success against militants

 

[mujahideen]

Govt to seek dialogue with Fazlullah

* Renewed focus on negotiation a result of suicide attack on funeral of police officer
* ANP assures full support for political solution

By Iqbal Khattak

PESHAWAR: The new government would soon initiate dialogue with pro-Taliban cleric Maulana Fazlullah to find a “possible solution” to the militancy raging in Swat district since last year, a MPA-elect said on Saturday.

“We want to negotiate with him (Maulana Fazlullah) to solve this problem,” MPA-elect Jaffar Shah of the Awami National Party (ANP), who won the PF-85 seat from the district, told Daily Times.

Renewed focus: The renewed focus on holding negotiations with the rebel cleric comes after a suicide attack at the funeral of a slain police officer resulted in the deaths of 40 people on Friday. Authorities believe Fazlullah’s militants are involved in the attack, even though no party has as yet claimed responsibility.

“Bringing normalcy back to the district is [a] top priority [of the party],” Shah said. He said all the MPAs-elect from Swat had held a meeting on Friday and decided to call a jirga of 100 senior politicians, community leaders and elders to seek their input on a “possible solution”.

“The jirga will soon be convened. Its participants will suggest various courses of action that should be pursued to tackle militancy and the worsening law and order situation,” he added. “Negotiations with all stake-holders will certainly follow the jirga’s recommendations.”

The suicide bombing on Friday raised doubts about the military’s claims that 90 percent of Swat had been cleared of militants.

Full support: Shah said the MPAs-elect had also met the party’s candidate for NWFP chief minister, Ameer Haider Hoti, in Peshawar on Friday. Hoti assured his full support for a political solution to the Swat situation, he added. Hoti had earlier said that the Taliban “are a reality” and that he would “hold talks” with them to improve law and order in NWFP.

“Before the jirga, all the ANP MPAs-elect would hold talks with nationalist leader Afzal Khan. After meeting him, we would draft a treaty and give Hoti a presentation before convening the jirga,” he added.

Shah also said that the party had decided to take up the issue of the implementation of Shariah in the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA) in the inaugural session of the NWFP Assembly.

PATA comprises Upper and Lower Dir, Chitral, Swat, Shangla and Buner districts, and the Malakand Agency. The caretaker provincial government had suggested to Islamabad that it implement an amended Nizam-e-Adl Ordinance in the area to pacify the local population.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[Spring Onion]

200 militants surrender in Swat



ISLAMABAD: The terrorists are on the run and about 200 militants have so far surrendered before the authorities in Swat. Talking in a television interview on Sunday, Caretaker Minister for Interior Lt-Gen (retd) Hamid Nawaz Khan said 422 people involved in terrorist activities were arrested from Swat. Besides, six tonnes of explosive material had also been recovered from the area, he added. The law enforcement agencies have averted 20 to 30 possible incidents of terrorism in Punjab and Sindh during Muharram and elections and also seized explosive material in huge quantity. Hamid Nawaz appreciated the law-enforcement agencies for ensuring peaceful conduct of the general election.

200 militants surrender in Swat

 

[Tiki Tam Tam]

There is no end to this menace.

Everytime one thinks they are done, they surface!!

A scourge!

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Without Afghan, Central Asian and Iranian borders being secured, I don't see how weapons supplies can be stopped - this is where US dependence on the NA to manage the north becomes a liability in terms of stability in Afghanistan, because drug money and smuggling operations will continue to provide a steady stream of resources to these groups.

Alternatively, success in the Drug War in Afghanistan might also stem the flow, but instead we see the crop getting bigger every year!

 

[mujahideen]

Fazlullah’s FM station resumes broadcast

Daily Times Monitor

LAHORE: The illegal radio station of militant commander Maulana Fazlullah has resumed broadcasts in the Swat district of NWFP, BBC Urdu reported on Thursday.

It said that official sources had confirmed that Fazlullah’s radio, after a closure of almost three months, was back on air with Fazlullah’s fiery speeches.

“The FM radio station has been broadcasting Fazlullah’s speeches for the last three days, but it has not yet been fully active,” a government official told the BBC on condition of anonymity.

The official said the government had improved the signal strength of the state-run Swat Radio, in order to disrupt and jam the frequency of its counterpart run by Fazlullah.

Locals said that Fazlullah’s speeches were not audible, because of frequency disruption by the state-run radio station.

“An unknown person starts to make a speech loudly, at exactly the same moment when Fazlullah delivers his speech; thus making Fazlullah’s words inaudible,” one local said.

According to official sources, the illegal radio station resumed its broadcasts from Matta tehsil. They added that its exact location was being ascertained.