Headless bodies found in Swat valley

Peshawar: Troops secured footholds Wednesday in Swat valley overrun by the Taliban, killing eleven militants and discovering five headless corpses near the region's main town, the army said.

Elsewhere in the turbulent northwest, police said dozens of assailants stormed a transport depot handling supplies for Nato troops in neighbouring Afghanistan and torched eight trucks before escaping.

Rising violence, including a string of attacks on Nato and US supplies, have fed concern that more of Pakistan's border region is slipping from government control and into the hands of the Taliban and Al Qaida.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai warned yesterday that the threat militants pose to both countries is very real.

"Terrorists and extremists are extending their reach in whole areas of our countries," Karzai told a regional economic conference in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

Under strong US pressure, Pakistani authorities abandoned peace talks last month with Taliban militants and launched a military operation to expel them from their stronghold in the Swat Valley.

The army claims to have killed more than 750 militants since the operation began. But the fighting has also driven some 800,000 people from their homes, creating a humanitarian emergency that could undercut support for the pro-Western government.

The army said yesterday that commandos airlifted into the valley the day before had established a "firm hold" in the remote Piochar area, the rear base of Swat Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah.

Troops were also consolidating their positions near a strategic bridge and a shrine in the valley, an army statement said. Various clashes in the previous 24 hours left four soldiers and eleven militants dead, it said.

The five headless bodies were found near the valley's main town, Mingora, the army said, giving no details of the victims' identities. Residents have said the Taliban have repeatedly decapitated opponents and dumped their bodies in Mingora.

The army has yet to start operations in Mingora, where witnesses say Taliban insurgents are in control and preparing for what could be bloody house-to-house fighting.

The army says it is proceeding carefully, wary that civilian casualties and massive disruption could sap public support for a sustained operation to undo recent Taliban gains.

It says it has no information to corroborate accounts from refugees of dozens of people killed and injured in the fighting, which has included massive airstrikes on militant targets.

Tens of thousands of refugees have found refuge in camps run by the government and the United Nations. Others are living with relatives and friends.

Lawmakers have raised concern about those so far unable to escape the valley, in part because of a curfew imposed by the army.

Syed Allahuddin, a lawmaker from Swat who represents the main ruling party, said some 700,000 people were stranded in the valley with dwindling supplies of food and water.

"People are facing grave trouble because they couldn't get the foodstuffs to provide for themselves and their children," Allahuddin said.

Refugees: Thousands on the move

Pakistani army chief General Ashfaq Kayani ordered yesterday an all-out effort to assist the government and aid agencies to help hundreds of thousands of civilians displaced by an offensive against the Taliban in Swat.

- The UN refugee agency said it had registered 670,906 people displaced by the fighting in the Swat area since May 2 but an unknown number of people are believed not to have bothered registering with authorities.

- A senior military official overseeing help for internally displaced people said on Tuesday an estimated 800,000 civilians had fled from the latest fighting. They were joining about 500,000 displaced by earlier fighting in the northwest.

- The United Nations has warned of a long-term humanitarian crisis.

- The UN refugee agency said of the total number of people it had registered, only 79,842 were staying in camps set up by the authorities. The rest were staying with friends, relatives, or in rented accommodation or in "spontaneous settlements" that were springing up.

- Four camps are full and people are being directed to others while aid workers assess sites for new camps.

- The UN refugee agency has opened stockpiles of supplies to help the displaced and has also airlifted in 120 tonnes of supplies including plastic sheets for shelters and mosquito nets.

- The World Food Programme said it had enough wheat, pulses, and other staples to feed 1.5 million people for three months, which may not be enough to deal with the crisis.

- The army, which played a major role in helping survivors of a big earthquake in 2005, is donating part of its rations to the relief effort, enough to feed about 80,000 adults a day.

- The World Health Organisation warned that the displaced faced serious risks of disease outbreaks and malnutrition.

- Reuters

I just hope and pray that these brutal and senseless people are wiped out, not only from Pakistan but from the rest of the world, too. However, the main issue over here is who is funding them?But inshllah Pakistan will wipe them out from the country.
Shahrukh
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: May 14, 2009, 14:36

I am a Pakistani and when the government made the deal with Taliban, I was really angry. However, thankfully the government understood that deal was wrong.Almighty Allah will help us in this crisis.
Shahid
Dubai,UAE
Posted: May 14, 2009, 13:39

I was really concerned about the current situation in pakistan and thought the country will be unable to fight against millitants but they just proved me wrong .They have sacrificed there people's lives in order to make a better world and sincerely we all should salute them. Great work.
Pat
Dubai,UAE
Posted: May 14, 2009, 10:45