Swat Operation II

[RabzonKhan]

3 Taliban killed trying to plant bomb

November 06, 2008

PESHAWAR: Three Taliban were killed on Wednesday when a roadside bomb they were planting exploded in Chamkanai area of Swat, police said. “An improvised explosive device went off as three Taliban tried to plant it alongside a road in Chamkanai. The three died on the spot,” police official Jan Bahadur said. Meanwhile, Taliban said they had released 12 students who were kidnapped on suspicion of spying for the government. The students, aged between 19 and 20, were seized on Tuesday. Swat Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan told AFP: “These students were spying for the security forces. We released five students yesterday (Tuesday). The remaining seven were released today (Wednesday) after their parents personally assured us that these students will not indulge in spying for the security forces.” Local police chief Dilawar Bangash confirmed to AFP that the group had been kidnapped.
Separately, Khan claimed responsibility for killing a police officer in

Cheharbagh area of Swat. The officer’s beheaded body was found dumped on Wednesday morning. Three other officers who were seized with him four days ago were still being held. Khan said the three would suffer the same fate unless 122 Taliban were released. According to APP, unidentified miscreants detonated a remote-controlled bomb planted close to a house in Bawbar area in Upper Dir district. However, no casualty was reported. agencies

 

[Imran Khan]

Troops kill four militants in Swat



Associated Press of Pakistan

PESHAWAR: At least four militants were killed during an exchanging for firing with security forces at Kabal area in militancy-hit Swat district.

The spokesman of Information Media Centre Swat told APP that two soldiers also wounded in the clash. The shootout started when militants opened fire on troops in Kabal, which was retaliated by troops.

 

[Imran Khan]

11 Taliban killed in Swat, 7 in Bajaur
* Yousafkhel, Barang jirgas vow to support govt
* Taliban say ready to talk to govt
* Release four abducted elders in Mamoond

MINGORA/KHAR: At least 11 Taliban were killed in gunfights with troops in the Swat valley on Tuesday, and another seven were killed as troops targeted their hideouts in Bajaur.

Some of the clashes in Swat “took place after Taliban militants opened fire on troops during an ongoing army operation in Matta and Kabal tehsils”, an army statement said. Seven Taliban were killed and several others were wounded, it added. Two soldiers were also injured.

A security official later said that four more Taliban were killed and two soldiers wounded in a separate clash in Kabal.

A girl was allegedly killed in the Muhammad Beg area of Kabal in firing by security forces.

In Charbagh tehsil, Taliban attacked a security checkpost, but there were no casualties.

Bajaur: Security forces targeted Taliban positions with helicopters, jet fighters and heavy artillery in Nawagai and Mamoond tehsils of Bajaur Agency.

Artillery shells also hit civilian areas, but there were no reports of casualties.

Officials said the political administration arrested eight suspects during a crackdown.

The army has claimed that it has killed more than 1,500 Taliban since it launched the Bajaur operation in early August.

Nearly 300,000 people have been displaced by the fighting and many of them are now living in refugee camps in the NWFP.

The military operation has been supported by lashkars, or tribal militias. Taliban have retaliated with suicide attacks on jirgas, the most recent of which killed 20 tribal elders on November 6.

In Mamoond tehsil, the Yousafkhel and Barang tribes stepped up their movement to expel Taliban. Elders vowed to co-operate with the government in two separate jirgas on Tuesday.

Ready to talk: Taliban spokesman Maulvi Omar told reporters by telephone on Tuesday the Taliban were ready to negotiate with the government. He said it was not possible for the government to eliminate Taliban with force.

Elders freed: In Mohmand Agency, Taliban freed four of the seven tribal elders they had abducted a week ago. The Gilnai-Shabqadar highway was opened for one hour on Tuesday, but the Shabqadar-Ghandhab highway remained closed.

Unidentified men shot and injured a doctor in Haleemzai. He was taken to Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar. hasbanullah/agencies

Home | National

 

[dr.umer]

8 militants killed in Swat​

12 Nov 2008

SWAT: In a combat, Security Forces eliminated 8 militants in tehsil Kabal while a security official was killed and two were injured.

