PAKISTAN: Miltants patrol in Pakistan's Swat Valley region after weeks of unrest

Islamist militants battling against Pakistani security forces in the picturesque Swat valley make their presence felt in Charbagh. Pakistan's scenic Swat Valley region remains volatile after weeks of violence between local pro-Taliban militants and the Pakistani army. Islamist militants are challenging President Pervez Musharraf's leadership across the country's volatile north-west. Scores of people have been killed in the North West Frontier Province since last week, after the government sent around 2,000 troops to quell a violent campaign by cleric Maulana Fazlullah to impose strict Islamic code in the conservative region. A delegation of clerics and local politicians met Fazlullah on Friday (November 2) to try to end the standoff. Swat, which lies close to Pakistan's lawless tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, has seen a surge in militant activity since Fazlullah launched an illegal FM radio station and urged a holy war after an army assault on a militant mosque in the capital Islamabad in July. The latest fighting erupted last week after a suicide bombing targeting an army convoy killed 21 people. The militants executed 13 people, including six members of the security forces whom they beheaded. More than 180 people have been killed overall. Thousands of people have already fled the valley amid fears of more fighting. The militants said on Friday that around 48 paramilitary soldiers had surrendered to them in the village of Charbagh. They paraded the men wearing plain clothes before journalists, describing them as soldiers. The latest surge in violence in Swat adds to pressure facing General Musharraf, and has fuelled rumours the politically embattled U.S. ally might declare emergency rule across the country and call off elections meant to turn nuclear-armed Pakistan into a civilian-led democracy. Musharraf has sent army forces into Swat, though it is the paramilitary Frontier Corps, which has led the fight against Fazlullah's armed movement, Tanzim Nifaz Shariat-i-Mohammadi (TNSM), is struggling to restrict the spread of strict Islamic law in the region. Swat is at the other end of the tribal region from Waziristan, which lies at the southwest of Pashtun tribal belt. While it is not one of Pakistan's seven semi-autonomous tribal agencies, the Swatis, as locals are known, are tribal.

ITN Source | November 2, 2007

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