Swat’s Elusive Taliban

While millitants have disappeared from the valley, some moves by official quarters continue to trigger doubts about the real situation

Security situation in Swat is returning to normal following reports that the Taliban militants who had entered the region earlier in the year and carried out a number of attacks on locals have abandoned their positions and returned to Afghanistan.

Some three divisions of the Pakistan Army that had moved into the area in September following reports of Taliban infiltration have also left the camps they had set up in the hilly terrain of Matta where Taliban were first sighted.

Taliban’s reported exit comes following massive rallies held by locals demanding the restoration of order in Swat valley. But questions remain over whether all Taliban have returned to Afghanistan. There are reports that many Taliban, as well as army contingents, may have moved to the neighbouring Buner region.

The news of Taliban’s exit emerged hours after a massive public protest in Mingora in which more than 80,000 people participated, says Mingora-based senior journalist, Fayaz Zafar.

“This built pressure on the district administration as well as the security forces,” he said. “That same evening the reports came that Taliban had moved out of the mountains and other areas of Swat. This was followed by the moving out of the army troops from many places where they had been deployed.”

He said that recent protests had shown that people were determined to stand up strong and united against militancy as well as any “loopholes in the security mechanism”. “They have been clearly saying that they will resist the army’s moves to set up check posts in the area or launch search operations in civilian neighbourhoods.”

The government lost the people’s trust due to its initial “non-serious” response to Swat protests, he said. He referred to a controversial statement by Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif, Special Assistant to Chief Minister, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), when “he told media that a certain Taliban commander was visiting Swat to just to inquire about the health of his sister, who was sick and later passed away.”

In another recent protest last week in upper Swat’s Madyan town, speakers demanded that instead of profiling people and dubbing them as traitors, agents, and enemies, the state should change its “outdated policy of grooming private militias”.

One of the speakers at the protest, Zubair Torwali, claimed that people no longer trusted their protectors. “Those who talk about peace are killed in the name of terrorism,” he said in his speech. “The terrorists have informers who make lists of people who work for peace, and those people are targeted. We have been living in this terrible state for the last six years. You have to change your policies.”

Shaista Hakeem, who is among Swat’s first female journalists, also shared her thoughts with Bol News. She said, “people do not want to be displaced once again or to face terrorism in Swat. We hear that there are only a small number of terrorists in our area. It is strange that our well-trained and well-equipped security forces and the police can’t tackle them.”

She was also critical of an official jirga recently held by the KP government. This jirga excluded members of the Swat Qaumi Jirga which has been the real force behind mass protests in Swat. “Instead of organizing a Jirga of irrelevant people behind closed doors and with no media coverage, an open Jirga should have been held allowing genuine representatives of the people to talk about the issues they were facing due to militancy,” she said.

A senior working committee member of Swat Qaumi Jirga, Zahid Khan, told Bol News that the jirga was the “only and true representative of all ethnic groups, tribes and political parties of Swat region, and has played a vital role in creating awareness among the people since 2007, when the region was first hit by Talibanisation”.

He termed the government Jirga in Swat “shameful”, adding that some local elders linked to various peace committees were invited, but not allowed to express their thoughts, and when they tried to leave the premises, they were stopped. During the jirga, “people who are genuinely struggling to stop terrorism and promoting peace were accused of inciting hatred against the state”, he said.

He also questioned the manner in which the Taliban left Swat. “The government said that the terrorists went back to Afghanistan. But it is possible that only the non-Swati militants of TTP have left while local militants have stayed and have been deactivated for now. Besides, it is not known whether the non-locals have indeed gone back to Afghanistan.”

Explaining the reasons for his doubts, he mentioned the “drama” enacted by the local police when it launched an operation to burn down makeshift shelters in the mountains, saying that they were destroying Taliban’s hideouts. “But everyone here knows that these are grass shacks built by shepherds for use during their summer grazing season. Taliban had brought tents with them, and no tents were burnt during the police campaign.”

Similarly, he said, the army moved out of Swat “but we are hearing that instead of going back to their barracks, they have moved to Buner region and have occupied school buildings there. There are also reports that terrorists are converging on the Elam mountain, the ridge between Buner and Swat, for some unknown future plans.”