Pak's picturesque Swat valley turns into terror den: Reports

The idyllic Swat or Suvastu valley joins the list of vast areas of Balochistan, Waziristan, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the North West Frontier Province going out of control of Pakistani administration, a series of reports in Pakistani magazines and newspapers said.

The valley, once a popular tourist destination, recently witnessed blasts on power grids, bridges, gas pipelines, schools and hotels triggered by the terrorists. These militants also own radio frequencies and air radical messages freely, reports in 'The Herald', 'The Dawn' and 'The News' said.

Almost daily, four to five headless bodies are found on the streets of Mingora, the only major town of Swat, the reports said.

Even as the government plans to make changes in deployment of four army brigades stationed in Swat, including one from Rawalpindi overseen by a General-Officer-Commanding, the local people have started "doubting the state's motive and the real aims of the (army) operations".

Media reports claimed that the army operations not only killed civilians mainly but also left major infrastructure like power stations and bridges unguarded for the militants to attack at will.

Reports in 'The Herald' magazine and some major newspapers quoted locals as saying that "a common grievance" was that the activities of the army, before it took an offensive mode against the Taliban, "clearly revealed to the militants that action against them was about to take place, allowing them to escape."

While "nearly 800 policemen — half of the sanctioned strength of police in Swat — have either deserted or proceeded on long leaves", those on duty come out on the streets for a few hours in day time with the army as their escorts, reports in 'The Dawn' and 'The News' said.

An unnamed Pakistani Home Department official told 'The Herald' that more than 400 policemen have given up their jobs in Swat.

"Civic bosses have either performed a vanishing act or are ineffective", 'The Herald' said, adding that the morale of the police force was at its lowest ebb.

'The News' said in a report that one of the busiest squares in Mingora has been renamed by the shopkeepers as 'Khooni chowk' because every morning, when they come to their shops, they would find four or five dead bodies hung over the poles or the trees.

Similarly, bodies with their throats slit are found regularly in areas like Qambar, Kabal, Matta, Khawza Khela and Charbagh, it said.

Recently, at Mingora, the Missionary Girls High School and the Excelsior College were blown up by Tehreek-e-Taliban.

The militant outfit's Swat unit spokesman Haji Muslim Khan informed the media that the action was taken up as "the school had been preaching Christianity and the college was co-educational".

The number of schools blown up or torched now stands at 181 — the highest perhaps in any insurgency anywhere in the world in an area as small as Swat.
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Contributing further to the already grim scenario is the growing negative public perception of the military operation which they said has killed more civilians than militants, the reports said.

The perception was reinforced by rising civilian casualties, shrinking state authority, terrorists' ability to strike anywhere, any time and military's over-reliance on long-range artillery than putting boots on the ground, the reports added.

People are closeted in their homes not only because of the terrorists, but also due to the almost indefinite curfew imposed by the government.

While no credible data is available to estimate the number of civilian casualties in the seven-month-old military operation, the police, which has generally been absent in most militant-controlled areas, said the figure ran into hundreds.

The damage caused to property and infrastructure since the emergence of militancy in Swat has been evaluated at three billion Pakistani rupees, according to an unmanned senior Pakistan government official quoted in the report.

Meanwhile, the government is planning to install a one megawatt transmitter which, it believes, would effectively silence the militant radio propaganda, the reports said.

Radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah runs an FM radio in Swat, while his lieutenant Shah Doran's sermon broadcasts are heard far and wide, thanks to a 500 KV transmitter they own.

The situation is so grim that 'The News' daily, in a report, appealed to the people to protest the violation of civil rights and liberty in Swat, both by the terrorists and the military.

It quoted the people's sentiment in Swat saying, "We hear no voice raise against the atrocities committed in Swat. No civil society organisation has raised its voice against the plight of the women and children in Swat. We have not seen a single demonstration in the big cities against the monster of militancy in Swat, or in FATA for that matter.

"The media also seems apathetic about the plight. The people of Swat ask you to come out on their behalf and mobilise the general public against the war tearing the valley. We implore you to come out of your drawing rooms and stage protests so that the government does something about our plight."

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