World | Pakistan
Mingora braces for residents' return
Pakistani authorities are preparing for the return of residents to Swat's main town but decisive victory will only be won when Taliban leaders are dead, an army commander said on Wednesday.
- Reuters
- Published: 23:36 June 3, 2009
Mingora: Pakistani authorities are preparing for the return of residents to Swat's main town but decisive victory will only be won when Taliban leaders are dead, an army commander said on Wednesday.
The army began battling Taliban forces in the region in late April, after a militant thrust into a district 100km northwest of the capital raised fears at home and abroad that the nuclear-armed country could slowly slip into militant hands.
The army has secured the main town of Mingora and pushed militants out of many other parts of the Swat valley - a region, until recently, famous worldwide for its ski slopes and summer hiking.
The fighting, however, has also forced about two million people from their homes.
There are no independent casualty estimates but the army says more than 1,230 militants have been killed, while it has lost more than 90 men.
However, Taliban leaders in Swat have apparently escaped the army's fire.
Major-General Ijaz Awani, an army commander in Swat, said a conclusive victory would only be won when they were killed.
"Their death is vital to kill their myth," Awani told a group of reporters flown to Swat by the army yesterday.
The United States, which criticised a February peace pact with the Taliban in Swat as tantamount to abdicating to the militants, has applauded the offensive.
Richard Holbrooke, the US envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, arrived in Pakistan saying he wanted to assess relief efforts for the displaced and see how the United States could help more.
"The government responded appropriately to a direct challenge to its authority," Holbrooke told Geo TV.
The United States needs Pakistani help to defeat Al Qaida and subdue the Taliban in Afghanistan.
While Swat is not on the Afghan border, there was a danger and heightened fears that it could have become a bastion for militants fighting across the region.
Swat's Mingora town has been under curfew for most of the past three weeks and looked completely deserted on Wednesday.
Buildings at several intersections had been badly damaged and broken glass and debris were scattered across the ground.
However, most buildings in the rest of Mingora appeared intact.
Beyond the town, the Swat river snakes through green fields and orchards that cover the valley floor.
Awani told reporters in a briefing at a post near Mingora the army had been ordered not to use heavy weapons or airstrikes in the town to minimise damage.
Civilian casualties had been "very few," he said.
About 35,000 to 40,000 out of a total population of 350,000 remained in Mingora, Awani said.
The army has been trucking in food and other supplies for them.
Awani said from a military point of view displaced civilians could start to come home, but the town's water and electricity supplies had to be restored and that would take two weeks.
From June 17, the displaced were expected to begin returning, he said. Authorities are planning to implement tough screening of all people coming back to the area to weed out any militants trying to slip back into the area.
The government is raising a community police force to help with security, he said. Many poorly equipped and trained policemen melted away in the face of Taliban aggression.
However, the army would remain in the valley for at least a year, even if the entire region was cleared of militants, Awani said.
The army pushed militants from the valley with an offensive in late 2007 but the Taliban drifted back when the army withdrew.
That wouldn't happen again, he said.
"The army as a force is going to stay here,' he said.
Share this article
News Editor's choice
-
King Tut's tomb set for project
Observers note strange brown spots marring lavish wall paintings
-
Thieves caught with Dh6m in gold
Twenty-five gold bars were stolen from the luggage of a Malaysian tradesman
-
What to expect at the Dubai Airshow
We preview what types of aircraft to expect at the Dubai Airshow
