PAKISTAN: Troops battle militants in the main town in the Swat valley in a concerted effort to roll back a spreading Taliban insurgency

Record ID: 375330

  • Title: PAKISTAN: Troops battle militants in the main town in the Swat valley in a concerted effort to roll back a spreading Taliban insurgency
  • Date: 26th May 2009
  • Summary: DARGAI, PAKISTAN (MAY 25, 2009) (REUTERS) PARAMILITARY VEHICLE MOVING TOWARDS DARGAI VARIOUS OF PARAMILITARY TROOPS INSIDE VEHICLE TWO BURQA-CLAD WOMEN WALKING CLOSE OF GUN BARREL PARAMILITARY SOLDIERS CONTROLLING TRAFFIC MILITARY VEHICLE ARRIVING VARIOUS OF SOLDIERS GETTING OUT OF VEHICLE TO IMPOSE CURFEW LOCALS WATCHING (SOUNDBITE) (Pashto) HABIBULLAH KHAN, LOCA
  • Embargoed: 10th June 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Pakistan
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Reuters ID: LVA1KZZ45OA3DS88KX4MGBN8BCCZ
  • Story Text: Pakistani soldiers, battling Taliban militants in the country's restive northwest, foiled on Sunday (May 24) a suicide attack by firing at a car loaded with explosives approaching a checkpost, military officials said.
    In another incident, a bomb exploded when militants were planting it northwest of Mingora, killing six of them.
    On Monday (May 25) soldiers were moving from house to house as they battled militants in the main town in the Swat valley and were expected to take at least a week to secure it, the military said.
    The offensive in the Taliban bastion of Swat, about 120 km (80 miles) northwest of Islamabad, is the military's most concerted effort to roll back a spreading Taliban insurgency that has thrown the nuclear-armed country's future into question.
    Military spokesman Major-General Athar Abbas said soldiers had captured several important intersections in Mingora and the militants were fleeing in some areas but battling hard in others.
    The army launched the offensive this month after the militants, emboldened by a controversial peace deal, pushed out of the former tourist valley to conquer neighbouring districts, including one just 100 km (60 miles) northwest of Islamabad.
    Concern was growing for the thousands of civilians believed left in the town and a senior U.N. official said a request for a "humanitarian pause" was being considered.
    While many civilians have fled, many are still left including an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 in Mingora and about 200,000 in the north of the valley, where there has been less fighting.
    But even in places where there is no fighting, residents are facing hardships because of a curfew imposed by authorities in an effort to seal the region.
    "As soon as we open our shops, curfew is imposed, and everything is closed. Soldiers come and fire in the air. Now the situation is really bad. There is no business whatsoever," said Habibullah Khan, a trader from Dargai, a town in the relatively calmer part of Malakand Division.
    Saeedur Rehman, another resident of Dargai, told Reuters Television commuters were affected as well.
    "When we came to the bus stop this morning, there was curfew in the region. So the bus had to make a wide detour and we had to pay 80 rupees instead of the usual 40 rupees," Rehman said About 15,000 soldiers are fighting 4,000 to 5,000 militants in Swat, the army says. The government says about 1,100 militants and about 60 soldiers have been killed although there has been no independent confirmation of those estimates.
    Shocked by the brazen Taliban advances, the offensive has public support but that could wither if the hardships faced by residents of the region increase or if many civilians die.
    While Swat is not on the Afghan border, there have been fears it could turn into a fortress for al Qaeda as well as Taliban fighting in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
    The United States, which is pouring thousands of extra troops into Afghanistan to try to reverse Taliban gains, welcomed the subsequent resolve which the Pakistani army has demonstrated in its bid to clear Swat.
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