Ghost town of Pakistan's Swat
By S.H. Khan – 2 hours ago
MINGORA, Pakistan (AFP) —
"If anybody wants to see the day of judgment, he should go to Mingora," said Mohammad Daud, a shell-shocked
refugee from Pakistan's fierce military onslaught in the capital of Swat valley.
"There is nothing left for people to survive," said Daud, a tailor who scraped by for 20 days on potatoes scavenged from his neighbour's house, as security forces fought Taliban fighters in the mountainous district.
Daud finally fled to Peshawar, the capital of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), but
many who remain in Mingora are filled with hatred for the Islamist extremists who have turned the district capital into a ghost town.
Cushioned in the hills, 160 kilometres (100 miles) northwest of Pakistan's capital Islamabad, the city once bustled with activity, filled with local merchants and tourists who came to relax in the clean, cool mountain air.
Now, it suffers from a Taliban insurgency and Pakistan's third army offensive in less than two years.
There is no electricity. Food and water are scarce. Sand-bagged streets reverberate with gunfire and the roar of military trucks.
"People of my age hate Taliban. Look what they did to this splendid city," said Saranzeb Khan, 18, one of a few thousand people unable to flee Mingora before the military onslaught began in Swat on May 8.
He spoke to a group of reporters flown to Mingora by the military, who now say they control up to 70 percent of the city.
Standing in a queue and waiting for food handouts from a military truck, the distressed Khan looked at the deserted road in disbelief.
"We have no electricity here, no telephones, no natural gas to cook food and no water," said Khan, a college student.
A few burka-clad women with children shuffled onto the roads, desperate to find one of the food distribution points.
Up until about a week ago, emboldened Taliban rebels patrolled Mingora's streets, armed with guns and rocket launchers, in their bid to expand their control and impose a harsh brand on Islamic law in the region.
A Taliban spokesman said this week that insurgents were leaving the city and calling a halt to fighting to avoid civilian casualties.
Mohammad Shakil, 25, lives in the Shah Mardan neighbourhood of Mingora, and told AFP by telephone that fighters barged into his house two days ago, apparently seeking ways to flee the city in disguise.
"They demanded a razor and quickly shaved off their beards," said Shakil.
"They also demanded my clothes and changed their dress. While leaving, one of them threw a packet of Pakistani currency notes worth 10,000 rupees (124 dollars). 'This is your share in our war booty', he said."
Brigadier Tahir Hameed, the operation commander for Mingora, told reporters that about 1,500 militants were still fighting, but
that the army controlled 60 to 70 percent of the city.
He said 286 militants had been killed in Mingora since the start of the operation and that the city should be cleared of insurgents within five days.
The military says a total of 1,200 militants and 76 soldiers have died in the onslaught, launched in the districts of Lower Dir on April 26, Buner on April 28 and Swat on May 8, but those tolls cannot be confirmed independently.
In Mingora, most buildings and markets on important intersections remained intact.
One exception was the notorious Green Chowk area, a square where the Taliban used to dump their victims' bodies. Buildings were punctured with bullet marks and gaping holes caused by mortar shells, said an AFP reporter.
There has been no word on civilian casualties, but those who have fled the conflict zone in the northwest tell of innocent lives lost in indiscriminate military bombing and homes flattened.
The city usually has a population of 300,000, but most have fled, joining nearly 2.4 million other people the United Nations says have been displaced from the conflict zone.
AFP: Ghost town of Pakistan's Swat
Until now we are only hearing about "modern" talibans. Now see these pics. These bastards have really shove their beard & shorten their hairs.....