According to ISPR, in Townanday an area of tehsil Kabal, 8 militants were killed in a combat with Security Forces while one security official was killed and two others injured.

Meanwhile the building totally collapsed when militants blew up the Govt High School Mata, by explosive material.

According to a report until now militants had blown up 122 schools in Swat and due the critical situation in Swat, all the educational institutes were closed since one year.

 

[Imran Khan]

TTP warns hotels in Attock against prostitution

ATTOCK: The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Tuesday distributed pamphlets in Attock Khurd, warning three hotels and a guesthouse of dire consequences if they did not halt their ‘illegal activities’ within a week. Situated at the border of Punjab and NWFP, Attock Khurd is a scenic and historic place, often a popular choice for visitors. The TTP pamphlets warned that the hotels would be destroyed if their administrations did not halt ‘prostitution in the garb of providing service to the visitors’. The Taliban’s ‘first and the last’ warning said violators would be punished, even if it entailed laying down the Taliban’s lives.Following the warning, police have increased security in and around the area. The TTP warning would hamper tourism not only in Attock Khurd but in adjoining areas of the NWFP as well, locals said. aaj kal report

 

[dr.umer]

Fighter jets kills 16 militants in Swat​

November 20, 2008

SWAT: Sixteen militants have been killed over bombardment carried out by fighter jets here on Thursday.

Security forces fighter planes pounded militants’ hideouts in various parts of Peuchar and Shor in Matta tehsil, killing 16 more militants.

Meanwhile, eight people were killed and several others injured when mortar shells hit several houses in Alam Gunj area of Khawazakhel in Swat. The death toll may rise, sources said.

Sources said that some unknown miscreants shot dead local politician in Matta whereas Kanju-Kabal road remained closed for fourth consecutive day.

Unknown persons blew up six barber shops in Mangora. In Kabal, security forces operation entered into 13th day.

 

[Neo]

Army takes control of Kabal in Swat​

* NWFP minister’s brother killed in Mingora
* Taliban flog four in Kabal and Charbagh
* CD, video shop set on fire in Mingora
* Four killed as jets bomb Taliban hideouts in Bajaur
* ‘Grand operation’ against crime in NAs​

KHAR: Security forces have taken complete control of Swat’s Kabal tehsil, a military statement said on Saturday.

It said the Taliban had fled the area after heavy casualties and a team of engineers was detecting and removing landmines and remote-controlled bombs that Taliban had planted in the area.

It said the fleeing Taliban had robbed several houses and offices.

Minister’s brother: An unidentified gunman shot dead NWFP Forest Minister Wajid Ali Khan’s brother in Mingora on Saturday, witnesses and officials said.

Farooq Khan, an NWFP Police inspector in Mingora, was heading on his motorbike for a market in Mingora city, officials told Daily Times. The gunman then escaped on foot from the scene on the outskirts of Mingora, local police official Khaista Rehman told AFP.

“It was a targeted killing. The militants threatened him several times,” he said. Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan told Daily Times the inspector was not on the Taliban ‘hit-list’. But he owned the attacks on Awami National Party (ANP) leaders and relatives of provincial ministers from the district in the recent past.

ANP called the killing ‘terrorism’ against Pashtuns.

“The terrorists are out to kill Pashtuns,” Asfandyar Wali Khan said. “But the ANP will not step back from its struggle for the rights of the Pashtun people.” “The day has come when the (Pashtun) nation stands up to protect itself and cleanse the land from the anti-Islam enemies of peace,” the ANP leader said in a press statement issued in Peshawar.

Taliban flog: Locals said Taliban punished two men with 39 whips each on charges of adultery in Kabal tehsil. In Charbagh tehsil, they also punished two alleged drug peddlers with 20 whips each.

The punishments followed rulings of their own ‘shariah courts’.

