ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Army said yesterday it had ceased operations against Taleban militants in the northwestern valley of Swat, and an Islamist cleric asked for troops to be shifted to “safer places” to give peace a chance.
US officials have expressed unease about Pakistan’s strategy for pacifying Swat. They fear it could result in another safe haven for Al-Qaeda and Taleban militants in the country. “The military operation has been halted,” military spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas told Reuters, explaining that further civilian casualties would have alienated support for the army.
Also yesterday, a hard-line cleric dispatched by the government to negotiate a peace deal with the Taleban said the right of girls to attend school in the Swat Valley was still under discussion but did not say whether the militants were planning to disarm.
Sufi Muhammad’s remarks yesterday will do little to allay concerns by Western governments and liberal Pakistani commentators that the deal offered by the government in the northwestern region represented a surrender to extremists that could end up giving them a safe haven.
Muhammad met with the government of the northwest frontier province last week before traveling to Swat, where he toured in a peace convoy and held talks with Maulana Fazlullah, who is the head of the Taleban there.
“We have had successful talks with both the sides and hope they will abide by the peace accord,” Muhammad told a media conference in Swat’s main city of Mingora. “If any side defies this, we will renegotiate but things are improving.”
On Sunday, regional authorities said they planned to arm villagers with 30,000 rifles to help fight militants, but it was unclear if the announcement had the backing of national leaders or the country’s powerful army.
All boys’ and some girls’ schools reopened in Swat yesterday but despite a truce between the government and insurgents security fears kept attendance low, officials said. Only 40 percent of students showed up for school, said Ziauddin Yusufzai, the spokesman for the private schools association.
“This is because of the recent (unstable) situation. Another reason is that many families are still frightened and thousands more left the valley because of the fighting,” he told AFP.
— With input from agencies
