Targeted killings put Pakistan’s Swat Valley back on edge; 31 suspected militants killed in NW

Targeted killings put Pakistan’s Swat back on edge

MINGORA, Pakistan — The targeted killings of a handful of anti-Taliban leaders has shaken Pakistan’s Swat Valley and raised fears that the militants are re-emerging in the former tourist haven despite a largely successful army offensive against them.

Elsewhere in the northwest, officials said Pakistani troops killed 31 suspected militants in a tribal region Thursday, while an attack that wounded four soldiers raised tensions in a nearby district home to insurgents battling the U.S. in Afghanistan.

At least three anti-Taliban leaders and some of their associates have been killed this month, said Inamur Rehman, the head of the Swat Peace Committee. The most recent death was this week of Bahr Karam Khan, who led a citizen’s militia in the Kuza Bandai area.

The men were gunned down in what appeared to be a carefully planned set of attacks. A music and movie shop also was blown up, while a grenade attack late last month wounded two police officers and two civilians, he said.

“We suspect that certain elements are trying to destroy the peace of Swat. We will continue to fight shoulder to shoulder with the army and will not allow the Taliban to come back at any cost,” Rehman said.

The Taliban rapidly consolidated control in Swat in 2007. Despite smaller army offensives, the valley — once a favorite tourist destination for Pakistanis and foreigners — was largely in insurgent hands by 2009. The government agreed to Taliban demands to impose Islamic law in Swat, but the deal fell apart when the militants began to infiltrate the Buner region just south of the valley.

The military launched its offensive in the picturesque region soon afterward in May 2009. Major operations ended a few months later, but troops have stayed put in the valley. Most of the more than 2 million residents displaced by the fighting also returned home.

Still, the Taliban threat never fully faded. A handful of suicide bombings have hit the valley over the past year, and the recent spate of killings has only fueled more concern in an already nervous population.

“These terrorists are taking advantage of the darkness,” said a Mingora city restaurant worker who requested anonymity for fear of retribution. “They come at night and carry out these killings. It should be stopped, otherwise the situation will get worse again.”

Senior police official Qazi Ghulam Farooq said police were looking at a range of potential suspects, including people who may have had personal disagreements with the men, but he acknowledged that some once ousted Swat Taliban fighters have snuck back in the valley.

The army’s chief spokesman said it was too soon to say the Taliban are regrouping, calling the killings “sporadic incidents.”

“We’re taking appropriate measures to prevent the recurrence of such events,” Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said.

Pakistan also has carried out several operations in its semiautonomous tribal belt, where al-Qaida and the Taliban have long thrived.

In mid-March, it stepped up army operations in Orakzai tribal area against Pakistani Taliban fighters fleeing an offensive in South Waziristan tribal area. The 31 alleged militants and soldier killed Thursday died in Orakzai, government official Jahanzeb Khan said.

Although the government has suggested Orakzai is the primary destination of the fleeing militants, a significant number are believed to now be sheltering in North Waziristan.

Despite this, North Waziristan has largely escaped recent Pakistani army operations. That’s because most of the militants there, unlike the Pakistani Taliban, are involved in attacks across the border in Afghanistan instead of within Pakistan.

The U.S. wants Pakistan to take on the North Waziristan networks, but Islamabad says it does not have the resources to open another front. Critics suspect Pakistan doesn’t want to anger militants it may need to influence affairs in Afghanistan once the U.S. leaves.

Thursday’s ambush on the security convoy could be a sign the dynamic is shifting in North Waziristan.

The attack occurred in the Raghazai area and involved groups of militants hiding on both sides of a road, two intelligence officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media. Four soldiers were wounded in the area, controlled by Sadiq Noor, one of the few Pakistani Taliban commanders known to operate in the region.

Attacks on security forces in North Waziristan are not unprecedented, but relatively few have been publicized in recent months. Like most of the information given by the government or military out of the tribal regions, independent verification of the deaths is nearly impossible because access to the zone is severely restricted.

Associated Press writers Hussain Afzal in Parachinar, Nahal Toosi in Islamabad and Rasool Dawar in Mir Ali contributed to this report.