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Operation Rah-e-Rast (Swat)

"...the Interior Ministry has yet to issue the no-objection certificate."

What is that? I'm assuming some sort of seal of approval for use? $1800 per day x 540 plus days? And the lives lost that might have been saved?

Good God Almighty! Lord have mercy on the men responsible because I'd turn them over to the families of dead police officers and allow them to determine the disposition. Check their bank accounts first, though, and see where that storage fee is ending up.

Thanks.:usflag:
 
Alim Binori among 5 extremists killed in Swat
Updated at: 1205 PST, Monday, March 01, 2010


SWAT: MADAIN: Five important militant commanders including Maulvi Alim Binori and Maulana Shamsul Haq were killed in Madain area of Swat tehsil of Behrain, Geo News reported Monday.

According to government sources, the security forces and the extremists exchanged fire at 420am today’s morning, where all five extremists were killed and three SMGs, 2 pistols, 3 grenades and a lot of jihadi literature and CDs were received from their possession.

The deceased also include Muhammed Musafir, Sher Zaman and Abdullah.

Muhammed Alim Binori is said to be an important extremist commander who had head-money of Rs20 million on him.

Alim belonged to Shagla area of Lailonai and joined Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in 2007. Before joining the militant outfit, he used to teach at a primary school in tehsil Khawzakhela and lived for seven years in Fathapur of Khawzakhela.

According to sources, the bodies of five people including two important commanders were found from Madain.

He was known as the Mullah Radio.

Alim Binori among 5 extremists killed in Swat
 
Monday, 01 March 2010
Rabi-ul-Awwal 14, 1431

70 Suspects Held in Mingora
MINGORA: Mingora police claimed to have apprehended as many as 70 suspected persons including 40 Afghan migrants during crackdown against anti-state actors on Sunday evening, Geo news reported.

Addressing a press conference here at Swat press club, the Inspector Snobar Khan together with Investigation In-charge Aziz Ahmed told media, the arrests were made as a part of Swat police’s drive against anti-social elements.

He said the nabbed suspects are being investigated, adding that police also managed to seize a heavy cache of arms and ammunitions from the possession of suspects.

The murder of special police officer namely Syed Azmat Shah, occurred at Haji Baba Chaowke of Mingora town, was a result of personal enmity instead of terror attack. Police have also identified the assailants, he added.

The murderers include Allaouddin son of Fazal Mola and Tauseef Ahmed son of Ejaz Ahmed, Snobar Khan told reporters vowing, they will soon be booked to justice as police are carrying out raids to arrest them.

70 suspects held in Mingora - GEO.tv


 
Eid Milad-un-Nabi’s (Peace Be Upon Him) Peaceful Celebrations in Swat: Great Honour for Pakistan Army​
SWAT, Feb 28 (APP): Operational Commander Rah-e-Rast, Major General Asfaque Nadeem said Sunday that successful and peaceful celebration of Eid Mildun Nabi (Peace Be Upon Him) in militancy-hit Swat valley after a gap of almost three years was a great honour for Pakistan Army, which was possible due to matchless sacrifices by our brave troops and patriotic forces.

Addressing a function on auspicious occasion of Eid Mild- un-Nabi (Peace Be Upon Him) at Saidu Sharif Airport , he said it is our collective responsibility to project true image of our religion and urged the Muslims to follow the teachings of the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) to achieve success in this world and the Hereafter .

He said that Islam and Pakistan are inter-linked. He said Pakistan Army’s sacrifices for establishment of government’s writ in Swat valley are matchless.

He said our security forces will render more sacrifices for the country and Islam if required.

The function was organized by Ahle Sunnat Waljumat with full religious fervor and national enthusiasm. The other speakers said the life and teachings of the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him ) could help best to achieve peace and security and lead Muslims to a new phase of progress and prosperity among comity of nations.

The Ulema and Mashaikh must play their active role in promoting inter faith harmony among various sects and there should be no difference in their sayings and practice, they added. All Muslims should seek forgiveness of their sins and renew their pledge that they would follow true teachings of Islam. The speakers said that Muslims stand in dire need of following the true teachings of Islam and resolve the problems confronted by Ummah .

They said that Pakista Army had established peace in once militants’ stronghold Swat by rendering unprecedented sacrifices for which the all people of Malakand Division including Swat are thankful to them.

Later, the people and ulema prayed for the progress, peace and prosperity of Pakistan.


Associated Press Of Pakistan ( Pakistan's Premier NEWS Agency ) - Eid Mild- un- Nabi’s (Peace Be Upn Him) peaceful celebrations inSwat great honour for Pakistan Army

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Senior Taliban commander among five killed in Swat

PESHAWAR: A senior Taliban commander, who invaded and occupied the Buner district in early April last year, was killed, along with four other militants in what security forces’ sources described as a clash with the troops in the Madyan area in Swat early Monday.

