Army pressing reluctant civilian authorities to take charge of Swat

Military’s top brass wants to redeploy soldiers to other areas, officials say .

ISLAMABAD:

The military is pushing civilian authorities in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to take control of Swat and relieve several thousand troops still policing the scenic valley that was once occupied by the Taliban, a top official said.

“We have repeatedly asked the provincial government to make the civilian administration take control of the region. We have done our job there,” the official told The Express Tribune on Thursday.

His comments came a day after Chief of Army Staff Ashfaq Parvez Kayani told a seminar in Swat that all state organs should play their due role in the war against terror. Kayani did not elaborate on his comment though.

Insiders said the military leadership is not happy with the authorities’ reluctance to take over Swat, which the army regained from the Taliban after a successful operation in 2009, to civilian law enforcers. The official, who requested that his name not be mentioned, said the military’s top brass wanted to redeploy troops currently on duty in Swat in other troubled areas soldiers.

Although the number of troops has been reduced since the operation ended, at least one army division (around 7,000 troops) is still there, patrolling the area against possible resurgence of the Taliban.

While the army was able to flush militants out of the valley, most Taliban leaders, including commander Maulvi Fazlullah or Radio Mullah, are still at large, prompting fears they might stage a comeback.

The military official said the provincial government’s reluctance to deploy civil law enforcers in place of the army might be because they fear the Taliban’s return, but added that he did not see any such possibility.

“We cannot be here indefinitely…that is why we have been asking the government to build the capacity of the police and take control of the area. They have to take a decision sooner or later,” the official added. One reason, he added, the military leadership was calling for relieving troops from the valley is that they are needed in other areas in the tribal belt where the war on terror is still in full swing.

Analyst Zahid Hussain said the military cannot deploy troops for an indefinite period and the writ of the civil administration needs to be established.

“How long can you keep the army there?” questioned Hussain, who has closely monitored the situation in Swat since the rise of the Taliban in 2007.

Hussain, however, said the military should not be withdrawn from the valley abruptly because it can give the Taliban a chance to stage a comeback, of which, he thought, there is always a possibility.

“I think this is the reason civilian authorities are shying away from a final decision…they are apprehensive,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 8^th, 2011.