Video shop: In Mingora, unidentified men set fire to a CD and video film store. No group has claimed responsibility for the incident so far, but Taliban have owned such incidents in the past.

Seven killed in Bajaur: Four Taliban and three women were killed in bombing by fighter aircraft in Bajaur Agency on Saturday.

Officials said the aircraft attacked suspected hideouts in Kas, Gatki and Kharki areas of Mamoond tehsil.

Locals said one of the bombs was dropped on a stream where women had gathered to fetch water. Officials did not confirm the killing of women.

Security forces claimed to have made swift advances in Nawagai teshil and taken over several areas that were under Taliban control.

Northern Areas: Inspector General of Police for Northern Areas Khursheed Alam Khan said on Saturday that police would conduct a grand operation against criminals by the end of the current month.

A statement said that around 150 commando detachments would be formed for the operation, while security arrangements on Karakurram Highway for Chinese engineers and foreign and local tourists have been completed.

He said that around 400 non-locals have been expelled from the areas, and peace committees are being formed in the villages. He said that police officials have been asked to eliminate crime by November 25 or face stern action. hasbanullah/staff report

 

[pkpatriotic]

Pakistan troops kill 20 militants
From correspondents in Peshawar
November 25, 2008

PAKISTANI troops overnight killed at least 20 militants during clashes in the restive north-west where the military is waging a bloody offensive against al-Qaeda and the Taliban, officials said.

Fifteen militants were killed and six others were injured in gun fights in different parts of north-western Swat valley, a security official said.

"Security forces engaged miscreants (militants) in different parts of Swat and killed at least 15 and injured six others," the official said, adding that several vehicles used by the combatants were also destroyed in shelling.

The mountainous Swat valley until last year was a popular tourist destination but has been turned into a battleground since pro-Taliban group leader Maulana Fazlullah launched a violent campaign for the introduction of Islamic Sharia.

Separately, paramilitary troops killed at least five pro-Taliban fighters and arrested six others during a search operation in Pindyali village in the restive Mohmand tribal district bordering Afghanistan, another security official said.

Troops fired artillery on militant positions and cleared the area, he said, adding that local tribes overnight handed over 18 wanted militants to authorities after negotiations between government officials and tribal elders.

Meanwhile, police and paramilitary officials said security forces had killed at least 25 militants and arrested 40 others during a two-week operation in areas surrounding north-western Peshawar city.

"Security forces have killed at least 25 militants and arrested 40 others in an operation...in the surrounding areas of Peshawar in past 10 days," Malik Naveed, the provincial police chief said.

Three policeman were also killed during the operation, Mr Naveed said in Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan.

The forces also cleared combatants from 21 villages between Peshawar and the Mohmand tribal district and were moving into the remaining four villages, he said.

A large cache of arms, explosives, two explosive-filled cars apparently intended for suicide bombings, and a number of suicide vests were also seized during the operation, he said.

Peshawar is located close to Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal zones which border Afghanistan, where government forces have been battling pro-Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked fighters.


A Pakistani army soldier stands near ammunition and gadgets army claimed they confiscated from militants in Ishra Banda in Pakistan's tribal area of Mohmand, Monday, Nov. 24, 2008. Pakistani forces have killed 25 suspected militants in a two-week operation to secure the frontier city of Peshawar, which sits on a key supply route for U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, an official said Monday.

 

[pkpatriotic]

Pakistan says militants pushed back from Peshawar
© AP
2008-11-24

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) - Government forces killed 15 militants Monday in northwest Pakistan where 25 more have died in an operation to secure the frontier city of Peshawar, which sits on a key supply route for Western troops in Afghanistan. Nuclear-armed Pakistan is battling surging attacks by al-Qaida and Taliban militants, most of whom are based in the lawless tribal regions close to Afghanistan, where U.S.and NATO forces are fighting an increasingly tenacious Islamist insurgency.

The fighting Monday was in the scenic Swat valley, which was a popular tourist destination before militant violence spread there last year. Six insurgents were also wounded in the clashes in several parts of the valley, the army said in a brief statement.

