'Holy war' displacing Swat locals

Plans to establish a displaced persons camp in the Swat Valley are under way after renewed fighting between government forces and the pro-Taliban followers of Islamic religious leader Maulana Fazlullah, who want to establish Sharia law in the area.

“The situation is getting worse day by day,” Mohammad Munir, district manager for Pakistan’s Red Crescent Society in Swat, told IRIN from the village of Totanobandai.

“In every house in my village there are one or two displaced families,” Munir said. The camp will accommodate 5,000 families in the town of Barikot, 20km outside Saidu Sharif, the district capital.

“We started pitching the tents yesterday,” Munir said, adding that it was difficult to put an exact figure on the number of displaced as many were staying with family or friends in neighbouring villages or had left for Peshawar, the provincial capital of Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

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His comments follow a breakdown of a tenuous two-day ceasefire between security forces and pro-Taliban militants in the area on 31 October.

More than 60 people were reportedly killed in three days of fighting before the ceasefire collapsed, after 2,500 government troops were deployed to the area on 24 October. At least 20 militants were reportedly killed in renewed fighting when helicopter gunships pounded the area on 31 October, with a number of civilians reported dead.

Holy war called for

Swat Valley, home to about 1.5 million people, has seen a surge in militant activity since Fazlullah launched an illegal FM radio station, calling for a holy war against the government.

This week’s ceasefire in Swat collapsed when militants reportedly torched a police post in Gwalerai and escaped with a van.

“The militants had set up check posts in Sambat, Baryam and Baidara, checking vehicles and capturing government officials going home. They blindfolded them and whisked them away,” NWFP Home Secretary Badshah Gul Wazir said.

This is not on. There can be no talks with these people. These elements are not amenable to talks.

“This is not on. There can be no talks with these people. These elements are not amenable to talks. The government needs to first subdue them and then we can sit across the table and discuss what their problems are,” Wazir said, adding: “The government has to establish its writ.”

But doing that will not be easy, with many area residents fearing the worst and leaving for the safety of Peshawar and elsewhere.

As of 1 November it remained unclear what would happen, with some villagers fleeing in fear of further violence.

Meanwhile, reports out of Mingora, Swat’s second-largest town, said rents had gone up due to the numbers of families seeking sanctuary, with many residents complaining of a housing shortage.

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