Maulana Muhammad Alam, also known as Maulana Khalil and Binoray Mulla, was one of the 21 most wanted Taliban commanders in Swat. He had a head money of Rs 10 million. However, a militant with the same name was arrested in injured condition during a joint operation by security forces and the police in Malikabad village in the Gadoon area in Swabi district on February 15. A number of other militants were killed, injured and arrested in the raid. He was identified by official sources at the time as Alam Binoray. It was alleged that he worked as Qazi and the financial adviser to the TTP chief in Swat Maulana Fazlullah. It was also stated that he used to collect donation worth millions of rupees for the TTP and announced ìFatwasî or decrees in favour of the Taliban.

Nobody else among the TTP leaders in Swat had the same name and was close to Fazlullah. Sources in Swat said he was shifted to the valley after his capture in Swabi to undergo interrogation.

Last year after the major military operation in Swat, bodies of militants used to be found dumped on roadside and in fields. A large number of bodies were recovered and relatives of the slain men often alleged that they were in custody of security forces and law-enforcement agencies. The bullet-riddled bodies of the militants, including Alam Binoray, were found on Monday morning in Madyan bazaar. Madyan is not far from Binoray Fatehpur village where he used to be the mosque Pesh Imam and school teacher.

The five slain militants also included another Taliban commander and Qazi of Matta Shariah court Shamsul Haq, commonly known as Shinko Mulla after the village, where he was earlier the prayer leader in a mosque. He was accused of passing judgments and awarding harsh punishments to the accused.

Shamsul Haq was also running an illegal FM channel and had given Fatwa (decree) for killing security forces’ personnel. The three others killed were identified as Muhammad Musafir, Sher Zaman and Abdullah.

Essa Khankhel adds from Swat: Sources in security forces said a clash took place in the Madyan area of Swat early on Monday in which five militants were killed. The killing of the Taliban commanders was hailed by the people as a success of security forces.

Maulana Alam was tasked by Fazlullah in early April in 2009 to invade the neighbouring Buner district. Leading hundreds of militants, Maulana Alam captured Buner despite a peace deal with the NWFP government. He took the Pir Baba town and occupied the shrine and a mosque there. Establishing a Taliban headquarters in Sultanwas village, he travelled throughout the district unchallenged.

The fall of Buner into the Taliban’s hands mounted international pressure on Pakistan to take action against the terrorists. The government declared the Taliban attack a breach of the accord and decided to launch a military operation to drive them out of Buner, Swat and elsewhere in Malakand Division.

Muhammad Alam acted as a presenter of the Fazlullah-sponsored FM channel that terrorised the local population, replacing the Taliban deputy chief in Swat Maulana Shah Dauran. He used to deliver rebellious speeches against the state and disseminated directives to the militants to take action against particular persons with their names taken on the illegal FM channel.

After establishing sway over Swat, Taliban appointed him ìshadow governorî of the Khwazakhela area. A resident of the Lelonai area in the neighbouring Shangla district, Muhammad Alam, had shifted to Khwazakhela. He remained a member of the now banned Tehrik Nifaz Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) and joined the hardline Fazlullah when he launched militant activities against the government in 2007.

Muhammad Alam committed atrocities against the people while establishing the Taliban writ. He was believed to have killed 17 personnel of security forces, slitting throats of several of them. After the military operation in late April in Buner and early May in Swat, he went underground and was finally captured in Swabi district.
 
Tahrik-e-Taliban Swat chief Fazlullah being chased: Corps Commander

SWAT, Mar 11 (APP): Lt. Gen Masud Aslam, Corps Commander Peshawar Thursday said that Tehreek-e-Taliban Swat’s chief Maulana Fazlullah has fled from Swat and he is being chased. Talking to reporters on occasion of inauguration of Shuhada park at Saidu Sharif and Public Library in Mingora here, the Corps Commander said that he would soon be brought to justice.

He said interrogations of all the arrested extremists including Tahrik-e-Taliban Swat’s spokesman Muslim Khan has been completed and now police and other departments are making their necessary interrogations after which they would be presented in the courts of law.

He said air service would soon be resumed in Swat to boost tourism sector especially during summer season, adding Pakistan Army will stay in the area until peace is completely restored. Pakistan army is taking special measures for uplift of tourism sector in Swat, he added.

The Corps Commander said that major operation in Swat has been completed in July 2009 while now only search operation is being conducted against those terrorists who were hided outside of the populated areas.

He said escaped terrorists would not be allowed to enter again or regroup in Swat. The Corps Commander Peshawar said that cooperation of people and media is very important for complete elimination of terrorists and prevalence of durable peace.