Violence in the region's main city of Peshawar, including the shooting death of an American aid worker this month, has raised concerns the city itself is under threat.

Security forces backed by warplanes and artillery have swept through an area between Peshawar and the border over the last two weeks.

Zafrullah Khan, commander of the paramilitary Frontier Constabulary troops in the area, said his force and police have taken control of 22 of 25 targeted villages and would clear the others within a week.

«The militants in these areas have been a big threat to the writ of the government,» Khan said. «They have been a main source and origin of the crimes in Peshawar and other cities of the province.

Some 25 suspects have been killed and another 35 arrested during the operation, he said. He said those detained included foreigners, but provided no details.

Four suicide jackets as well as weapons including guns, rockets and grenades were seized, he said.

Late Monday, a bomb exploded at a Shiite place of worship in the city, wounding five people, said police officer Malik Naveed. Pakistan's militant groups are overwhelmingly Sunni and have frequently targeted minority Shiites, whom they accuse of being heretics.

Pakistani troops have been battling Taliban militants in Bajur, a nearby tribal region, since August. The fighting has spread to neighboring Mohmand, which borders the villages targeted in the sweep near Peshawar.

The city is a vital hub for military and relief efforts in Pakistan's northwest as well as lying on a supply route for foreign troops fighting in Afghanistan.

 

[Imran Khan]

Local gangs assisting TTP in NWFP

PESHAWAR: A ‘blend of Afghan and local criminal gangs’ are helping the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), using Peshawar as a ‘resource generation point’ for the organisation, the provincial police chief said on Tuesday. “The Taliban are using Khyber Agency as base and Peshawar as the resource generation point,” NWFP Inspector General of Police Malik Naveed Khan said in an interview with Daily Times. Kidnappings for ransom and high-profile abductions have dramatically increased in Peshawar, with the whereabouts of Afghanistan’s ambassador-designate to Pakistan Abdul Khaliq Farahi and the brother of an Afghan minister still unknown. A former Taliban ulaswal (district governor), Yahya Hijrat, who now calls himself Mustafa Kamal Kamran Hijrat, is leading the TTP in Khyber Agency with recruits from Waziristan Agency and Punjab, a senior security official said. Khan suspects Mustafa’s ‘possible involvement’ in the Afghan diplomat’s abduction from Hayatabad on September 22. “Criminal gangs carry out the abduction and then sell the kidnapped people to the Taliban,” he said.The officials warned the government against allowing Mustafa’s group to establish itself in Khyber. “Peshawar will be hell if we do not stop this group from taking roots,” they said. iqbal khattak

 

[Anwar2]

The Army-TTP conflict is not about territory, its about ideology, hearts and minds.
Taleban had virtually met their end by 2002. Since 2004 their support base has grown from a hardcore of about 1500 to more than 20,000 (lets not buy the TTP Bull of 500,000 members).

Their kinda sad ideology has immense appeal for the poor masses. It is easy to dismiss the FATA people as illiterate primitive folks, but that far from the reality. Massive over enthusiastic Army operations have created a backlash (just natural). People are smart enough to understand that the Army has no good reason to be there, its just the US/NATO compulsions.

Our political and security leadership has tried its best to create a bogey of “extremist takeover”, dark clouds on the horizon, end of the civil society etc. But they are trying to gain traction on a very slippery ground. They just lack credibility. Their actions are not in the interest of Pakistan, it has split the national fabric.

So far nobody has come up with a standard definition of a Terrorist or Extremist. Any one who sports a beard and goes to mosque is an extremist. The only sure shot establish “moderate” credentials is the ubiquitous glass of JW Red Label?.

 

[TruthSeeker]

From the Long War Journal:

Pakistan 'lost control' in Swat

By Bill Roggio
December 6, 2008 9:38 PM

The Pakistani government has "lost control" of the settled district of Swat to the Taliban, a senior politician said.

