PAKISTAN: Tensions high after Pakistani troops kill up to 60 militants in northwest Swat Valley

The militant headquarters at Imam Dheri in northwest Pakistan wears a deserted look after the past few days of fighting between government troops and Islamist militants. The militant headquarters at Imam Dheri about 7 km from the small town of Mingora wears a deserted look on Tuesday (October 30). Except for some militants basking in the early morning sun filtering into the courtyard of the seminary. Pakistani troops killed up to 60 Islamist militants during fierce fighting in the Swat valley in the country's northwest, the army said on Monday (October 29), while the insurgents called a truce to recover their dead and wounded. Troops firing artillery and backed by helicopter gunships on Sunday (October 28) battled militants led by a pro-Taliban cleric seeking to impose strict Islamic code in the scenic valley close to Pakistan's lawless tribal belt bordering Afghanistan. Militant activity has surged in Swat since pro-Taliban cleric Maulana Fazlullah launched an illegal FM radio station and urged a jihad, or Muslim holy war. Fazlullah, known as "Mullah Radio", is de facto head of a pro-Taliban group, Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) or Movement for the Implementation of Mohammad's Sharia Law. He is a son-in-law of TNSM's founder Mullah Sufi Mohammad, who was captured in late 2001, after the movement sent thousands of fighters to Afghanistan in a vain attempt to help the Taliban repulse U.S.-backed forces. A suspected suicide attack that killed at least 21 people, mostly soldiers, last Thursday triggered the latest violence. A day later the militants killed seven civilians and decapitated three soldiers and three policemen. The eruption of violence in Swat comes as the Supreme Court is hearing challenges to the re-election earlier this month of U.S. ally President Pervez Musharraf. It follows a suicide attack on former prime minister Benazir Bhutto that killed 139 people in the southern city of Karachi when she returned from self-imposed exile on Oct. 18. Islamist militants seeking to destabilise nuclear-armed Pakistan regard Musharraf and Bhutto as lackeys of the West. There is speculation the pair, who have vowed to fight militancy and extremism, could share power after national elections due by January, although Bhutto is bitterly opposed to conservatives in the ruling Pakistan Muslim League. Thousands fled their homes on Sunday as the fighting intensified, and the exodus continued on Monday, residents said. They said paramilitary troops asked them to leave the village of Kot Manglor, the site of fighting on Sunday. The town of Mingora has been relatively peaceful in the fighting except that some artillery fire hit a mosque on Saturday evening's fighting and wounded two journalists. But tension is high in the town and residents are upset by the new developments in the town which has been a tourist resort for decades. "The shell fell near my house. Why is this happening here? Our President is doing all this to please America. Our region is a peace loving region; our people are very good people. You know that this region is a tourist attraction. Why are these people destroying our region?" said one resident. The most critical subdistrict is Matta, about 37 km west of Mingora. The militants have virtual control over Matta. They have set up checkpoints all over the area. Most of the last week's beheadings took place in Matta.

ITN Source | October 30, 2007

Tags:. .upset. .tensions. .opposed. .militancy. .civilians