Huge challenges for Pakistan after Swat war

[LahoreEstate]

* Officials say rebuilding shattered region a tough task
* Analysts say army must avoid collateral damage, rebuild lives swiftly to win the war

MINGORA: Grenades, rifles, knives and an ornate sword of the kind allegedly used by the Taliban to behead foes lay on a table in a Pakistan military base, an apparent victor’s bounty seized by the army.

Some signature black turbans sit next to a bottle of Russian vodka, which an official said was seized from the home of a senior Taliban in the military’s six-week push.

The security forces are claiming massive gains in cities and towns in their bid to root out the Taliban in three northwest districts.

Tough task: But in the Swat valley, officials say they face a massive challenge, rebuilding the shattered region after two years of Taliban insurgency to enforce sharia law, and preventing the Taliban’s return. “Unimaginable damage has been done,” said Fazal Karim Khattak, the top administration official for Malakand.

“We have to re-establish the education system, the health system... we request the international community to come forward to assist [us in] the rehabilitation of Swat,” he said, adding that ‘billions and billions’ of rupees in damage had been done.

Pakistan launched its offensive in Lower Dir on April 26, in Buner on April 28, and in Swat on May 8, after the Taliban flouted February’s peace deal.

Last weekend, the military said it captured Swat’s business and administrative hub of Mingora, now a ghost town where shops are shuttered and the only people on the streets are armed soldiers guarding a few charred buildings.

Only 10 percent of the population of 300,000 remains, while the rest have joined an estimated 2.4 million people who fled the current military push.

“Taliban are on the run, their command-and-control infrastructure is in disarray. Their lower and mid-tier have been eliminated, the foot soldiers are melting away,” said Major General Sajjad Ghani, commander of northern Swat.

However, nobody is under any illusions that the battle is over.

Military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said although towns and cities should be clear of the Taliban within days, major combat operations in a fierce guerrilla war could last another two months.

Abbas said soldiers would likely stay on the ground for at least a year to oversee the building of civilian administration and local security forces. “It is a process. You do not see success as one event in a counter-insurgency operation,” he told AFP.

Suggestions: Analysts say that to win the war against the Taliban, the army must avoid collateral damage and swiftly rebuild lives shattered by the offensive, or risk spawning more sympathisers for the extremist group.

Major General Ijaz Awan, in charge of the army’s Mingora campaign, says the long-term plan is to bring back elected representatives, village elders and police, then build up local militias to help keep the peace. afp

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...009_pg7_13