The military is losing the battle that began more than a year ago in the former vacation paradise once known as the Switzerland of Pakistan, according to Haji Adeel, the Senior Vice President of Awami National Party, the ruling party in the Northwest Frontier Province.

The military's inability to quell the Taliban insurgency in Swat has eroded the confidence in the security forces and the government, Adeel said.

"What will be the credibility of the military operation in Swat when houses of ministers are destroyed and their family members are queued up for shooting," he said. "What I see is that the situation has gone out of control of both the federal and provincial governments and the people have lost confidence in the government and the army."

Adeel noted that Swat was outside of the tribal areas along the Afghan border.

The Pakistani military launched an operation to retake the settled district of Swat after Mullah Fazlullah forces overran police stations and paramilitary outposts. The neighboring district of Shangla was overrun by the Taliban in November. More than 200 policemen and soldiers were killed during fighting in Swat in 2007.

The military said the operation to retake Swat would be over by Dec. 15, 2007 and the ski resort would be open for business. The Taliban was driven from Shangla in November and fighting tapered off in Swat in February after the military made some gains. But the government never took full control over the district. The government signed a peace agreement with the Taliban in May.

The military admitted that Swat, Shangla, and other unnamed districts outside the tribal areas are under Taliban control during a briefing to the parliament in October.

Pakistani forces have been fighting forces aligned with Mullah Fazlullah, a radical cleric of the outlawed Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM - the Movement for the Implementation of Mohammad's Sharia Law).

The TNSM is known as the "Pakistani Taliban" and is the group behind the ideological inspiration for the Afghan Taliban. The TNSM sent more than 10,000 fighters into Afghanistan to fight US forces during Operation Enduring Freedom in October 2001.

Fazlullah merged with Baitullah Mehsud's Tehrik-e-Taliban, or the movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, in December 2007.

Fazlullah has successfully organized anti-polio and anti-girls schools campaigns throughout the region. The Swat region has been a safe haven and training ground for the Taliban and al Qaeda.

 

[Pk_Thunder]

Swat Taliban announce ban on female education from Jan 15​

Thursday, December 25, 2008

By our correspondent

MINGORA: The Maulana Fazlullah-led militants, operating in the restive Swat Valley, have announced a complete ban on female education from January 15 and warned violators of harsh action.

Shah Dauran, the vice chief of Swat militants and in charge of the FM radio, announced that no government or private educational institution would enrol girls. He said all schools and colleges should stop female education by January 15.

He threatened to blow up all schools violating the ban, adding the schools providing education to girls would be forced to close. The militants in Swat, who have been known for their strong opposition to women education, have bombed or torched around 100 girls’ schools to forcibly stop girls from going to school in the district.

Due to their opposition and escalation of war between the security forces and the militants, dozens of schools have been either destroyed or closed. Actually, the terrorists went to the extent of destroying all schools, irrespective of boys and girls, in a bid to “Islamise” their curriculum.

Another argument the militants’ top leaders, including their chief Maulana Fazlullah, present is to destroy everything owned by the government because the security forces had been razing their houses and killing their colleagues.

The provincial government in June-July launched an ad campaign in newspapers to create a soft corner in the hearts of militants to stop blowing up schools but that ended up in smoke. APP adds: At least 11 more militants were killed when the security forces attacked their hideouts at Shakardara in Swat district on Wednesday.

 

[RabzonKhan]

Barbarism in Swat

By Khurshid Khan
December 25, 2008

SWAT’S Sangota Public School was blown to smithereens on Oct 7, 2008 — a dark day in the history of the area.

This convent school was established in 1964 by Miangul Jahanzeb, popularly known as Wali sahib, the last ruler of Swat who not only donated land for the school but also provided generous financial aid for its construction and operations. It was renowned for its quality of education in the entire Malakand region.

This epitome of architectural perfection was situated in a beautiful and enchanting location on the left bank of the meandering and bounteous Swat river, spreading the light of education. Most of the teachers were Irish nuns who had devoted their lives to educating Swat’s children. They arrived in the bloom of their youth and returned in the autumn of their lives. They also educated the young girls in neighbouring villages and hamlets, without any thought of financial gains, teaching them the same courses as were being taught in the school in the morning.

