Swat's return to normalcy clouded by deadly violence (News Feature)

By Nadeem Sarwar and Aqeel Yousafzai Aug 30, 2009, 12:07 GMT

Mingora, Pakistan - Sunday's deadly suicide bombing in Swat, the north-western scenic valley with gushing rivers and pine-clad mountains, is a sign that there is no let-up in the violence despite Pakistan's claims that its troops had almost defeated Taliban after three months of fighting.

The parade ground of a special police force training camp in Mingora, the main town of the district, was littered with blood and flesh after a pedestrian suicide bomber blew himself up among dozens of recruits, killing 14 and injuring seven.

With lights flashing and sirens blaring, ambulances drove through the streets to evacuate the dead and injured, making the residents even further uncertain about their future. Worried parents rushed to the local hospital fearing the worst. For some the worst was there.

'There is little hope of durable peace in this city,' said Saleem Khan, a shopkeeper whose nephew was injured in the attack, deadliest since July 13 when nearly two million people displaced by the fighting started returning to their homes.

'We had hoped that the military operation will end the violence but our hopes are dying out,' added Khan.

The government claims the troops had eliminated some 1,800 rebels while the remaining few hundreds were on the run, hiding among the population or in remote hamlets in the mountainous region. From there they continue occasional raids on the forces to show their resilience.

Even before the latest suicide bombing, terror reigned Mingora and other parts of Swat, which is limping back to normalcy as markets and schools reopen but many other facilities still not restored.

Almost every day since they returned from displacement, people wake up in the morning to find one or two corpses dumped along the streets or hanging from an electricity pole with a note on them reading 'All terrorists will reach the same fate.'

These bodies are of Taliban fighters and their sympathizers. Residents blame Pakistani security forces while rights activists said the discovery of mass graves of Taliban have reinforced allegations about extra-judicial killings by the military troops and police.

The tactics are the same that the Taliban have employed to spread fear among the population and many believe the military now wants to turn the tables by doing the same - filling side streets with Taliban bodies.

On August 26, the locals discovered 29 bodies of suspected Taliban in three villages of Swat's Charbagh sub-district. Some of these bore signs of torture and faces of some were unrecognizable.

A schoolteacher Mohammad Ali convinced his brother - a Taliban fighter - to surrender to the government troops in the nearby sub- district of Khwazakhela. Three days later, his bullet-riddled body was found in a stream.

'An army major told me that the security forces shot him when he was trying to escape,' said Ali. 'I don't believe them because he was shot in the forehead and chest five times.'

In some cases the locals were warned of dire consequences if they tried to remove the dumped bodies for the next 24 hours or even attend the funerals later on. There are also reports of Taliban being dragged behind vehicles.

Ghafran Ahmad, a student, said he saw two Taliban fighters being thrown out of a flying military helicopter in Fiza Ghat area of Mingora in June, weeks after thousands of military and paramilitary troops launched a major offensive to expel Taliban from Swat and three neighbouring districts.

Military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas denied that the military had summarily executed the militants. About the mass graves he explains Taliban buried their colleagues before retreating.

The chairwoman of independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Asma Jehangir insisted her organization had 'credible accounts of numerous extra-judicial killings and reprisals carried out by security forces.'

Some hardliners justify the illegal executions of Taliban as the only way to rid Swat of them, but others warn the policy can backfire.

'When the militants know that surrender is no longer an option for them, they might find suicide attacks a respectful way to die rather than being tortured and dumped in a street,' said Rahimullah Yousafzai, a senior journalist based in Peshawar, the capital of North Western Frontier Province.

'Today's attack in Mingora is just a reminder that the vicious circle of killings and revenge killings is to continue for some time in Swat,' he added.