He appealed people to inform security forces in case of seeing presence of militants or terrorists in their surroundings. Operational Commander Rah-e-Rast in Swat, Maj Gen Asfaque Nadeem, Commissioner Malakand Fazal Karim Khattak, Brigadier Tahir Hameed, Col Arif, Deputy Commissioner Swat Atifur Rehman, ISPR Swat spokesman Col Akhtar and other military officials were present.
 
Pakistan kills wanted Swat Taliban commanders: official


PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Pakistani security forces on Wednesday killed five militants including two Taliban commanders who were wanted over an uprising in the northwestern Swat valley, the military said.

Bakht Farzand and Mian Gul who who had a 10-million rupee (117,000 dollar) reward on their heads, were killed along with three other militants in a clash in Pattan town, it said.

They were killed in a "joint operation launched by Pakistan army and police in Pattan," the military's media centre in Swat said.

"One soldier and one police constable were wounded in the encounter," it said.

The operation was mounted following an intelligence report that the militants were hiding in the area, a security official said, requesting anonymity.

The security forces surrounded a house in the town but a gunbattle erupted in which five militants were killed, he added.

The slain commanders were close aides of radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah who led an uprising in July 2007, beheading opponents, burning schools and fighting to enforce a harsh brand of Islamic law in the scenic Swat valley.

Pakistan launched a blistering air and ground offensive in the valley after militants marched out of Swat and advanced to within 100 kilometres (60 miles) of the capital Islamabad in April 2009.

The army says it has quelled the uprising.

Most of the two million people who fled their homes have returned, but sporadic outbreaks of violence continue, while some fear the Swat Taliban are regrouping elsewhere in the northwest.

Fazlullah, who has a 50-million-rupee bounty on his head, remains at large.
 
MINGORA: Zarbakht Khan is still waiting for Swat Valley's corrupt and slow-moving courts to settle an eight-year land dispute which has drained his bank account and eroded his confidence in the state.

Such delays were exploited by Taliban militants, whose promises of swift justice appealed to people when they first took over the region.

Nearly a year after they were driven out by a major military offensive, judicial officials have launched a drive to speed up and reform Swat's legal system, hoping to win support from a population craving stability.

Their efforts may be paying off.

“I am satisfied. My problem will end very soon,” said Khan, whose case dragged on for so long he retired along the way.

The government's resolve wasn't always so strong.

When the Taliban gained the upper hand in the battle with the government, the government allowed them to impose their austere version of Islamic law under a peace deal widely seen as a capitulation.

At first, the Taliban gained public support with promises of speedy justice. But public beheadings and floggings outraged many in Swat, a former tourist paradise beneath lush mountains.

Mingora's court shut. Judges and lawyers were out of work.

But now, by accelerating the judiciary, Swat officials hope to win over the public and prevent the Taliban from ever re-gaining influence, coinciding with efforts to build up an underfunded police force.

“This is a crucial strategy to keep people on our side. We recently reduced the number of backlogged cases from 18,000 to 2,300,” said judge Tariq Suhail, smiling proudly.

Signs of progress

Sixteen new judges have been hired and new courts created.

The aim is to process new criminal cases within four months and civil ones in six. In a dusty storage room outside the court, bags bulging with documents from closed cases point to success.

There are few expectations the al Qaeda-backed Taliban can seize control of Swat again, as long as the army, now deploying 50,000 troops in the region, is around.

But militants still strike in Mingora and other towns and villages where they blew up houses, hotels and girls' schools.

A suicide bomber recently targeted the courthouse, officials say. Police stopped him at a checkpoint a few hundred metres away where he blew himself up, killing 14 people and wounding 50.

“I still have problems hearing,” said Said Karim Shalmani, who was in the courthouse during the attack.

Police commandos stand guard outside the chamber of senior judge Shah Jehan Akhundzada, who explained how Swat's justice system needed to be streamlined after its turbulent history.

Before 1969, when Swat was ruled by a prince, a legal system consisting of Islamic Sharia law was quick and efficient.

To placate militants, governments in the 1990s promised to create a similar system, but never fully did.

Pro-Taliban cleric Sufi Mohammad emerged as an influential force in Swat around that period and eventually brokered a pact between the army and militants that emboldened the Taliban to enforce their version of Islamic law in Swat.

Today, however, the courthouse in Swat's main town of Mingora buzzes. Lawyers run around meeting clients. Busy clerks open folders as crowds gather to collect details of their cases. Pens are sold to keep pace with paperwork.

But despite progress, some, like Khaled, whose sons were accused of assault, doubt there can ever be real justice.

The charges were eventually dropped. But he accused police of beating his boys to obtain confessions. Eventually, he gave up his efforts to get compensation for the beatings.

“I can't afford to pay for a lawyer,” said the elderly man, as his sons sat quietly on a window sill behind him.