A co-education system was in place until the 1990s but after the establishment of Excelsior College, the boys were shifted there and from then onwards only girls were admitted to this prestigious school. The school was closed on the DCO Swat’s orders because of the turbulence and volatile atmosphere in Swat much against the wishes of the students’ parents. The school administration decided to vacate the premises and as soon as it was vacated, it was razed to the ground by militants the next day, as was the premises of Excelsior College.

The first school in Swat was established in 1922 by Miangul Abdul Wadood. Both boys and girls were educated here until the primary level. It was not until 1926 when a separate school was established for girls. His successor Miangul Jehanzeb established a network of schools and colleges in the whole of Swat, Buner, Shanglapar and Indus-Kohistan which were then a part of the Swat state.

Education was not only encouraged but free. Scholarships were awarded and students were sent to western countries for higher education. Those who completed their education were given attractive employment. Thanks to these incentives, people swarmed to Swat for education. Students from Dir, Chitral, Malakand, Charsadda, Mardan, Swabi and other parts of the country turned to Swat for education.

After the merger of Swat state in 1969, several other schools and colleges in the public sector were opened, especially girls’ schools and colleges. Private schools also emerged. Gradually, Swat came to be regarded as a centre of learning by adjoining districts. But this evolution of education was strangulated by the militants in 2007 and 2008. Swat is now being pushed back to the pre-1922 period. Even then there were no militants who destroyed their own people.

Adjoining districts Shangla, Buner and Dir have suffered equally adverse effects. The people of these areas sent their children to Swat for education but now they are compelled to send their children to Peshawar, even to Punjab, where expenses are comparatively high.

Meanwhile, back to the Sangota Public School. The religious extremists and rival private schools generated negative propaganda against it but parents were not taken in by these rumours and continued to send their children to school there. They knew that not a single student had been converted to Christianity.

The people of the nearby villages looted the furniture, libraries, computers and other precious accessories of Sangota Public School and Excelsior College after their destruction declaring it war booty. The vandalism and looting continued all day. Security forces stationed in the overlooking mountains watched this humiliating process but still remained silent and unmoved. Eyewitnesses say that even if the forces had fired in the air, the looting would have stopped.

Taliban spokesperson Muslim Khan in a BBC interview alleged that the school had been following a co-educational system and was also preaching Christianity. Therefore, its signs had to be obliterated. But what about the scores of other schools where there was no linkage whatsoever with co-education or Christianity? Why were these demolished?

There may be two hidden motives, i.e. to discourage education and increase poverty in Swat. Ignorance and poverty breed extremism and this is actually happening in Swat. Unemployment is on the rise. People are drawn towards militancy because they are given a handsome remuneration for becoming one of the Taliban. State-of-the-art weapons, handsome salaries and the assurance of paradise in the hereafter are some of the temptations that lure the youth.

These young men are the major source of strength and power for militant leaders. Through them militants have succeeded in banishing the influential people of Swat and have compelled political leaders to kneel before them. Police do not dare to patrol the areas and the army is very cautious in its movements and operations here.

The barbaric Huns destroyed the Gandhara civilisation in the 5th century AD and burnt to ashes educational institutions including the university at Taxila. Today, all the laboriously constructed educational institutions are once again the victims of vandalism. Precious cultural antiquities are being destroyed. These barbaric activities are certainly the handiwork of a strange and peculiar mindset.

It is shocking and surprising that as schools and colleges in Swat are being levelled to the ground one after the other, the people do not protest and the government is averse to taking serious action. Parliamentarians are also silent spectators. Their tongues are tied and their hands fastened.

The process of Talibanisation is progressing in Swat. There are many simple-headed people there who either openly or secretly support the movement, all in ignorance and clearing the ground for it. The valley is fertile and all the ingredients of building and maintaining a civilisation are there in abundance. In spite of possessing all these valuable resources, if we still keep silent, then barbarism will certainly replace civilisation in the valley.

