Britannia Radio

From The Times

April 23, 2009

Pakistan Taleban take over towns as they move closer to Islamabad

The Swat Valley has been transformed into a Taleban stronghold from which the movement is extending its influence

Zahid Hussain in Mingora

The Taleban seized towns less than 65 miles from Pakistan’s capital yesterday, renewing fears that Islamabad’s recent peace deal with the radicals would only accelerate their advance across the country.

The peace accord had already drawn harsh criticism from Pakistan’s Western allies. “I think that the Pakistani Government is basically abdicating to the Taleban and to the extremists,” Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of States, said yesterday. She added that the situation in Pakistan “poses a mortal threat to the security of our country and the world”.

Mrs Clinton gave her gloomy assessment to the US Congress shortly after hundreds of Taleban fighters occupied government buildings in the district of Buner, ransacking the offices of international aid agencies and taking away vehicles, computers and other equipment. Some employees were also taken hostage briefly.

The militants, carrying rocket launchers and machineguns, also set up checkpoints to search vehicles as many residents fled the area. Local security forces remained confined to police stations and camps.

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The fundamentalist movement struck a peace deal with Islamabad recently after a terror campaign in the neighbouring Swat Valley. Under the agreement the militants were allowed to establish an Islamist administration and Sharia courts. In return it was supposed to disarm but has failed to do so.

The Swat Valley has been transformed into a Taleban stronghold from which the movement is extending its influence towards Pakistan’s urban heartland.

Critics said that the deal between the Taleban and President Zardari risked increasing a potent insurgency and threatened the Government’s already tenuous control in other areas.

In Buner, a region with a population ofabout 500,000, the Taleban have established bases at mosques and banned music and television. They have stopped women from entering the popular shrine of a Muslim saint and now want to introduce Islamic law.

“We will soon establish our radio station. Our Qazis [Islamic judges] will also start holding courts in Buner soon,” said Mohammad Khalil, a Taleban commander. He said that the militants’ main objective was to end deprivation and provide speedy justice to the people.

The Swat valley already provides a glimpse of how Pakistan might look under Taleban rule: government officials take orders from Taleban commanders; the regular police uniform has given way to the shalwar kameez — loose trousers and long shirt; notices posted at barbers’ shops warn against shaving; women are not allowed to shop alone and public punishments and beatings are common.

Militant training camps have sprung up across the valley’s thickly forested mountainsides and security officials estimate that there are between 6,000 and 8,000 Islamist fighters in Swat, almost double the number present last year.

The militants are finding plenty of new recruits in the area — which has been ravaged by 18 months of war — among young men with no prospect of employment or education.

Residents said that many young men were also joining the militants to ensure the safety of their families, who they hope will be left in peace if they join the Taleban’s ranks.

“We live under constant threat,” Alam Zeb, a shopkeeper in Mingora, the main town in Swat, said. “Girls’ schools are still open but no one is sure for how long.”

Fighters were also patrolling the streets and markets. They dug trenches and bunkers at strategic locations around Buner’s main towns. Patrols headed out towards the border of the neighbouring district of Swabi.

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