Monday - May 11, 2009

Taliban fighters use civilians as ‘human shields’ as battle for Pakistan tears Swat Valley apart

This article is over a day old by now but no less interesting and informative.

Like a lot of others here, I wondered what made the govt. in Pakistan think they could deal and then trust the Taliban.  Made no sense to me but then who asked me?

TALIBAN FIGHTERS USE CIVILIAN SHIELDS

By Liz Hazelton
The Daily Mail

Taliban fighters are reportedly using terrified civilians as human shields today as fierce fighting tore through Pakistan’s north-west frontier.

Militants blocked roads with rocks and trees as the the army stepped up a ferocious ground and air assault.

The military had relaxed a blanket curfew in the area, which should have allowed many thousands to escape the Swat Valley, the frontline in a bloody conflict between extremists and the government.

But witnesses said civilians were forced to dodge blockades as well as bullets as the Taliban resorted to increasingly desperate tactics.

Ayaz Khan, 39, from the Kanju area of Swat, said he had attempted to flee with his family by car but found that the road was blocked by rocks, boulders and tree trunks.  He was forced to turn back. ‘I am helpless, frustrated and worried for my family,’ he said in a phone call.

On the streets of Mingora, Swat’s capital, witnesses reported seeing heavily armed Taliban fighters roaming the streets as residents cowered in their homes.

One health worker said she had been warned to stay inside by militants.

‘During the whole of last night, I heard firing, and again this morning,’ said the woman, who would only give her first name, Maryam.

‘I don’t know when some weapon will hit our home and kill us.’

The two-pronged attack in Swat and in neighbouring Buner province was launched on Tuesday, pounding the regions with mortars and artillery fire.

On Wednesday, Taliban reinforcements poured down from their mountain hideouts in a bid to beat back the onslaught as a spokesman declared any peace deal was over.

As fighting spread through the area, thousands of men, women and children fled Mingora, the Swat capital, fearing an imminent major military operation.

At least 38,000 refugees have already left but the government believes that figure could reach 800,000.

‘It is an all-out war there. Rockets are landing everywhere,’ said Laiq Zada, a 33-year old who fled the valley on Tuesday and was now in a government-run tent camp out of the danger zone.

‘We have with us the clothes on our bodies and a hope in the house of God. Nothing else.’

‘I do not have any destination. I only have an aim - to escape from here,’ said Afzal Khan, 65, who fled with his wife and nine children.

‘It is like doomsday here. It is like hell.’

There are no official figures on civilian casualties though the Taliban claim more than 100 people have died.

At least ten soldiers were killed and another nine wounded in clashes with militants.

A Pakistan intelligence official said helicopters and mortar teams were pounding militant positions in Mingora, which is 80 miles from the country’s capital Islamabad, and other parts of Swat.

‘The situation is very tense there. Taliban are present at the homes of local residents,’ he said.

‘They are also present at strategic positions. They are using light weapons to ambush troops,’

The clashes follow the collapse of a three-month-old truce in Swat that was widely criticised in the West as a surrender to the Taliban.

Under the agreement, militants were given control of the valley, which has a population of 1.6 to 1.7 million and were allowed to impose Sharia law.

But the peace broke down after fighters attempted to seize control of neighbouring Buner.

There are a lot of photos HERE along with the rest of the article which is a long one.

Posted by peiper     on 05/11/2009 at 07:31 AM   
Filed Under: • RoPMA • Terrorists • War On Terror •  
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