One hopes that the demolition of educational institutions, especially of girls’ schools, does not mean that the people of Swat will stop educating their children. After all, the wheel of time is not meant to reverse its direction; it must move forward.

 

[Vinod2070]

Elite Police Force commandos refuse to serve in Swat

Tuesday, January 13, 2009
by Javed Aziz Khan

PESHAWAR: Around 600 specially-trained commandoes of the newly established Elite Police Force (EPF) have refused to get posted in the turbulent Swat Valley, saying they would prefer sacking to being made “scapegoats”, a source told The News.

“The services of around 600 commandoes of Platoon No-1 to Platoon No-13 were placed at the disposal of district police officer of Swat. They were supposed to join duty during the first week of January. However, none of them left for the troubled town,” source disclosed.

The source added that parents of the newly trained commandoes had also refused to send their sons to the war-hit town where cops had been slaughtered and strangulated publicly in the recent past.

“We are not afraid of being killed but have certain reservations over the role that the police force has been assigned in the town. If we alone are permitted to clear the Swat valley, we are ready to take over and join our duty,” a commando, requesting anonymity, told this scribe.

The cop added that there must be a mechanism of providing ration and other facilities to the EPF cops like army men so none of them would have go to bazaars for shopping and be trapped there.

Another EPF commando recalled a number of incidents of beheading of cops in public in Swat. “But none of those involved in the slaughtering of policemen could be rounded up or punished to this date. This has brought the morale of the force to its lowest,” opined another cop, who is among the lot that has refused to perform duty in Swat.

Four cops were brutally murdered in Swat last week. The body of one Gul Islam was mutilated and his face disfigured. The head of Javed was cut with a drill machine while Aziz, a police driver, was slaughtered after his family could not arrange ransom money. Another unidentified cop was also slaughtered during the last week.

A large-scale desertion was witnessed in police and other security forces during the recent months. “Many cops had to place advertisements in local newspapers to assure the militants that they were no more part of security forces,” a local from Swat Valley told this correspondent.

Once a lucrative job for local youth, police had more attraction for the Swati people and that was why the authorities had to relax rules for recruiting cops due to shortage of manpower. Even then, people are not ready to get jobs for their children in police.

In recent weeks, female education institutions were threatened with bombing while several other government institutions also received threats. To secure the government buildings and installations, the security forces had to deploy personnel there who, military sources said, created troops shortage. However, these military sources were hoping to cope with the situation after the deployment of the EPF.

Refusal of such a large number of policemen to join duty in Swat has put the authorities in a fix. It would also add to the problems of the security forces. The authorities have now decided to deploy the EPF cops in Peshawar, Dera Ismail Khan, Kohat and Hangu.

Attempts to contact the EPF head, DIG Mohammad Suleman, failed because his cellular phone remained switched off.Another official of the Frontier Police, when approached, did not offer comments on the issue but said they had spent over Rs10 million on 4-month training of 1,022 cops of the EPF. These cops would also be given Rs3,000 in addition to their salaries.

Though the EPF launch has not been formally sanctioned, the NWFP chief minister approved, as a special case, the creation of the Elite force comprising 2,500 commandoes.Special training was imparted to 1,022 cops by army men at the Punjab Regiment Centre in Mardan while 521 others were trained at Karachi. Also, the entire police force is being given 5-week Anti-Terrorist Squad training to equip them with techniques of fighting terrorism.

“Those who are being imparted training in Karachi would return in March after which they would be deployed in different troubled towns,” an official opined. He argued that the morale of police force across the Frontier was high and they were playing an important role in fighting terrorism.

Elite Police Force commandos refuse to serve in Swat

I guess it is obvious that the domestic militancy takes it's toll on the security agencies. I remember many Pakistani media reports rejoicing when any report of Indian security forces under stress doing these kind of duties came in.