Alarmed by increasing frequency of cross-border attacks from Afghanistan-based Taliban insurgents, Pakistan’s military is believed to have decided to send reinforcements to Swat after radical cleric Maulvi Fazlullah and his loyalists threatened to recapture the valley they ruled for two years before they were routed by the military in 2009.
“Threats from across the border are not something we can ignore … we will have to reinforce our troops to keep them away from Swat,” a senior security official told The Express Tribune on Friday. He did not want to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Troops may be moved to Swat from Punjab’s Kharian and Jehlum cantonments, the official said. According to him, the reinforcements would be deployed to secure hills and roads leading to Swat from Afghanistan’s bordering Kunar and Nuristan provinces.
Military spokesperson Maj Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa did not offer comment on the matter of reinforcements, saying that Swat was beyond militants’ reach and that they could never pose any threat to hard-won peace in the valley.
The development came days after a spokesperson for Maulvi Fazlullah said the militants who fled the 2009 military operation to Afghanistan’s eastern provinces were preparing to launch a new offensive.
Sirajuddin Ahmad, Fazlullah’s spokesman and cousin, said the group’s aim was to recapture Swat and eventually take control of Pakistan.
“The establishment of Islamic Sharia is our goal, and we will not rest until we achieve it. We will fight whoever stands in our way,” he told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location in Afghanistan.
The threat from the militia followed the release of a video by its associates of what they claimed were the heads of 17 Pakistani soldiers along with their identification cards.
Maulvi Fazlullah has slowly regrouped his militia by securing support from Afghan militants in an area where groups form loose alliances against the US, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“He is extremely dangerous,” said a Pakistani security official. “Fazlullah has 150 men, rocket-propelled grenades and light machine guns. You only need a small number of men to carry out effective operations. This is a big number,” he told Reuters.
Experts, however, believe it will be impossible for the group to regain Swat from Pakistani military, which currently controls the most vital part of the valley.
“It looks extremely difficult… the militia does not have the resources and manpower. They cannot defeat the military, but can bleed them,” said Brigadier (retd) Muhammad Saad, a Peshawar-based security analyst who has been monitoring the Fazlullah’s rise.
“The most important thing such groups need to control a region is public support. Fazlullah had it when he started in 2007,” said Muhammad, concluding “but nobody will be willing to support him (now).” (With additional input from Reuters)
Published in The Express Tribune, June 30th, 2012.
COMMENTS (15)
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@Zaikam: What story? Why should I help you kill your enemy when you're helping supporting mine to kill me? Moreover, it seems we're having trouble in differenciating between our friends n foes!
@Zaikam: What story? Y should I kill your enemy when you're helping/supporting my enemy to kill me? First step to correct a mistake is to admit it. Why should we ask them to be our friends when we're not sincere?
@Pakistani: What US Taliban ??? These are the so called misled brothers of Pakistani like yours.....which are trained by US, Israel and India according to Pakistanis like you.....
What people don't understand is that the "good" Taliban have a soft corner for "bad" taliban, and they will never go after them once the Nato forces leave. About Afghans, the colonial British said "when they are at war, they are at peace". They will not automatically put down arms when Nato leaves. And mark my words, Good Taliban will support these bad Taliban in a post Nato-Afghanistan.
We test so many Missiles daily , isn't it time to use them? We should turn those hills into desert from where these people attack, that should teach them a lesson.
@Zaikam:
Thanks to accept that those got killed were only Taliban, but not innocent pubic as you wished the world to beleive.
Better late than never. It's difficult to believe your serious about eliminating these (or any) militants when the vast majority of your 500,000+ army sits on the sideline - even your vaunted SWAT offensive devoted a small fraction of your army which may explain why you didn't kill/capture anyone of significant and your enemy simply moved into the adjacent territory.
Why was he allowed to escape by the military after causing havoc in swat?
@Zaikam: Exactly. They can pinpoint "militants on the Pak side of the border for drone strikes but can't seem to find Fazlulah sitting in Afghanistan. What a joke. Whose playing the double game now??
Had the civil/militray regimes not done deals with him and gotten rid of him, he would not be threatening. USA needs to open its eyes and "Do More" in the area occupied by them in neighbouring Afghanistan. rather than asking Pakistan to do more, they need to have better intelligence in their areas of control and use drone attacks to kill such rough elements than threating Pakistan in frustration.
Now once again Swat and Swatis shall face the another military operation.
Finally a first of the many 'do more'.
and now the US Taliban are hitting back
So, Haqqani network taliban can be pin pointed in Pakistan but Fazalullah and his militants are immune to these drone strikes. Tells the story!