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| Stay away from Swat, militants tell troops |
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Sunday, April 26, 2009
Taliban stop logistics convoy of security forces; Fazlullah says he is ready to offer more ‘sacrifices’; Army warns against armed patrolling by Taliban
By our correspondent
MINGORA: Security forces on Saturday warned against armed patrolling in Swat as militants stopped a logistics convoy of the security forces at Qamber and did not allow it to move to its destination.
A convoy of seven vehicles was heading towards Mingora when the militants blocked its way at Qamber — their stronghold situated three kilometres ahead of the city.
The road remained closed for traffic due to forces-militants tension. The militants forced the convoy to return to Barikot. The incident led to tension in the area as helicopters started hovering over parts of the Swat Valley. There is also rising concern among the people over the growing tension between the militants and security forces.
Reacting to the incident, security forces warned against armed patrolling and threatened to take action against the violators. The warning said that action would be initiated if any person was seen carrying out armed patrolling or brandishing weapons in any part of the valley.
The militants have been carrying out patrolling in different areas of Kabal, Matta, Khwazakhela and Mingora-Peshawar Road.
Militants’ chief Maulana Fazlullah said they were ready to offer more sacrifices if Shariah was not implemented in the valley. Addressing on his FM radio channel, he claimed the militants were honouring the peace deal. He urged the government to appoint Qazis in all the courts to remove fear from the hearts of the people.
Muslim Khan, the militants’ spokesman, said if the operation was relaunched in Swat, it’s negative impact would affect the whole country. He accused the government of not moving on the peace deal and said that neither their prisoners had been released nor forces had pulled out.
It may be mentioned here that the government has released 61 Taliban prisoners after the peace deal.
Meanwhile, unknown persons kidnapped a person identified as Naseem from Naway Killay. The locals said incidents of kidnapping had recorded a surge in recent days. However, the militants released two personnel of security forces.
Militants captured the house of central leader of the PML-N Saranjam Khan in Bahrain. Muslim Khan expressed his ignorance, but local sources confirmed the Saranjam’s house had been occupied.
There has been mounting internal and external pressure on the government to deal with the militants, who not only made advances to two districts during the peacetime but also continued their activities in the Swat Valley.
Agencies add: About 50 militants blocked the main road leading to Swat, halting a column of six Army trucks and two jeeps, Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said.
The vehicles were carrying extra troops as well as supplies, in violation of the peace accord, Khan told The Associated Press by telephone.
Malakand’s top administrator announced on Saturday that all the militants had left Buner.
But Buner police chief Abdur Rasheed Khan estimated later on Saturday that at least 100 of the original 1,000 Taliban forces remained, and that the brief militant takeover had emboldened local sympathisers.
A spokesman for the Army said all armed Taliban had to leave Buner.
“If we get the confirmed news that they are still present then they will be expelled from the area, and for that maybe we have to move the forces there,” Maj-Gen Athar Abbas told a local TV channel.
“They have gone, but left their germs here,” Abdul Rasheed Khan, the district’s top police officer, told Reuters. “Now we have about 200 local Taliban who can be seen on roadsides.”
Residents saw Taliban fighters abandoning their main base at Sultan Was village in the Buner valley. A senior security official said the Taliban should lay down arms, allow the police to carry out their duties and allow new courts, known as Qazi courts, to deliver justice according to the Sharia law.
“If they do not do any of this, the state will decide to go for an operation, and this time the operation will be on a larger scale,” he said.
While militants from Swat had returned home, armed fighters who hailed from Buner were seen moving around as usual, despite hundreds of police and paramilitary forces being sent to the district.
“They won’t lay down their arms so quickly,” Syed Javed Shah, a senior government official in Buner, said. “They know they have made enemies of people living here whose relatives were killed.”
“People are scared,” said local resident Nisar Khan.
“We used to see women going to their offices before the Taliban arrived in the area, but today they did not go to their jobs,” he added.
“Shops are open and there are no signs of armed Taliban patrolling streets in Buner but people face uncertainty and fear that they may come back,” Khan told AFP by telephone from the district.
People were reluctant to go to markets and other public places, as women stayed away from their workplaces and girl students stayed at home on the morning after the pullback, witnesses said.
Banners, which were strung up in Buner town after the Taliban moved in telling women not to go to markets, still flapped in the wind on Saturday, said one resident, on condition of anonymity.
Jam Sher Khan, who works for a local non-governmental organisation, said the Taliban had forcefully occupied his office in Buner.
“Now they have left but our office is still locked and we will not resume duty until authorities provide us security,” he said.
A Taliban commander said after his men entered Buner that they would set up Sharia courts as they had done in Swat.
“Female staff in my office as well as schools and colleges did not turn up today,” said deputy district education officer, Mohammad Sahib.
“I am very happy about the Taliban’s retreat from the area because this has diminished chances of a military operation,” said Mohammad Khanzada, who runs a grocery shop. “I do not want my town to become another Swat, which lost its beauty after the military operation.”
People in Buner said they hoped things would now improve but were concerned about the lingering presence of local Taliban.
“We are hopeful that the situation will now return to normal after the Taliban withdrawal,” Jehanzeb Khan, a local lawyer said. “The Taliban from Swat have left and there is no patrolling going on but we still have local Taliban members from Buner present,” he added.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
