Reports of militants reviving from the dead to once again claim their share of the Swat District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are nothing short of a nightmare. After seeing years of peace, the heavenly valley is all set to be terrorised as around five hundred Taliban have set up camp. As per reports, armed packets have already captured mountains and small towns are abuzz with talks of extortion. Images of them carrying Kalashnikovs are already making the rounds on social media. There is despair in the northwest as people are slipping details about threats being issued to those who refuse to pay. So much so that the central leader of the Awami National Party has even accused the government representatives, including the chief minister and his cabinet, of paying extortion.
Lower Dir is the sixth of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s 35 districts where the TTP has marked its return by intimidation of locals, targeted killings, and attacks on security forces. Now, the Taliban have taken control in the areas of Matta Tehsil. The security forces (even the Malakand Division) had mysteriously disappeared and there is only one unit operational in Swat. As a result of the military’s withdrawal, the local police have been left to fend for themselves. Meanwhile, the onslaught is expected to be even fiercer than in the past.
Locals have been vehemently protesting news of negotiations between the Pakistan Army and TTP. They are not ready to once again endure the horrors of the 2000s when radical Islamists reigned in their lives. It was in Swat, commonly known as Switzerland of Pakistan that Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai was shot in the face by the Taliban for continuing to study in 2012 in defiance of their ban. From hosting large groups of foreign tourists who enjoyed winter holidays in the scenic valley to braving down horrific visuals of women being flogged for a crime as bizarre as wearing a red shalwar, the region has seen it all. Between 2007 and 2010, the Taliban had pushed the Pakistan Army and administration out of Swatdespite being barely 80 kilometres from Islamabad.
Speaking to the former Chairman of Swat Press Club, Shehzad Alam, a Taliban commander has allegedly admitted to returning on instructions from the central TTP leadership. Just a few days earlier, a deadly clash between police and militants as the latter tried to head into Swat from Dir district situated at the Pak-Afghan border resulted in four officers being taken, hostage. A video of a young Pakistani Army Major Ahsan sitting on the ground with hands tied behind has been repeatedly shared on media. The captives, including a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of Matta, were later released after the local jirga members from Peuchar valley intervened. During the talks, the Tehreek-Taliban Pakistan representatives apprised the local influential leaders about how they were strictly following the conditions of the ceasefire agreement penned down after peace talks held in Kabul. However, they claimed, that Pakistan was not holding its end of the bargain. Police officers were constantly targeting their members upon their arrival in Swat while they were assured that they could come to their home district.
In a response to the video that had gripped the nation by fear, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had commented, “Imran Khan loved them [the militants].” He continued, “It is possible that they are being used by the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Imran Khan to form his government again.” In the peace talks held in Kabul in May, the TTP (also known as the Pakistani Taliban) had agreed to an indefinite ceasefire. Set up as an umbrella group of all militant forces in 2007, the TTP strives to impose its strict version of Islamic injunctions across Pakistan. The group has allegedly spearheaded various deadly attacks in the country, most heart-wrenching have been the ones on Marriott Hotel Islamabad in 2008, the Army headquarters in 2009, and the unforgettably tragic massacre of Army Public School Peshawar in 2014. To better protect the fortress, Pakistan Army has been fencing the 2,600-km border with Afghanistan since 2017 to put an end to decades-old terrorist infiltration as well as the smuggling mafia. Afghanistan, in the meantime, has remained a fierce critic of this operation. Pakistan has also pursued the construction of border posts and forts as well as the induction of new wings of the paramilitary border force, Frontier Corps.
Despite ruling the roost in the neighbourhood since last year, the Taliban have done little to deliver on their lofty promises to deal with the terrorist network plaguing Pakistan. After Islamabad’s strongly-worded reaction to a series of cross-border attacks in May, however, Kabul has started shifting these groups away from the bordering provinces.
However, the ongoing series of concessions is bound to spell more uncertainty and turmoil ahead. That peace in Swat was laced with the blood and sweat of valiant Pakistani soldiers and the undeniable sacrifices of the locals cannot be stressed enough. Therefore, Islamabad has no choice but to tread the tight rope with utmost care. One wrong step, and we would be back to the blood-stained streets of square one. Restoring security needs to be placed back on the priorities list for which Pakistan Army holds the crucial key.