The Pakistan army has taken complete control of the town of Minorga, an important center of Taliban command and control for the Swat region.
Iftikhar A. Khan of the English language Pakistani news portal Dawn has the story:
Operation Rahe Rast made a significant progress with the security forces completely securing control of Mingora city, destroying various training centres of terrorists and killing important militant commanders, the military said.Briefing reporters about the progress of the operation, military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said the security forces were expecting stiff resistance in Mingora, but the militants started fleeing the area as they came close of being besieged.
Security Forces have successfully secured Nawagai and Najigram. He said securing Mingora was a big success as the large city having two istrategic heights including Saidu and Kamber has transportation links with Malakand, Buner and Shangla.
At Nawagai a large quantity of arms and ammunition were recovered. The people of Mingora have started exposing militants who were trying to pose as citizens.
He said 25 miltants including local commanders (Abu Saeed Misbah ud Din and Sultan Khan) were killed and three were apprehended in various areas of operation, while one soldier laid down his life and four were injured including one civilian driver during an exchange of fire.
A few days ago, the question was when was the Pakistani army going to get serious about fighting the Taliban? The question has, at least, been partially answered. The fact is, the Taliban is now engaged in an out and out insurrection against the government and civil war is in the offing unless the army can push the Taliban out and reassert government control over the entire Swat region. It was just a few months ago that Islamabad agreed to allow the Taliban to control Swat but, as usual, the they overplayed their hand and instituted Sharia law much to the displeasure of the local population.
If you missed the PBS show Frontline last week, there is a compelling report from Pakistan that is frightening in its implications. Suffice it to say, there is a chance that the Taliban will actually win - a catastrophe that may be repeated in Afghanistan as well.
Share