DAWN.COM | Provinces | Swat promises justice, to fight Taliban
 
Buddhist monks from Thailand visit Swat Valley



Saturday, March 27, 2010
By our correspondent

MINGORA: A nine-member delegation of the Buddhist monks from Thailand on Friday visited Swat for the first time after peace was restored to the valley. The delegation was led by General Secretary of the World Fellowship of Buddhists, Flip Thairay, while its other member included Vice Dean of the Mahamakat Buddhist University, Thailand, Dr Aneel Sakya.

The delegation paid visit to the 2,500-year-old relics and offered their religious practices. Talking to reporters, Dr Aneel Sakya said they were happy to see the symbols of the Buddhist religion. He maintained that the citizens of Pakistan and residents of Swat were peace-loving people. He said peace had been established in Swat and tourists could visit the valley once again without any security problem. The delegation was told that most of the Buddhist symbols were shifted to Taxila when militancy was in full swing in Swat.

Buddhist monks from Thailand visit Swat Valley
 
Pakistan faces tough task rejuvenating battered Swat
Michael Georgy
MATTA, Pakistan

Nearly a year after a Pakistani army offensive cleared the Taliban from Swat, government efforts to stabilize the region through economic rehabilitation have yielded limited results.

While small businesses are recovering from two years of fighting, massive state funding is needed to create jobs and industries in the former tourist hub where militants blew up hotels, houses and girls' schools and beheaded tribal elders.

Only that, officials say, will prevent the Taliban from returning to recruit residents disillusioned with a government widely perceived as corrupt and inefficient.

"This is by far the most important drive to keep the Taliban away," chief regional minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti told Reuters recently.

The first phase will require $1 billion, he said. It's a daunting task for the government, which will be hard-pressed to extract money from a sluggish economy battered by the steep cost of fighting Taliban insurgents.

The drive to win over the population by providing better economic opportunities and basic services is moving at a slow pace, as evidenced by grim living conditions, joblessness and lack of industries.

Unemployment has eased a little after thousands joined a newly created community police force, which pays $112 a month.

Swat's most advanced medical facility, Saidu Sharif Teaching Hospital, lacks basic equipment. Cardiac arrest victims rushed to the emergency room have no access to defibrillators.

A young boy with a fractured skull lay disoriented in a bed waiting for results from a battered X-ray machine. A bloody bandage lay on the floor. Flies hovered nearby.

A poster of wanted would-be suicide bombers with code names remind patients of lingering security threats in Swat, 130 km (80 miles) northwest of the capital, Islamabad.

A suicide bomber recently killed 14 people and wounded 50 at a police checkpoint in Swat's main town, Mingora.

MUSIC HEARD AGAIN

Progress has been made, aid groups say. Reconstruction has partially started. More than 200 school demolished by the Taliban were repaired. Tent schools have gone up and issues like supplies of electricity, furniture and latrines are being tackled.

Some small shops are back in business. During the Taliban's reign of terror, which began with rebel incursions in 2007, militants destroyed pop music cassettes sold in Akthar Muneer's store and forced him to sell music calling for holy war.

Despite thousands of dollars in losses, he now draws enough customers to make a decent living because there is less fear on the streets of Matta, once a major Taliban bastion in Swat.

"People are comfortable listening to music again," he said.

But major economic development is needed to ensure the region doesn't return to the bloodshed that kept tourists away from the stunning valley, officials and residents say.

Two men who said they were beaten and forced to join the Taliban sat near a house that was flattened by the group, comparing those chaotic days to a more stable life now. They are happier but the future is uncertain.

"We expect a lot from the government," said one of the men, who looked far older than his 47 years, perhaps from the stress of fighting and the ruins it left behind. "We have no jobs now."

(Editing by Paul Tait)
Pakistan faces tough task rejuvenating battered Swat | Reuters
 
40 top militants of Malakand killed

Monday March 29, 2010 (1103 PST)

PESHAWAR: Forty out of the total 55 wanted militants affiliated with the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in the Malakand Division have been killed, a report of the Interior Ministry revealed on Sunday.

According to officials, security forces, with the help of the local people, killed 40 wanted militants out of 55 who carried head money from Rs 0.1 million Rs 10 million. Action is in progress against the remaining 15 terrorists.

Officials said some locals received the head money on terrorists while a few refused to take money, saying that they would fight side-by-side with security forces against the terrorists without any reward and the money should be deposited in the national exchequer.

After the successful operation Rah-e-Rast in the Malakand Division, the federal and provincial governments had registered cases under the Terrorism Act and announced head money from Rs 0.5 million to Rs 10 million on different wanted terrorist commanders.
 
TTP are wasting their time in Swat now. They should divert these resources to FATA. Where we can do airstrikes to put them out of their misery.
 

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